Transitions

Transitioning between scenes can be difficult because you want to wrap up the scene and make it complete within itself, but you want to leave a question that will propel the reader along into the next scene. You also don't want to jar the reader too much between scenes.

In my novel Riff, I have five point-of-view characters, each with a storyline. Jumping from one storyline to the next between chapters is jarring. There must be things that connect the chapters together. Here are some suggestions.


Match on Action

This is actually a film term, but it applies here as well. If the glass drops off th table at the end of chapter three, it can shatter at the start of chapter four. This action bridges the gap and tells us we're still in the same scene. Match on action can be used even when you do transition to a different scene. At the end of chapter seven, the villain pulls the trigger. At the start of chapter eight, half a mile away, little Angie hears a bang echo off the clouds.


Parallel

This is like match on action, but it's not the same action--just a similar one. They use this in film, too. The example that springs to mind is Hot Fuzz. There are two scenes that are spliced together: one of Nicholas and Danny at home watching a movie, one of a killer murdering George Merchant in his mansion. The film is cut in a way that the action begun by one person are finished by another even though they are unrelated. George gets whapped in the head, Nicholas falls into his chair. Danny presses the play button on the remote, George's house explodes. The risk is confusing your readers into thinking that one action is indeed the result of the other, but if done well, this can be effective. For example, maybe chapter twelve ends with a ringing phone and chapter thirteen begins with someone ringing a doorbell.


Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are a good idea because they get your reader turning the page, but be warned: make sure the question you leave in your reader's mind is a very specific one. I made the mistake of being to vague, which only frustrates the reader. The turning point in Riff is when Janek plays the riff correctly, causing all angels and demons to enter his head and begin a war over his soul (playing it wrong would have resulted in his soul turning to dust). I ended the chapter with "He was filled with something no human should have. It wasn't dust. It was something worse." Too vague! You want to make them curious, not annoyed. Ask yourself what you would lose by being specific. Is this where the mystery really lies or are you trying to cheat your readers?