Tag: climax

Plotting the End of Your Story

Quan

If you were ever wondering how to end the story you are writing, I may have some ways to help. I had a couple of tricks for figuring out the endgame of a couple of books. For Double Entry, at the penultimate scene, I literally had my protag voice out how I was feeling. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, so I had him literally tell that to his love interest, and wrote her reaction. It came together well, allowed me another moment to let them bond, and reinforced some of the themes I had been pushing in the book. Having them talk also clarified how the primary antagonist was going to behave during the final confrontation. So sometimes if you don’t really know where a story is going, it’s okay to let your characters articulate your uncertainty or frustration. It might lead to some new insights.

The other trick was to envision what a follow-up to the story would look like. If/when your book gets a sequel, what are some of the themes and ideas you’d explore? Where would you take your most important characters? If someone dies, how would they be remembered in your sequel? How would the sequel make things worse for your hero or heroine? Now, with those ideas germinating in your head, grandfather your climax and denoument to set up those threads in your potential sequel. Maybe you want your protag hellbent on revenge against his arch-nemesis in the sequel…so maybe the bad guy needs to do something deserving of revenge at the end of your current book (just an example. I’ve been talking with people in my James Bond fangroups on Facebook on why many of us have On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as our favorite bond movie, so that’s on the brain). And this would work even if you don’t intend for the book to get a sequel. I specifically let Calloway (my main antagonist in Double Entry) get away because I liked the idea of doing a hardboiled action-crime follow-up that was a complete shift in tone and theme from Double Entry, where Calloway goes on a mission to undo the mess he made in DE, with predictably disastrous, violent results. I never wrote the sequel because that would require more knowledge of the inner workings of drug gangs in Portland, OR than I have the stomach to learn, but leaving the door open for that sequel is what helped me decide Calloway’s fate in Double Entry.

I’m also a proponent of “just follow you character around and see what happens.” The only issue with that is knowing when to stop following. Where is the jump-off point where you know the main character arc of the journey has been completed, and a new one is about to start? For that answer, you have to look at where the journey started. When did the central problem present itself, and has the problem been resolved? The jump-off point, and therefore the ending of that arc, is when the prevalent problem comes to its resolution. And as a writer, you should be able to tell when that moment happens.

These are just a few of my go-to techniques for finishing stories. Please comment with any that you may have come up with. Here’s a book from Wizards of the Coast that handled its ending particularly well.

More on Writing The Final Battle

Quan

If you read my previous post about writing final battles, here are a few more thoughts about the process.

First things first. You’ve gotta give your final bad guys a weakness. There has to be a way to beat them, otherwise it defeats the purpose of your hero’s quest. I believe this is the whole reason for the whole silver/garlic shtick with our fanged and furry friends (if I ever decide to write my shelved Werewolf story idea “Hunter’s Moon”, I’m doing away with that weakness to silver. In my world, werewolves can be killed like any other living creature. but the catch is they are more cunning than average werewolves. these guys are still half human, after all. They can plan, set traps and use guns as well as hunt you down and rip your head off. I think that would be an interesting enemy to have to fight against). Otherwise these things are unstoppable monsters and there’s no point in fighting them. Your audience needs to see your heroine find a way, so you need to build one in. You can give some crazy backstory behind the weakness, but it has to be there.

Don’t think too big, even if your current story is one part of a larger narrative or storyarc. yes, this is part of a larger narrative, but this also has to work as a self-contained story. I’m going to again tell you what my publisher at Necro told me: there has to be a payoff. for Godmode, the problem was Elijah going through all this crap only to fail at saving anybody (Snitsky, Ith, his wife or his child). you have to reward the readers in some way for following your character through all of that hell. For a large story arc…Everything your protag has done so far culminates into this one moment, which is part of preparing her for the next moment in the next story, which is an even bigger moment. It’s part of the progression of the hero. And this isn’t literal. This is a matter of how you craft the story. By the time your heroine meets her last foe, you, the writer, will need to have given her the tools to give herself a fighting chance to win. If she doesn’t, then you failed her, and that part of the story’s not over until she at least has a chance to win.

Here’s an allegory: everything I have done in my career has prepared me for the job I have right now. Learning web design, Learning specific graphics programs like InDesign and Photoshop, Working in the publishing industry designing at newspapers, running my own magazine in college, writing for my college newspaper, including writing reviews and conducting interviews, learning to efficiently research stuff online, learning to get along with coworkers, understanding the editing process, even the clipart sites i used as a freelancer: all of that stuff has played a part in my success (so far) at my current dayjob. I once interviewed my now ex-brother in law for a featured article in the magazine, which draws upon another set of life experiences because him trusting me enough to ask him about his time in the Marines and his time as a police officer was not something that was built overnight. I’ve been preparing for that job my entire life.

That’s what I mean. everything your heroine has been through, the skills she picked up, the weapons she collected, the lessons she learned about handling certain situations and people, all of that was training and preparation for this. one. battle. I know there will be other final battles in the future, but if she can’t figure out how to win this one, there WON’T be any others. and that’s kinda the point.

If you haven’t watched the film Donnie Darko, I recommend you at least read some of the analyses of the movie. There are a bunch on Youtube. it’s a fascinating look at how this kid was led to be the savior of his world. long story short: he came across an unexplained artifact that created a tangent universe that was going to collapse on itself and destroy the real universe if he didn’t find out where that artifact came from and put it back. The people in this tangent universe are called “the manipulated dead” and they are all giving him clues and tools to save the world – even the ones antagonizing him, but he – and the audience – doesn’t know it. And since he was chosen, he also has some supernatural powers to help him complete the task. Nothing major, but just enough to get what needs to be done, done. and everything he does in the movie sets off sequences of events like dominoes falling, which leads right up to him doing what needs to be done, at the cost of his own life. Come to think of it, this is a similar phenomenon to how the video game Link’s Awakening progresses. Those are extreme examples, but that’s pretty much what every writer does with their protagonists, and what you’re doing with your heroine.

That’s why I asked what your protag has learned. There has to be some nuggets of knowledge she picked up in her story that will come in handy during this battle. same thing with her special abilities. She was granted those powers for a reason. This is the reason. Perhaps at some point of time, she learned of her enemies’ weakness, but it was unimportant factoid at the time. and of her blade fighting training, one of the techniques she learned is VERY effective on that particular weakspot. She learns from a previous battle to not to hold back, or to never turn her back on a defeated foe, or maybe she learns the secret to fighting off multiple foes by herself. I’m talking about very practical lessons she learned that she can use to win.

And if at all possible, avoid information dumps. they read too much like exposition. the intel she needs to win this battle should be learned throughout the story , not on the day before the final battle.

Hubris is a good weakness for your final boss to have. Some of Comicdom’s most powerful villains are usually stopped because they are too arrogant to think there are any flaws in their plans. For guys like Lex Luthor and Dr. Doom, their arrogance is literally their only real weakness. They often underestimate their foes, or do not thoroughly reinforce their plans, and end up leaving a loose thread, which, when pulled by the hero, makes the whole plan unravel.

Even if you’re writing a series of novels/movies and this will be one of many final battles, don’t fall into the trap of thinking too meta. you need to go micro with this moment. If your heroine doesn’t shine in this battle, there may not be any more final battles for her to engage in (story-wise or publication-wise). THIS battle – whichever one your heroine is in at the moment – is literally your heroine’s finest hour. Which means this foe needs to bring out the best of her. You have to make the opposition’s weapons formidable, but there has to be a way to overcome them built in that your heroine can exploit. The mithril armor and Sting don’t seem like much for Bilbo and Frodo, until they are in battle and that little glowing sword saves everyone’s lives. Think of your foe’s weapons and powers as opportunities for your heroine to show off HER abilities. it’s kind of like a dance, and you need to choreograph it.

Now look at the environment the battle is happening in. Your characters are not going to be fighting in an empty room, or even in a ring. There will be natural obstacles and weapons lying around which can help raise the stakes and the level of danger in the fight. A crumbling stronghold holds different obstacles than a sinking ship, which is different from a desolate battlefield or a dense jungle. The final battle in Kill Bill happened at a picnic table in a couple of lawn chairs in a suburban backyard. When you’re in a fight for your life, and you’re fighting for everything you hold dear, you’re going to utilize every advantage at your disposal. That’s why you need to give your final foe a built in weakness. And Your heroine needs to be the one to recognize it and be the first to exploit it.

Terry Pratchett example of this: Cohen the Barbarian is the world’s oldest Barbarian. before you laugh, remember that he has worked in a very deadly profession and lived to be a very old age. think about that, and THEN you can laugh. in any case, he’s in a Japanese-like world facing off against some samurai. The samurai want to show how skilled they are, so one pulls out a hankerchief, throws it in the air, and slices it into thirds while it is still in the air. Cohen is impressed, and now he wants to try it, so he pulls out a handkerchief and throws it in the air. while the samurai are all looking up at the handkerchief, he cuts all of their heads off. his quote? “You can show off, or you can fight. you can’t do both.”

Another way to enhance your final battle is with in-battle dialogue. this is the final battle. this is personal. there will be trash talked, and plenty of it. what are these guys saying to and about each other before the fight? during it? after it?

By the time you get to the final battle, there has to be more at stake than your protag’s survival. What exactly is she trying to do when all Hell breaks loose? what is she trying to do right at that moment within the framework of her overall quest in story. every good hero’s journey involves the quest. what is her quest for this leg of her journey? what is she trying to obtain or accomplish? And why is it so important for your final foe to stop her?

Regardless of what genre your story is in, a final battle is and should be heavy on the action. Doesn’t matter if it’s physical, verbal, or psychological: the pace of this confrontation has to be brisk and full of tension. There has to back a back and forth and ebb & flow to the momentum of the battle. it really is like a dance. or better yet, like a well choreographed pro wrestling match (I loves me some rasslin’). the best matches tell a story within themselves, have good, solid action of a hard fought battle, engage the crowd and get them cheering or booing and genuinely caring about the outcome, and make it hard to predict who is going to win or lose. Dances With Smurfs –er– Avatar actually nailed those aspects of the final battle.

Speaking of Avatar, why dontcha check that movie out again to see what I’m talking about?

Writing The Final Battle

Quan

Probably one of the most fun and challenging parts of writing Godmode was coming up with the final battle. My Content Editor is working on her latest novel, and came to me for some advice about the process of it. This is what I told her:

The final battle is the culmination of everything your story has been building up to. Basically, everything your protagonist has done, experienced and learned was in preparation for that one moment. and with it being a battle, it will be against a foe that will require everything that protagonist has learned to defeat.

Take an inventory of your heroine. What are her special abilities? What has she learned throughout the course of the story? What are the weapons at her disposal? What life lessons has she learned that will be of use during this conflict? What weaknesses can the foe still exploit? Why is it more important to your heroine personally to beat this foe than any previous one?

Now look at your villain, or whatever your final foe is. What are his special abilities and skills? What are his weapons and tools? What are his weaknesses? How far in advance would he have planned for this battle, or was he caught by surprise? Most mastermind-type villains are very hard to beat when they’ve had time to prepare – that can also apply to heroes, by the way. Heroes like Black Panther and Batman are dangerous despite their lack of superpowers because they are meticulous in scouting their opponents and preparing for them accordingly. Being mere mortals, they would get creamed in a fair fight against these demigods…so they make sure the fight is never fair. Or you can go the opposite route, with a foe that can adapt to any situation and turn it to his advantage (re: Captain America and James Bond. a villainous version would be Deathstroke the Terminator). Both types of foe present their own sets of challenges for the heroine. And finally, what are the stakes for the villain? Why is this a fight that he can’t just walk away from?

Your final foe has to be able to push your heroine to the absolute limit of her abilities and endurance. This has to be her most dangerous battle, the one she is in the greatest danger of not making it out alive from. So think about your villain’s abilities and weapons in this way: how will this ability or weapon test my heroine? What skills and knowledge will it force her to utilize? What happens to her-specifically- if she can’t overcome that particular ability or weapon? Godmode’s final monster battle was the amalgamation, a mishmash of a bunch of deadly animals, that had an answer for everything Elijah tried to do against it. To win, Elijah had to utilize the tools of his environment, tap into skills he had forgotten he had, and …most importantly…not lose control, because his rage mode would have surely gotten him killed.

Now look at the environment the battle is happening in. your characters are not going to be fighting in an empty room, or even in a ring. There will be natural obstacles and weapons lying around which can help raise the stakes and the level of danger in the fight.a crumbling stronghold holds different obstacles than a sinking ship, which is different from a desolate battlefield or a dense jungle. The final battle in Kill Bill happened at a picnic table in a couple of lawn chairs in a suburban backyard. When you’re in a fight for your life, and you’re fighting for everything you hold dear, you’re going to utilize every advantage at your disposal.

This is a formula similar to that in many video games. in most action and adventure-based games, you’ll have accumulated a lot of new weapons, techniques and abilities to get through the game, but to defeat the last boss, you’re going to need all of those skills and then some to find a way to win. Especially in JRPGs like the old Final Fantasy games. your characters could be leveled up to the max with the best weapons, but if you don’t wisely utilize your attacks, spells and items, you will still get your rear end handed to you.

This is the fight where your heroine reaches her full potential, so don’t be afraid to cut loose and go all out with the special effects and collateral damage. If you get stuck, blow something up. it worked for X1999 and Akira. Dragonball Z and The Matrix, too, for that matter. and Man of Steel. and Pacific Rim.

Another thing to consider is the personal element of this confrontation. How are the people involved connected? What kind of dialogue would they be having in the middle of this fight? What personal history or surprise revelations are going to be brought up? Remember that moment when Vader told Luke he was his father. That revelation was made even more powerful because Luke had already lost the battle, as well as his hand. It was demoralizing for him as a character, but planted seeds for the next phase of the story: how is Luke going to redeem his father? Inception’s final confrontation didn’t have a big fight, but it did have Cobb finally owning up to the truth about why his wife killed herself, and confronting that aspect of his psyche that had been sabotaging his efforts from day one.

As for the fallout…what is the purpose for your final battle anyway? What is your heroine trying to accomplish and why is the foe trying to stop it? And not in the meta “Save the world” sense, but very specifically: what exactly is your heroine trying to do, (press a button, deliver a message, drink a soda) and why exactly is this person or thing trying to stop her? Answer that question and you’ll answer what to write about. In the end, your heroine will either be able to do what she set out to do, or she won’t. It’s as simple as that. Start by writing that exact moment, and build off of that. I’ll even say that writing the aftermath might give you some clues as to what happens during the battle.

My example this time is a Final Battle that Wizards of the Coast had been building up to in 3 years’ worth of stories. In this novel all of their discordant threads come together and the heroes are put to the ultimate test.

There Has To Be A Payoff

Quan

Like many others, I’ve always been fascinated by stories that have sad or dour endings. There always seemed to be something deeper, more profound or cathartic about the Protagonist NOT getting what they were striving for the whole story to get. But as a writer, you have to be very careful with how you handle sad endings. It can often be a cop-out because you wrote yourself into a corner and gave your protagonist a problem they can’t solve without some sort of deus ex machina interference. In that instance, you have to better plan your story in advance so your protagonist will have the skills and resources available before hand to find a way out of their ultimate predicament beforehand.

But even if you choose to have the bad ending, there still has to be a payoff of some sorts for the journey that the reader took with you for this whole story. There has to be some modicum of closure, even a small one. As a reader, when you follow a story, you are taking this immense journey through the ups and downs and trials and tribulations of the protagonist as they work to solve the big problem that set the story into motion. You are suffering along with them, experiencing their highs and lows with them, and investing a lot of your emotional and mental energy into their plight. To not get some form of payoff means you had essentially a wasted trip.

This does not mean every story has to have a happy ending. But it does mean that something the protagonist sets out to accomplish must be fulfilled for your reader to feel that the journey was worth the emotional and time investment. Even something minor.

Case in Point: The Empire Strikes Back. We all know that as the movie where the bad guys win. The Rebellion is sent reeling, Han is gone and Luke lost not only his hand but his innocence. But there is still some amount of closure in the film; Luke has enhanced his Jedi Training and faced his first real test. Leia and company were able to find and rescue Luke from Bespin and they gained a new ally in Lando. So it wasn’t a total loss: there was still hope that the good guys could come back and win in movie 3.

This is the advice Dave Barnett, Publisher of Necro Publications and author of “Dead Souls,” Gave me in one of my early drafts of Godmode. This led me to completely overhaul the ending of the book:

“I feel there is absolutely no payoff for the reader. There was no
climax and therefore no denouement. You establish the villain and he just gets away, no real tension or battle. I realize you’re trying to set this up to be a series, but there needs to be some sort of emotional payoff for the reader at the end. You basically have a book with no ending.
I know writers are told to write something that can be a series because it’s easier to sell. This can be a series, obviously, because of what you set up with the cityscape in ruins, but does it need to be? You could have just wrapped it up nicely in this book by at least killing the secretary then there’s a struggle and he almost kills the main villain or does, gets his wife and kid back, THEN is faced with having to survive in this destroyed city or world? Then the rest of the series is trying to get somewhere safe while finding out there’s something even bigger and more sinister at work. So you have something, but to repeat myself, you just to deliver more of a payoff, then set it up for the next book.”

I am currently writing a story where the heroes get their asses kicked at the end of the book. But there is an important side mission they manage to be successful at in the process of said ass-kicking, this is the feelgood moment so the reader doesn’t feel like the story is a total loss.

So next time you think of writing a story (especially a novel or screenplay) with a bad ending, consider giving the reader at least a little something to smile about amidst all the dourness.