Question on how to create climax

[CrystaI]

I wanted to ask how one can create a climax feeling in the fic, especially during battles.

Everyone should be familiar with battles. When writers picture the battle in their head, they are always so magnificent, spectacular, exciting and blood-thrilling. Now when you change that to words, sentences and paragraphs that are to be read by readers, how you can maintain that magnificence and climax feeling you had pictured, and ensure that the readers will also be excited, nervous, scaring, interested when they read that battle in the fic.

I knew that grammars, punctuations, descriptions, writing styles, even sentence smoothness are all important factors. But the main question is "HOW?".
I don't need basic advices that said about the writing basics. I'll be appreciated if one can offer me some technical and practical advices and examples.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I think the key to building up to a climax is to gradually increase the pace of the scene. Start the battle, say, off at a reasonable pace, but then wind it in tighter like a spring. Use short sentences. Don't go into too much detail. Don't use big words. Above all else, keep it moving. Faster and faster. (Sentence fragments can help too.) Get faster and faster as you approach your climax. Like a spring, the more you squeeze it, the more resistance and pressure you should feel. Overcome that, and your readers will notice. Bring it in tighter and tighter until you reach where you want to be, then let it go. Let that spring go and watch it fly, and your readers will feel that.

Hooray for extended metaphors! But that's the best way I could think of to explain my perspective.

 

[Legacy]

This is a great topic.

I tend to lead up to a climax with an increase in description so the reader understands, "Okay, this is a tense moment."

For example, during battles, the climax of the battle could stimulate the audience or crowd and you can describe their reactions and use them as proof that the situation is climactic. Describe things like the battlers breathing other signs of fatigue, Pokemon in battle sustaining injury, trainers having emotional or desperate thoughts, etc.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Climax is, classically, the moment of highest tension; it is the turning point of a narrative. Creating it, in my view, generally requires an uncertain outcome. In the context of a battle, use the risk of failure and an inventive solution to overcome it, I'd say.

 

[Gama]

Climax is, classically, the moment of highest tension; it is the turning point of a narrative. Creating it, in my view, generally requires an uncertain outcome. In the context of a battle, use the risk of failure and an inventive solution to overcome it, I'd say.

This is precisely what I was going to say when I opened up this thread.

If something is expected... it can't be climactic. Right up until the point where the battle ends (or wherever you want the climax to be), the reader should be guessing what the result of the battle is going to be. It's good if you can make it clear that this a make-or-break situation. That is, show how the events that you are describing are of paramount importance. For example, even if the battle is not a trainer's last Pokemon, make it seem as if this battle is the one that will decide the overall battle (of course, when the next Pokemon comes out, it should be clear that that wasn't the case after all if you want to keep the tension).

Another good way that I like to create a climax is by bringing in an increasing number of unexpected factors as the battle progresses. By that I mean, have each trainer use their Pokemon's moves and abilities in ways that you wouldn't expect that give them what seems like an insurmountable advantage over their opponent (that is, of course, until their opponent adapts their own tactics to deal with this). If you can show that both trainers are operating with spectacular originality and skill, then it gives the feel of a clash of the titans, and heightens the readers eagerness to find out who will win - which means the final victory has to be particularly glorious. Personally, I like the victory to come at precisely the point where it seems completely impossible. Of course, if you use that technique repeatedly, you have to make the victory seem even more impossible with every subsequent battle, or your readers will be expecting it, and it won't have the desired effect.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Personally, I like the victory to come at precisely the point where it seems completely impossible. Of course, if you use that technique repeatedly, you have to make the victory seem even more impossible with every subsequent battle, or your readers will be expecting it, and it won't have the desired effect.

For this reason, I greatly enjoy subversions. For example: the underdog's pokémon evolves at a crucial moment, but is defeated regardless, despite the reader's expectations.