My high school English Teacher used a similar diagram to explain the narrative arc to us. I remember thinking that after getting to the climax, everything was gravy. Many of my early stories reflected this arc in its most basic sense: Climax, fast resolution in a few paragraphs.
Novels, however, offer a wider range of approaches. Some authors do a last chapter climax, quick proposal, and "the end" in 20 pages or less. Romantic suspense, category, and novellas often demand these types of endings.
Some authors however, do a more growth based approach to climax and resolution--this is where you get to watch the characters struggle to make sense of the climatic moment and rebuild towards their happy ending. Longer ST, women's fiction, chic lit, and historicals often seem to lend themselves to this format. My current WIP demands this format which means Climax followed by a few chapters of resolution before the happily-ever-after moment.
And GARRRRRRAAAAAGGGH! I'm struggling. I've seen these characters through almost 400 pages now, and now they have to change in ways that are true to them. And they have to suffer. For me it's a struggle to balance realism (don't want everything too neat and tidy) with the needs of the readers (no loose ends) with the tone of the book (slightly humorous). Trying to keep the humor through the resolution is a struggle right now, and one that may not fully resolve until editing. The other issue is with tension--it's called falling action for a reason, but there has to be enough conflict/tension remaining to keep the reader interest.
So I'm going to toss it out to you: How do you approach climax/resolution? Is it all one scene? Spilt into several chapters? How do you keep the momentum/tension high enough for reader interest during the resolution? Do you often stagnant during this part of the writing? Or is this where your fingers fly? Any tips to help me say goodbye to these characters sometime this month? I swear part of me is dragging my feet because I don't want to a)have to start editing and make sense of what I've got and b) say goodbye. So spill it!
8 comments:
First of all, I can totally relate to the whole "not wanting to let them go" phenomenon. It makes sense. You created then. You nurtured them. You watched them grow and change and morph into something and someone you never expected, even if you plotted their arc. They are - in almost every way - your children. It's hard to say goodbye to them and force them out into the real world alone.
But make no mistake, you must push them out there. Be selfish here. This isn't about them, it's about you. *They* know you have their HEA all figured out. *You* need write that resolution and force them out so *you* can get on with your life.
Since I write RS, I'd say the hardest part of the book for me is the climax. Tension, angst, combining it with the black moment so it has extra punch. My last book had a "double climax", where something really awful happens - cue big black moment and angst-ridden danger, followed by the real, bigger climax. Getting through both was the hardest part for me. The resolution is my reward, wrapping it all up, making sure my characters get that HEA.
That said, I usually have one chapter after the real climax set for the resolution. I've never done an epilogue, but the more of them I read, the more I like them. A lot of times my characters need a break between the climax and that HEA resolution, because I don't generally buy the whole fall-in-love-in-a-week's-time thing. In my last book, the hero had a very valid reason for taking off right after the climax, and the heroine didn't see him until several weeks later. That doesn't work for every book, but it did for that one. That also kept the tension high because she was the one with the major relationship hang-up, yet he was the one who left. So at the end of the book, he knows she knows where he is, yet she hasn't come looking for him. Lots of tension and worry on his part (and I like torturing my heroes, so it was fun for me).
The key with keeping the tension high in that last chapter is to keep it real to the characters. My heroine was snarky and closed off through most of the book, so it wouldn't make sense for her to be sugar-sweet in the resolution. Yeah, she had to open herself up and take a chance - a big one - but I tried to keep her snarkiness a factor all the way to the end of the book, and that kept her real. So that instance where she lets the wall down and shows up on his doorstep was a HUGE step for her, and one that made a major impact.
Think about your characters, where they started and where they ended up. Then write what makes sense for them. And remember that, like everything else, you can always go back and change it if it doesn't work.
Man, I wish I'd written what Eli wrote.
I agree with her on all parts.
I like setting my characters free. It's rewarding to see them make things right and to grow as human beings. Besides, there's a whole new family waiting in the back-room of my mind--I might not even know they are there, but I trust they are. They'll need their chance, these other people don't need me anymore.
And in RS (and probably everything else), Eli's right, the emotional conclusion should come after the physical plot conclusion for major impact.
My books pretty much follow your diagramed arc, Wavy. I have written humor my whole life, this switch to RS is relatively new for me though I did write some now and again. And what I found with humor is that there is a time for quirky jokes and a time for serious reflection and responses to grief, etc. Humor is the bottom line running through not just your book, but their personalities, it's how they see their world and relate to it and to each other. And if you stay true to them, their natural humor will surface when it needs to. I think.
Let them go!
Wave goodbye. Send cookies. Meet the new folks roaming around in your notebook. Embrace the rewriting as the time to dress everyone up for their trip out into the world.
Great blog. Thanks. Always gets me thinking.
Alice
Since I really have only one example by which to base my comments, I have to say that I found the resolution a bit anti-climactic (sp). Like you said, Bethany, you get invested in these "paper people" (to borrow a phrase from Karen Robards). You have a stake in their outcome.
I prefer to have the black moment/climax and then follow it up with a separate chapter resolution, whether it's a regular chapter or an epilogue. It gives both me and the characters a little time to go back to our respective corners and prepare for the next round.
I've had a hard time with novels that deal with the climax and the emotional resolution at once, because I feel that a romance novel should devote a lot of emotion to the HEA.
However, once I did get the resolution done, anti-climatic or no, I felt a great sense of accomplishment and finality.
So, best advice I can give is to get those fingers a'tappin'. You can always revise later (like I am).
Jen
Wow, I don't have much to add, Wavy. Eli was super thorough in her explanation. And Alice? Snort. Send cookies. You crack me up. 8^)
To be honest, by the time I'm done with a book, I'm ready to send those characters on their merry way. I know we'll meet again at Revision Central, so I don't hardly miss them. Plus I usually have another story brewing and am eager to get going on that one. Call me fickle.
I tend to rush the climax in the first draft only because I'm in the heat of the moment. I fix it later, but I'm eager to wrap things up at that point.
I like to think of the ending as "closure." I realize the technical term is resolution, but closure is the buzz word for all things relationship-focused these days, and that's where my head is by the end of the story. I don't write romance only, but regardless of the genre, there's always closure issues for the main characters no matter what their relationships are to each other. The paper people (love that term, Jen) have grown from where they started and this is when we get a peak into what may happen with them in their future. This is the cumulative "sigh" at the end of good story well told.
Write through it, Wavy. I suggest you make sure the tension stays taught until that moment your characters are ready to move on. It sounds like that's the part you're having an issue with? Just remember that once the climax is reached, no one should relax yet. There are ends to tie, secrets to reveal, apologies to make, forgiveness to be earned, etc. Tension is still in the air even after the climax.
I probably haven't helped much. This fiction writing stuff is dang complicated. 8^)
Karen
Everyone has had great answers! And this is a good thought provoking blog.
As for me. I write the climax (sometimes two) and then have a simple/short resolution and sometimes a short epilogue. It just depends on the characters and the story. I used the epilogue on the first spirit book to help tie it to the next one.
As Alice said you do need to know when to kick them out. As much as you love them, you need to send them out into the world to meet new people who will love them. If the resolution is hanging on too long not only is it going to get harder to end it, but your readers are going to wonder why the HEA isn't happening.
Wavy--Have you read the Harry Potter books? I'm thinking of the way there's always a relationship issue or two or three, always sub plots, and always a running mystery to be resolved in a big splashy ending. But that's never the ending. There's always that scene or two where everyone takes a deep breath, explains what else needs to be explained, and wraps up their personal issues.
Also, much humor in these books, but also heartache and real feelings that we all have of abandonment and not fitting in and all the rest.
Just a thought because to me the books read like a template and it's easy to see what's happening and why.
Alice
Karen--Haven't read the word "snort" in awhile. Reminds me of our mutual friend, Kay, who once wrote something silly and followed it with, "Tee hee." Love those unexpected words!
LOL, Alice! I make my characters snort all the time. 8^)
Karen
Good post, Wavy.
I have a hard time saying good bye to characters too. I grow so fond of them over the course of several months.
As for resolution -- in my first book I put that in two short chapters and an epilogue after the climax.
In my WIP I think I'll be able to put it all in one chapter with several scene breaks, but maybe it will take two when it's all said and done. No epilogue needed with this one, at least I'm pretty sure not. We'll see, only the rough first draft is finished, I'm still writing and fleshing out some of the scenes, arranging them etc...
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