Culminating action

[pmmg]

After writing the long tale, you are coming to the end, and all those mighty conflicts are about to spiral around each other, and end climatically.

But you have many characters, maybe five with POV's, and they are all about to have it out. You want the action to be quick paced, and keep the tension that has been building. How do you handle it? Pick one and keep their POV? Jump around changing POV (and all the scene shifting that goes with it), head hop?

What has been your method for bringing them all together and giving each their due, all the while keeping it hopping?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

So far, we've had an average of 7 - 9 POV characters at any given time. We try to tell each plot point exclusively from the perspective of the character with the most stakes in the scene, but head hopping does happen. It's just another tool in your toolbox, it simply needs to be used very sparingly.

Our third book has three main storylines, 9 POV's, and some protracted action at the end. We pulled it off in about 600 pages, mostly by planning like fiends. Our final outline was roughly 100 pages.

We also deviate pacing a lot, mostly to keep the action flowing smoothly and to give the reader a rare break or two. Longer sentences take longer to read, and thus slow down your action. Shorter words speed things up. Experiment with what pace works best for you.

Long story short, our secret is outlining. And tracking details. And staying organized.

But most importantly, have fun with it!

 

[BearBear]

Our third book has three main storylines, 9 POV's, and some protracted action at the end. We pulled it off in about 600 pages, mostly by planning like fiends. Our final outline was roughly 100 pages.

I juat can't imagine, as a dubiously poor reader, that I could keep this many POV's straight and actually connect with that many characters.

I've broken out a chapter here and there in POV of a character here and there in a 3rd person novel and once switched POV half way in a 1st person novel but switching every chapter is tedious for me, a Bear that can't even keep names straight.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I may have shown you this before, but this is our series bible which we maintain on OneNote. Much recommend. It's searchable, customizable, and incredibly flexible. Plus, it's free.

And how do we juggle all of this? Same way you get to the Met. Practice practice practice.

 

[BearBear]

Damn

 

[Penpilot]

Writing multi-POV stories, to me, can be like sitting on thumb tacks, a real pain in the butt. Since trying to tackle a 6+ POV novel and giving myself an aneurysm completing it, I've progressively written stories with less and less POVs.

But here are somethings I've learned along the way and my general approach to endings. A lot, I'm just stating the obvious, so take what's useful and toss the rest... or all of it.

First, as A. E. Lowan stated, organization is key.

Second, I need to plot out each POV characters story arc(s), because each character taken by themselves has their own story that must a have a beginning, middle, and a satisfying end.

Third, the goals and consequences of failure for each POV character must be made especially clear going into the end.

Fourth, plan the ending like a story in itself with beginning, middle, and end.

Fifth , failure is always an option. Plan A going in should never work, or if it does work, there should be unforeseen consequences that complicate matters and make things waaay worse for our heroes. In regards to multi-POV climaxes, it's a house of cards where one POV's failure cascades into either failures for others or complicates the road to them achieving their goals. Make the heroes form new plans on the fly, Plans B, C, or even D.

If you've established well defined characters, carrying lessons they've learned along the way, seeing them problem solve on the fly and coming up with solutions is half the fun. They may use lessons learned to solve the problem, or they may use solutions very much representative of them as characters. Maybe a combination of both. And depending on the character's arc, failure might be an option here too. This is about giving each of their journey's meaning. This is their final test so to speak.

And finally, yes, you want things to be brisk and exciting, but along the way it's OK to to slow things down, and allow characters and readers to take stock for a moment before moving to the next exciting bit. I think it's key. Without moments to give the action bits context and clear meaning, the action bits can loose their impact and become just noise.

For example, you take a Michael Bay movie. They tend to lack in the context and meaning department, so there's lots of stuff happening, but emotionally, there really isn't a lot going on. But then take Avengers: End Game, to me, one of the most emotionally charged and most exciting moments consisted of three words, "On your left," and a bunch of people simply walking through door ways and standing around for a few moments. That pause gave the audience a moment to reconnect to characters and remember the stakes and consequences, and helped to elevate the action, because the audience was emotionally reinvested.

Any ways, like I said, take it or toss it.

 

[skip.knox]

Good advice here, to which I'll add one point. It's an obvious one; I specialize in those.

It doesn't all happen at once. Even the culmination will have phases, aspects. Look for multiple places to end multiple arcs.

 

[ThinkerX]

My 'Empire' series has four main POV characters, plus other POV's that appear in 'special circumstances' - meaning they participated in long past events that affect the current plot.

My rule of thumb is one POV per chapter. When climax time rolls around, this means several short chapters.

 

[Prince of Spires]

This is probably the place Brandon Sanderson excells at. His stories tend to end in an avalanche-like climax with the different POV's reaching theirs one after another (dubbed by his fans the Sanderlanche...). Even if you don't like his writing, it can be worth studying to see how he does it.

There are a few different types of multi-POV stories that each use a different approach. The 2 main ones here are:
- a single story told through multiple POVs
- multiple stories told through multiple POVs

In the first type while there are different POVs, there is 1 big storyline. The whole story leads to a single climax. Mystborn is a good example. There are 2 main POVs in the story (if I remember correctly), but in the end they are working towards 1 thing: overthrowing the evil empire. In this type, the climax can still be a series of chapters, each with their own POV. But the focus is on the plot, on moving the story forward. You don't need to give us the climax for each POV, just that of the person with the highest stake in a single scene.

The second type is where you have multiple characters, who can be half a world apart, each with their own plot, each having their own climax. These can be related of course: think Aragorn looking at the black gates of Mordor, and Frodo casting the ring into the fire. But they don't have to be. The Song of Ice and Fire books are a good example where the climaxes for the different characters are not related (though I'm personally not a fan of Martin's endings...). In this case you will want to tell each climax for each character, since you want to wrap up all the different plots. You'll need multiple scenes, from each POV, showing the climax for each of them.

How you structure that is a matter of taste and of story. You can either do one after the other, or alternate chapters between the different POVs, or some combination of them. Or even switch scenes inside a single chapter.

You want the action to be quick paced

This is not necessarily true. In fact, I think the most memorable climaxes do the opposite. Or rather, they combine quick paced action with slowing down at the crucial moment. The best climax is about what is important to the character. And the best way to show that is to zoom in really close to the character and step through his exact feelings in the climax. That almost always makes it fairly slow and intimate.

A great climax for me was in Rythm of War, where one of the main characters, Kaladin, finally learns the lesson he's been trying to learn for 1136 pages. It's a great and very emotional moment. It's also 4 pages where he's in a vision in his own head basically talking either to himself or to a gost. It works precisely because it's slow.

 

[BearBear]

Fifth , failure is always an option. Plan A going in should never work, or if it does work, there should be unforeseen consequences that complicate matters and make things waaay worse for our heroes. In regards to multi-POV climaxes, it's a house of cards where one POV's failure cascades into either failures for others or complicates the road to them achieving their goals. Make the heroes form new plans on the fly, Plans B, C, or even D.

Failure in this way is fun. I've changed POV half way and rewritten to another form. It made the story more compelling.

 

[Finchbearer]

I can only offer my opinion as a reader for this one, I think the most POV’s I’ve written so far has been four and they’re not fully fleshed out due to the issues you mentioned.

Prince of Spires makes a good point in terms of are you going to tell the story of multiple characters through the POV of one principle character in the climax, where it’s likely that it might get confusing to the reader to follow five different POV’s within one or two chapters. Then you can play around with giving your other characters their turn to speak after the climactic event, perhaps they’re the ones who do something completely unexpected that will leave the readers mouth agape until it’s explained later on.

I’d say my favourite books have only been written from the perspective of one - three POV’s and no more than that. One example would be Haruki Murakami’s seminal 1Q84, where the plot mostly flits between two main characters. There’s a shady character in the background who is up to no good, but Murakami does something stupidly clever towards the end at tells the story from his perspective for a few chapters and it opens the whole story up.

Just my thoughts

 

[Mad Swede]

Well, in my experience it's like wrapping up the various plot threads. They need to come together towards the end, but they don't all have to reach their denouement at the same time or place in the story. Sometimes it's better for the story as a whole if they don't, so that you as the reader get a build-up as the book ends, leading in to one final climax. But, the story doesn't have to end at the climax, it can sort of wind down a little as the last thread or two gets dealt with. Pacing needs to be appropriate, and that can mean a slow down at the end.

In my second book, the main fight scene is about two thirds of the way through, with the final wrapping up of the main plot just before the end. But the end is when the main protagonists find out what happened to the orphan they saved early on in the story. And I did it that way because it fits in better with the emotional structure of the story as it relates to the protagonists.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

In Eve of Snows I had several POV characters come together at a major event/fight on the Eve of Snows holiday. I went cinematic, with multiple breaks in "camera" POV, and I worried about how it would play, but from the comments of reviewers, it seems to have turned out well.

I had multipleAfter writing the long tale, you are coming to the end, and all those mighty conflicts are about to spiral around each other, and end climatically.

But you have many characters, maybe five with POV's, and they are all about to have it out. You want the action to be quick paced, and keep the tension that has been building. How do you handle it? Pick one and keep their POV? Jump around changing POV (and all the scene shifting that goes with it), head hop?

What has been your method for bringing them all together and giving each their due, all the while keeping it hopping?

 

[Devor]

So I have two MCs, and for me a chapter is two or three scenes, with at least one from each of the POVs. And they're often together, so it shifts along with which character is carrying the action or emotion of the scene. The second scene often begins with the character reacting to whatever the first character just did. They've both got to have a chance to stand out, and I write accordingly.

But I do that from chapter 1. It's how I tell the story. If you're going a chapter per character, as is common like in ASOIAF, well that's the precedent you've set. That precedent sets a higher bar for kind of justifying a switch without making it jarring, if that makes any sense. It takes more skill to change your storytelling style just at the climax - but like with most higher-skill challenges, if you can pull it off, that can make it more rewarding.

 

[Jason]

My debut has four characters who come together two-thirds through. One of the recommendations in the manuscript assessment was to give them POVs. I considered doing this and keeping the third person for the last bit. In the end, it was too hard (high-skill!) to 'show not tell' the world-building in the early chapters.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

My debut has four characters who come together two-thirds through. One of the recommendations in the manuscript assessment was to give them POVs. I considered doing this and keeping the third person for the last bit. In the end, it was too hard (high-skill!) to 'show not tell' the world-building in the early chapters.

This is from our second book, Ties of Blood and Bone, and one example of using your POV as not just unreliable (perspective is everything), but to downright withhold information from the reader without them noticing.

***

Alerich blew out a breath. Bugger it. He needed to talk to her, Etienne be damned. He pushed his way out of his car into the cold and made his way toward Curiosity’s, determined.

It was the music that pulled his attention away from his mission, and he slowed to look around. His mother used to sing that to Elspeth and him, a pretty French folk song.

The guitarist sat at the corner, fingers dancing over the strings, long, curly brown hair in his face, but he looked up at Alerich as he approached and smiled. “The store is crazy busy right now, what with the holidays and all. Not a good time.”

Alerich did a slight double take. “I beg your pardon?”

“The store. You’re headed to Curiosity’s.”

The melody seemed to weave its way around Alerich, making it feel as if he and the musician were the only two on the busy sidewalk, but Alerich could feel no magic at play. Which could mean one thing. He’d seen it at play with demons hundreds of times, but never like this. This was very subtle. Gentle.

The guitarist’s smile never wavered. “Are you shopping, or do you need a longer moment of their time? You don’t seem like the herbal bath type.” He glanced across the cobble-paved street in the direction of the store, and sure enough Alerich could see that it was indeed crowded with shoppers. He caught a flash of white near the register as Winter disappeared behind the beaded curtain and his heart clenched. The musician finished his song and sat with his hands resting on the strings. “Why don’t you come back later? Around closing time. They close earlier on Sundays. Maybe they’ll be better ready to listen, then.”

Alerich turned his attention back to the guitarist. “How—Who are you?” What was he? Alerich had a guess.

That pleasant smile widened. “My name is Stephen. I’m a friend of the family, and I know you and Winter have a lot to talk about.”

Guilt speared through Alerich’s belly, and he knew it showed on his face. “I’m sorry I hurt her.”

Stephen began to play again, something vaguely familiar. ‘Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free…’

Alerich did not know any other words, but he felt the tension in his shoulders begin to ease.

“I’m not the one you need to explain to. Come back tonight. You still have time to make a difference in this.”

 

[pmmg]

In Eve of Snows I had several POV characters come together at a major event/fight on the Eve of Snows holiday. I went cinematic, with multiple breaks in "camera" POV, and I worried about how it would play, but from the comments of reviewers, it seems to have turned out well.

Ive not gotten there yet. I see what I think about it when I do.

 

[pmmg]

I may have shown you this before, but this is our series bible which we maintain on OneNote. Much recommend. It's searchable, customizable, and incredibly flexible. Plus, it's free.

And how do we juggle all of this? Same way you get to the Met. Practice practice practice.

View attachment 3387

This looks similar to my scrivener, only there is more years of work in it. (and no one has a sports car).

 

[A. E. Lowan]

This looks similar to my scrivener, only there is more years of work in it. (and no one has a sports car).

Totally recommend a sports car.

 

[pmmg]

My 'Empire' series has four main POV characters, plus other POV's that appear in 'special circumstances' - meaning they participated in long past events that affect the current plot.

My rule of thumb is one POV per chapter. When climax time rolls around, this means several short chapters.

Initially, when I started out, I had some ideas about POV, and was much stronger/stricter about it earlier in my writing. But...My story does nor really have chapters, as much as scenes. One POV per scene would be that way it works for me. I am not sure if I will eventually go back to the POV 'rules' i set for myself in Book 1. I think not. I just kind of choose whoever allows me to present it in the most interesting way. GRRM used to start his chapters off with the characters name, and I thought that was cool. I should have used that, but I was well past that already.

Any, I go for several (or many) short scenes.

But there is formatting, Each scenes has its own formatting which could come to seem clunky.