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Q&A How much falling action can follow the climax?

The climax of the action of a story is not necessarily (or even usually) the climax of the moral arc of the story. The climax of the action is the crucible in which the hero is tested and purified....

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:50Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24650
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:35:43Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24650
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:35:43Z (about 5 years ago)
The climax of the action of a story is not necessarily (or even usually) the climax of the moral arc of the story. The climax of the action is the crucible in which the hero is tested and purified. What remains after the crucible and purification is very often the reconciliation: the mending of relationship and the restoration of broken bonds.

This can too easily be dismissed as tying up loose ends, but its role in the story is far more important than this. It is the necessary completion of the story arc. It completes the moral arc of the story. If there is not necessary and satisfying work to be done after the peak of action, this may be a clue that there is something missing the the story arc, that the story brings the hero to a peak of action without bringing them to a peak of moral crisis. If what follows the peak of action is boring, this may mean that all you have is action, and that is not enough for story.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-09-16T23:07:42Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 2