Lesson 7: Climax and Ending.
This lesson gets into the home straight. The climax and ending of your book is all-important. Learn about it here. Do you like series? That's the focus level this time!
Writing the Climax
Strong Writing.
Finish Your Book.
Specific Level - Series Fiction.
Supplement: Anatomy of a Specific Series.
W.I.P. Section. Writing the End of your Book.
Exercises and Bibliography
Writing the Climax
The climax of your book is the most exciting part. It is the part where the drama builds to its greatest heights, where discoveries are made, goals achieved, mysteries solved, secrets revealed and the biggest challenges faced and met.
Of course, not all children’s books are dramatic. Most picture books are not, and JCBs are often domestic in nature. Nevertheless, all books need a shape. If you think about this in terms of graphing, the climax is where your characters are furthest from Situation Normal. This can be exciting, frightening, tragic, or joyful, but whatever happens your protagonist(s) must have an emotional investment in the climactic affairs.
Climaxes can be marked by any of the following:
1. Goals (not necessarily sporting) achieved or shockingly lost.
2. Greatest challenges met or failed.
3. Personal problems overcome by character’s own efforts.
4. Bad influences outfaced.
5. Unpopular or unusual hunches or ideas proved correct – or incorrect.
6. Relationships made or mended or finally discarded.
7. Loyalty rewarded or punished.
8. Physical bravery saves (or fails to save) the day.
9. Opposition to a course of action overcome.
10. An apparent weakness turns out to be a strength, or vice versa.
Many of these possibilities for climactic happenings come in pairs, depending on whether the climax is to be a triumph or bitter disappointment, but of course these are not the only options. Your characters might fail to achieve their goals, yet you might still be able to take much of the sting out of the climax. This is more important at the younger levels.
Example:
Suppose you are writing a YA novel and the climax comes when the heroine finally realises her relationship with her boyfriend is compromising a friendship she values. Realistically, whatever decision she makes is going to be painful. She can break with the boyfriend and keep the friendship, or drop the friend and keep the boyfriend, or muddle along trying to please both. The strongest decision she could make, (supposing neither boyfriend nor friend is really bad news) would be to make it plain to both of them that she won’t be manipulated or allow them to fight over her. She risks losing both, but she keeps her self-respect. Any of these decisions would reflect her character, and also change the theme and tone of the whole story. It’s a fairly harsh message whichever way it goes.
If you were writing for much younger readers, you might have this scenario.
Your hero’s family is moving from the country to the city. The beloved pet donkey is too old to be sold and cannot be kept in a city garden. No matter what happens, the boy cannot keep the donkey, but if a grandparent or country-based friends steps in, or if the new owners of the farm love donkeys, then some of the sting will be drawn.
Remember:
Not all goals that children and teenagers have are achievable. It is cruel to imply that they are.
Not all goals should be achieved. Acceptance into the “in” crowd is not a good goal to achieve if your character must barter away his/her self-esteem or integrity.
Achievements based on lies or deceit are likely to come apart in a spectacular way in fiction as well as reality.
Not all challenges can be met. For every David-and-Goliath battle that the David wins, there are many that Goliath will win from sheer physical strength. It is easy to assume that the intelligent little bloke can outwit the musclebound thicko, but what if Muscles is intelligent too?
Compromise is sometimes necessary. So is backing down. The trick is to write persuasively so that the characters who compromise or back down are still able to triumph in some way, if only by having the wit to admit that they’re not going to win and the grace to concede without whining.
