5 Tips for Writing a Strong Climax

1. Don’t let the climax happen too early; build up anticipation. Do this by establishing a formidable, lethal villain and indicating the protagonist’s resolve to defeat them before you dive into the third act. Then, have your protagonist do what she would naturally do to get to the villain - or to get the villain to come to her. Furthermore, set the climax somewhere interesting or symbolic of or conducive to the character’s change.

2. Make the protagonist the expected loser and your villain unstoppable. Remove every tool at your protagonist’s disposal, and make the situation deadlier than ever. This will create interest and tension, and it will force the protagonist to work infinitely harder, making their growth and ultimate victory more satisfying.

3. Place the protagonist’s moment of truth before the climactic moment so they can use that change to defeat the villain. This change is what the character’s arc has been progressing toward for the entire book, and it’s all-or-nothing; if the protagonist doesn’t change, they won’t win. What happens in the climactic moment will display the protagonist’s decision to either become someone new or fail to do so.

4. The climactic moment is the most exciting thing that could possibly happen within your story. To make it exciting, try to surpass other exciting moments from earlier in your novel and remind readers of the stakes. Surprise readers with something unexpected and inevitable by removing any tools your protagonist could use to defeat the villain, then finding something better. Climactic moments test the main character’s change. Additionally, your characters shouldn’t have been able to win earlier; there must be a compelling reason why villain is defeated now.

5. After the climactic moment, get the hero out of the precipitating danger.

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