The attic hatch: cliffhanger chat template
A ready Discord-look chat for the cliffhanger openers gallery, seven messages and about 22 seconds as a video. Open it, change the words and export it as a labelled, fictional mock-up.
Preview in the Discord look
The attic hatch is open.
You live alone?
I live alone.
Did you leave it open?
I have never opened it. It has a lock.
Is the lock still there?
It is on the floor. Cut.
The full script (7 messages)
The first four messages open on the Free plan; the rest need a paid plan.
The template: The attic hatch
The attic hatch is a seven-message template for a cliffhanger chat: Mo and Ash trade lines from "The attic hatch is open." to "It is on the floor. Cut.", about 22 seconds as a video.
Look at message 5, "I have never opened it. It has a lock.", which runs 9 words, then at message 2, "You live alone?". Three of the lines are questions and each pulls a reply out of the other side.
Using it in the Discord look
End on an unfinished sentence, an unanswered question or a message that has just arrived. All three make people look for Part 2. Extras in this look: typing dots, reactions and an online status; missing: read marks. Discord is one of the looks open to everyone on the Free plan. Publish Part 2 within two days; the pull of a cliffhanger fades quickly. Reactions appear as small chips under a message with a count, a good way to show a crowd agreeing without writing the crowd.
What the Free plan shows
The Free plan opens the first four messages and two people, so The attic hatch would stop at "Did you leave it open?". The other three, through "It is on the floor. Cut.", need a paid plan with a higher message limit and up to four people.
Tips
- Hold message 4, "Did you leave it open?", a beat longer than the rest.
- Start on "The attic hatch is open." and let viewers read it twice before Ash replies.
- Open on a claim, not a greeting. The first message should already hold the thing the viewer wants to learn more about.
- Change one word of Mo's closing "It is on the floor. Cut." so the ending is yours, then caption the video as a fictional chat.
- Rename Mo and Ash to keep the story original, and keep every character an invented adult.
Questions
Can I use The attic hatch on the Free plan?
Yes for the look, with limits. The Discord look is on the Free plan, and the editor loads the first four of the seven messages and two people. The rest needs a paid plan. Exports on Free carry a visible ChatsRat watermark.
How long is The attic hatch as a video?
About 22 seconds at a comfortable reading pace, counting seven messages with a short beat between them. Add a second or two for the ending card.
Is this cliffhanger chat a real conversation?
No. It is an invented chat between Mo and Ash, made as a mock-up. ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any messaging app, and look names describe a style only. Label what you publish as fiction.
Can I change the names and lines?
Yes. Open the template in the editor, replace any line or name and export your own version. Keep the characters invented, and keep the content free of real people and anything sexual.
This is fiction. The people in this template are invented. ChatsRat makes mock-ups and fictional conversations for creators, designers and teachers. Do not use it to pass off a made-up conversation as a real one, to impersonate a real person, or as proof of anything. See the Acceptable Use policy.
About the watermark. Exports on the Free plan carry a visible ChatsRat watermark, and every export carries an invisible mark that the verify page can read. Plans list what changes on paid plans.
ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any messaging app. App names on this page describe a style only.