As November 30 bears down on us, do you need a climax for NaNoWriMo? I think a climax is the payoff for readers. If they’ve been interested enough to get this far in my book, I feel it’s my duty to provide a action-packed climax. Now packing in action may not work for your story or genre, but the climax should be the most intense part of your story, where the problem the main character (MC) faced is solved or not.
I also like to add some surprise to my climax, so although it’s action filled, I hope I resolve my character’s problem in a way that readers weren’t expecting.
Some ways to make your climax intense and surprising:
- The MC receives help from an unlikely character.
- The antagonist receives help from an unlikely character.
- Something changes and the antagonist is no longer the antagonist.
- The MC’s code or personal philosophy comes under crushing pressure.
- The MC realizes the problem isn’t what he thought it was.
- The MC is in physical danger.
- The MC’s loved one is in physical danger.
- A chase–the MC is pursed by the antagonist or is pursuing the antagonist.
What other ways can you intensify the climax of a story?