Climax and Falling Action

Climax is arguably the most unclear part of plotting. Many people misunderstand either the difference between Climax and Resolution, or the proper relationship between them—that unfolds during falling action.

Climax is not the big-ending, but the point of highest conflict for the main character. Commonly, the point at which the plot’s major obstacle is revealed, or how the major obstacle may be defeated is revealed. The flow of action launched by the inciting incident has built in rising action, and culminates at the climax.

Falling action is events between climax and resolution. In a story that is anti-climactic the plot’s major obstacle resolves outside the protagonists actions, leaving only sub-plots. This usually means falling action is what’s flawed, but it is possible that the wrong major obstacle was set-up earlier, in rising action.

While word count in each section of plot can vary, falling action has a short word count in many manuscripts. Don’t take brief falling action to be a bad sign—it depends on the size and flow of events that have been set in action. As long as the plot’s major obstacle is addressed by good-guys during falling action, a manuscript is on the right track.