A novel opens by describing the mill town, the Okonjo family's unpaid rent, and the strike that ended two winters ago. Nothing has happened yet. Which stage of the plot is this?

A short story starts in the middle of a chase, then a chapter later stops to explain who the runner is, where she grew up and why the police want her. Which stage does that explaining chapter supply?

In chapter one of a mystery, the detective notices a scratch around the lock plate. It is the first hint that anything is wrong. Which stage does that moment belong to?

Chapter three brings a second warning letter, chapter four a missed payment, and chapter five the landlord at the door. Each chapter tightens the trouble the first one started. Which stage is this?

After six chapters of small thefts and quiet accusations, Dara catches her roommate's hand inside her bag and the two of them shout it out in the hallway. Which stage is this?

The engineer has argued with the mayor for six chapters about the levee. In chapter seven she throws the switch and opens the floodgate while the town watches from the ridge. Which stage is this?

The fire is out. Two chapters follow the family sorting through what survived while the neighbors argue about who left the heater running. The crisis has passed, but nothing is settled. Which stage is this?

The duel is over. Walking the wounded man home, his second finally explains what the letter had actually said and why the challenge was issued at all. Which stage is this?

The final page shows Nadia a year later, teaching in the same school and on speaking terms with her sister again. Nothing is left open. Which stage is this?

A novel's last two pages sell the farm, move the brothers to the coast, and end with the two of them fishing off the same jetty. Which stage of the plot closes a story this way?

A fishing boat's engine dies eleven miles out, and the storm the radio promised arrives long before the tow does. The crew bails water all night. Which conflict is this?

Six weeks without rain have split the field open. Halima hauls water from the well by hand, bucket after bucket, to keep the seedlings alive one more day. Which conflict is this?

"Tomas read the acceptance letter twice. Taking the place meant leaving his mother alone with the shop; turning it down meant another year of pretending he had never applied." Which conflict is this?

A soldier who promised himself he would never lie stands in the family's doorway and decides, sentence by sentence, how much of their son's death to tell them. Which conflict is this?

Rosa's town will not transfer the fishing license her father left her, because the ordinance grants licenses only to men. She sues the council. Which conflict is this?

A student stays seated through the assembly ritual every other student performs, and the school board schedules a vote on expelling him. Which conflict is this?

In a country where printing an unlicensed pamphlet is a crime, Idris keeps a press in his cellar and goes on printing. Which conflict is this?

Two sisters inherit one house between them. For a week they argue across the kitchen table, each refusing to sell her half to the other. Which conflict is this?

The new manager tears the shift schedule off the wall and posts his own. The next morning the shift leader pins hers back over it. Which conflict is this?

"Priya had the answer key in her bag by accident. She could hand it back in the morning and say nothing, or she could open it tonight and never tell anyone." What kind of conflict is this?

"Everyone in his family had been a soldier. Kofi sat with the enlistment form for an hour, unsure whether he wanted it or only wanted them to stop asking." What kind of conflict is this?

Marisol has not slept in two days because she cannot forgive herself for the phone call she never returned. Nobody is accusing her. What kind of conflict is this?

The trail is gone under fresh snow, the light is going, and Anders has one match left and eight miles to walk. What kind of conflict is this?

A city clerk refuses to record Amara's business under her own name because the register has never listed a woman as owner, and she files an appeal. What kind of conflict is this?

Yusuf's neighborhood has an unwritten rule that nobody talks to the housing inspector. He invites the inspector in, and the block stops speaking to him. What kind of conflict is this?

Two candidates for team captain campaign against each other all season, each trying to turn the same eleven teammates against the other. What kind of conflict is this?

A landlord changes the locks while his tenant is at work, and the tenant sits on the step waiting for him with the lease in her hand. What kind of conflict is this?

A story follows a swimmer through her last season. Which of these moments is the climax?

A story follows a family trying to keep their farm. Which of these moments is the climax?

In a story about a school newspaper, which moment is the climax?

A story follows two brothers and a stolen bicycle. Which moment is the climax?

In a story about a wildfire and a small crew of volunteers, which moment is the climax?

A story follows a witness to a robbery. Which of these moments is the climax?

A story follows a chess prodigy and her old coach. Which moment is the climax?

A story's conflict is a runner against her own fear of failing. The author rewrites it so a rival loosens her spikes before the final instead. What changes?

A novel's conflict is a farmer against a drought. The author rewrites it so a water company has diverted the river instead. What changes?

In a draft, the accused man is cleared by a jury. The author rewrites the ending so he is convicted and the town celebrates. What does this most change?

A story's conflict is a boy against a bully. The author rewrites it so the boy is torn between reporting the bully and keeping his friends. What has the author done?

A writer cuts the two chapters in which the mayor's threat to close the clinic grows from a rumor into a signed order, keeping the opening and the confrontation at the council meeting. Which stage has been damaged?

A survival story ends with the hiker rescued by a passing helicopter she did nothing to signal. Why do readers usually call this ending weak?