This month my debut Romantic Suspense releases and I’m so excited for this story to be out in the world! With additional books in the series already lined up, I’m hoping this will be the first of many.
Something I’ve been working on as an author with each story that I write are those things that compel a reader to NEED to know what happens. How do we get them so hooked on the story that they’re tearing through pages to The End.
Stakes
We’ve all heard the term “high stakes” when it comes to stories, but what does that really mean? And how do we make sure our stories have it? I love a good action movie. Drama, explosions, and two characters with plenty of chemistry who get together in the end. Those are the kind of stories I write. How did you know?! But here’s the thing. In a book we have a little more time, and so much more characterization and plot to work with to hook the reader. We can go so much deeper.
So let’s define stakes.
Just think of it like, “What’s at stake?” It’s really that simple!
What is the THING that the character will lose if this doesn’t work. If they don’t get what they want, what do they risk not getting—or losing? For example, your character is late for a job interview because her car engine fell out on the highway and no handsome mechanic or ex-military private security guy showed up with a tow truck to help her out.
If she doesn’t make it to the interview, she loses her shot at this promotion. Which means more money. Which means her grandma can have life-saving surgery. The stakes here aren’t about not being late for the job interview, they’re about saving grandma’s life. On the surface of the scene, the character is pushing, trying to make it on time, but under the surface we know what really drives her—love for her grandma.
These are what we’d call Internal Stakes, since they’re personal to the specific character.
The other kind of stakes are External, or public stakes. If Stella doesn’t make it to her job interview, she won’t make it to the lunch meeting later. The one where she’s going to see that international arms dealer on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list and spill her drink in his lap (accidentally, of course) making him want to move up the timeline of his planned terror attack—the one she sees on his phone screen.
Ticking clock, anyone?
That’s a whole ‘nother blog about tension and ways to ramp up the suspense. But you get the idea. Terror attacks are bad for everyone. So are accountants embezzling money from retirement accounts, or doctors murdering patients, corrupt politicians, or contaminated water. These are threats that affect the world around the character, or the whole of planet earth.
They’re stakes that put something at risk that’s outside of the character’s personal (internal) life and what she wants. If she doesn’t succeed it’s going to cost society, or the world, something.
Take a look at your story idea. What is at risk for the character personally if they don’t get what they want, or if they don’t succeed at their task? Your character walks onto page 1 with a goal, and there’s a stake attached to that. But right at the beginning they might not have faced the PLOT of your story, and what they’ll need to do. The plot brings its own push from the character, wanting victory over whatever it is, and they now have an additional goal with stakes attached.
If your character doesn’t achieve these things—the promotion, getting the money for grandma’s surgery, saving the world from a terror attack—what will it cost them personally, and what will it cost the wider world around them?
I hope this has helped you mine your story idea for additional complications and layers you can add or given you some elements you can add when you start writing. You can find out more about me, or shoot me a message at my website. I’d love to hear from you.
Happy Writing!
Kenna Scott
Kenna Scott’s debut Romantic Suspense Legacy of Secrets is available now!
One fiery rescue sparks danger for a hero.
On a routine job, firefighter Sean Harrington feels less heat from the blazing building than he does from rescuing the red-hot woman trapped there. She’s ATF Special Agent Casey Anderson and, at first glance, almost a double for his missing sister, Sylvia. Unbeknownst to Sean, his sibling disappeared after discovering criminal activity at the Harringtons’ winery. As Sean and Casey team up, their hunt for Sylvia plunges them into a deadly world of cartel conspiracies, betrayals and murder. But it’s their own histories of burned relationships—familial and romantic—that threaten what’s building between them.
