Wow.  All that action calls for a pretty dramatic climax!  I don't have a
solution but I'll try and give you a few cents worth of advice. Here are
some notes that I took in Novel class with Prof. Chester last semester
concerning climaxes:

Climax Structure
A good climax will have all of these elements:
1. Choice - the protagonist will be faced with a choice
2. Sacrificial Decision - protagonist has to make a choice (usually a "good
or evil" decision - in this case it may have to do with the ties between
family.  Will the protagonist go after the son for his actions, thus saving
the rest of the family?)
3. Action - here the protagonist burns bridges.  He passes the point of no
return and can't go back on his decision.  Even if he regrets his decision,
he's put into action a course that he must continue on until it's finished.
4. Dark Moment - Protagonist becomes more human than heroic.  This is HUGE
DISASTER/SETBACK for the protagonist.  DO NOT RUSH THE DARK MOMENT.  It's
not revenge on the protagonist, but a test of his true character.  Supreme
test of the story.  The protagonist needs to feel like all is lost and be
tempted to give up, maybe even be tempted to compromise.
5. Reversal - this is when the story goal seems lost, antagonist seems to
have won BUT a protagonist who proves worthy --by going through the steps,
changes, shows true character, does not throw away principle-- will be
rewarded.  The reversal must:
        a. Be Logical (should grow from the story situation, plants etc)
        b. Come about through the Protagonist's own efforts.  You can't
cheat the story by having some other character (or passing stranger) swoop
in and save the day.  The protagonist has to bring about the reversal! Some
examples other than the protagonist physically overpowering the antagonist
might be:
                i. A phone call or previous contact
                ii. Appeal to a sidekick of the antagonist.
        c. Use ticking clocks (set in motion prior to sacrificial decision).
In other words, make the situation urgent.
6. Reward - (Or in some cases, punishment) Poetic Justice.  A little extra
beyond the story goal.  Sometimes something better than the goal.  This is
the part where your protagonist achieves his goal sometimes with possibly a
little extra thrown in as a reward depending.

A couple of tips I have learned for making this work:
1. Have a clearly defined protagonist.  If your protagonist is muddy you
won't be able to decide who is ending the story.  Sometimes this is the part
where you realize that you chose the wrong person to be the protagonist.
(Remember, the protagonist should be the person who has the MOST TO LOSE in
achieving the story goal.)  It sounds like you might also have a dual
antagonist, so you must also decide who the true antagonist is.  Remember
that a good climax will result in DIRECT CONFLICT between protagonist and
antagonist.
2. Make sure you know what the protagonist's story goal is.  (You must also
know the antagonist's goal.)
3. Decide what course of action puts the most at stake for the protagonist.
For this to work, you have to know your character well - what's most
important for him or her?

Finally, my biggest problem is always trying to protect my protagonist, or
make everything turn out too peachy in the end.  I like my characters...I
don't like to see them hurt but, especially in a story like the one you're
telling, EVERYTHING turning out perfectly might be a little cheesy.  For
instance, don't have the son suddenly turn blubbery and confess how wrong he
is to his parents in the middle of the climax leading to a happily ever
after ending.  (But it wouldn't be bad to have the protagonist appeal to the
son for mercy and receive it in some form or fashion - Like Luke Skywalker
appealing to Darth Vader in star wars....)

I hope this helps.  In outlining these basics I hope I'm not being too
simplistic for you, but since I can't remember how many of the writing
classes you've had (esp. those with Prof. Chester) I thought that a little
of the groundwork might be helpful to keep in mind while you're
brainstorming.  Now that I've practically written a book, however, I think
I'll leave you to your writing... good luck on your story, let us know how
it turns out!!

Priscilla
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-----Original Message-----
From: PWA Inside Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of canadianokie
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 8:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PWA-L] Ideas needed

Hi everybody!

I'll break the silence on this board.

I'm taking the Short Story class and I'm stuck for an ending.  Or at
least my daughter tells me my ending "sucks" so I'm needing some help
to revamp.

I'm writing a story about a home invasion.  The villain comes to the
door--he is expected b/c he works with the husband.  The son and wife
are home, they get tied up, yadda, yadda, dad comes home and gets
popped on the noggin' and tied up, yadda, yadda.  The son is tied and
left at home to be dealt with later when the villain comes back for
anything he wants to steal.  Meanwhile the parents are carted off to
be killed.  They attempt to escape and fail, but try again and
succeed.  The bad guys go to jail and the family moves away.*  They
are so traumatized by what has happened that they don't want any ID
trails, so they don't have a bank account, they only use Virgin
phones, etc.  The villain gets out of jail and finds them.  How?
Well, it seems that the son is in cahoots with the villain all
along.  The Dad made a fortune in business and the villain and the
son want to kill mom and dad and get their money.

How do I end that?  Be brutal about the story line, too.

OK, fellow writers, let me hear from you!

Thanks,

Jocelyn

*Actually, this actually happened to a friend of mine.  Scary, huh?