This has probably happened to all of us writers at some point. The climax is here, the big dramatic part of your story, your characters are faced with overwhelming odds- and you have no idea what happens next.
It's ok, though. You see, if you, the author, has no idea what happens next, the readers probably don't either. Whatever happens next it definitely won't be predictable. Here are a few strategies for getting them out of that situation.
[1] Send in Backup
This is only cliché/problematic if handled badly. For instance, do not send in someone who has not been in the story at all yet. Readers will definitely feel cheated if you do that. The readers want someone who's been in the story, maybe someone who was a problem in the beginning but decided to be on the good side.
[2] Bring in a Bigger Problem
This might sound odd to you, but it's been used in movies and books. Volcanoes can disrupt armies. Two dragons are worse than one dragon, but they can be coaxed into attacking each other. Another element into the story can make the problem way worse, but can introduce new ways to fix them.
[3] Using that New Skill
Your character has been working on mastering a new skill. That difficult situation can cause a surge of adrenaline to flood your MC. If the problem is too large for the MC, allow their abilities to expand. The only correct way to do this, though, is to make sure your readers were at least hinted into the new ability they would gain. You can't just pull a new ability out of a hat and say,"This is the one." Your character can't just say they 'took karate in second grade.' Ok. Nobody remembers that crap and it's not like they teach you complex maneuvers that young.
[4] Let the Villain Screw Up
The villain can't be perfect, but they can't be completely idiotic either. For instance, the whole 'Tie the MC to a train track and then leave' cliché. We've seen it a thousand times written in a thousand different ways, and it drives us nuts each time.
Allow your villain to be fallible. Maybe she's too distracted by running an army and forgot to search your character for weapons. Perhaps he's bipolar and suffers from an episode of overconfidence, forgetting a crucial detail. Whatever you use it needs to be an old thing, your villain can't be bipolar all of a sudden.
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A Guide to Writing
Non-FictionOk, so I know that there are a lot of these books out there on Wattpad. The reason I decided to write this book was because I found it hard to find actual guidelines on the internet for this kind of stuff. So I put together what I learned from many...
