In a guest post on Writers in the Storm, Becca Puglisi shares the ingredients of a successful story climax. “The stakes get higher, the consequences more drastic, and the clashes more incendiary until everything culminates in a final confrontation that will determine if the hero achieves their goal or not,” she says. “A successful climax will help determine how satisfied the reader is with the story, so it’s vital that we get it right.”
Generally placed near but not exactly at the end of your novel, the climax gives your hero a final chance to achieve their goal and demonstrate what they’ve learned on their journey. “Whether they’ve acquired skills, identified a strength they thought was a weakness, rejected a long-believed lie, or adopted a new mindset, what they’ve learned should tip the scales in their favor during the climax,” Puglisi writes. “When it’s done artfully, that synchronicity creates a satisfying resolution for readers as the pieces click into place.”
The climax should also mirror the prompt that sent your hero on their journey in the first place. As the opportunity launched the journey, the climax should close it out. Puglisi examines the Death Star climax in Star Wars as an example of a great climax that presents a final showdown, crowns a definitive winner who demonstrates his new inner knowledge, and mirrors the story catalyst.
Of course, that doesn’t mean your protagonist always wins, or that their win needs a big explosive event. A character can fail because they refuse to learn what they needed to learn or failed to embrace that knowledge. They might let self-doubt or fear conquer them. “It’s also possible that they achieve their goal only to discover that it was a false goal—one that made things worse or ended up ruining them,” Puglisi notes.
A literary or romance novel might end more quietly. “The climax of Pride and Prejudice, for example, happens with Lizzy and Mr. Darcy going for a simple walk,” Puglisi says. “It is their final confrontation as antagonists and happens at the right point in the third act. Lizzy’s recognition of pride as her fatal flaw allows her to overcome it and find true happiness with Mr. Darcy.”
