K.M. Weiland

The Climax is the reason for the story. This is where the author reveals what the journey the character just endured was really all about

Most important to our discussion, the Climax is where your character proves he really is a changed person

Placing the renewed attack and the final rejection of the Lie and embrace of the Truth in your Climax allows you to harmonize your exterior and interior conflicts

However, harmonizing the two conflicts also has its downfalls. Because the Climax is such a busy section of your story, you won’t always have the time and space to logically complete your character’s arc at the same time as he’s battling the antagonist. A saber duel to the death isn’t usually conducive to involved existential decisions.

Depending on your story’s pacing, you may decide your best choice is to have your character face and defeat his Lie for this final time before he charges into the Climax. At this moment, your character will reject the last remnants of doubt about the Lie and step forward to claim the Truth. He is, at last, completely centered—and, as a result, completely empowered to face the antagonist. He is transformed.
The Climax begins as the character acts upon his new Truth, finally and fully. By this point, the character should be finished with all lengthy internal pondering.

One of the biggest things to watch out for with this type of ending is making sure that the character learns her lesson very close to this climax. If these events occur too far apart, the causal link between learning the lesson and the ultimate success at the climax is weakened. If it’s possible to make the final choice in learning the lesson coincide with the climax instead, that helps to prevent the timing problem

The Climactic Moment is the climax within the Climax

In identifying your Climactic Moment, look for (or create) the one scene readers have been waiting for from the beginning of the story. The bad guy dies. The hero proposes. The girl gets the job she’s been after.

Questions to Ask About Your Character’s Arc in the Climax

1. How does your character prove he is a changed person in the Climax?

2. Does the renewed attack upon his new Truth happen before the Climax or during the Climax? What are the pacing challenges of either choice?

3. How does the character’s final embrace of the Truth enable his victory in the exterior conflict?

4. Does he fully embrace the Thing He Needs in the Climax?

5. How does he use the Thing He Needs to defeat the antagonist?

6. Does he gain the Thing He Wants?

7. How has his view of the Thing He Wants changed? Does he still want it?

The Resolution needs to fulfill two primary duties in finishing off your character’s arc. The first of those duties is providing an answer to the thematic question that was raised in the story’s beginning. The second duty is giving readers a preview of the character’s new Lie-free life.