What keeps you reading on?

I was watching a DVD of the show "Angel" last night. I'm up to the fourth season. I never really watched the series when it was on, but on others recommendations, am finding it now. I enjoy the show for the most part (have some trouble with the gory parts).

One thing I find interesting is the way the writer's end each show. They don't end the show so much as give you a teaser for the next show. There's always some type of cliff hanger that forces you to watch the next one...and the next...and the next.

In writing classes I've taken and books I've read on writing, this technique is recommended for chapter endings. Always end on a cliff hanger, never with someone going to sleep. If you end at a point where the reader can put the book down, they will. But if you keep the suspense building, they'll have to keep reading.

I agree with this to a point. You do want to keep your reader reading, but you don't want to frustrate them by never giving them a down time either. With chapter endings this is a good thing, but with book endings, it's not. Yes, it forces the reader to buy the next book. It's a good marketing technique. But it is one I deplore. I hate a book that does not end and will often refuse to buy any more books by that author just because of that. If that means I don't know what happens, so be it.

But what about series, you ask. Books where there is a thread through them all, like Harry Potter? In each of the earlier books, he did not completely defeat his nemesis, but he did take care of the task for that book. He found the Sourcerer's Stone; he killed the basilisk and saved Ginny; he helped his godfather and the gryffin go free. In each one, he had a task and took care of that task. I've read other series where this does not happen. The single book task is not completed until several books later. These are the books that get thrown out and no more purchased.

I want an ending that satisfies me. That means tying up most of the loose ends. Yes, if it's a series, you can leave one or two hanging, but give me an ending that solves at least one problem - especially the problem put forth for that particular book.

Since I am just now working on my own first series, I will hopefully be able to take care of this. I know what not to do. And, hopefully, I'll be able to take care of it in my own way.
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Birthdays: Maud Hart Lovelace, David Hume, Bernard Malamud

Tips and Teasers: Write a short piece using as many clichés, metaphors and similes as you can.

Thought for the day: "Fiction writing is a 24-hour a day occupation. It lives inside you. It resides and grows and comes alive in your mind." – Terry Brooks