The extra seat: cliffhanger chat template
A ready WhatsApp-look chat for the cliffhanger openers gallery, seven messages and about 23 seconds as a video. Open it, change the words and export it as a labelled, fictional mock-up.
Preview in the WhatsApp look
We booked a table for four.
There are three of us.
The waiter set a fourth place.
Ask him why.
He says someone paid for it in advance.
Who?
He will not say. The chair is warm.
The full script (7 messages)
The first four messages open on the Free plan; the rest need a paid plan.
The template: The extra seat
Pia starts this one with "We booked a table for four.". After seven messages Pia has the last word, "He will not say. The chair is warm.", which gives about 23 seconds on screen.
Pacing numbers: the longest bubble is message 5 at 8 words, the shortest is message 6. One question gives the chat its back-and-forth. You can change any line or name once the sample is open in the editor.
Using it in the WhatsApp look
End on an unfinished sentence, an unanswered question or a message that has just arrived. All three make people look for Part 2. Switch on typing dots, read marks, reactions and an online status when you build the scene. Free accounts can use WhatsApp without paying. Put Part 1 in the title and link Part 2 in the first comment. WhatsApp-style chats put your messages on the right in green and theirs on the left in white or dark gray, with the time tucked into the corner of every bubble.
What the Free plan shows
Four messages is the Free limit, so Max's "Ask him why." is where the preview stops. Paid plans carry the remaining three messages, up to "He will not say. The chair is warm.", and allow more people in the scene.
Tips
- Give "Ask him why." (message 4) an extra half second on screen.
- Leave Pia's "We booked a table for four." alone on screen for a full second at the start.
- Open on a claim, not a greeting. The first message should already hold the thing the viewer wants to learn more about.
- Rewrite the last line, "He will not say. The chair is warm.", in your own voice and mark the post as fiction.
- Swap Pia and Max for two invented names of your own; shorter names make tighter bubbles on a phone.
Questions
Can I use The extra seat on the Free plan?
Yes for the look, with limits. The WhatsApp 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 extra seat as a video?
About 23 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 Pia and Max, 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.