How to Write Falling Action: 4 Falling Action Examples

In storytelling, falling action refers to the period after the dramatic confrontation of the climax. This portion of the narrative helps deflate the plot’s tension and gives the character time to unwind after the emotional scene.

The falling action is critical in Freytag’s pyramid, a diagram of plot elements named after nineteenth-century German writer Gustav Freytag. The plot diagram starts with exposition, followed by an ascending line of rising action that begins with an inciting incident, a turning point at the narrative’s climax, and a downward slope of falling action. Finally, the diagram features the denouement or resolution.

The falling action in literature can have different uses in a story’s plot structure. Reasons for including this stage of the narrative in your writing are:

• Emotional release: The falling action of a story can be thought of as a deep breath after the intensity of the plot’s climax. If this part of the story were to resolve too quickly, it might feel abrupt, even jarring, after the build-up to the climax.
• Realism: Falling action can also help maintain the narrative’s sense of authenticity. Life has long, relatively uneventful periods with some moments of climactic intensity. The reader will recognize the process of things gradually returning to normal after the climax of a story.
• Tying up loose ends: Often in stories, there are various subplots and secondary characters. Not everyone can be involved in the pivotal moments, but the function of falling action is to help tie up loose ends and satisfy the reader’s curiosity about the fictional world as a whole.

Falling action takes different forms, depending on the narrative, the genre, the storytelling form, and the author’s style. There can be falling action in novels, films, plays, short stories, and epic poetry. Some examples of how falling action serves a narrative include:

1. 1. William Shakespeare’s Othello (1603): In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the climax occurs when Othello, having been manipulated by Iago into believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful, murders her. This occurs in the play’s final act, but considerable action follows it. Shortly after Desdemona’s murder, Othello, confronted by Emilia, Iago’s wife, begins to realize Iago’s treachery and the fact that his wife had remained faithful. Iago’s rage leads him to murder his wife, Emilia, although Othello knows the truth by now. Consumed with regret and the impossibility of redemption, Othello kills himself in the tragic resolution.
2. 2. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883): In Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, the climactic action occurs when the buried treasure goes missing, prompting a final deadly showdown between the mutineers and the remaining members of the schooner’s crew. Shortly afterward, the actual location of the treasure is revealed, and the falling action of the plot covers the recovery of the treasure, its transport back to the ship, and the return to civilization.
3. 3. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915): In The Metamorphosis, the scene featuring Gregor’s appearancewhile his sister plays violin leads to a climactic emotional breakdown and the angry lodgers’ denunciations. This is then followed by the falling action of Gregor’s death, the lodgers being kicked out, the charwoman disposing of Gregor’s corpse, and the family taking a day trip, wherein their mood lifts as they contemplate the future.
4. 4. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925): Many critics consider the violent scene of Myrtle’s accidental death the plot’s climax. The distraught George, mistakenly assuming that Gatsby was Myrtle’s lover and responsible for her death, murders Gatsby. This is followed by Gatsby’s funeral and Nick’s ruminations on human character and fate, which close the novel.

If you are constructing falling action for a story, keep the following tips in mind:

1. 1. Pace your story. After the story's climax, you shouldn’t be too far from writing the resolution, but you still want enough room for the ending not to feel rushed or sudden. The falling action helps bring the climax to a resolution.
2. 2. Be conscientious. Many readers will notice if loose ends are not adequately resolved at the end of the story. It’s good to keep track of all your characters and plot threads, not just the main conflict, and ensure that you bring them to satisfactory conclusions.
3. 3. Keep it interesting. Even after a narrative’s climax, there is often more to reveal. The main character may have additional responsibilities to meet, or unanswered questions of the plot might need addressing. This will help carry the reader through the falling action of your story.

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