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WRITING TIPS | CREATIVE WRITING
The Darkest Moment Is Key to Your Novel
Dos and Don’ts for writing this crucial scene in a commercial novel
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As the Darkest Moment and Climax are closely intertwined, writers and writing mentors usually don’t distinguish between the two.
I prefer to split them, however, because it is easier to explain the Darkest Momet, independently, and they have different functions in the plot.
Defining Darkest Moment and Climax
The Darkest Moment is the terrible trouble your protagonist experiences right at the end of the story. They are often captured by their enemy, and, at the very least, seem to have lost every hope of attaining their goal.
The Climax is how the protagonist speedily overcomes that ‘impossible’ problem, defeats the villain and goes on to achieve that goal.
So, Darkest Moment is Problem; Climax is Solution. One leads inevitably to the other, but it is still useful to treat them separately.
