writing tips

starting and ending of a book/chapter

The Start
I've noticed a common thing when it comes to starting chapters, especially the first ones. It's cliché and frankly, quite annoying. I don't mind it but it's quite tacky and doesn't entice the reader.

You know, the stereotypical alarm clock type of thing:

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I awoke to the sound of my annoying alarm clock. I take the small digital box and chuck it across the room, because I haven't had enough beauty sleep and my parents can clearly afford a 18992981785920th alarm clock.

There's nothing wrong with this beginning, but it isn't a good way to start a story. Clichés are mostly unavoidable (as I've said before) but this can be prevented. I saw a post once talking about how one must jump straight into the story, because you only have two pages to fully enrapture the reader.

A lot of published books start with something witty, scary, wise-the list goes on, but it definitely doesn't start with a bRiiiiiiNg of an alarm. An example would be the iconic (iconic???) line from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (have I told you I love that book?) "Look, I didn't wanna be a half-blood." It's a good start to a story, and I had the gist of the protagonist's personality.

That's what the start of a book should do. An entrance, a gateway to this world of fantasy and fiction. (Like the hook of an essay).

The chapters after the first should also have a good start. Sometimes it could be a summary of what's going to happen (in a vague way). Not necessarily a sentence outlining the events of the chapter but rather a clever way of giving a point across. (It could, once again, also shed light onto the personality of the protagonist.)
"MY HEAD WOUND must've tasted like wagyu beef."
-Apollo (Trials of Apollo, The Hidden Oracle)

Other times it could be an entrance to a certain scene (like a fight scene).

MEG THRASHED around in her goo-case.
-Apollo, again (Trials of Apollo, The Hidden Oracle)

On the other hand, sometimes the first sentence isn't as good-but the paragraph succeeding that is a follow up and explains the first sentence/complements it.

Get creative. Don't start with a plain, boring onomatopoeia (which you can still use, but shouldn't abuse!) but something that contributes to the story.

The End

General endings:
Sometimes, us fangirls like to end our books on a happy note, where the MC and the love interest end up together and have beautiful babies and all that shiz.

I have to admit, I hate sad endings or pointless endings where they kill off the main character, but some stories don't need happy endings, and some stories need an ending that shows that our protagonist grew/developed.

I myself don't fully know how to write an ending, because I like happy, bubbly endings. But I try to make it realistic, to make the ending good and important. (Maybe to give way to a sequel, for example).

Now, aside from the alarm-clock ring thing, there's the I keep passing out I think something's wrong trope. Of course, you can end a chapter with a character being knocked unconscious or sleeping, but it's quite... underwhelming.

If it needs to end on that note then sure, but not all chapters have to end with our protagonist going to bed. Or fainting. For the millionth time. Be creative, and try to close the chapter with a small conclusion or an "exit" for the scene and/or an opening for the next chapter to begin.

Cliffhangers:

I'll go into more depth for this in another tip, but for now, here's the basic message: don't use it all the time. This plot device is torturous because it's a surprise, a cliffhanger. Something that makes the readers question everything and freak out. But if you use it all the time it gets way to predictable. So just cut down on that.