Almost There!

By the time you read this, Halloween will be over; which means the year is almost over—more specifically 2020 is almost over! Most of us are ready for the new year but we’re not quite out of the woods yet.

Creatively and literally speaking we are in the falling action stage of 2020. We reached our climax, but we’re still working towards the resolution. Just like with 2020, our stories must continue before we can reach a satisfying resolution.

Our characters and hopefully audiences are still on an adventure towards the goals established at the beginning of the narrative. But, we can’t let the story flatline. We must keep breathing life into it through falling action.

This is why some screenwriters like to follow a five-act structure versus a three-act structure, this approach gives a story more momentum and some would say a more satisfying conclusion. Below are the structure points for a five-act approach.

• Exposition(the set up)
• Rising action
• Crisis/Climax
• Falling action
• Denouement(resolution)

Those who prefer five acts over three acts believe the extra plot points give a story more direction and clarity. Cinematically speaking the falling action helps raise the stakes and the need for a satisfying resolution. For that reason, I want to discuss the structure point of falling action this month.

Falling Action!

Storytelling is made up of a series of events which flow effortlessly in a specific direction. There is a cause and effect principle at work here, what happens at one point directly affects what happens next or later on. There is an ebb and flow to the storytelling.

Screenwriter and script analyst Scott Myers explains, “I’m also able to amortize some of the cost of my college education as I remember having studied this part of ‘Poetics’ wherein we learned the concepts of rising action and falling action, the former related to Complication, the latter to Denouement.”¹

Logically, the bigger the event, the bigger the effect or ebb will be. Imagine dropping a small stone into the water versus a big rock into the same water, one causes bigger ripples and affects everything else more.

Or think of landing an airplane. You don’t go straight down, but come in at an angle to arrive safely at your destination. The falling action brings the story to a safe conclusion since we don’t want to lose our audience along the way.

So, after the climax, there will be bigger ripples in our adventure. Since climax brings change, falling action shows us what that change is as we head towards our story’s resolution.

Falling action has important functions in storytelling.

1. It keeps the momentum going forward.
2. It helps tie up loose ends, especially in subplots the climax didn’t address.
3. It helps the audience appreciate the climax more.
4. It builds anticipation for a satisfying conclusion to the journey.

Remember, after the climax, there needs to be a change in the story’s charge, i.e. changes in our characters and their worlds. Falling action gives us a sense of change. It shows the audience that things can get better if we just keep going, keep pushing and make it to the end. Myers notes, “Falling action occurred after a reversal, thus the narrative flow turned against the Antagonist.”²

In the End!

The purpose of stories is getting from point A to point B. If point B is the final piece in our picture puzzle, falling action helps us anticipate what it will look like in the end. Myers concludes, “After the climax of the story, you wanna give the audience a glimpse of what it all means to the hero.”³

The elements of the falling action are the final hurdles our characters must endure before reaching the finish line. This is your chance to raise the stakes and increase the drama to create a better payoff for the audience and characters alike; it’s the bridge to where everyone wants to be.

Below are a few examples of stories with five-act structures:

• Inglorious Basterds
• Iron Man
• Kill Bill 1 & 2
• Pulp Fiction
• Reservoir Dogs

Regardless of which structure used, let your characters fall time and again before they reach their destination. Our audiences and characters want an adventure en route to their goals and falling action means they’re almost there!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

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¹  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/studying-aristotles-poetics-part-18-a-complication-and-denouement-3367f15a33e9

²  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/studying-aristotles-poetics-part-18-a-complication-and-denouement-3367f15a33e9

³  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/studying-aristotles-poetics-part-18-a-complication-and-denouement-3367f15a33e9