by Margie Lawson

“Here Be Monsters” was printed on old nautical maps on regions that were uncharted. 

No one knew what was beyond. They didn’t know what they didn’t know. And unknowns were scary.

In those days, cartographers drew in the off-the-map areas. They drew what they feared most. They drew monsters.

They drew monsters devouring ships.

They drew monsters devouring people.

If they’d looked into the future, they could have drawn monsters devouring writers.

Writers have their monsters too.

Mind monsters.

When faulty thinking rules your life, it’s a monster.

Writers often sabotage themselves with faulty thinking. Negative thinking. Catastrophic thinking.

And they let the mind monsters win.

Can you manage your mind monsters? Manage your thinking? Manage your mood? 

Sure. If you identify and challenge your faulty thinking.

Faulty thinking is like the imaginary beasts in those unknown areas. Negative thinking grows and grows and grows until it takes over, dominating your thoughts. Dominating your career.

Review the Faulty Thinking Traps below. You’ll find yourself, your spouse, teenager, mother-in-law, sister, best friend, and neighbor in these thinking traps. Everyone you know thinks and speaks from several of these faulty thinking traps every day.

Or they’ve had a truly insightful, change-driven therapist.

As you read the list, check off the traps that trap you.

Faulty Thinking Traps

Self-Flawed Thinking:  Nothing I do is good enough.

Perfectionistic Thinking: Things have to be perfect for me to be happy.

All-or-Nothing Thinking:  If I cannot be all things to all people, then I’m nothing. I can meet needs of my family or meet my needs—not both.

Telescopic Thinking:  I always feel like a failure because I focus on and magnify my shortcomings and ignore my successes.

Blurred Boundary Thinking:  It’s hard for me to know when to stop, where to draw the line, when to say no to others.

People-Pleasing Thinking:  If I can get others to like me, I’ll feel better about myself.

Pessimistic Thinking:  My life is chaotic and stressful and full of misery and despair. That’s just the way life is.

Catastrophic Thinking: My life feels out of control and something terrible might happen, so I can’t relax. I must be prepared by always expecting the worse.

Helpless Thinking:  I am helpless. Powerless. There’s nothing I can do to change what’s getting in the way of my success.

Self-Victimized Thinking:  Other people and other situations are to blame for my overdoing, my stress, and my lack of success.

Resentful Thinking:  I am bitter and resentful and will never forgive others for what they did to me.

Resistance Thinking:  Life is an uphill battle, and I must fight to get my way and cling to things to keep them from changing.

Wishful Thinking:  If only my situation would change, I could slow down, take better care of myself, be successful achieving my goals. But my situation will never change.

Serious Thinking: 

Playing and having fun are a waste of time because there’s too much work that needs to be done.

Whew! Those are deep traps. 

Have you fallen into any of these thinking traps today? Yesterday? Last Week?

Can you consciously challenge yourself when you realize you are in a faulty thinking trap?

Let’s look at those categories again and see what some writers may be thinking.

Self-Flawed Thinking: 

This is the worst book I've ever written.

I’ll never get another contract.

I’ll never sell enough books.

I’ll never get on a bestseller list.

This book is the worst book I’ve ever written.

My writing will never be good enough.

I’ll never get another contract.

I’ll never sell enough books.

I’ll never get on a bestseller list.

Perfectionistic Thinking:

I’ll never get this scene (chapter, book) right. I keep editing and cutting, revising and restructuring. But every time I look at it there’s something more that needs to be fixed. It will never be good enough.

All-or-Nothing Thinking: 

There’s no way I can do it all. I can’t take care of my family and write. I have to focus entirely on writing for hours at a time and I can never find that time. Not until the kids go to college. I can’t do it all. It’s impossible.

Telescopic Thinking: 

Everyone in critique group hated that chapter. They all thought I was a horrible writer.

Most of them didn’t say anything negative. But I could tell they were thinking it. And they didn’t have to say it. Susan said it all. My characters weren’t well developed.

My scene didn’t flow.

Why did I ever think I was good enough to get published? I shouldn’t waste my time writing.

Blurred Boundary Thinking: 

I have so many commitments, there’s no way I could find time to write.

People-Pleasing Thinking: 

I can’t make writing a priority. I’ve got to do everything I can for everyone else. It’s the only way I can feel good about myself.

Pessimistic Thinking: 

I’ll never find a time in my life when something isn’t falling apart. I have too much stress and my life will always be too chaotic. I’ll never be able to write.

I played with the first seven traps, if you like, get creative and fill in the rest.

I’ll share a quick story about faulty thinking traps.

I remember being in an office building back in my psychologist day-job days. And I glanced out a window and said something about it being a perfect fall day.

It was sunny, in the low 60’s, leaves blowing in the breeze.

I wanted to be eight again, and rake up massive piles of leaves, and run and jump in them with my best friend.

While I stood looking out that window, I was happy, happy, happy.

Then someone nearby commented that the wind blew dust in her eyes that morning.    (Negative #1)

She added that the leaves blew in her car when she opened the door and she’d have to vacuum her car out again. (Negatives 2 and 3)

Then she said that the sun glare would cause accidents for the people traveling west, and it would take her twice as long to drive home. (Negatives 4 and 5)

Did she ruin my mood? 

Nope. 

I knew her. And I knew she was negative. 

As soon as I heard the first burst-my-bubble phrase blast out of her mouth, I turned it into a game in my mind. 

How many points could she earn by saying negative things in response to my positive comment? Three? Four? Five? 

I listened well. She earned five points.

Hellooo…  I’m not a total dork. I don’t always count points.

But just thinking of it as a game helps me keep my positive thinking in line. My good mood stays intact.

I made a conscious decision a long time ago to not let other people’s faulty thinking contaminate my good mood. 

What Faulty Thinking Traps did she live in?

Clearly pessimistic. What about perfectionistic thinking? Catastrophic thinking? 

She awfulized. And it seemed like she tried to make others feel awful too. But that was her way of seeing the world.

It didn’t have to be my way. I didn’t have to let her contaminate my mood.

It’s not fun -- or smart – to spend much time around people who think so negatively.

You all know to spend more time around positive people.

Make a conscious decision to take charge of your mood. Catch yourself when you start thinking negatively. Don’t let the mind monsters win!

Want to be a successful writer?

Manage your mood.

Take classes. Make your writing the strongest it can be.

Work toward your career goals.

Make. Change. Happen.

If you’re interested in Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors, consider my lecture packet or course by that name.

If you’d like to work with someone who can help you gear up, help you take charge of your career, or help you make your writing stronger, I’m your gal. Check out the coaching page on my website.

Want to chime in and share your reactions to these Faulty Thinking Traps? Which ones do you struggle with?

I’d love to hear from you.

If you POST A COMMENT – you’ll be in the drawing for a lecture packet (150+ pages) from me!

You could WIN one of these lecture packets!

• Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors
• Empowering Characters’ Emotions
• Deep Editing, Rhetorical Devices and More
• Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist
• Digging Deep into the EDITS System
• A Deep Editing Guide to Make Your Openings Pop!
• Make Your Endings Pop Deep Editing Style!
• Visceral Rules: Beyond Hammering Hearts

About Margie

Margie Lawson left a career in psychology to focus on another passion—helping writers make their writing bestseller strong. Using a psychologically based deep-editing approach, Margie teaches writers how to bring emotion to the page. Emotion equals power. Power grabs readers and holds onto them until the end. Hundreds of Margie grads have gone on to win awards, find agents, sign with publishers, and hit bestseller lists. Several have had their books turned into Hallmark movies, and some are having their books turned into drama series! 

A popular international presenter, Margie has presented over 150 full day master classes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France, as well as multi-day intensives on cruise ships in the Caribbean. She’s taught close to 200 Immersion Master Classes across the U.S. and Canada, and in seven cities in Australia. 

She also founded Lawson Writer's Academy, where you’ll find over 30 instructors teaching online courses through her website. You will also find Virtual Immersion Classes, Deep Editing Opportunities, and Margie's monthly "Get Happy" event, a virtual open house. (Next month's Get Happy is on November 8th!)

To learn more, and sign up for Margie’s newsletter, visit www.margielawson.com.

Lawson Writer’s Academy Courses for November

1. Lights, Camera, Tension!
2. Clans of Ireland, Beyond the Pale
3. How to Write a Novel in World Anvil
4. Diving Deep into Deep Point of View
5. Swag for Authors and Other Creatives
6. Make ‘Em Laugh: How to Write a Comedy Screenplay
7. A Deep Editing Guide to Make Your Openings Pop!

by Becca Puglisi

Escalation is an important element of story structure. The opening pages are often quiet as key players are introduced, the setting is established, and readers are given a glimpse of what's wrong in the protagonist's world. The catalyst then provides a choice, where the hero leaves their ordinary world and steps into a new one. In the next half of the story, they work their way toward the goal that will fulfill them, facing many conflict scenarios that challenge their methods and way of thinking. In those story moments, the stakes get higher, the consequences more drastic, and the clashes more incendiary until everything culminates in a final confrontation that will determine if the hero achieves their goal or not.

This confrontation is the climax of the story. The reader has known from the beginning that this moment would occur. It's what they've been looking forward to, why they've stuck with the protagonist for so many pages. A successful climax will help determine how satisfied the reader is with the story, so it's vital that we get it right.

What Is the Climax, Really?

The climax is the final showdown between the hero and their nemesis.

The two may have butted heads already—multiple times, possibly—or this might be the long-awaited battle they’ve been working toward. Different structure models position this pillar at various places, but it's generally agreed that it works best in the last half of Act Three. This allows for the proper build-up to the climax while leaving enough time for events to resolve afterward.

The purpose of the climax is to give the protagonist a final chance to succeed and achieve the story goal.

Numerous conflict scenarios have tested the hero’s resolve and abilities so far. They haven’t always succeeded, but as the struggles have gotten bigger and the stakes have grown, they have moved steadily toward their outer (and inner, if they’re working a change arc) goals. And now comes the biggest test of all: the final meet-up with the nemesis. It's the protagonist’s last chance to prove themselves. If they fail here, they fail for good. As a result, the climax should definitively determine who wins.

It also allows the hero to display what they’ve learned on their journey.

Whether they’ve acquired skills, identified a strength they thought was a weakness, rejected a long-believed lie, or adopted a new mindset, what they’ve learned should tip the scales in their favor during the climax. This is often where the inner and outer journeys merge because the changes they’ve undergone and the lessons they have learned about themselves are exactly what they need to achieve the outer goal. When it's done artfully, that synchronicity creates a satisfying resolution for readers as the pieces click into place.

Lastly, the climax should mirror the catalyst.

As Michael Hauge says in Writing Screenplays That Sell: “Just as the aftermath contrasts with the setup at the beginning of a screenplay, the climax of the story mirrors the opportunity (catalyst). While the opportunity begins the forward movement of the story—begins the hero's visible journey by taking him to a new situation—the climax ends that journey by resolving the hero's outer motivation (story goal).”

In a story with a three-act structure, there's an invisible hinge at the midpoint that divides the story into two halves. James Scott Bell likens the midpoint to a mirror because the events on one side reflect the other. In this way, the climax relates back to the beginning, closing out the journey that started in your first pages.

What Are the Elements Of A Successful Story Climax?

To recap: a successful story climax should tick the following boxes:

1. It’s the final showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist.
2. It mirrors the catalyst/opportunity.
3. A definitive winner emerges.
4. If the protagonist wins, they do so by using the lessons they learned during their journey.
5. The victor (whomever it may be) achieves their goal.

To illustrate how these elements can be used to craft a perfect climax, let’s use Star Wars: A New Hope as an example. In a nutshell, here’s what happens in this important scene:

Luke Skywalker uses his Jedi training to destroy the Death Star, crippling the Empire and sending the enemy packing. Peace and safety are restored to the galaxy.

It’s the final showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist.

Luke’s fight to destroy the Death Star is the last confrontation between him and his enemy in this story. It should be noted that the true villain here isn’t a tangible one that Luke can face off against; it’s the empire. But every protagonist needs a physical adversary to battle. That’s provided in the form of Darth Vader, and Luke’s defeat of the empire is also a defeat for him. It’s a good reminder that if your hero is going up against an antagonistic force rather than an actual person, you’ll want to introduce a physical antagonist for them to fight against.

It mirrors the catalyst/opportunity.

Luke’s catalyst occurs back on Tatooine, when he’s invited to learn the ways of the Jedi and help the Rebellion defeat the empire. The climax mirrors this as the journey he began culminates in him destroying the Death Star. It’s also a nice touch that the person who offered Luke his catalyst opportunity (Obi-Wan) shows up unexpectedly in the climax to remind his protégé that he must use his Jedi training if he wants to succeed.

A definitive winner emerges.

This is made clear in the rout of the empire and the medal ceremony that follows.

If the protagonist wins, they do so by using what they’ve learned.

Luke is unsuccessful in destroying the Death Star until he embraces the lessons he learned from Yoda—mainly, his knowledge of and connection with the Force.

The victor (whomever it may be) achieves their goal.

Luke’s goal was twofold: learn the ways of the Jedi and defeat the empire. Thanks to Yoda, he has begun his journey to becoming a Jedi and has completed the first part of his objective. With the destruction of the empire, he achieves the second.

A Few Caveats

The protagonist won’t always win.

If you’re writing a tragedy, such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Into the Wild, or Up in the Air, the hero will fail to defeat their adversary and/or achieve fulfillment and improve themselves.

Maybe they’re unsuccessful because they didn’t learn what they needed to learn, or they weren’t able to fully embrace those lessons during the final confrontation. Sometimes, their internal conflict remains unresolved, and they allow self-doubt, fear, pride, or another habit or hang-up to rule the day. It’s also possible that they achieve their goal only to discover that it was a false goal—one that made things worse or ended up ruining them.

If your protagonist is doomed for failure, element #4 becomes inverted: they don’t succeed precisely because they haven’t gained the knowledge they needed or they failed to utilize it when it mattered. The rest of the key ingredients remain the same, regardless of who wins.

Quiet climaxes can be just as effective.

While many thrillers, suspense, and action movies require a gargantuan clash at the end, other kinds of stories don’t necessarily need this. The climax of Pride and Prejudice, for example, happens with Lizzy and Mr. Darcy going for a simple walk. They don't even argue at this point. Instead, they admit their past failings, express their love for each other, and decide to get married.

It's a quiet climax that still achieves its purpose. It is their final confrontation as antagonists and happens at the right point in the third act. Lizzy's recognition of pride as her fatal flaw allows her to overcome it and find true happiness with Mr. Darcy. And her choosing him for a husband reflects the catalyst (her determination when she first met him to have nothing to do with him).

This is something to keep in mind if you’re writing the kind of story that calls for a low-key resolution. A quiet climax can work as long as it does what it’s supposed to do.

As you can see, the climax is important, both for your characters and readers. And the necessary elements for this moment can be applied to all kinds of stories, giving you a blueprint for success when writing this vital scene.

Do you have any questions for Becca? What are some of your favorite climax moments in books or movies? Please share them with us down in the comments!

About Becca

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and other resources for writers. Her books have sold over 500,000 copies and are available in multiple languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Julie Glover

I’ve got more than 10 full manuscripts under my belt and several short stories as well. While none has been a breeze, some have come easier than others. I recently got to wondering which book was the hardest to write.

Let me share my top three contenders, why they were so hard, and what I learned from them. Maybe by reading about my journey, you can avoid those bumps and jolts in the road that can frustrate or slow a writer down.

3^rd Place

Coming into third place is the only novel that won me a NaNoWriMo badge one year. It’s not that the writing itself was a struggle—I found my 50,000 words to put down—but rather the result was messier than an unsupervised pizza party of preschoolers. When I read back through the manuscript, I realized that I got the story down quickly, but editing this baby was going to empty the red ink from all my pens.

Now, some do great with writing fast! If that’s you, keep up what works for you. But too many writers tell others they must churn out stories quickly to blow past that pesky self-critic that wants to question every word choice or to avoid getting stuck revising, revising, revising on chapter two.

Some call it the “vomit” method, meaning you vomit the words on the page, then clean it all up later to make it a beautiful story you can present to the world. And again, if that works for you, knock yourself out!

But after my experience, I know that isn’t what works for me. In fact, after I read that draft and realized how much effort would go into editing it to something good enough, I shoved the novel away and didn’t look at it for years. I’ll get back to it (because it’s a great story), but what I got out of NaNoWriMo was not a finished book but a lesson learned.

Give yourself permission to write the way you write, whether or not it works for someone else.

2^nd Place

A cozy mystery idea came to me in 2017—the sort of sweet story fodder that sparks your excitement and makes you reach for a pen just to jot down the idea before you lose it. Then, I began writing.

But before I got too far, I was talked into plotting the novel scene by scene by a well-meaning mentor. After I finished that multi-page endeavor, I went back to the manuscript…and nothing came. For me, the story was out, done, not all that intriguing anymore.

Have you ever lost interest in a story that previously excited you? What snuffed out that spark?

While it might seem the lesson learned is the same as before—follow your own writing process—that’s not the full conclusion I drew. Rather, I think a writer should know what keeps them going. What spurs you on to finish a story?

Is it a deadline? A reward you’ve promised yourself? Hanging out with your characters? The sheer joy of word-by-word, scene-by-scene writing a novel? The sense of accomplishment when you see the final product? Or like me, learning whodunnit no sooner than two-thirds of the way through your own story? That is, I write in part to discover. If the discovery is already done, I’m a whole lot less interested.

Figure out why you write to The End, and lean into that motivation.

1^st Place

In On Writing, Stephen King confessed to being a three-draft writer—the first rough draft, an edited second draft, and a polished third draft. Meanwhile, my YA contemporary novel Sharing Hunter took about 14 drafts. It’s a wonder I didn’t throw my hands in the air at some point and shout, “I give up!”

Or maybe I did. But I kept coming back, rethinking character arcs, reworking scenes, editing and polishing prose, until the product two drafts before the final one was nominated for an RWA Golden Heart* and landed me my dream agent. In 2019, I self-published that novel, and I am peacock-proud of how it came out.

Have you ever loved a story but gotten so frustrated that you wanted to chuck it?

Maybe you should chuck it. Some stories aren’t meant to be written. But other stories are worth the time and effort. Mind you, I could have cut down on a few of those drafts if I’d known sooner some of the wonderful things you can learn here on Writers in the Storm. If you can spare yourself some heartache, do so! But don’t give up just because it’s frustrating.

Former WITS host Laura Drake is the poster child for not giving up. She learned her craft, wrote and wrote until her manuscript shined, and sent out over 400 queries to agents to get her first book published. (And it’s a fantastic read!) As she has pointed out many times, if this writing stuff was easy, everyone would do it. They don’t, but we do.

Writing my hardest book taught me that it’s okay to move on from a project if you no longer want to do it, but…

If you love your story, keep writing and editing until you’re eager to put your name on the cover and get it out to readers.

I hope my lessons learned help you as well:

1. Give yourself permission to write the way you write, whether or not it works for someone else.
2. Figure out why you write to The End, and lean into that motivation.
3. If you love your story, keep writing and editing until you’re eager to put your name on the cover and get it out to readers.

What’s the hardest book you’ve ever written and why? What lesson(s) did you learn from that process?

About Julie

Julie Glover is an award-winning author of mysteries and young adult fiction. She also writes supernatural suspense under the pen name Jules Lynn.

She's currently working on book five in the Muse Island series, an honorable mention in the difficulty category due to scheduling issues. But it's her own fault for going to France this summer.

Start the Muse Island series with book one, Mark of the Gods!

Image by Wavebreak Media at Deposit Photos

*Golden Heart was a Romance Writers of America contest for unpublished manuscripts that was discontinued after 2019.