Here’s something that confused me about story structure back when I wrote contemporary young adult fiction: Any teaching on the hero’s journey/three act structure tends to focus on stories with traditional villains. And in the third act when teachers talk about a final battle, most examples given are literal battles. Lightsabers, wands, poisonous berries, and so forth are all coming out to defeat the very evil villain.
But maybe that’s not what you write. Maybe you prefer to write stories about ordinary girls in modern day America fighting enemies like consumerism, entitlement, or bullying. Or maybe you’re writing about a boy with a disease, and he’s just trying to find true friends, belonging, or hope.
Here’s what I learned back when I wrote the Ellie Sweet books: When you’re writing a story that doesn’t have a traditional villain, think of your “final battle” or your climactic moment as your main character facing his or her greatest fear.
If you’ve set up your story right, it’s likely you’ve been poking your main character with their greatest fear for the entire book. The climax of your book is when your main character is forced to deal with that great fear. In a heroic story, they conquer the fear in some way. In a tragedy, they’re defeated by it.
Let’s look at a few examples:
(I’m going to do my best to just set up the climax and not how it concludes, but there will be some spoilers!)
The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet
The “facing of the greatest fear” moment in the first Ellie Sweet book is when Ellie’s old friends find out about her story, and they throw her laptop into the creek that runs through the school property. Ellie’s greatest fear is being seen as she truly is, and all eyes are on her as she sloshes into the creek to recover her prized possession.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
There are physical bullies in the climax of Wonder, but they’re anonymous and faceless. We’re not so much scared of them as we are that Jack might abandon August again. August’s greatest desire is for acceptance, so to be put in another situation where his best friend could choose to abandon him forces him to face his greatest fear.
This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Remy’s greatest fear is the power someone else has over you when you truly love them. She’s quick to believe the worst about Dexter because pushing him away keeps her safer. When her friends point out how her thinking is flawed, she has a decision to make about staying safe or being in love.
Even if your book does have the kind of evil villain that makes your reader shudder and a literal battle at the story’s climax, making sure you bring the main character’s greatest internal fear into that scene will strengthen your story and make it even more memorable.
What’s your main character’s great fear? Does it show up in the climax of your story, or do you have plans for it to?
p.s. This will be the only post this week since Jill, Shan, and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with our families. We’re so thankful for all of you!! See you back here next Monday!
This is very informative! The villain confused me a lot too, because I don’t write villains who are totally bad. I prefer ‘antagonist’ over ‘villain’, because a antagonist can be everything or anyone who is working against the protagonist. It can even be the protagonist herself… which gives a lot of opportunities.
Im my current story, I have now a antagonist who is really a stand in the way for my protagonist, but also understandable. That is, I hope readers will understand him, where he is coming from, why he is acting the way he is acting. But without agreeing with his deeds.
The antagonist also uses my protagonist fear (of not being accepted for who she) is against her. It is not in the climax though, but it is the pinch point II. The dark night of the soul is all about this fear, my protagonist chooses the truth (that God already accepted and loved her because He created her) over her fear, and so she is ready for the final confrontation.
Sounds like you have a great plan! I like the term antagonist too. You’re right, it often feels more appropriate than villain.
My MC’s greatest fear is that her best friend will leave her and she’ll be left all alone. I’m not entirely sure how it all is going to work out in the end of my story, but I do know that it definitely shows up in the end as it is what brings her and her best friend together and destroys their relationship (it’s the villain’s backstory–I usually don’t write such hopeless stories, haha)!
Sounds like even if you don’t know exactly how it will work out, you have the right elements in place!
Very helpful post! I knew the climax needed to challenge my main character, but I hadn’t really thought about it being the point where the main character must face his/her greatest fear. I suppose my main character’s greatest fear is getting caught (he leads a double life of sorts). Before, I wasn’t considering bringing it into my climax, but now I will.
By the way, I’m a girl… I’ve had people think the opposite before because of my name. Just thought everyone should know. 🙂
Hello, girl Quinn ? Yes, I think including the greatest fear is something many writers do instinctively, but I know I don’t always!
My MC’s greatest fear is that she won’t be able to save her little brother. Throughout the story, she joins a rebellion/terrorist organization because they tell her they’ll give her medicine, abandons that organization and joins a government spy who promises the same thing, and is now fleeing to Canada because terrorists don’t like it when you betray them.
Writing that all out, it seems much heavier than what I usually write. But hopefully the scenes with the MC’s dog will balance it out. Happy Thanksgiving!
Having a strong motivation like that is perfect. Sounds like lots of potential for excitement and action. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
This really really helped me a lot! Gave me some much needed perspective into a subject I was aware of, but didn’t necessarily know how to tackle, thank you so much! 🙂
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Oh my WORD. Stephanie, THANK YOU!!! I’ve needed a post like this for FOREVER. I’m not even kidding. As someone who writes sweet, inspirational contemporary YA, I’ve always felt like I was doing something wrong because I lacked a true villain or final battle.
But oh my goodness, this makes perfect sense! Thank you for completely revolutionizing my view of story structure. This is huge!! So inspired 🙂
Oh, I’m so delighted to hear that, Taylor! Contemporary YA was my first writing love, so I know exactly what you mean! I would sit through story structure classes and think, “But … How do I apply this if my main character isn’t going to war…?” I’m glad this helped!
THANK YOU. This is so helpful! <3