What should the climax be?

Question

I have to construct a short story for school and I know it's a stupid question considering how many novels I've read, but does a climax have to be good?

My mom says it should be shocking or good.

What if it's something that's bad, like bad news. Does that not make it a climax??

In your opinion, what should a climax ultimately be?

Good? Bad? Shocking? Sad?

Answer 1

It should be climatic. I don't know what else to tell you (maybe I do). Just don't let it be melodramatic. It'd be easier to explain to you what it shouldn't be, and it shouldn't be a let down. It shouldn't be cliche. It shouldn't be a cop out (don't put your characters into an unsurvivalbe situation and save them illogically). There is a proper term for that, but I can't think of it off the top of my head and am too lazy to look.

If it should be anything, it should be strong and non-negotiable; the reader or a critic should not be able to look at it and say you have some kind of internal flaw in your work. It should be consistent with your story, in other words.

Answer 2

The climax can be any of the above. You begin your story at base level - things are perfectly normal. Then some kind of conflict hits that sets the plot in motion. As the characters in the story go along, they try to resolve the conflict. When they do, that is your climax. A climax is your resolution of a conflict. Therefore, bad news would be more of the conflict than the actual climax. The climax is how people resolve the bad news.

So a climax can be something good like a couple expecting their first baby races to the hospital when their car breaks down and the baby is delivered in the back seat of a police car. Or it can be something tragic like Flight 93 crashing in Pa. on 9/11 after the passengers attempted to stop it from crashing into the White House. Those are dramatic examples - most climaxes are a lot less dramatic than that.

Draw yourself a story arc. It should look like a rainbow. Start at the bottom left with things at the beginning - normal. Then add your conflict. Then along the way, add all the events leading up to the highest point, the climax. From there, things should fall back down again. That is an easy way to set up a story.

Good luck with your project. Get an A. Pax- C

Answer 3

The climax should be a turning point. If the climax includes bad news that changes the whole story, or maybe the perspective of a person then it is considered a climax. it is easier to figure out climax's from movies since you really feel the shock -- for example, in a murder movie, the climax could be when a wife finds out her husband killed her sister (idk, I'm just making one up =) It is considered a climax, because #1, she would have NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS, thought her husband would be the culprit... so that's the shock element right there


If the book/movie is a romance novel, the climax could be when the girl/boy finds out their partner is cheating..

The better the climax --> the better the story --> the better the book

Hope i helped =]

Answer 4

The climax has to fit with the story.

Not all short stories have to end in the same way. I'm reminded of Flowers For Algernon. The ending wasn't really a surprise and it was kind of depressing.

It all depends on the way that the story is done.

Good luck

Answer 5

The climax doesn't have to be really dramatic. In your story, you set up a problem of some sort. The climax is where the problem is resolved.

Answer 6

Most of the time the climax is the turning point or emotional high point for the characters. It can be any of the above. It could be someone winning the lottery or someone dying.

Answer 7

the climax is the exciting thing that you have been building up to like the identity of a murderer or something like that.
shocking is good, but it must be fast-paced
if it loses momentum, it becomes an anti-climax

Answer 8

Whatever works for the story, actually.

And, never let someone tell you how to write something(unless it's a teacher), it's all you.

In my opinion, it could be anything, I like good endings, bad endings, shocking endings(the "twist") and sad endings, and everything in between.

Answer 9

Anything you want. But it should be pretty exciting in either a bad, sad, good, dramatic, happy, anything way really. Just make sure that everything starts winding down after words.