Rising action is the part of a story where tension builds through a series of events, complications, and decisions that move the narrative from the inciting incident toward the climax. It is the longest section of most stories and the engine that keeps readers turning pages.
If the climax is the peak of the mountain, rising action is the climb.
Rising Action in Plot Structure
Rising action occupies a specific position in plot structure. In Gustav Freytag’s five-part model, developed in his 1863 work Die Technik des Dramas, the stages are:
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Exposition | Characters, setting, and status quo are established |
| Rising Action | Tension builds through complications and escalating stakes |
| Climax | The central conflict reaches its highest point and is decided |
| Falling Action | Consequences of the climax unfold |
| Denouement | Loose ends are resolved and the story reaches its final state |
Rising action begins the moment something disrupts the protagonist’s normal life (the inciting incident) and ends the moment the central conflict reaches its breaking point (the climax). Everything between those two turning points is rising action.
In three-act structure, rising action spans most of Act Two. In the hero’s journey, it encompasses the tests, allies, enemies, and approach to the inmost cave. Regardless of the framework, the function is the same: escalate the stakes until something has to give.
What Rising Action Does
Rising action is not just a sequence of events. It serves four specific narrative functions:
Builds tension. Each scene in the rising action should increase the reader’s sense that something big is coming. If the tension stays flat, the story stalls.
Raises stakes. The protagonist starts with something to lose. Rising action makes them stand to lose more. A mystery might begin with a missing person and escalate to a serial pattern. A romance might start with attraction and escalate to a genuine risk of heartbreak.
Develops characters. Rising action forces protagonists to make choices under pressure. Those choices reveal who they are. The best rising action makes the reader understand the protagonist more deeply with every complication.
Creates complications. Simple problems get more complex. Allies become unreliable. New information changes the equation. Each complication pushes the protagonist further from their goal before they can reach it.
Examples of Rising Action
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The inciting incident is Katniss volunteering for Prim. The rising action includes everything that follows: the train ride to the Capitol, training scores, forming an alliance with Rue, Rue’s death, the rule change allowing two victors, and Katniss’s growing attachment to Peeta. Each event increases the danger and emotional stakes until the final confrontation at the Cornucopia.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The inciting incident is Elizabeth meeting Darcy at the Meryton ball. The rising action includes Darcy’s insult, Wickham’s false story about Darcy, Jane’s illness at Netherfield, Collins’s proposal, Darcy’s first rejected proposal at Hunsford, and his letter revealing the truth about Wickham. Each event shifts Elizabeth’s understanding and deepens the central tension between pride and prejudice.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The inciting incident is Hagrid arriving to tell Harry he is a wizard. The rising action spans nearly the entire school year: the Sorting Hat, learning about the third-floor corridor, discovering the Mirror of Erised, uncovering who Nicolas Flamel is, and realizing Snape (or so Harry thinks) is after the Philosopher’s Stone. Each discovery escalates the stakes toward the final confrontation beneath the trapdoor.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The inciting incident is Nick receiving an invitation to Gatsby’s party. The rising action includes Nick learning about Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy, arranging their reunion, Gatsby’s increasing recklessness in pursuing the past, the confrontation at the Plaza Hotel, and Daisy’s hit-and-run. Each scene pushes Gatsby closer to the destruction that the opening pages foreshadowed.
Rising Action vs Falling Action
These terms describe opposite movements in a story’s arc.
| Rising Action | Falling Action | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Before the climax | After the climax |
| Tension | Increasing | Decreasing |
| Stakes | Getting higher | Consequences unfolding |
| Reader feeling | Anticipation, anxiety | Processing, understanding |
| Length | Usually the longest section | Usually shorter |
Rising action asks: what will happen? Falling action asks: what does it mean?
How to Write Strong Rising Action
Escalate, don’t repeat
Each complication should be more serious than the last. If your protagonist faces the same level of obstacle three times in a row, the story flattens. A common pattern is to escalate across three dimensions: the external threat gets worse, the internal doubt deepens, and the relationships get more strained.
Give every scene a turning point
Scenes in the rising action should not end in the same emotional state where they began. Something should shift. A character learns new information, a plan fails, an ally reveals a secret. If you can cut a scene without affecting the climax, it is not pulling its weight.
Use foreshadowing deliberately
Rising action is where you plant the seeds that the climax will harvest. Details introduced in the rising action that pay off later create the feeling of a story that was inevitable all along.
Let characters make choices
The strongest rising action is driven by character decisions, not random events. When a protagonist chooses to investigate the noise in the basement rather than having the floor collapse beneath them, the story becomes about who they are rather than what happened to them.
Control the pacing
Not every scene in the rising action needs to be high intensity. The best stories alternate between tension and brief moments of relief. A quiet scene after a major complication gives the reader space to absorb what happened before the next escalation hits.
Common Mistakes
- Starting the rising action too late. If the first third of your book is all exposition, readers may not stick around for the rising action. Get to the inciting incident early.
- Keeping stakes flat. If the danger at chapter three is the same level as chapter twelve, the rising action is not rising.
- Relying on coincidence. Complications driven by bad luck feel cheaper than complications driven by character choices or antagonist actions.
- Skipping to the climax. Some writers rush through rising action to get to the big scene. But a climax only works if the reader has been through the climb. The payoff is proportional to the buildup.
