![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
mbarker.livejournal.comWriting Excuses 8.7: Cliffhangers and Icebergs with Robison Wells
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2013/02/17/writing-excuses-8-7-cliffhangers-and-icebergs-with-robison-wells/
Key points: leaving out backstory, a.k.a. the iceberg principle, is not the same as cliffhangers, a.k.a. teasing the next book. How much backstory you can include may depend on your genre. Think about what the character knows. Cliffhangers are controversial, some readers hate them. Thrillers often pose more questions than they answer. Many books give a complete narrative arc, then tease for the next book. Internal cliffhangers are often used to keep readers turning pages.
( Behind door number one... )
[Brandon] I actually have a book of the week... Err, I have a writing prompt. Your writing prompt is write the story of the shade... The scary, scary shade from Phantom of the Opera, and tell his backstory.
[Mary] And then throw him off a cliff.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
[Rob] Wait, what's that?
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2013/02/17/writing-excuses-8-7-cliffhangers-and-icebergs-with-robison-wells/
Key points: leaving out backstory, a.k.a. the iceberg principle, is not the same as cliffhangers, a.k.a. teasing the next book. How much backstory you can include may depend on your genre. Think about what the character knows. Cliffhangers are controversial, some readers hate them. Thrillers often pose more questions than they answer. Many books give a complete narrative arc, then tease for the next book. Internal cliffhangers are often used to keep readers turning pages.
( Behind door number one... )
[Brandon] I actually have a book of the week... Err, I have a writing prompt. Your writing prompt is write the story of the shade... The scary, scary shade from Phantom of the Opera, and tell his backstory.
[Mary] And then throw him off a cliff.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
[Rob] Wait, what's that?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}