And, now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The climax
is the pièce de résistance of our gourmet meal of a novel. When we wheel out the
climax and lift the serving dish’s gleaming silver lid, this is the bit that gets
all the “oohs” and “aahs.” The climax of a story should have readers on the
edges of their seats. They should be breathless, tense, and curious to the
point of bursting. If we’ve done our jobs right, they should have a general
idea of what’s coming (thanks to our artful foreshadowing), but they should
also be suffering under the exquisite torture of more than a shade or two of
doubt. What’s gonna happen? Is the hero going to survive? Will he save the
world/his family/the battle/his life in time?
 |
| Ender’s Game wows its readers with a climax that both fulfills the readers’ expectations and surprises them. |
What is the climax?
In a sense, the entire third act is the climax. From the
plot point at the end of the second act onward, the action will be rising. The
character has been backed into the wall and has no choice but to fight back. However,
the climax proper is the climax within the climactic third act. It’s the moment
when the two speeding trains finally collide into a single unforgettable scene.
In The Curse of Chalion
by Lois McMaster Bujold, the climax is reached when the protagonist Cazaril and
the antagonist Martou dy Jironal finally clash in the duel that kills dy
Jironal and breaks the curse upon the royal family. In Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair, the climactic
moment comes when insurance investigator Vicki Anderson, waiting with the police,
watches Crown’s Rolls Royce arrive to pick up the stolen bank money, only to
discover that Crown has left the country and sent a decoy in his place. In A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson
Burnett, the climax revolves around Sara’s returning Mr. Carrisford’s monkey
and subsequently revealing herself to be the long sought-after daughter of Carrisford’s dead
business partner.
In some stories, the climax will involve a drawn-out
physical battle. In others, the climax can be nothing more than a simple
admission that changes everything for the protagonist. Almost always, it is a
moment of revelation for the main character. Depending on the needs of the
story, the protagonist will come to a life-changing epiphany directly before,
during, or directly after the climax. He will then act definitively upon that
revelation, capping the change in his character arc and ending the primary
conflict, either physically or spiritually.
Where does the climax belong?
The climax occurs very near to the end of the third act.
More often than not, it will be the penultimate scene, just before the denouement
(as it is in all of the examples above). Since the climax says
everything there is to be said, with the exception of a little emotional
mopping up, there’s no need for the story to continue long after its completion.
Occasionally, stories will include a faux climax, in which
the protagonist thinks he’s ended the
conflict, only to realize he hasn’t addressed the true antagonistic force standing in between him and his goal. For example, in John Lasseter’s Toy Story,
Woody and Buzz defeat the evil neighbor kid Sid in a faux climax, only to
realize they may still miss the moving van that will take them to Andy’s new
home. Faux climaxes do nothing to change the requirements of the actual climax.
Lessons from film and literature
How do our chosen books and movies knock their climaxes out
of the park? There’s a reason all four of these stories are popular and
memorable, and a large part of that reason comes down to their stellar
fulfillment of all the necessities of a good climax. Let’s take a look!
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813): As in most
romantic stories, the climax of this classic novel is the moment in which the
two leads finally come together, admit their love for each other, and resolve
upon a long-term relationship. After Darcy’s gallantry in patching up Lydia’s elopement
with Wickham and his efforts to reunite Bingley and Jane, he and Lizzy are at
last alone on a walk, during which they’re able to put straight their former misconceptions,
repent of their misconduct to one another (a personal turning point for each of them), and properly affiance themselves.
It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra (1947): In the
moment after George’s “gift” of seeing the world without himself in it, he runs back to the bridge and fervently prays, “I want to live again!” This moment is both his personal revelation and a
bit of a faux climax. It properly caps the unborn sequence (which follows a
mini plot and structure of its own) and leads to the true climax in which the
town rallies to help George make up the lost $8,000 before he can be arrested.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1977): After Ender and his team
graduated from Battle School, they entered a new series of what they all
believed to be further tactical games, intended to train them for the day when
they would finally face the Formics. Pushed to the limit of his physical and
emotional endurance, Ender triggers the climax when he reaches the personal decision to break what he perceives as the rules. He looses his frustrated
aggression on the “game” and completely destroys the enemy. Then comes the revelation
that he wasn’t playing a game at all, but rather commanding the faraway troops who were fighting the Formics in real time.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World directed by Peter
Weir (2004): The final climactic battle between the Surprise and the Acheron
takes up a lengthy section of the third act, but even lengthy climax sequences
must rise to a single red-hot point. In this instance, the climax of the climax
is the moment in which Jack enters the surgery to find the captain, his long-pursued
enemy, dead. He takes the captain’s sword from the surgeon and begins
organizing the mopping up.
Takeaway value
Each climax is unique since each one must bear out the
needs and reflect the tone of its story. As we can see from just our few
examples, the possibilities for the climactic moment are vast and go far beyond
the simple “good guy kills bad guy” trope. However, they all have a few
important factors in common:
1. The climax
occurs very near the end of the book, usually only a scene or two away from the
last page.
2. The climax is
usually a part of a larger sequence of scenes that builds up to the important
climactic moment.
3. The climax
ends the primary conflict with the antagonistic force in a decisive way (whether the
protagonist wins or loses).
4. The climax is
the fulcrum around which turns the character arc. This moment is either the
direct result of the protagonist’s personal revelation or is the trigger that creates
the character’s epiphany. Many of the most powerful climaxes are those that
create a one-two punch by coupling the revelation with the action that ends the conflict: First, the character has his revelation, then he immediately acts upon
it.
5. Your story may
have to two climaxes, in which a faux climax leads up to the climax proper, depending on how many layers of conflict you’ve created.
Give yourself permission to cut loose with your climax. Have
fun with it and think outside the box. But make sure you’ve checked off all the
important elements of structure, so you can give readers an
experience that will forever cement your story in their memories.
Stay tuned: Next
week, we’ll talk about the Resolution.
Tell me your opinion: Does your climax fulfill all your promises to your readers?
Related Posts: The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 1: Why Should Authors Care?
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 6: The First Half of the Second Act
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 7: The Midpoint
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 8: The Second Half of the Second Act
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 9: The Third Act
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: Does your climax fulfill all your promises to your readers?
Related Posts: The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 1: Why Should Authors Care?
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 7: The Midpoint
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 8: The Second Half of the Second Act
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 9: The Third Act
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: character arc , climax , endings , Feature , secrets of story structure , story structure , SYN , third act
This has been a really great series. Thanks so much.
Thanks for reading!
I agree with Natalie, it has been a very informative and useful series, thanks KM.
I have one question about the climax - in the post you remark that most climaxes come just a scene or two before the last page. In the kind of novels I tend to read, this is another rule that is frequently broken, as there is usually a much longer delay between the story climax and the last page of the book, one notable example being The Lord of the Rings, which has a lengthy section based in the Shire after the ring is destroyed. Obviously Tolkein was never one for brevity in the first place, but I'm curious what kind of penalty you feel there might be for letting the ending drag on too long after the real climax.
Classics - including Tolkien - were written in another era and followed different rules. Back then, lengthy epilogues detailing the future lives of the characters were common. Nowadays, not so much. Even still, this isn't a rule so much as a guideline, and every author needs to examine the needs of his own story. I'll be addressing in the responsibilities of the resolution in more depth next week, but for now suffice it that the resolution should be just as long as it *needs* to be, but shorter is almost always better.
This is just what I need to work on right at this moment. Baffling away at the ending of a novel... I even put it aside and finished smaller novellas first. Now I can go back to it and pull out the big guns myself. Thanks so much!
The only part of the book that gets rewritten more than the beginning is the ending. Even when we know where we're going and even when we've set up the previous acts with our finale in mind, there are always some extra challenges in getting all the pieces to fit. Fortunately, it's also one of the most fun parts of the novel to write!
Hi K.M. I'm late to this party but I'll be back to read all. I have trouble writing the climax, fulfilling all my promises to the readers in this defining scene. Thanks for your tips.
Denise
Excellent. Thanks for the insight! I'm adding this to my book map. :)
@Denise: Climaxes can seem overwhelming at first (or second) glance just because we have so much stuff to fit into such a short amount of time. But a little finagling, planning, an rewriting can assure we get it all just right.
@Lauren: Hooray for book maps! :)
I wrote my climax before reading this article... and I *think* it was good. :D I gave it the critical-18yo-brother test. He liked it. :D
Thanks for this post! I'm curious about the next one as I think my 'resolution' might be just a tad too long... but hey, it has a proposal in it! :D
By the way, do you ever (in your spare time) read your blog followers' completed novels? :)
Great advice!! I'm struggling with the climax for my latest wip. I need to come up with a better one. The one I had previously was too convenient and could've been solved from day one, so need to change that. I like this series, it has taught me a LOT.
@Julia: Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to edit others' work. I recently discontinued my "first chapter" critique service, since even that was draining too much time from my site and my own writing. However, I can point you to some good editors, if you'd like.
@Traci: Oh, the joys of the climax! They're both exhilarating and very, very frustrating.
Sure, I understand. :D I wasn't actually asking if you'd edit my novel, just read it and give me either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. :D No problem!
Yes, actually, I would love a list of some good editors to consider. :) Would you rather email them to me? I'm the Julia that just emailed you about purchasing 'Outlining Your Novel', you could send it to that address. :)
Thank you! :)
Just sent the email. Hopefully, it went to the right Julia. ;) Let me know if you don't receive it.
Got it! Thank you very much! (Sorry for the confusion, I just didn't want to share my address here where 'God and everybody' could see it.) :D
No problem!
Thanks so much for this great post!
After reading it, I have completely changed my mind about the sequence of my story! I will definitely move forward the moment where my characters get back togheter.
Awaiting the next one!
xoxo
M.
Assembling all the characters for the climax is one of the most exciting parts of the story. It's also one that can demand a lot of forethought, depending on how large your cast is, since it can be tricky to create a scene that allows all the key players to take part.