Rising action is the section of a narrative between the inciting incident and the climax, where the central conflict intensifies through a series of escalating events, obstacles, and complications. Think of it as the uphill climb of your story: each scene should raise the stakes, deepen the conflict, or reveal new information that makes resolution harder to achieve. In most story structures, the rising action is the longest section, often consuming the entire second act. It's where your characters are tested, alliances form and fracture, and the pressure builds until something has to give.
Rising action is where most of your story lives, so getting it right determines whether readers stay engaged or start skimming. The key insight is that 'rising' doesn't just mean 'more stuff happens.' It means the tension, stakes, and emotional pressure genuinely increase with each scene. A story with flat rising action feels like a list of events. A story with effective rising action feels like a countdown.
Nearly the entire arena sequence is rising action: from the initial bloodbath to the tracker jacker attack to the alliance with Rue to the rule change announcement. Each event tightens the screws.
The rising action is a masterclass in escalating misunderstandings: Darcy's insulting proposal, Wickham's slander, Lydia's elopement. Each complication raises the emotional stakes between Elizabeth and Darcy.
The rising action builds through a series of mysteries and tests: the troll in the bathroom, the Mirror of Erised, the discovery of Nicolas Flamel, and the growing suspicion about Snape.
The film's rising action is a textbook escalation: each shark attack is more devastating than the last, the town refuses to close the beach, and Brody's warnings go ignored until the stakes become life-and-death.
If your protagonist faces the same level of difficulty in Chapter 12 as Chapter 4, your rising action has stalled. Each major scene should introduce a problem that's harder, more personal, or more consequential than the one before.
Subplots are great during rising action, but they should either complicate the central conflict, develop the protagonist in ways that matter for the climax, or mirror the main theme. If a subplot could be removed without affecting the climax, it's probably dead weight.
The climax only hits hard if the rising action has built enough pressure. Think of it like compressing a spring: the more you compress it during the rising action, the more powerful the release at the climax.
Rising action works best when the external challenges force internal growth. If your character faces bigger and bigger monsters but doesn't change inside, the tension feels hollow.
List the five most important scenes in your story's rising action. For each one, write down what the stakes are and how they're higher than the previous scene. If you can't articulate the escalation between any two consecutive scenes, that's where your rising action is going flat. Rewrite or add a scene that bridges that gap with a new complication, reversal, or revelation.