What Happens After the Climax of Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay

The resolution comes immediately after the climax of your novel, memoir, screenplay.

The true ending of the story is the climax.

The resolution actually is the beginning of a new story, one that starts with the protagonist having succeeded in what felt like at the climax a life-or-death struggle.
With the end of that struggle, something else begins.

There is never an ending without a beginning.

Just as the resolution is the beginning of a new story, in the same way, when the inciting incident begins the story, that beginning marks the end of the protagonist’s life as she knew it before the incident occurs.

Plot Tip:

Show in the resolution what life looks like now that the protagonist has transformed and how the world around her embraces her internal changes. No matter what she has lost and gained in the course of the story, at the resolution show us a glimpse of the new beginning life offers her now.

Be aware when you begin the story at the beginning what ends for the protagonist. In other words, what did she most want one second before the story begins? An awareness of what has ended in beginning the story gives your story more depth by reinforcing the idea that there is no beginning without an end and no end without a beginning. Because, in truth and the Universal Story, there is no beginning and there is no end.

(Excerpt from The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.)

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot reinforces daily writing practice and allows for more productivity in your writing. Whether writing a first draft or revising, if you falter wondering what comes next in a story with a plot, follow the prompts inThe Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

Today, I write.

To familiarize yourself with the basic plot terms used here and in the PW Book of Prompts:
1) Watch the plot playlists on the Plot Whisperer YouTube channel.

2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master.

3) Fill out the exercises in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

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