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We talked last time about instilling fear in the reader. Now I want to discuss following through with what I like to call the big showdown. It doesn't have to be a literal showdown. It typically IS the climax though. Maybe it's just a climax for your scene, or maybe it's for the entire book. Either way I want to outline some ways to get the biggest bang for your words.
I read a book (I won't say which) where the climax came and was over so fast I almost didn't recognize it. Not cool.
- Keep an element of surprise. If we're biting our nails as the MC reaches for the door we're sure the killer is behind... Maybe the killer is actually sneaking up behind her? Or he is behind the door, but it looks like no one is there, and as she turns away -- keep us doubting and hoping.
- Make it a challenge. It's true, we want the MC to succeed. We've traveled this far with her. We even want to protect her. BUT ultimately if it's too easy or safe, we are disappointed and rightly so. This is the test you've built up to. Make it HARD. No skating by.
- Give us a moment of doubt. If you've done your job the MC has the tools and know how to get through this even by the skin of her teeth. However, that doesn't mean she'll do it, right? Give us that moment of "Oh no she's not gonna make it!" Even if she does.
- Pull in the clues. You've laid the groundwork. You've planted threads. Now's the time to bring them together. It's always fun when something you've forgotten about as a reader comes back and fits perfectly in place at the crucial moment.
Any other tips to add?
Photo credit: I know, the pic isn't perfect for the subject, but it was too cute not to use.
I definitely agree with not making it too easy. The best climaxes are those where I'm thinking "there's no way the character can get out of this!" and have to reassure myself that it's a pov character who has to survive. I love surprises and twists at the end--it's what keeps me reading.
ReplyDeleteThose are good ones. I'm trying to make things harder for my MCs, but I'm such a sap, I want to have them happy! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid sometimes I make it TOO hard on my characters ... but my readers don't seem to agree! LOL And I love the touch-back, that piece that fits in at the end. Very satisfying. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I totally changed the climax in my WIP because of your "don't make it too easy" messages in some of your posts. Really good advice.
ReplyDeleteI also love twists, and touch-backs, especially ones you don't see coming, or you don't see them coming the way they happen.
Perfect timing for this post! I'm coming up to the big climactic scene in my WIP right now and I SOOO needed this! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThese are such excellent tips! With the last manuscript I wrote, I kept a running list of clues I had left behind, that way I remembered to use them. Same thing with threads. I'm not always successful at this, but at least it's a start!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a funny picture; and I think it IS perfect for your post! Great tips, as always. So important to really make the climax suspenseful and not rush through it (like I tend to do).
ReplyDeleteI love an ending done well, dragged out, moment by moment, where everything happens at the same time! Or it leads to something I totally different expect. They are hard to do well. Great tips!
ReplyDeleteI love these tips-- especially about not making it too easy. I like the character to have to struggle because it makes the payoff that much sweeter.
ReplyDeleteSo helpful, thank you! I'm reworking and developing a climax in a story right now.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking notes on this one as I am currently working on the end of a book. Your timing is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat picture is SO freakin' perfect! And so is your advice. When you get so invested in writing a character, you want to see them succeed, and I know I've made it way too easy on my characters before. I had to pull myself out of the writing and ask if there was any other obstacle to throw in the way, anything to make success even the smallest bit more impossible.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture - and the adivce! Thanks again for Beauty Queens. I'm soooo excited.
ReplyDeleteOh my...if it all was just that easy! I mean, sure it sounds like it would be. All laid out and pretty and everything! But then where's the struggle, the revisions, the rejections, more struggle, more rejectins?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah...that's my part in this process. Thanks for the great tips and guides.
Those are super techniques. I also love it when there's an unexpected twist during that climactic scene. It shouldn't come out of the blue, but if if connects with something subtly planted earlier in the story, I really like having that "oh, of course" moment.
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous advice. Yes, your MC, in the book's climax, should be gearing up for the great battle of her existence. Most of us never have to face challenges quite that huge, which may be why these scenes are so hard to write. As authors, maybe we don't believe we can face something that enormous and succeed!
ReplyDeleteOh, I read a book like that. I had to ask someone who had also read the book where the climax was because I thought it happened 50 pages before the end of the book. Turns out I was wrong. The climax was the anticlimax scene near the end. :(
ReplyDeleteOh yes. If I'm left wondering how they're going to make it, then the book is working really well for me.
ReplyDeleteI tell you what though, I've read a few books where I've seriously wondered if a character would make it. It was absolutely down to the wire. The author calls it 'taking away the safety net' and making the reader begin to wonder if there really would be a happy ending. Nobody else is going to swoop in and save the day, and it all might prove too much for the MC
and I LOVE the pic you uses for this.
Love the moment of doubt. I like to cheer for my character as they face their supreme ordeal. If it's a slam dunk - boring.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! Definitely something I can use. I think that moment of doubt is crucial in keeping a reader hooked (at least for me). I hate it when I'm never really worried for the MC.
ReplyDeleteOh, I so needed to read these tips before diving into NaNo next week. Excellent! <3
ReplyDeleteOh I just love a climax where all the threads come together and make you go WOW! So that's how she/he did it! Some really good points here. Off to tweet it!
ReplyDeleteNo other tips, but that photo is FABULOUS!
ReplyDelete