A Variety of Stakes

When I first learned about stakes, I thought it meant the main character's life had to be in danger. HUNGER GAMES is an excellent example of this -- kill or be killed is definitely high stakes.

Many of my favorite books have more subtle stakes. In AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES, Colin Singleton's life is not in danger. His mission is to find answers about himself and his relationships. Mellow, but totally entertaining.

Stakes are about loss. What does our main character stand to lose as she jumps over the hurdles of our story? And why should anyone care? Besides loss of life, here are some examples of loss in my favorite books:

1. Loss of family/friends
2. Loss of security
3. Loss of power
4. Loss of social position
5. Loss of money/job
6. Loss of respect
7. Loss of happiness
8. Loss of love
9. Loss of beauty
10. Loss of physical abilities

Real loss, or the threat of it, deepens our stories. If we layer it throughout, hopefully the reader will care about our Lead and root for her all the way til The End.

What are the stakes in your favorite novels? Can you add other losses to this list?

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ARM yourself (and your characters) for confrontation!

I can't tell you how much I'm learning from James Scott Bell's book, Plot & Structure. I wish I had read it years ago!

When writing the middle of our novels, Bell says we should "ARM yourself for confrontation." He defines ARM like this:

A = Action

R = Reaction

M = More Action

This guy knows how to teach! Bell says that in order to keep readers interested, we should not only think about ARM, but we should also stretch the tension and raise the stakes.

When stretching tension, we should remember to set it up properly. Bell writes, "Always make sure scenes of tension have something to be tense about." We can stretch the physical tension by slowing down and paying more attention to detail. For emotional tension, Bell says, "When a character is in the throes of emotional turmoil, don't make things easy on her."

When raising the stakes, we can accomplish this through plot, character, or society. Either way, Bell says, "If you can create a character worth following and a problem that must be solved--and then along the way raise the stakes even higher--you're going to have the essential elements of a page-turner."

Aha!

How about you? Do you have fun shooting arrows at your characters? Or, do you like them so much you want to play nice?