Literature Glossary
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Falling Action
Definition:
When a story's plot starts packing things up, that's the falling action. It occurs after the plot's climax and ends in the plot's resolution.
The falling action is where you get the good stuff. Think about it: If a story ended immediately after the big fight or emotional speech, you'd be dying to know what happened next.
Let's use The Princess Bride as an example. When Westley and Buttercup are reunited the second time, after Buttercup's been forced to marry Humperdinck, that's the climax. But what happens next? The falling action, of course. Westley tricks Humperdinck into surrendering; Westley informs Buttercup that her marriage to icky Prince Humperdinck didn't really count; and Inigo offs Rugen.
Oh… retroactive spoiler alert.
What happens during a story's falling action isn't always all hearts and flowers and happy, happy good times. In fact, some seriously heavy stuff can go down on the plot's road to resolution. But the falling action does satisfy the reader's (or viewer's) need to know.