Your Story’s Climax

 

THE FOUNDATION OF your slam-bang finale has to be built into the story—the plot and the characters—that preceded it. The Climax is where you have to pull out your big guns. This needs to be a series of scenes that wows readers. Dig deep for your most extraordinary and imaginative ideas. Instead of just a fistfight, why not a fistfight on top of a moving train? Instead of just a declaration of love, why not a declaration in the middle of a presidential inauguration?

 

Exercise #1: Answer the following questions to refine your story’s Climax.

 

Question #1: What form will the final confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonistic force take?

 

Examples:

• Naval battle. (Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian)

 

• Horserace. (The Rievers by William Faulkner)

 

• Filibuster. (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington directed by Frank Capra)

 

Question #2: Where will your Climax take place?

 

Question #2.1: How does this setting symbolically emphasize the central conflict and the theme?

 

Question #2.2: How does this setting physically or emotionally make the confrontation with the antagonist more difficult?

 

Question #3: How will the protagonist’s new resolve and understanding of truths about himself and the world be challenged one more time?

 

Question #3.1: How will the protagonist respond to this challenge?

 

Question #4: Will the protagonist defeat the antagonistic force—or be defeated?

 

Question #4.1: How is the victory, by either side, achieved?

 

Question #5: What one moment have readers been waiting for since the beginning of the story?

 

Examples:

• The kiss between the romantic leads. (North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell)

 

• The White Witch’s death. (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)

 

• The return of the hero’s memory. (Random Harvest by James Hilton)

 

Question #5.1: How can you deliver this moment?

 

Foreshadowing Exercise: Answer the following questions about your foreshadowing.

 

Question #1: How and where in earlier chapters have you heavily foreshadowed your Climax and Climactic Moment?

 

Question #2: How have you lightly foreshadowed the Climax and Climactic Moment right before they occurred?

 

Question #3: Now that you know how your climactic battle will play out, how and where can you foreshadow the form of the final confrontation earlier in the story?

 

Question #4: How and where can you foreshadow the Climax’s setting?

 

Exercise #2: List five things readers will expect from your Climax by the time they’ve read this far.

 

Exercise #3: Answer the following questions about your Climax.

 

Question #1: Which of the things on your list from the previous exercise do you have to fulfill for the story to make sense or to satisfy the reader?

 

Question #2: How can you introduce complications in your Climax that readers won’t expect?

 

Question #3: Will your story include a faux Climax? If so, what will it be?

 

Examples:

• Woody and Buzz must first defeat Sid, then the threat of being left behind by the moving van. (Toy Story directed by John Lasseter)

 

• George Bailey must defeat first his own wish to be unborn, then the remaining discrepancies in his business accounts. (It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra)

 

Question #3.1: What lessons will the protagonist learn in the faux Climax that will prepare him for the true Climax?

 

Question #3.2: Does your character have more than one antagonistic force to defeat?

 

Reference: Structuring Your Novel, chapter 10, pages 125-133.