Consider a fantasy novel of 100,000 words. At about what point should the final climax be over? In other words, what would the average cool down person be before the novel ends?
About timing in a novel
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Cool down period? A few pages. Check your own fantasy novels and see. Once the climax is over, don't stick around to long. Take a lesson from the last few years of SNL. They had funny ideas but they never knew when to end the skit.
Once the climax is done with, close it out fast. Wrap things up as quickly as you can. No cuddling, no talking about a possible future. Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am.
Seriously, don't take too long to wrap things up. And do check the books you enjoy and see what they do. Epilogues don't count. I think epilogues are like prologues. Better left out.
Once the climax is done with, close it out fast. Wrap things up as quickly as you can. No cuddling, no talking about a possible future. Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am.
Seriously, don't take too long to wrap things up. And do check the books you enjoy and see what they do. Epilogues don't count. I think epilogues are like prologues. Better left out.
Epilogues are a matter of taste. If the situation is epic enough, I like an epiloge set a few years later when things have cooled down.
Aim for less than 5,000 words of cool down. That might be generous, but then if you have a multithreaded story you may still have minor climaxes after the major one is wrapped up.
Aim for less than 5,000 words of cool down. That might be generous, but then if you have a multithreaded story you may still have minor climaxes after the major one is wrapped up.
I remember reading "Battlefield Earth" many years ago. I was frustrated by what seemed to be multiple climaxes throughout the story. It just kept going! It really became somewhat annoying. Just my opinion.
You, too, huh? It read, and seemed, to be a series that was contained in one book instead of multiple books. By the end, I was just ready for it to be over.
I tired to finish Battlefield Earth one night and had to stop with 50 pages left. I just couldn't press though them without sleep.
I just finished reading 'Crown of Stars' by Kate Elliot. It's an epic fantasy series--7 books, each about the size of a kiddie Bible. The last battle of the series takes place about 100 pages from the end of the book, because there's lots of cleanup to attend to. And the characters have their own minor (globally speaking) climaxes, and then there are practically two prolouges--one is the final chapter, and then there's an epilogue about fourty years later. I think it's a good way to wrap up what was really a complex series.
For simpler things, I've seen it done in a chapter. For really simple things (the shorter Westerns I've read, which are more straightforward with one main conflict), a paragraph or two sends the characters towards a conclusion.
I just finished reading 'Crown of Stars' by Kate Elliot. It's an epic fantasy series--7 books, each about the size of a kiddie Bible. The last battle of the series takes place about 100 pages from the end of the book, because there's lots of cleanup to attend to. And the characters have their own minor (globally speaking) climaxes, and then there are practically two prolouges--one is the final chapter, and then there's an epilogue about fourty years later. I think it's a good way to wrap up what was really a complex series.
For simpler things, I've seen it done in a chapter. For really simple things (the shorter Westerns I've read, which are more straightforward with one main conflict), a paragraph or two sends the characters towards a conclusion.
Five to ten pages, and they should be ultra-meaningful pages. Like Luke and Han getting medals.
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My opinion, I'm sure there are more:
Typical formula used in most 3 act literature,
If you divide the book in quarters: beginning=1/4th, middle=2/4ths, end=1/4th
BEGINNING
The hook= first page or within a few pages
Introduction of character type, and "steady state" = from hook to 1/4th
Initiating incident=1/4th
MIDDLE Due
Rising action=1/4th to 3/4ths three to five major incidents, many minor incidents
depends on the story needs. The middle is where most of the story happens, but it is the area most beginning writers ignore.
END
Character "crisis"= slightly after the the 3/4th mark
1/8th to 1/16th = final action "Climax"
These do not need to be exact, obviously but need to be done in this order. The thing about cutting it up like this is that the big climax scene usually takes up much more page space, because the big scene is usually what the story has been moving towards.
And as they said the actual climax goes all the way to the end, there is only a slight drop off for the Denouement.
(Luke and Han getting medals was the Denouement)
Typical formula used in most 3 act literature,
If you divide the book in quarters: beginning=1/4th, middle=2/4ths, end=1/4th
BEGINNING
The hook= first page or within a few pages
Introduction of character type, and "steady state" = from hook to 1/4th
Initiating incident=1/4th
MIDDLE Due
Rising action=1/4th to 3/4ths three to five major incidents, many minor incidents
depends on the story needs. The middle is where most of the story happens, but it is the area most beginning writers ignore.
END
Character "crisis"= slightly after the the 3/4th mark
1/8th to 1/16th = final action "Climax"
These do not need to be exact, obviously but need to be done in this order. The thing about cutting it up like this is that the big climax scene usually takes up much more page space, because the big scene is usually what the story has been moving towards.
And as they said the actual climax goes all the way to the end, there is only a slight drop off for the Denouement.
(Luke and Han getting medals was the Denouement)
Cool down period? In a fantasy? I wouldn't think it would be very long at all. But I guess it would be best to look at these things on a case by case basis. It doesn't make sense to give them a formula. I look for perfectly exquisite denouements in literary novels... with a fantasy, which is admittedly not a genre I dip into very often, I'm happy without a 'cool down period', or an extremely brief one.
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I write stories much longer than 100,000 words, so I've found that I typically use just one chapter to summarize everything after the climax. To use more might make the story drag on and turn into another story when it's supposed to be ending! I'm not sure how many pages it would equal. Maybe around 5000 words or so? Granted, with stories so long there's probably more summarizing needed in the denouement than in a story of more typical length so I'd take that into account. I suppose it depends on how complex the story is.
I HATE stories where BAM there's the climax and then THE END! I've seen too many big movies that end like this. Disaster movies and the like. Half the world has just been blown up, the day is saved, then--THE END. Never mind the thing I find most interesting about such movies--the effects these events will have on the characters--apparently Hollywood has decided that a wind-down period isn't necessary. I'm always so frustrated with endings like that. WHAT HAPPENED THEN??
So that's why I prefer at least a small summary or cooling-down period after the climax. A story feels like the ending has been cut off, otherwise. But if the climax happens too soon (or the wind-down period is too long), like I said, it threatens to make the story drag. Enough things should be resolved in the climax itself that the denouement shouldn't go on too long.
I HATE stories where BAM there's the climax and then THE END! I've seen too many big movies that end like this. Disaster movies and the like. Half the world has just been blown up, the day is saved, then--THE END. Never mind the thing I find most interesting about such movies--the effects these events will have on the characters--apparently Hollywood has decided that a wind-down period isn't necessary. I'm always so frustrated with endings like that. WHAT HAPPENED THEN??
So that's why I prefer at least a small summary or cooling-down period after the climax. A story feels like the ending has been cut off, otherwise. But if the climax happens too soon (or the wind-down period is too long), like I said, it threatens to make the story drag. Enough things should be resolved in the climax itself that the denouement shouldn't go on too long.
Spoiler alert: Nothing happens. The characters aren't real. They are created to specifically fulfill their role in the climax.
Okay. That was mean. Sorry.
*laughs at Penguin Queen*
Oh wow, ahaha, thanks for that!
Ahem, so anyway, back to the subject lol.
I'm working on my ending as well. My biggest log-in-the-way has been the ending because in my head, when originally conceived, the story was a trilogy. Soooo, my original ending was sort of a cliff hangar. And then this wonderful place "learned" me and I realized being a first time writer, it isn't so wise to DO that. SO, my big climax starts in the third to last chapter and my denouement will be a few last paragraphs in the last chapter.
I'm still in the process of writing the last three chapters (revising, ect), but I THINK this works for the story. I'm sure my beta's will tell me so.
Oh wow, ahaha, thanks for that!
Ahem, so anyway, back to the subject lol.
I'm working on my ending as well. My biggest log-in-the-way has been the ending because in my head, when originally conceived, the story was a trilogy. Soooo, my original ending was sort of a cliff hangar. And then this wonderful place "learned" me
and I realized being a first time writer, it isn't so wise to DO that. SO, my big climax starts in the third to last chapter and my denouement will be a few last paragraphs in the last chapter. I'm still in the process of writing the last three chapters (revising, ect), but I THINK this works for the story. I'm sure my beta's will tell me so.
My latest WIP, which I'm editing, ends fairly quickly after the climax. There's the final battle/fight and then after it's over, there's only about three hundred (maybe a little more) words of denouement. I do think it's a little hasty (and I totally agree with tehuti about sudden 'the ends') but it works for this story.
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I ran through a random bunch of books on my shelves and regardless of genre it's the quicker wind ups that work for me. Once the climax is reached I like the loose ends tied up neatly and briefly. Maybe I have a short attention span but once it's over, it's over.
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Yeah, that's because L. Ron Hubbard was one of the worst writers of all time. And Battlefield Earth was his bizarro-masterpiece, the worst of his worst.
The movie is hilarious, but in a totally unintended way. If you are a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, I recommend you look up the RiffTrax version of Battlefield Earth and watch it. It pays off in whole spades of LOLs.
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I just checked my completed manuscript and the last chapter, the denouement, is 8 pages long. So yeah, I agree with everyone else that things get wrapped up pretty quick after the final climax.
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I tend to write the climax so it ends just at the chapter break. Then I write one last short chapter of denouement. Unless the purpose of the story is to leave the reader breathless, it's really nice to have a cooling down period, kind of like walking it off after a run.
It All Depends.
On how complex the story threads are. On how much has gone before. On how much we care about the characters.
The movie version of "Lord of the Rings" has been criticized for having ending after ending, but it has a far less prolonged ending than the book did. But the book also resolves, in "The Scouring of the Shire" two major threads (the fate of the Shire and the future of Saruman) and a major thematic element (some must lose everything so that others can thrive in safety). The book would be far weaker as literature if the ending hadn't gone on and on. In fact, I think the book could have used another chapter or so (Gimli and Legolas sort of drop out of the story).
At the other extreme. I've read stories that could hardly bear the weight of three pages past the climax...
On how complex the story threads are. On how much has gone before. On how much we care about the characters.
The movie version of "Lord of the Rings" has been criticized for having ending after ending, but it has a far less prolonged ending than the book did. But the book also resolves, in "The Scouring of the Shire" two major threads (the fate of the Shire and the future of Saruman) and a major thematic element (some must lose everything so that others can thrive in safety). The book would be far weaker as literature if the ending hadn't gone on and on. In fact, I think the book could have used another chapter or so (Gimli and Legolas sort of drop out of the story).
At the other extreme. I've read stories that could hardly bear the weight of three pages past the climax...
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I tried to read a bit of "Battlefield Earth" and all I could think was, "Doesn't this f*ckhead realize he is parodying himself?" Amazing what some people see when they stick their head where the sun never shines.
But back to the topic -- I like a reasonable cooldown. It depends on what kind of climax it is. If they climbed a mountain, it can end on the mountaintop with a grand view. Let the characters down a few beers after the battle or whatever it takes to let it sink in that they made it. No more than a short chapter at most, to tie loose ends -- maybe a happy reunion (or a last revenge) for a small secondary climax, like tapering off drugs.
But back to the topic -- I like a reasonable cooldown. It depends on what kind of climax it is. If they climbed a mountain, it can end on the mountaintop with a grand view. Let the characters down a few beers after the battle or whatever it takes to let it sink in that they made it. No more than a short chapter at most, to tie loose ends -- maybe a happy reunion (or a last revenge) for a small secondary climax, like tapering off drugs.
A couple of pages, to tie up the minor plots and give the reader a sense that the book is coming to an end.
Somewhere between a single paragraph and a hundred pages (how's that for specific?). Sometimes when it's over, it's over, and continuing for page after page would be pointless. Other times you may have major consequences stemming from the climax which must be addressed, or a lot of subplots to wrap up. I think long denouments are particularly common in series (both middle and final books) because of the number of subplots and because (in middle books, at least) you're often setting up for the next book as well. I hate 'rushed' endings, where the book ends when you've barely had time to comprehend the climax. I've found a longer 'cool down' period to be particularly necessary in character driven books, because I want to see how all the events of the story and climax have effected the characters. If the story's heavily plot driven, then often there's no need to continue much beyond the 'end'.
Oh, and no epilogues, please. I've read dozens of books with epilogues, and have never once thought they added anything to the story (usually they detract from it). It always strikes me as lazy writing. You shouldn't need to skip twenty years into the future to make the consequences of your story clear.
Oh, and no epilogues, please. I've read dozens of books with epilogues, and have never once thought they added anything to the story (usually they detract from it). It always strikes me as lazy writing. You shouldn't need to skip twenty years into the future to make the consequences of your story clear.
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I agree with the last quarter of the book being the end (climax + resolution). My books tend to have pretty epic multi-chapter climaxes, but the last chapter is relatively short (7-10 pages).
But I really think it varies. Sometimes the wrap-ups only need a page or two (like the Anita Blake books) or even a couple chapters
HOWEVER! I recently finished a book that I almost didn't finish. The whole book was great, and then the climax happened, and then the resolution was like a freaking novella. It just kept going on and on...and on... There was a bunch of new characters introduced and then there was a couple of action sequences, and all I can think is...couldn't this crap have waited for the sequel?? It was obnoxious.
But I really think it varies. Sometimes the wrap-ups only need a page or two (like the Anita Blake books) or even a couple chapters
HOWEVER! I recently finished a book that I almost didn't finish. The whole book was great, and then the climax happened, and then the resolution was like a freaking novella. It just kept going on and on...and on... There was a bunch of new characters introduced and then there was a couple of action sequences, and all I can think is...couldn't this crap have waited for the sequel?? It was obnoxious.
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