Premature climaxing. :D

[Jo Zebedee]

I'm having a problem from time to time in my new WIP where I've done a really strong chapter, left it on a big climax and then found myself looking glumly at the screen thinking, "Well, follow that, then."

How do I follow it? At the moment, I'm moving onto a less key chapter in some ways, but a big one in terms of the second story-line/character arcs, but the start is quite muted.

Should I start the next chapter with a bang to keep the reader's adrenalin up? Or is it okay to quietly deflate to a sedate moment? It's about the third time it's happened in this wip, I think. Partly because one storyline is very dramatic, and close, and visual, and the other storyline is, perforce, a little more mundane (one character is the hunted and the others' are the searchers.)

 

[Brian G Turner]

It's simply creative choice. Some authors try and maintain a fast pace over the span of a short book. Other authors allow for peaks and troughs, especially for longer books.

The faster the general pace, the more increased the danger of losing out on character and internal conflict (from the books I've read, anyway).

 

[Abernovo]

I think ebb and flow in the pacing can work quite well sometimes. It doesn't leave you constantly on edge as a reader, but can also tease, to keep you (one) reading -- got to keep going, need to find out what happens. Piling on adrenaline can build the tension for exciting scenes, but too much risks burning some stories out, I think.

So long as your characters and story threads are interesting and compelling (which, with you, I'm sure they are), it should be all right.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It's simply creative choice. Some authors try and maintain a fast pace over the span of a short book. Other authors allow for peaks and troughs, especially for longer books.

The faster the general pace, the more increased the danger of losing out on character and internal conflict (from the books I've read, anyway).

I don't think it's a general pacing issue -- this is probably the slowest paced book I've written -- and it's not to do with a lack of internal conflict. In fact, it's mostly happening at the end of close-internal scenes, where we're very drawn into the character (I think.) It's more a sense of we've been very close, we've built up to a crescendo, and now I have to deflate that crescendo.

 

[Mouse]

What Aber said.

I tend to stick a big dramaz scene (or a big reveal) right in the middle of whatever I'm writing, so for TBM, for instance, it was the hotel fire. I think that falls almost exactly in the middle of the book. It calms after that, then has to build up again.

I think in the middle of KOM it's the dragons in the gorge scene. Then it has to build again.

In what I'm working on with amw, we were discussing something because we've just done a big reveal and amw wondered if it was too early. My guess at how long the story will end up, means it's come in the middle, which I'm happy with. We've just got dust settling scenes now, before the build up again.

 

[HareBrain]

It's more a sense of we've been very close, we've built up to a crescendo, and now I have to deflate that crescendo.

A pedant would point out that a crescendo is the build-up, rather than just the climax. But not me.

The biggest climax should come near the end, of course, but the old "tension and release" pattern before that is ideal.

Is the POV the same, going from the mini-climax to what follows? If not, then no problem. If it is the same, then I think it can feel deflating if it follows straight on. What I've found best in that circumstance (both as reader and writer) is to jump forward in time, or change scene, so the character and reader aren't immediately faced with sorting out the aftermath of the climax, which can sometimes be a bit dull. Having jumped forward, you can then "catch up" by relating anything necessary that's happened in between.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I read somewhere once, Mouse, that the first mini-climax should be about a third of the way through the story. Mind, I don't hold much truck with these structure-by-numbers approaches, so didn't get too wrapped on it. But it did make sort of sense.

I think I only have one scene where it stays in the same pov after, HB. I don't know there's a lot I can do about that one (which is the one you commented on, so it might be just that I'm watching for it happening too often), but all the others jump from the MC pov to a secondary after the climax. So, I might get away with them better.

 

[Mouse]

I have lots of mini-climaxes.

 

[HareBrain]

I think I only have one scene where it stays in the same pov after, HB. I don't know there's a lot I can do about that one (which is the one you commented on.

Oh yeah, I knew this whole thing rang a bell. At least I'm consistent.

From memory, though, that only bothered me for a couple of paragraphs, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. You should spend that energy worrying about using musical terminology correctly.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have lots of mini-climaxes.

Hee. I thought no one was going to say that.

Oh yeah, I knew this whole thing rang a bell. At least I'm consistent.

From memory, though, that only bothered me for a couple of paragraphs, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. You should spend that energy worrying about using musical terminology correctly.

I shall go research. Immediately.

 

[Boneman]

I think after the crescendo, there's the post-coital tristesse (although Wiki says it's more common in men than women) where a period of quiet must happen. In writing a crescendo, I feel you may be worrying unnecessarily, as the reader will need to figuratively get his breath back, and if there's another bang to start the next chapter, he may come to expect this throughout. I agree with Abernovo about the burnout, and I Brian makes a very good point (I think - correct me if I'm wrong, Brian!) that a big crescendo is usually about action and major things happening, where necessarily we're carried along by it, and the writer may not have a chance to show internal conflict and growth in this scene. Naturally, it may not be needed - not much character conflict needed if your character is swept away by a Tsunami and is only struggling for survival, but when he reaches calmer waters he'll reflect.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Seems to be unanimous that having a cooling down period after a big climax is perfectly fine. In fact, I believe they are practically essential depending on the story. I wouldn't start the next chapter with a bang, but instead suggest starting it with a reflection on what happened, showing the fallout and residue of the big climax. There is much emotion found in such scenes and it would be a shame to throw away the chance for the reader to connect with the characters by adding more action straight away. The character development comes in those cooling down, reflective periods more than it does during action, and character development is critical to the story.

I myself am about to redraft a critical moment in my story involving a house fire and kidnapping. The scene will be followed by the protagonists recovering from the disaster and working out what they have to do next. And like I've said, the recovery scene is critical to the development of my main character. Of course, the recovery scene skips forward in time a little bit, as HB suggested, and starts long after the fire is already put out and over with.


As far as structure of stories go, what you've heard and read is just guidelines and won't suit every single story. Don't worry so much about symmetry and just put the climaxes where they need to go.

 

[paranoid marvin]

JRR does it all the way through the LOTR trilogy; in fact his greatest achievement is in Return of the King. It's only afterwards that you realise that the Scouring of the Shire is the true climax, and not the events on Mount Doom. Something sadly missed in Jackson's movie.