Achieving a Lasting Impact with Your Story’s Climax

We’ve all been there: feverishly turning the pages of a book as we reach the climax of a story—the action hits its highest point, truths are revealed, and the main character is facing the inevitable final showdown. Ironically, great climaxes in stories often feel effortless to read, but as most writers know, that does not mean they’re easy to write.

Luckily, award-winning author and writing coach Kate Davies is here to walk us through the secrets of an impactful climax. Kate uncovers the essential elements of a great story climax and how to handle all the moving parts as a narrative arc approaches the final furlong, using some great examples—and a handy checklist you can use for your own story. Over to Kate!

My favorite novel is probably One Day by David Nicholls. I love Nicholls’s prose, particularly his ear for dialogue; I love how funny the novel is, and the way the two protagonists, Em and Dex, feel as real as old friends. But what really makes the novel sing—the reason it’s a bestseller all around the world, the reason it’s already been adapted into a movie and a Netflix series and will soon be a musical—is the climax.

Spoilers ahead.

One Day has a brilliant hook: we get a snapshot of where Emma and Dexter, the two protagonists, are every year, on July 15. At the climax of the novel, they finally get together, after almost 20 years of friendship, but then—out of nowhere, just as in life—Emma is killed while cycling. Suddenly, we realize why July 15 is an important day in these characters’ lives: it’s Emma’s death day.

The climax of a novel is the moment of truth: it’s the part of a book that stays with the reader after the novel is over—the part that determines whether they love it and can’t wait to read more of the author’s work, or whether they’re so dissatisfied they want to throw the book across the room. In other words, it needs to be great.

The good news is, you already have everything you need to make sure the climax of your novel is as satisfying as your story deserves. As writing coach Mahsuda Snaith says in her blog on how to end a story, you have been planting the seeds for the climax and ending of your novel all the way through your book.

What is the climax of a story?

The climax is the part of the novel that everything has been building toward. It’s the moment of greatest tension, where the stakes are the highest. It might be helpful to think of it as your protagonist’s final battle—the moment they face the ultimate test.

There are different types of climax, and this might vary for you depending on how you want your story to resolve and what genre you’re writing in. For example, a mystery novel or psychological thriller will quite possibly have a plot twist as a pivotal point of its climax. Your book might have a revelation climax, a crisis climax, or a catharsis climax.

The most essential point to remember is that a good climax should resolve your story’s final conflict. Will your main character achieve the goal they’ve been pursuing throughout? We’re about to find out! The climax should also resolve the emotional stakes of the novel—the relationship between two characters, usually—and it will probably shed some light on your central theme or dramatic question.

Your protagonist’s actions at this pivotal plot point—the most pivotal moment in the whole story—will determine what the ending of the story will be. 

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Where does the climax occur in a story arc?

The climax of a novel is not the same as the ending—but it takes place just before it, around 90 per cent of the way through a book.

I always structure my own books using five acts (The Novelry’s own special story structure, known as The Five Fs®!), and for me, the climax takes up most of Act 5—but not all of it. Because the last 5 per cent (or so) of a novel—the ending—should show us how the world, and the protagonist, have changed as a result of the climax. If you’re using the classic three-act plot structure, your climax falls during the third act and likely takes up most of that space.

How to structure a climax

There is no one correct way to structure the climax to a novel, but here are five beats you might like to try thinking about. Map your story against them, and see how it feels.

1. Realization dawns

The climax comes shortly after the lowest point for your protagonist, when it seems they’ll never achieve their goals, when every possible thing has gone wrong. But this is the darkness before the dawn—because, at the start of the climax, your protagonist discovers (or realizes) something important. Now they know what they really need.

2. Preparing for battle

The protagonist comes up with a plan to achieve their goal and to fix the problems they have created as a result of their choices throughout the novel. They gather the required resources and assemble the team they need to help them achieve it. The protagonist’s new goal, and new choices, show us how much they have grown and changed since the start of the book.

3. Executing the plan

The protagonist puts their plan into action! At first, everything seems to be going well... But don’t forget your character arc—we need to throw more rocks at our protagonist! So, then comes a—

4. Setback

There’s an unexpected turning point, setback, or twist that stops your protagonist’s plan. If your protagonist’s plan was to storm a castle, they scale the walls—and fall straight into a trap.

5. A final choice

After the twist, it seems as though there’s no way the protagonist can win—but that also means they have nothing to lose. Often, at this point, the protagonist will look inside themselves, decide what really matters, and make one final choice—to do something reckless, to put whatever it is they value most above their own self-interest.

6. All-or-nothing action (the climactic moment)

It’s time for one final decisive act—the protagonist’s last attempt to put their plan into action and win the day. Everything is against them, and it seems very unlikely that they’ll succeed... But this time, they win!

Not all climaxes are the same

Perhaps, in your story, your protagonist’s final reckless act doesn’t end well. Not every story has a happy ending. You could either have their all-or-nothing action end in defeat. Or, as David Nicholls does in One Day, you can give your protagonist a victory (Dex finally gets together with Emma!) and then add an extra beat, and snatch this victory away in a truly tragic climax (Emma’s death).

If your protagonist fails to achieve their goal by the end of your book, this failure will probably be meaningful in some way. It’ll teach us something about your protagonist, or about the world of the story. And your protagonist will certainly learn from their failure. They’ll be changed by the events of your novel, forever.

The climax is the part of the novel that everything has been building toward. It’s the moment of greatest tension, where the stakes are the highest. It might be helpful to think of it as your protagonist’s final battle—the moment they face the ultimate test.
—Kate Davies

Great climax examples in fiction

Let’s take a look at three examples and break down the reasons why they provide us, the reader, with an unforgettable climax. Spoiler alert! The climax is the most spoilery moment in a book. So if you haven’t read any of these, look away now!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA/dystopian fiction)

Set-up

In a dystopian world, children are chosen to compete in a televised fight to the death in the Hunger Games. The inciting incident occurs when Katniss’s sister is chosen as one of the ‘tributes’ and Katniss volunteers to compete in her place. Her childhood friend Peeta is also chosen as a tribute—but Katniss is willing to kill him in order to win the Hunger Games and survive.

First act goal

To win and survive at any cost, even if that means killing her friend.

Final act goal

To win alongside Peeta, whom she has fallen in love with.

How the climax occurs

The rules of the games have changed: now two tributes can win together. Katniss realizes she doesn’t have to kill Peeta to survive—they can win together. (Realization dawns.) So, she finds Peeta, who is injured and hiding, and nurses him back to health. (Preparing for battle.) Together, she and Peeta defeat the other tributes. (Executing the plan.) But then the rules change again—only one tribute can win. So, Katniss will have to kill Peeta if she wants to survive, after all. (Setback.) Katniss has had enough of playing by the game rules. She was once determined to survive at all costs, but now she’s willing to sacrifice herself to bring down the system. (A final choice.) Katniss and Peeta declare that they’re going to eat poisonous berries, so no one will win the Hunger Games. (All-or-nothing action.) This would destroy the Hunger Games, so the rules are changed again to allow them both to win.

Heartburn by Nora Ephron (memoir/literary fiction)

Set-up

Rachel is nine months pregnant with her second child when she discovers her husband, Mark, is having an affair.

First act goal

To persuade her husband to end his affair and commit to their marriage.

Final act goal

To leave her husband.

How the climax occurs

Rachel discovers that, while she was in hospital after a complicated C-section, her husband had bought his lover an expensive necklace. Rachel realizes her marriage is never going to work. (Realization dawns.) She decides to sell a ring he’d given her, which leaves her with enough money to leave her marriage. (Preparing for battle.) Rachel is now determined to leave Mark. (Executing the plan.) But they have dinner plans. She can’t break up with him in front of her friends at a dinner party! (Setback.) But then her friends start gossiping about other couples who are getting a divorce, and Rachel is so angry that she wants to throw the key lime pie she’s made for dessert at Mark. She realizes: ‘If I throw this pie at him, he will never love me. But he doesn’t love me anyway. So I can throw the pie if I want to.’ (A final choice.) So she throws the pie in his face. (All-or-nothing action.) And that’s the end of their marriage.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (book club/contemporary fiction)

Set-up

Emira (a black university graduate, broke and lost in life) works as a babysitter for Alix (a white feminist blogger and writer). When Emira is arrested while babysitting Alix’s daughter, Briar, Alix wants to make things right. Emira feels uncomfortable working for Alix, but she LOVES Briar, Alix’s daughter—and if she quits her job, she’ll never see Briar again.

Emira’s first act goal

A real job with health insurance.

Emira’s final act goal

To quit her job and get away from Alix.

How the climax occurs

Alix has just offered Emira a REAL job, as Briar’s nanny. With health insurance! But then Emira discovers that Alix is the person who released the video of her arrest—the video she didn’t want anyone to see. Emira realizes she has to get away from Alix. (Moment of realization.) Emira accepts a job with health insurance at the Green Party, and now she can afford to leave her babysitting job. (Preparing for battle.) Emira tells her friends she’s going to quit her job. (Executing the plan.) But she has already agreed to take part in a live TV broadcast with Alix to talk about her arrest, and to promote Alix’s book! Emira decides to run away before the TV broadcast. (Setback.) Alix treats the TV producer badly in front of Emira—and Emira decides Alix deserves to be publicly humiliated. She decides to go ahead with the live TV broadcast. (A final choice.) Emira quits her job and humiliates Alix on live TV. (All-or-nothing action.)

Climax checklist

Here are some questions to ask yourself to make sure the climax of your own novel is packing its biggest punch: 

1. Does your climax feel earned?
2. Does it feel as though it arises naturally from the events of your novel?
3. Does the climax resolve your story’s main conflict? The emotional stakes of your novel? The central dramatic question or theme of your novel?
4. Are the events of the climax the consequences of your protagonist’s choices and actions?

Further reading

Here are three resources I recommend if you’d like to take a deeper dive into the structure of climaxes and climactic moments in novels (and films and TV).

• The Five Point Finale from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody and Blake Snyder. Save the Cat! can feel a little formulaic, but it’s interesting to see how many stories follow this template.

• A brilliant lecture called ‘Endings’ by Michael Arndt, whose screenwriting credits include Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3. (His other lectures are also well worth watching.) He demonstrates how a good climax can resolve three sets of stakes at once: the external stakes, the emotional stakes, and the philosophical (or thematic) stakes.

• John Yorke’s indispensable book, Into the Woods. Beloved by many of the writing coaches here at The Novelry, this is the structural guide I always use when I’m planning my own novels.

Write your novel with coaching from Kate Davies

Imagine receiving even more expert writing guidance from Kate—only this time, personalized to your own story. Good news! You can work one-on-one with Kate when you join The Novelry and choose her as your own wise and insightful writing coach.

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