I’m writing this post about that staple of fiction writing, the climax – when the most exciting, most important event in a story happens.

(No, this isn’t one of those how-to sexual technique posts. But you wouldn’t have expected that here, would you?)

Is your writing dull and uninspiring? Not getting traffic? Maybe it just needs a standard fiction technique to spice it up a bit.

TV shows, novels, plays and movies use scenes, dilemmas, and conflicts as ways to build excitement, tension and anticipation about how a story will end.  The climax occurs in a scene when the central conflict or dilemma of a story comes to a head, something happens and there’s a resolution of some kind, like:

• Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star
• Richard Gere’s character proposes to or marries Julia Robert’s character
• The soldiers finally do save Private Ryan

Here are some suggestions on how you can emulate this technique in your writing (this can include article writing, blogging, etc.):

• Start with a mystery, a question, or a controversial idea and construct a way to tell a story that addresses this topic.
• Gradually reveal clues or facts that either support or detract from the idea.  Think of this like presenting a series of scenes (or paragraphs) that describe the concept in more detail.  Take the reader on a journey from point A to point Z and all points inbetween.
• Work up to a revelation, including one or more surprises.  We all love twists and turns in fiction!
• Make the revelation colorful and exciting.  Sometimes predictable revelations are perfectly fine; other times something unexpected is really appropriate.
• Provide food for thought to your reader at the end:  did they learn anything?  Are they motivated to think or act differently?

Non-fiction doesn’t have to be boring.  Borrow some literary techniques and you might be surprised at how your content comes to life!