Story Stakes

Story stakes are what the character risks losing if they fail to reach their goal. Having something at stake pushes your character to keep trying. Of course, they are desperate to attain the thing they want, but it’s the fear of failure that makes them take risks and keep going. And this fear is what drives your story forward.

For example, the protagonist wants to get that promotion their boss has been waving around. More money means they can afford their younger sister’s life-saving operation. Without it… well, you get the picture.

In The Hunger Games Katniss’s goal is to win the games. Her motivation for taking part was to save the life of her little sister. The consequences of losing the games is to lose her life. This drives Katniss’ actions, and readers are desperate to know how she will survive the games.

You don’t need to have a life or death situation in every story, but whatever is at stake, has to matter to the character. Stories where the consequences of failure have little impact, make for a tepid read.

Use stakes to add depth

Just as the protagonist has a stake in achieving their goal, so should the antagonist or villain. Give them consequences that matter to them so that readers understand why they want to win so badly. And sometimes even supporting characters will have important stakes. They may not be as prominent to the reader, but they can add depth and make the character feel believable.

Elizabeth Bennet’s mother from Pride and Prejudice is memorable for her constant attempts to find husbands for her daughters. Her motivation appears to be only to attain money and status. But actually, Jane Austen gave her very high stakes. If she fails to marry off her daughters before her husband’s death, the family will end up destitute and homeless. This adds another layer to what could have been an irritating and shallow character.

6 ways to raise the stakes

1. Make it personal

Make the stakes matter on a personal level to the character. Rather than have them want to save a random group of hostages, make one hostage a relative or lover. Establish this relationship early on and keep reminding readers why it’s important to your character.

2. Add a ticking clock

Give your character a time limit to achieve their goal. Be sure to keep this in the character’s mind so that any delays cause emotional stress. You can also reduce the time during your story to ramp up the tension.

3. Isolate your character

Remove their allies and make them feel alone. If your character has a sidekick, this can be especially hard on them. You can even have their allies betray them to the enemy. But be sure to develop the relationship throughout your story so they really feel the loss or betrayal.

4. Make your character face their fears.

Force your character to do something that terrifies them before they can gain the thing they want. If they hate speaking in public, have them make a public declaration of love. You can use anything as long as the readers are aware from early on that this is something your character is afraid of. Don’t announce it near the end of the book or it won’t have as much impact.

5. Add obstacles

Make it more difficult for your character to achieve a positive outcome by putting obstacles in their path. This can be other people, quests, really any kind of problem. The obstacles don’t have to be huge, they just need to cause conflict and make it harder for your character to reach their goal.

6. Add more stakes

Increase the amount of stakes each time you add a new goal for your character. When you plan a scene, think how the outcome will help them or cause problems for them. Near the end of your story, you can give them some successes to make readers think they are on the home run. Then, make your character have a failure that causes them to hit rock bottom.

Final thoughts

Having story stakes means your readers will feel invested in the consequences of your character’s choices. Sometimes, those consequences will be good. They’ll save the world, stop the bomb, and arrest the killer. But you also need to have the other side of the coin. The world will end, the bomb will explode, and the killer will keep killing. That’s what makes us read to the end. We are pretty sure that things will work out well for the protagonist, but it’s the ‘What if they fail?’ that keeps us hooked.

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