Writing Wednesday -- Creative Writing Prompts!

I cannot believe I didn't think of this sooner. Writing prompts! Fun or what? If this goes well, I'll definitely do this more often. You'll have to let me know what you think in the comments. Anyway...

It happens every time. You sit down, all excited to get those fingers tapping away on the keyboard. Coffee in hand (in your favourite mug, the one with the grammar pun), you sit back, relax, fire up the trusty old laptop, and...

...nothing. Not a word pops into your head. You set Microsoft Word to your comfort font, classic 12pt Times New Roman. Wait for it...nope. Still nothing. What's wrong with you? You're a writer! Why can't you write? Are you losing your touch? Has your muse abandoned you?

Oh no. What if this happens every day? What if you can never write again? Then the world will never read the masterpiece you've been pouring all that metaphorical blood, sweat and tears into! Why, cruel fate? WWWWWHHHHYYYYYYYY????????

Even if you're not as melodramatic as I am, writer's block -- or whatever you want to call it -- is scary at worst and irritating at best. So what can you do to lure your muse back and cure this bout of The Freeze?

1) Don't panic. The muse doesn't like you when you're panicked.

2) Read back over what you wrote yesterday. Put yourself in the scene. That is not your goldfish watching you from the tank, that is an ocean filled with Sirens waiting to lure your unsuspecting group of sailors to their watery graves. Honest.

Feeling inspired yet? If so, great! Dive in! But if not, that's fine, too. Just try one of these five-minute exercises to get those writing muscles warmed up. Have fun with them. The sillier, the better! All of these are my original writing prompts, so I give you permission to share and publish any work you create using these. You may also link back to this page and share the writing prompts as you see fit, I just ask that you please credit me, Hannah J of Perfect Companions Have Pages and Prose, as the creator. Thanks!

Your main character (or another book character), a celebrity, a friend, a family member and one of your childhood teachers are stuck in a lift/elevator. One of them is secretly claustrophobic. Write about what happens.
I've had hours of fun with this one. If you don't want someone to have claustrophobia, pick something else weird. Maybe the lights go out? Someone is on a mission to deactivate a bomb, and if they don't get out of here in thirty-eight -- make that thirty-seven -- minutes, the building will explode? Don't be afraid to mix it up.

Pick three songs at random from your music collection (shuffle is good for this.) Write a scene, a poem or a short story inspired by the events and emotions in those songs. Rule: You must use something from each song. Alternatively, use one line of the lyrics from each song in your poem.
This one is also one of my go-to prompts and I always make a playlist for each writing project I do. It's great for when you need to put yourself into the emotions of the scene, to keep the story in your mind when you're out and about and to spark ideas when you're feeling uninspired. My favourite artists to use for this are Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Lady Antebellum, because they have some gorgeous imagery in their lyrics, but anything works. I dare you to use The Duck Song...

Take your main character and put them in the climax of another book, or vice versa. How would they have handled the situation?
Also very fun, and useful for getting back into your MC's shoes, if this was your problem. Alternatively, take a main character from a book that's not yours and put them into the climax of another book that's not yours. Oh, and if anyone puts Bella Swan in the arena (The Hunger Games), please please pretty please send it to me. I'm dying to see how that would play out.

"The girl in blue sat in the furthest corner of the coffee shop, grazing on chocolate covered pretzels. She was scribbling madly on a tablet, and every time the bell above the door rang, announcing the entrance of another customer, she almost jumped right out of her chair."
Continue this, either from the girl's POV (in third person) or the POV of the person who is watching her (first or third). Try to answer some of the questions the beginning poses (Who is she? What is she doing on the tablet? Why is she so jumpy?) whilst also posing a few more of your own. There are real possibilities with this, because we know almost nothing about the girl. Take it in whatever direction you want, and keep going until you feel like stopping. Or turn it into a novella- or even novel-length piece. Be creative.

A shaft of light shines down on you, illuminating your bluish toes and a small space of damp stone floor. A few dust mites hover in the air in front of your nose, and you sneeze. The echo of the sound tells you the room can't be more than ten feet in any direction. You're cold, wet, hungry. Your head hurts like nobody's business. There's a thick stench in the air, like stale smoke and urine. Worst of all, you can't remember a single thing. Write from here.
This could be continued in any person, but I think first would be most effective. If you're planning on reading this aloud, though, second holds major possibilities.


That's all for now, but I'll try to make this a reasonable regular occurrence. It really depends on the response I get. So, if you've enjoyed, please let me know, and feel free to share your work in the comments. I'd love to see what you came up with! Until Friday, my lovelies.

Book Talk: Fire by Kristin Cashore

This is a book I read over a year ago, actually. Wow. It does not feel like anywhere near that long at all. I'm getting old ;)

Fire is a monster. Named after her flame-coloured hair and hated for being a breed she can't help, Fire relegates herself to a small corner of the Dells, mixing only with her friend Archer and his father. Aware and afraid of her ability to influence people with her beauty, she does this not only to protect them, but also herself from their prejudice. However, there lurks a bigger danger to the Dells, a danger that wears the face of a child. The fog is coming, and if Fire wants to protect those she loves, she will need to face a judgemental royal court, confront her past, and take control of her wild self, dealing with hurt, betrayal, passion and unexpected love along the way.

As you may or may not have guessed, this is a companion novel to Graceling. The sequel to Graceling, Bitterblue, is out but I have not read it yet, despite constant harassment from my friend. It's not that I don't want to, it's a question of, "Well, I have this much time, which book do I want to read more?" I wouldn't say this book had as tight a hold on me as others, but nevertheless I still consider it a great story and I salute Cashore on her world building skills. If you're a Narnia/Middle Earth/Oz lover, you must read this series. (May I just add that the books may be read in any order, and although chronologically Fire would come first, Graceling was published first and I recommend that you read it first. Why? You'll understand when you read it...)

What I really loved about Fire was the fact that just one of the characters is the same as Graceling, yet because we see him from more than just Katsa's (Graceling) perspective, we see more to him. We see ow he became what he is in Graceling, without him even being the main focus. It's use of subplots at its finest.

The one complaint I have is that at times it moved a bit slowly for my taste, but I am a thriller person. The writing was certainly beautiful, anyway, and the characters were interesting, especially Archer, Fire and Brigan. Archer has to be my favourite, even though he makes some mistakes, and he's not the type I usually go for. Odd. Who doesn't make mistakes, though?

Oh, and there's someone in this book called Hanna! No "h" at the end, but unless you count the crazy 5-year-old who got one mention in Joy Preble's Anastasia Forever, or the former best friend who committed suicide before Meg Cabot's Abandon even started, this is the first character who has shared my name. Hanna is awesome. I take it back -- Hanna is my favourite character. Sorry, Archer.

Star rating: 4.5/5

Amazon link.

Oh, and did I mention it has an awesome cover? :)

Music Monday and a Liebster Nomination!

Hey everyone!

This is me right now:

"Celebrate good times COME ON!"

Because my lovely blogging buddy and fellow teen writer, Alice (+Alice Kouzmenko on G+) nominated me for a Liebster award earlier today! Yay! Basically, the Liebster award is like a blogging chain letter. You get nominated, and have to answer 10 questions of the nominator's choice on your blog. Then, I pick three little-known blogs (I've heard less than 3000 followers, because the whole purpose of the Liebster is to spread the word for new or obscure, but talented, bloggers you like) and ask them ten questions. They link back to my blog and answer them, pick three nominees of their own, and thus the cycle goes on and on and on...

So, here is the blog of the wonderful Alice, my nominator:

http://alicekouzmenkowriting.blogspot.co.uk/

I love reading her short fiction. It's always inspiring, thought-provoking and perfectly paced. I'm jealous :)

And the questions she asked me (so fun!):

1) What are three places you have always dreamed of travelling?

Hawaii, definitely! Then I'd love to go Japan, and Murano, which is an island off the coast of Italy. I'd say Russia, too, but my history teacher has told me horror stories about muggings there, and frankly, I'm a wimp.

2) Biggest goal in life?

Be happy. Really, is there anything else? Among the things that would make me happy are an adorable husband, kids, working in publishing and becoming a part- or even full-time writer.

3) Favourite flavour of ice cream?

That's a hard one. I'd have to say coffee, but I'm a self-confessed chocoholic, and I love strawberries and cream, too.

4) What inspires you?

Where do I begin?! My family and friends, obviously. Then books, music, writing, movies, and watching others act on their inspiration. Honestly though, I find inspiration in the weirdest of places. Once I thought of a novel idea in biology. True story.

5) What are you looking forward to?

Getting these stinky GCSEs over and done with! Then IB, university, life...everything. On a more immediate scale, this Saturday, because I'm getting and iPad Air with my birthday money from my Godparents, and a pumpkin spice latte :)

6) Summer or winter?

Winter. Why? Pumpkin spice latte, of course ;)

7) If you could have any talent, what would it be?

I would love more than anything to be able to draw, but I can't. At all. My people resemble potatoes and my trees look like poodle tails. Ah well, c'est la vie.

8) What's a question you've always wished someone would ask you, and what's the answer?

Awesome question! Well, that would have to be, "Which book character would you like me to bring to life with this magical machine here so you can marry him?" And my answer would be, "Gah, how could you expect me to make a decision like this?! Ethan Kozninsky, Edgar Graves, Cas Lowood, Thomas Sabin, Sam Temple...ahhhhh! Ethan. Let's just go with Ethan. Unless you're willing to do all five? Pretty please?"

9) What are you most proud of?

I wrote a novel before my dad even finished planning his! (He's still not done...) :) But I couldn't have done that without GoTeenWriters, so huge thank you and shout out to Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson, two absolute angels.

10) What is something that never fails to make you smile?

Reading a sappy kiss scene in a book, happily ever afters, disney films, the smell of Barnes & Nobles (don't ask), troll dolls, and listening to the music from "Wicked!"


And now, ladies and gentleman, bloggers and followers, put your hands together for my nominees!

*crowd goes wild*

1) http://joysnovelidea.blogspot.co.uk/ The blog of one of my favourite authors ever ever ever, creator of Mr Sexy Blue-Eyes Ethan Kozninsky, awesome person, saint for putting up with me, JOY PREBLE EVERYONE!

2) http://twilightvirgin.blogspot.co.uk I'm sorry, I know it's mean, but some of this stuff is just too true. And it's so funny. "Prom...really? That's the culmination of the greatest modern love story ever told?" TERRI WEAVER!

3) http://shiningbrightcritique.blogspot.co.uk/ Here is another one of my writing and blogging e-friends, who is undertaking the huge task of forming a critique group for teen writers! I know you guys are out there and I know you want to join, so come on, help her out and meet some friends -- it's win-win! BRITTNEY JOHNSON!

Nominees, here are the questions you must answer on your respective blogs, linking back to mine and nominating three more blogs you think deserve more traffic. Don't forget to come up with questions of your own, too!

1) If you met the Doctor and he offered you a ride in the Tardis, where would you ask him to take you and why?
2) What book would you direct the movie adaptation of and who would you cast as the main characters?
3) Your weirdest dream ever?
4) If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
5) Most memorable childhood experience?
6) Which historical figure, celebrity and fictional character would you like to be best friends with?
7) Pick one food or drink you couldn't live without.
8) Three things on your bucket list?
9) If I gave you $10,000 to start up a charity, what would that charity be called, who would you help and why?
10) How do you picture the end of the world?

Thanks again to Alice for nominating me. I am truly honoured that there is at least a small pocket of humanity that would miss my blog if I upped and disappeared; this is definitely motivation to carry on, even when I'm tired and lazy and have a physics test the next day. Nominees, I hope you have fun answering my questions. Can't wait to read your answers!

A Quick Apology Message

Hey readers. I am so, so sorry I've been a bad blogger recently. I know I've missed a few posts and now I'm going to be even more horrible and tell you that there will be no Book Talk tomorrow, nor any blogging at all next week, because I'm going to the USA with my best friend! Eek! We've been waiting for this trip for over a year, and now it's finally arrived and neither of us can believe it. It's just so strange how the super-crazy-excitement hasn't really hit us yet, but I'm sure it will by tomorrow. Can't wait!

Well, I'm going to miss you all! Be back in two weeks :)

Writing Wednesday: Killing Off Characters

I can guarantee that nothing, absolutely nothing, will make me hate an author more than if he/she kills off my favourite character. However, sometimes you need the reader to hate you. Sometimes that poor protagonist you've been dragging through hell (literal or figurative -- your call) and pushing to the limit needs to be tipped over the edge into action. And what better way to do that than to brutally and heartlessly murder someone they love? That will motivate them to finally assassinate the evil dictator!

Killing off characters is something you can very easily do wrong. In either direction. Some of us (um...me) get so attached to our characters that they become our best friends and our babies all at once. Suddenly you can't possibly kill Bob because even though that would be great for the story, and losing the love of her life will definitely get Beth to shake her tail bone, get off her high horse and avenge Bob, which could either be the main story goal or could serve to get her stuck in some other sort of sticky situation, such as trapped in the dungeons under the castle. So you can see that the occasional bit of cruelty in your writing is useful as a plot-pusher, and you want the reader to feel something, don't you?

That said, so many authors take it to the other extreme. They kill everyone. They have no mercy. Bob needs to die, yes, so then why not kill of Beth's brother, Billy, while she's out trying to avenge Bob? Let's rack up the guilt! Let's have a massacre! Right?

Umm, no. Because you'll end up having to constantly replenish the cast with new characters, which is confusing both for the reader and for you. Confusion = bad. You may also end up killing someone you need later, and then you'll have to bring them back. Which works in a few rare cases if done well, but usually, I'd say it's a no-no. The reader can and will be able to tell when it's a cop-out and they will not be happy.

Racking up the guilt is something which works, obviously. Maybe you can kill Bob and Billy in one book, but then I wouldn't advise losing any more main characters. Killing characters the reader loves will ensure an emotional response, yes. Let's think Titanic -- a film I love to hate and hate to love. (Spoilers ahead.) Lots of people die. That's a given basically from the start, because who doesn't know the infamous story? It's when Jack dies that the twist comes. We care a lot about Jack. Some of us even love Jack. Jack is smart. Jack is selfless. Jack is gorgeous. In short, Jack is as perfect as a character can be without being too perfect. So that's why when Jack dies, it hits us right in the gut, like a freight train zooming at 500mph. It barrels, unseen, out of the tunnel and it physically hurts, it's so sad. I literally -- not figuratively, not practically, literally -- cried for an hour the first time I saw that movie. We all know Rose was the one who deserved to die the most out of the couple. Rose was a pretty annoying person before Jack came along. And yet Rose lived. Because of Jack; because Jack selflessly let her get on the raft-thing (even though Mythbusters proved there would have been enough room for both of them. Just saying.), even though he knew it meant he'd freeze to death in the water. That made us love Jack more, which made his death even worse.

Titanic is one of my saddest examples. I won't lie and tell you I wasn't furious, initially, even though the critical part of my brain was pointing out all the smart things about the story ("Make it count, meet me at the clock") and trying to calm the emotional part that just felt like it had nothing left to live for. Titanic only killed one main character, and look how much impact. Like cliffhangers, and setting, this is another instance where less is often more. Overdo your killing, Jigsaw-style, and you will either desensitize your reader or annoy he/she so much she vows never to buy another one of your books again, because it's just too much emotional trauma. Neither of those things is particularly desirable if you want to actually sell books and have readers that actually like you, as opposed to readers who want to meet you just so they can punch you. Tell me, are you writing a novel or a script for a slasher movie? I rest my case.

Another point is that, if you're writing something vaguely fantastical (sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, you name it), you have the luxury of thinking of new and original alternatives to killing. (Mockingjay spoiler alert ahead.) Having Peeta hijacked was a very smart move by Suzanne Collins, because having him there but not himself made it even worse, both for the reader and Katniss. And of course, then she could have fun taking it either way: will Peeta stay nuts or will he recover? Read the rest of the book or you'll never know! And she made use of her own quotation "Hope. It's the only thing stronger than fear."

So pull a Lili St Crow/Suzanne Collins and do something worse than death to your main character's loved ones. Rack up the stakes without racking up the death count. That cool new brainwashing-meets-zombification thing you came up with is sure to stay with your reader much longer than a mere death. If your genre permits it, of course.

I am still of two minds about killing off characters, and how much is enough vs. how much is too much. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Till Friday, friends and readers.

Book Talk: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (not for children)

(First, so sorry I disappeared on you on Monday. I was my birthday :D and we got home late, and then there was the cake and before I knew it, it was ten o'clock and too late to blog. But I'll post a song this Monday instead, as well as the Writing Wednesday post that'll be due. I'm really excited about this one!)

Oh, my golly gosh. This book. I had heard many things from many different people, but nothing prepared me for the, excuse the cliché, emotional roller-coaster that this book put me through. It was tragic, but it was beautiful. I cannot count the number of times I had tears in my eyes or shivers down my back. It was an odd sort of sadness, though, not like the other sob stories I usually bawl my eyes out at, like Titanic and The Fault in Our Stars, in which you cry your heart out only at the end. No, The Lovely Bones was tear-worthy at many, many points, but you cry less each time. I liked how Alice Sebold did that. So without further rambles, here is my usual teaser/summary:

Walking back from school on the evening of 6 December, 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is stopped by her neighbour, George Harvey. Lured by curiosity, she follows him into a den-like hole he has dug in the cornfield by their houses -- where he rapes and then murders her. And he seems to have gotten away with it. But Susie isn't done on Earth yet. She watches her family, friends, people she once spoke to, from her own personal heaven, as detective Len Fenerman grows increasingly frustrated at his inability to find the murderer, or even a body. If only Susie could find a way to prove to her loved ones that she's still here, that it wasn't their fault, that she's safe now, if longing for things she might have done. That her murderer lives right next door...

This book touches something deep and personal inside us all. It proves how danger sometimes lives right on out doorstep, and while that may not be a particularly comforting thought, the author still managed to execute what some people may call a "horrible" story in an absolutely beautiful, poetic way. Susie narrating from her heaven gives the effect of a combined first person and omniscient narrator, something that prior to reading this book I would have considered impossible. "Like a beautiful gasoline rainbow" (my favourite quotation, that made me cry more than all other parts bar one), this book manages to take something ugly and make it a story so captivating it kept you enthralled without the use of what I refer to as the literary "underhand tactics", e.g. extraneous cliffhangers. The character my heart bled for the most had to be Susie's poor father, Jack; followed by Lindsey and Buckley, her siblings; and then Ray Singh, Susie's crush, who is at one point a suspect. I have to confess that I did not like Susie's mother at all. I know her daughter died, and I made allowances, but there is some behaviour that is just inexcusable. I won't mention what that behaviour was. You'll have to read it and find out ;)

Star Rating: 5/5

I recommend this to almost everyone -- don't let your kids under twelve at the very minimum read it, please. I would say fourteen and up, but if you do allow younger children to read it, well, don't say I didn't warn you.  It's a fantastic novel, but there is the rape, which isn't described in detail but I still don't think it's the best thing for children to be reading. There are also one or two sex scenes, which are also not gone into in detail. Even though I believe Sebold handled the tricky subject as well as she could, the fact remains that it's there, and some things are best left till older. If you want a sad but beautiful book that's child-friendly, I recommend Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls, which you can read my post on here.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone! I start "work" tomorrow -- unpaid volunteering, but still my first job. Excited! This is the charity shop that gets all my old books. I wonder how many I'll recognise on the shelves :)

Book Talk: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Hello, all. This is a book I actually read last year, but I saw it on my shelf and realised I had to tell you all about it.

People with an exceptional skill in a particular field, known as a Grace, are equal parts feared, envied and exploited in the Seven Kingdoms. Katsa, who can be identified, as all Gracelings can, by her mismatched eyes, is cursed with the Grace of killing, something even she loathes herself for. Used as an assassin by her uncle Randa, king of the Middluns, Katsa is on a mission to find and save the kidnapped father of the king of  Lienid. But the old man is harmless. What could anyone possibly want with him? And who was that knife-wielding, Graced fighter, with eyes the colour of precious metals? Is following Randa's orders really the right thing to do? Because Katsa's not sure she still wants to kill any more. She doesn't want to be a pawn all her life. This time, she's going to solve the mystery by herself. Maybe with a little help from Po...

 This book had an interesting premise; never before had I seen anyone do something similar to a Grace. The other thing I love is that there are loads of twists, but they're not horrible, sneaky underhand tricks of the author -- they're the kind of twists that make you go "aaaahhhhhh" and nod, rather than screech, "NOOOOO!" Prim-style and cry. No one in this book is exactly as they seem, and I love that. You discover things throughout the course of the novel even the characters didn't know about themselves, and it's fun to try to solve the mystery before they do. And, as with all the books I really like, there's an adorable guy :)

The writing is beautiful, too, because it's not typical. Being set in a fantastical world, Graceling is written in a more poetic fashion than most YA fiction is, and it really works for this story. There's a companion novel, Fire, which tells the story of Graceling's antagonist, but not always from his point of view, and the sequel, Bitterblue, is set eight years later and has just come out. I haven't read it yet, but I will. Eventually. If only you guys could see my To Be Read list.

Here's Graceling on Amazon.

Star rating: 5/5

Well, this has been a short post, but the plot is complicated, and I can either under-describe or over-describe. I think under-describing is better than spoiling the book for you. So, see you on Monday ! (MY BIRTHDAY!)

Writing Wednesday: The Cliffhanger -- How Much is Too Much?

(Sidenote: this is my 44th post! Yes, really! Where has all the time gone...)

Ahh, cliffhangers. My love/hate relationship with this technique burns stronger with every book that ends with poor old Bob hanging grimly for dear life. Figuratively speaking. Of course, cliffhangers are a sure-fire way to ensure the reader will stick around for books 2, 3, 4, etc. of your series. However:

1. It's annoying. Very. And you don't want to annoy your reader (well, only a little). Remember, every page of your story has to convince them they should stick around for another. Living in a world where people can get e-books for $0.99, authors, both traditionally- and self-published alike, have to try harder than ever before to make the reader believe that, yes, just one more chapter is worth it, even though they have a chemistry exam tomorrow they haven't revised for and it's already one in the morning. Or convince the frazzled, the sleep-deprived mother of newborn twins to read instead of taking her well-deserved nap when cute little Aidan and Nadia are (finally) sound asleep. Twenty years ago, as a writer, your job was to sell a book to each reader once. Now you have to keep selling it over and over again, because in times like these, people aren't going to stick around to finish a so-so book they invested less than a dollar in. Sorry to be so blunt, but that's a fact.

2. It's a breach of the unofficial author-reader contract. (Thank you, Augustus Waters. This is in your honour.) I don't know why this one is so hard. When you buy a book, you expect a complete story, no? Yes, yes you do. So when a book ends at what feels like halfway through the climax, I think I have a right to be ticked off. I don't want to wait a year to find out what happens to Bob! I don't even want to wait a day! And that's good, by the way. If I get so mad at this contract breach, it must mean Bob is a good character, because I care about him, and I don't want him to go tumbling into the sea. Now don't get me wrong here: you are allowed to use cliffhangers. In fact, the cliffhanger is quite probably the best reader-torture technique, second only perhaps to BRUTALLY AND HEARTLESSLY MURDERING THE SWEETEST, DO-NO-WRONG character that everyone is in love with. (That one is basically guaranteed to get you hate, though. Just a warning.) But, the cliffhanger's strength is also it's downfall. Let me explain. We read books for the emotional journey, it's true, but unless all your readers are masochists, they are going to be displeased if all you ever throw at them is cliffhanger after relentless cliffhanger. And reader's don't forgive easily. We may be more empathetic than average Joe no-books, but that doesn't mean we're not exceptional at holding grudges. I can quote, word for word, the exact line that ruined my life. I wasn't even reading this series as they came out. I had the next book on my shelf, and I still had a meltdown when I read those ten horrible, horrible italicised words. It was horrible. Traumatic, even. My metaphorical heart had been ripped out of my chest, stomped on, put through a blender and then handed back, bloody and broken, all in just ten words. Call me a drama queen if you must, but can't you see how good at characterisation this author was? By inflicting this atrocious deed upon the fictional love of my life, she ensured another £6.99 from me because I would just have to buy the next book. And I did. BUT, I will probably never read that author again. Ever. Because I can't go through that kind of emotional trauma again. I won't do it.

3. It's somewhat unoriginal, and downright tiresome. I say "somewhat" because, let's face it: you'd be hard pressed to write a suspenseful book that doesn't include a single cliffhanger. Almost every YA trilogy these days follows this formula: Book 1, ending that can be continued, but is still tied off; Book 2, evil cliffhanger; Book 3, varying degrees of happy ending. Predictable, don't you think? Still, my point is not that cliffhangers shouldn't be used, my point is that they must be used sparingly. If you have a whole book full of cliffhangers, each one packs a smaller punch than it would on it's own. They barely feel like cliffhangers any more. The reader becomes desensitised. Your book, your baby that you spent years planning, poured blood, sweat and tears into, becomes a cheap and predictable story. Kind of like how when you drink chocolate milk while eating cookies, the chocolate milk doesn't taste as sweet, because the cookies are sweeter, so the milk's sweetness is lost. Sad, isn't it? Because chocolate milk would be deliciously sweet if you didn't have the cookies too. So save your chocolate milk for one book, and your cookies for another.

So once again, as with all other aspects of writing (and life in general, too), the trick is finding a balance. I feel bad, because I told you that last fortnight, about setting, but balance really is what you must strive for. Also as with setting, how much suspense you include and how much trauma you inflict upon your innocent reader is decided by your personal style and the genre(s) you write in. Beta readers and critique partners will help you cut down on extraneous cliffhangers, or add a bit more spice to a bland and boring book. Don't forget the plot twists!

And I just thought I'd leave you with the knowledge that I have my own personal alliterate, hilarious name for the "disease" in which a writer uses too many cliffhangers, but I can't share it here as it involves a specific name and I don't want to a) offend that person or b) get sued. But I encourage you to think up your own! :)