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“Always dramatize important events.” Ayn Rand
"We "reach" for the climax when we preserve it to the end of the story and build toward it. We'll want events to grow in significance as the story moves along. More people should become involved, more consequences should develop, more dangerous happenings should occur, until the climax when all of these things come together, and the impending drama makes the reader hang on every sentence." William Noble
“Inevitably, as the plot thickens and the climax approaches—inevitably, wherever an impression is to be emphasized and driven home—narration gives place to enactment, the train of events to the particular episode, the broad picture to the dramatic scene.” Percy Lubbock
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. In this issue, the climax in a dramatic story or playscript will be our topic . |
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Climax in a dramatic story is the part of the story that is the most misunderstood and the hardest to write. To understand better what climax is let’s look at the parts of the dramatic structure. This structure applies to fictional works with strong plots or to movie or play scripts.
1. Introduction of the basics, such as the setting, the characters, and the plot
2. Setting up the main conflict, also called the rising action
3. Turning point
4. Events leading to the catastrophe, also called the falling action
5. Tying up the loose ends or dénouement
To illustrate the dramatic structure and to aid the drama students in their studies, Gustav Freytag who analyzed the ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama came up with what is called the Freytag’s Pyramid.
Now, where does climax occur in the basic dramatic structure or on Freytag’s pyramid? Although Freytag puts the turning point, which he calls the climax, at the top of the triangle, this image may lead the viewer to be mistaken because it may mean that the turning point or the point he calls climax is in the middle of the story, which is very rarely true. Truth is, this top point mostly moves toward the second half of the plotline, and usually, just before the ending.
The problem of defining climax starts with trying to visualize the dramatic structure because two different views exist in the matter. One view says climax is the same as the turning point; the other says it is the most exciting and dramatic point or event that determines the ending. Most of the time, these two views may coincide to mean the same scene or the same point in one specific scene in any one story, but at other times, they do clash.
In the Shakespearean drama Romeo and Juliet, some analysts dictate that the climax occurs in Act III scene one where Tybalt is killed and Romeo is banished. Yet, this is said to be the catalyst and not the climax. According to a second view, the climax is where Romeo discovers Juliet’s body in the family crypt and believes her to be dead.
Then, in Hamlet, in which several poignant scenes exist, one view says the climax is where the fencing match occurs between Laertes and Hamlet, and another view says it happens in Act III when Hamlet resolves to take violent action for revenge by stabbing Polonius. Yet, another one says it is where Hamlet kills Claudius when Claudius confesses he killed his brother.
Go figure…right?
Not to worry, everyone agrees that the climax is the most heightened point in the story as far as intensity is concerned where the story rolls fast toward its end. It is the moment in the story that brings all the elements together in a confrontation. The confrontation, depending on the story, can be a solution, a crisis, a height, or the logical result for the plot development up to that moment. In other words, the climax is the do-or-die moment for the story.
A strong climax insures a good story plot. If a story falls flat and the ending is less than satisfactory, the first place to check is the climax even before the character development.
To determine what the climax of the story is or if the climax works well, the questions to ask are:
 Which moment, possibly close to the ending, is the climax of the story?
Why is that moment the climax?
Is it the most exciting moment in the drama or is it an implied turn or twist?
How would one name that type of action? Is it a decision, a resolution, a reversal, or a discovery?
Does the climax match the story?
An example to this mismatch would be a calm and quiet novel, literary or otherwise with psychological innuendos and relationship details, abruptly ending with a natural disaster or a sudden high crime.
Is the action in that moment taken by the protagonist or a secondary character?
Does the climax involve the conclusion of the protagonist’s growth arc? In other words, did your protagonist act as the result of his evolution in the story?
When stories are open-ended such as The Lady or the Tiger due to the conceit tool or to get the reader going for another episode in a series, they may be successful as being witty and for leaving the reader with a question mark, but their plot construction is weak, since the climax is missing.
For practice:
If you are not happy with your stories in general and think their endings sag, try writing the climax scene first; afterwards, go back and write the story. Then do this several times with different story lines.
This exercise is difficult to do and is similar to the advice of writing the endings first, but it will train you to write powerful drama even if you do not publish or upload in your portfolio the climax scenes written for practice or the stories with the climax scenes written first.
Off-Topic: The 82nd Oscars were given this past Sunday. If you watched them, you probably saw how much work goes into making a movie, especially if you didn't study filmmaking. I watched the ceremony to see if I could pick up something or other. I found out how intensely the sound people work, how the technology helps, and how many different people work on just the background sound.
Still, it is the writing that wins the prize. 
Until next time...  |
 
 
Enjoy!
"If he had any fear in his eyes I couldn’t find it for they were as dark and lifeless as a pit viper’s."
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"t was only when he reached the second sentence of the spell that he realized he was reading the second one--the spell of release."
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: esprit Adriana Noir Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
This Issue’s Tip: In longer stories, let each crisis create more questions than the questions it answers, until very close to the end. But space the crises out, so they don't follow one on top of another in a heap.
In a short story, one serious crisis will suffice, especially if you are limited by word count.
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Vivian 
I enjoy reading a newsletter with "meat" in its content. You had some excellent content. ~~ Viv
Thanks very much, Viv. 
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SkyHawk - Into The Music
Joy,
A few things to add to your comments about trivia. One, don't be afraid to let seemingly trivial things or pieces of trivia inspire you (I get the feeling that some people think "inspiration" has to be some grandiose sign across the heavens to be valid). As an example, one night while driving I heard two words from a song and had an idea... that eventually helped to create eight chapters in a story. Those seemingly trivial bits can often create a cascade of other ideas.
Two, don't just list what a character owns (per your tip) but also include trivial / oddball / unexpected things in their makeup. One character Ihave is a paramedic inhis late 40's. He and his wife live outside of town, where she not only raises horses on their farm but uses them in equestrian therapy. And what does our paramedic do inhis spare time? Besides riding horses, he plays the violin - Classical Violin. These little extra bits, I feel, help add complexity to a character.
Skyhawk
Thanks for the input, Skyhawk.
Yes, the word inspiration is scary. Waiting for it to arrive on its own, although it may happen, may take forever. So why not make use of the tiniest things around us for inspiration!
In the tips, I do not go into anything in detail but just offer a tiny tidbit, but you do have a point in that a character development should include many other even more important aspects and details.
Your paramedic sounds like an interesting person. Send a link of his story to this newsletter. We'd love to read it.
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Drama: March 10, 2010 Issue [#3565]
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