The climax is the last big scene your reader will experience before finishing your novel.
Which is why it’s imperative to make it as terrible as possible.
After all, if they like the climax, they start badgering you to write more novels.
And no writer ever wants that.
Watch our latest video, where we explain how to save you from such a terrible fate.
Music Credit:Â Andromeda Coast
Other Videos In This Series:
How to Write the Worst Allegory Ever
How to Write the Worst Fight Scene Ever
How to Write the Worst Fantasy Novel Ever
Since I’m coming to the end of my first novel, I appreciate this advice. Lol 😀
Haha, thanks Moriah!
Oh dear. I’m finishing off my book too, and I think…
*reads over book*
Oh no.
*reads again*
I think it’s unpredictable.
I think it’s ending at a not-random point.
Help! Josiah and The Reak Kapeefer! :O Before it’s too late!
*eyes widen* Oh yeah; that’s a huge problem. Best to fix that ASAP.
Hey yeah! 😀 I know how to fix it!
I could write the awful predictable climax, then cut and paste it in a random chapter… say chapter 17. Yeah. That should be random enough, right?
As long as dice are being rolled, it’s random.
Shall I drink tea while I roll the dice?
@the-real-kapeefer You needed a candlestick microphone at the ending. Still, you sold me on thinking about how to rearrange my climaxes from now on… I think I may just slice them out altogether
Not sure if we have any candlesticks in our house… May have to go hunting for them now, though.
Deux ex machina endings make me feel warm and fuzzy. XD
Excellent, excellent. The best kind of ending possible.
You have saved me from certain doom! I almost wrote a climax that was unexpected and at the end of the story! That was close.
One question though. In the text above the video, you said we don’t want readers to badger us for the next book, but in the video, you said we want them buy the next book since it is all about the money. How can we do both?
The key is to have readers who don’t badger you but who buy your books anyways. Best method is to steal credit cards.
Hmmm….luck introduced on page one….hero wins climax battle by luck….the only way he could’ve done it…
Have you two been reading the Lando Calrissian Adventures?
I’ll be sure to follow this advice if and when I ever get to my climax. You know, if I have one at all. *mind blown*
Not familiar with that, actually. Is it a book or comic series from SW?
Its a trilogy-in-one-book from Star Wars. Its actually my favorite, so much so that the cover’s fallen off and the binding’s split in half. (My bookshelves are basically good book graveyards)
What if the hero doesn’t really win at all, but neither does the villain? What if the villains and the heroes are both almost completely destroyed by an outside force that turns out to be the real villain? What if it’s completely unpredictable, leads to further character growth, and and sets up a great ending with the heroes having hope for a new life and the villains powerless (or dead), but doesn’t have a real final battle between good and evil (even though the entire book is full of smaller battles?)
Would that make for a good climax or a bad one? (This is how my book is probably going to turn out, but I think it’ll work.)
*steps out of sarcastic mode for a moment* I think you’d need a lot of foreshadowing to make a completely-new villain work. I’ve considered using a version of that myself in different book ideas I’ve tossed around in the past, but you’ll need to be really careful to make it avoid feeling out-of-the-blue. You’d also need to be careful about what audience expectations are, so they aren’t disappointed by the lack of a final battle. It could definitely work and be pretty effective, but you’ll need to make sure it doesn’t come too far out of left field.
*falls at your feet in gratitude*
Sires, I thank thee both for saving me from a most unfortunate fate! The climax I had planned was… I can scarce say it… at the end! And tied in with the moral theme to my book! I hang my head in shame to think I almost made this mistake. But the advice thou hast given shall be of untold value to me. I thanks thee again, from the bottom of my heart, which I trust it a great deal less shallow than Josiah’s.
Wow. Yeah, you narrowly avoided a close one there. Glad we could help.
“As ready as my puppies are for milking after I feed them that famous McDonald’s sweet tea”…
I think I just died laughing. Keep up the good work @therealkapeefer. Dying is interesting.
Blebr. @the-real-kapeefer
This is late but…
Okay, that was REALLY CREEPY. Did anyone notice that Josiah’s was mouthing Daniel’s lines as Daniel was saying them?? It starts at about 1:50
*hides in corner* Am I being too judgmental here?
Sometimes I’m not very subtle about which parts of these things are scripted. >.>