Climactic Order

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Climactic Order

What is climactic order?

Save the best for last.
End Big.
Close a musical with a Grand Finale, the 11 o’clock number.
End a concert with the main act.

Organizers of events know that it pays to obey this rule.

Even the little acts build to a big ending: acrobats, jugglers, balancing acts, magicians—all save their most impressive trick for the ending.

How does climactic order apply to organizing a theme?
End the middle with your best paragraph—your best combination of topic sentence and support.
Within each middle paragraph, end with your best detail, fact, or example.
Hide your weakest paragraph in the middle of the middle paragraphs.
Put your second best paragraph first after the introduction.
Anti-climactic order—a fizzling out
Performers who typically ignore this principle of effective presentation are teachers, whose classes are more likely to be anti-climactic.

Here is an example of anti-climactic organization, a paragraph that fizzles out with details that are so minor as to be irrelevant:

The automobile accident resulted in serious damage. The passenger in the VW was hurled through the windshield; her throat was slashed and she bled to death before the paramedics arrived. The VW driver had both his legs broken. The driver of the Mercedes showed us his black and blue ribs from when his air bag deployed. My sister, who was sleeping on the back seat of the Mercedes, bumped her face and had a swollen lip. The front of the VW bug was crushed, and the Mercedes had scratches on its front bumper and grill.

Here is the paragraph in climactic order:

Although the Mercedes had only scratches on its front bumper and grill, the accident resulted in serious damage. The front of the VW bug was crushed. My sister, who was sleeping on the back seat of the Mercedes, bumped her face and had a swollen lip. The driver of the Mercedes showed us his black and blue ribs from when his air bag deployed. The VW driver had both his legs broken. The passenger in the VW was hurled through the window; her throat was slashed and she bled to death before the paramedics arrived.

Exceptions to saving the best for last:
Newspaper articles begin with the most important details because readers ofter do not finish and because editors know that they can cut from the end if they need space.
People who are desperate need to open with their best argument, like when trying to talk a cop out of a traffic ticket.

Last but not least:

Never use the cliché “last but not least” when you introduce your big ending.

Last updated 9/18/06