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Have you noticed that the structure of a novel’s chapter mirrors the structure of the novel? Each chapter has a beginning, middle, and end with rising action, a peak of dramatic tension, and a resolution.
More or less. There are some variations to take into account when looking at the chapter’s structure. Today, we’ll consider what it means to place a hook at the end of the chapter.
A hook is simply a question you place in the reader’s mind in order to persuade the reader to wonder “What will happen next?” strongly enough to keep reading. The chapter break is the perfect place to put a book mark and turn in for the night. But if you’re aiming for an “unputdownable” read, you’d better write a fairly strong hook at chapter’s end to get the reader to jump that gap and keep reading.
Every chapter, no matter how quiet, needs to entice the reader to keep reading, but for ease of discussion we’re going to consider the action-focused chapter that necessitates a clear hook.
Let’s create a simple, action-driven scene that plays out thus:
Some creepy thugs chase our hero into a dark alley.
Our hero runs down it to find himself blocked by a tall fence.
The thugs come around the corner, spot him at the back of the alley, and start running for him.
He grabs the fence and scrambles up.
The thugs catch up and are grabbing at his legs.
Our hero shakes them off and keeps climbing, dropping to the other side.
The thugs have trouble climbing the fence, giving our hero the precious seconds he needs to flee.
Once safe, he catches his breath and plans what to do next.
Where in that scene is the climactic moment, the moment of greatest dramatic tension? It’s certainly not at the end of the scene, after he’s escaped.
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It's here: The thugs catch up and are grabbing at his legs.
This is where we want to insert the chapter break, when the hero is most in danger and most likely to be caught. What reader won't turn the page to find out if he escapes?
Recall that a hook is simply a question that boils down to “What will happen next?” In this case, it’s more specifically, will our hero escape these thugs?
Rising action is a crescendo of dramatic tension and the resolution is a decrescendo of that tension. The peak is our climactic moment, when stakes and tension are at their highest, as is the reader’s need to know. In order to end on a climactic moment and set your hook, you need to cut the movement into two parts: Your rising action and your resolution with the chapter break making the cut right after the peak of action.
Writers sometimes write past their hook by including too much in the chapter, resolving the action and making it easy for the reader to pause reading. To solve for this, go ahead and write your movement out in full, see the action resolved, then insert your chapter break between the action’s peak and its resolution, between the crescendo and the decrescendo. Ask yourself, If I end the chapter here, will the reader be eager to jump the gap between chapters and keep reading? If you aren’t sure or there are two contenders, look at your rising tension again and find the true peak. If the answer is yes, you’ve got your hook set!
Would you ever want to resolve your action before the chapter break? Sure, it happens, but typically not in chapters that focus on action or especially high-stakes plot points. Even if you do need to resolve action, set a hook so the reader doesn’t set a bookmark!