I’ve been reliably informed by the Substack powers-that-be that Wednesdays are for “Value.” In theory, this means peeling back the curtain on the writing process so you can see the gears turning, the duct tape holding the plot together, and the exact moment I realized a scene actually worked.
Those kind of chapter endings are still cliffhangers. It's just instead of leaving the reader wondering whether the protagonist lives or not, it's the mystery of what fresh Hell is about to drop into their life. It's not like a group of armed invaders comes and sits in your living room to tell you that you've won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes. (Is that still a thing?)
Those kind of chapter endings are still cliffhangers. It's just instead of leaving the reader wondering whether the protagonist lives or not, it's the mystery of what fresh Hell is about to drop into their life. It's not like a group of armed invaders comes and sits in your living room to tell you that you've won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes. (Is that still a thing?)
Ha! True. I guess what I'm getting at is that, sometimes, a low-moundsway, rather than a cliffhanger can be fun ;)