Jim Butcher has resurrected his blog to post this insightful article on bringing a story to its satisfying climax (and yes, he shamelessly uses the sex analogy).
http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/3447.html
He defines the climax as nothing more than the answer to the Big Question that has been plaguing the protagonist for 400+ pages. Will they survive? Yes/No. Will they save their love interest from the evil clutches of Sir Twirly Mustache? Yes/No.
Of course, all the details of how this comes about tend to be more interesting than the whole Yes/No checkbox, but if you boil it down to the core, that’s what you’re left with. Either this happens, or that happens. (Though the writer can be tricky and make the read think This has happened, when the Plot Twist comes into play and they realize That actually happened instead.)
Reading Butcher’s article got me wondering–when you start writing your story, is the climax something you plan out from the beginning, or do you let it surprise you as much as the reader? Do you know how the hero is going to escape the super-kaboom, auto-destruct sequence despite the rabid flying sea monkeys chasing him while his sidekick is lobbing off one-liners? Or does the whole
I tend to approach the story with the climax already envisioned in some rough form. It’s like a mental anchor that lets me pull myself along until I reach that scene.
I like how Butcher breaks down he dramatic elements that compose a climax.
ISOLATION
CONFRONTATION
DARK MOMENT
CHOICE
DRAMATIC REVERSAL
RESOLUTION
I do think these elements play toward his particular writing and storytelling style, and that no writer would portray the same scenes in the same way…but these are still some good guideposts in trying to craft that plot culmination with as much drama and energy as possible.
Whenever I approach a new idea to flesh it out into a novel plot, I usually make a rough outline of “Three crisis and a resolution.” Three nasty disasters/setbacks that hit the protagonist as they pursue the ultimate goal, until finally, something happens and they get it right. I like to see my characters get to the end of their resources until right before the end. So a story might have a bunch of mini-climaxes in it, but it’s that final one that wraps up all the big questions and lets the protag walk into the sunset…or not.
How do you handle your climaxes? Do you have specific themes or scene elements that you try to thread throughout it, or do you mix everything up and hope for a big explosion?
I see that smile.