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Q&A My Conflict Doesn't End at the Climax. What can I do?

I thought of three things. From least to most appealing: 1. Letting it linger As you say, once person X is found, the story is complete. You can write an epilogue like you mentioned, but you can ...

posted 8y ago by Stu W‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:48:58Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19888
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Stu W‭ · 2019-12-08T04:48:58Z (over 4 years ago)
I thought of three things. From least to most appealing:

**1. Letting it linger** As you say, once person X is found, the story is complete. You can write an epilogue like you mentioned, but you can also just leave it blank-- either stylistically, or with a hint that there is a "part 2" yet forthcoming. This is common in fantasy and sci-fi series, but as a short story? Doesn't seem like your best option

**2. Multiple orgasms** Perhaps a two-chapter escape sequence will give you a chance to build a second climax over the first. However, I'd try to keep the melodrama of the first climax to a minimum. And the second better be pretty mind-blowing to make it work.

**3. Build it up** You can rewrite parts of the beginning to establish a definitive bad guy. Protagonist and person X proceed to eviscerate him after X is found which results in their escape. That way, her discovery also closes out the other subplots.

Let's see what others come up with ...

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-11-29T02:29:40Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 1