Climax is not only the pinnacle of the narrative, it is also the pinnacle of each scene. Climactic depth originates in a character versus self conflict. There will be other conflicts involved as well, but when fully realized, the foundational conflict focus will be the main character versus self. Norton defines it structurally within the narrative:
The third part of plot, the point at which the action stops rising and begins falling or reversing; also called turning point or (following Aristotle) peripeteia. (Norton)
Climax Writing Exercise
What is the most important, climactic scene in a recent work you’ve fully drafted—short story, novel, essay, verse…? Can it more fully infuse the character versus self conflict?
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Sources
The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
A Handbook to Literature
“Cogito et Histoire de la Folie.” Jacques Derrida.
Cognitive Neuropsychology Section, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition.
Eats Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The Elements of Style.
New Oxford American Dictionary
The Norton Anthology of World Literature
The Norton Introduction to Philosophy
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
Writing the Other