rising action

[ rahy-zing ak-shuhn ]

noun

1. a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.

Example Sentences

It’s just the preceding rising action that feels a bit underwhelming.

From Los Angeles Times

In another moment of rising action and a plot “twist” and non-surprise, also on Monday, Judge Cannon threw out Donald Trump’s trial in Florida for stealing classified documents.

From Salon

He meticulously plans his sets — each one has a beginning, establishing action, rising action, climax, falling action and ending, as he instructed his MasterClass — but knows how to read the room.

From New York Times

I’ve taught it to writing students numerous times since it was first published in The New Yorker in 2018, in an attempt to disprove truisms about “rising action” and characters “needing to change.”

From New York Times

The Age of Trump is all rising action.

From Salon

Related Words

• climax
• critical point
• crux
• culmination
• juncture
• twist