What is the Climax in a Story?
If you want to write a truly great story, the first thing you should do is to know the key parts of a story. One of the most important parts of a story is the climax. What is the climax, though? What makes it so important? How do you properly use it in your story? This article will answer these questions.
What is the Climax?
The climax is the highest point of a story. It is usually the resolution of the conflict in a story. This usually entails the final confrontation between the protagonist and main antagonist of the story. However, it could also be an insurmountable situation that the main character has struggled with throughout the story.
How do you write a climax?
When you write your climax, it is important that you do it right. Remember that you wrote entire chapters to this point. It has to be special, it has to have fireworks. It must be memorable. Here are some tips on how to write a climax the right way.
1. Stay away from clichés
If you want your climax to make an impact with your readers, it must be as unique as possible. Remember that your readers will have read thousands of climax points in various stories. When you write your climax, you should think things through first. During most climaxes, the protagonist always wins. He or she always triumphs over what challenge or antagonist arises.
What if, the hero does not get out unscathed though? What if the protagonist does win, but does not live happily ever after? When it comes to writing a climax, it is best that you put a few twists and turns to make it more compelling.
2. Lay out the foundations for the climax
When you write the climax of your story, it is important that you set it up the right way. While the climax could come as a surprise during the story, it is still important that you lay the foundations for the event to happen. You should leave various hints, clues, and signs during the early chapters of the book. This will make your readers more invested in the story, it will also help tie the loose ends in the story.
Aside from the laying the foundations for you climax, the lead up should also be arduous. The struggles should become increasingly harder to face. This will make the climax of the story more satisfying in the end.
3. It should be located near the end of the story
One of the most important aspects of writing a climax, is where it is located in the story. If you want your climax to have the best effect on your readers, it must be positioned in the right part of your story. While some writers do break the mold, and put the climax earlier in their works, it is better if you stick to tried and tested methods, and write your climax near the end of the story.
This will ensure that you have enough time to set the foundations for your climax. That way, once the climax in the story does happen, the reader will feel as if he or she earned the ending.
4. The climax should come as a surprise
While you should lay the groundwork for your story’s climax, you should still make sure that it comes as a surprise. If you make it too obvious, you’ll have a hard time impressing your readers. They might see it a mile away, and consider your work as predictable.
5. It should have an impact on the story
When you write your story’s climax, you should make sure that it has an impact on the story. Remember that your readers have read through entire chapters just to get to this point. If the climax does not have an epic feel to it, your readers might feel disappointed and not recommend it to their friends. So the climax must not only be exciting, the outcome should impact the story drastically.
One of the best ways to do this, is to make the stakes as big as possible. For example, if the protagonist does not win, an entire orphanage will have to close its door. Hundreds of young orphans will have to live without a home or security. Readers could sympathize with this situation, and become more emotionally invested in the climax of the story.
Conclusion
When it comes to writing a story, it is important that you know the key characteristic of the climax in a story. With this article, you’ll know how to use a climax as efficiently and effectively as possible.
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