Whether you’re plotting your next story, or have a complete manuscript and are looking to revise, one element always worth a second look is raising the stakes. A strong premise will lay out what the protagonist needs/wants early, making the trajectory of the story clear. But, it’ll also give readers an idea of what could go wrong. Raising the stakes is a great way to sew tension in your story, and fear of failure is something everyone can relate to. The constant battle between running toward the goal while running away from the alternative will keep readers engaged and invested in your characters.

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Loss & Gain

Before you consider raising the stakes, you have to understand what they are. Stakes stem from the premise of the story. First, you’ll want to make sure your characters have a worthy goal – whether that’s keeping their parents from getting divorced, playing in the championship game, or getting into their top choice school. You want to make sure the goal is attainable, that the characters are emotionally invested, and – perhaps most important – that readers will see their own wants/needs reflected. Once you’ve established the goal, you gage the stakes by assessing what the character poses to gain if they succeed, or lose if they fail. Usually, the more they have to gain, the more they have to lose too.

Do You Need To Raise The Stakes?

So, take a look at what your character stands to lose. Ask yourself how big of a deal it would be if they fail. If the answer is not much, or it doesn’t look like a lot would be different about their life, then chances are your stakes aren’t big enough. Even if the stakes themselves seem small, another way to measure them is by how invested the character is. If your character feels like the world will end and they are petrified of failure, so much so that they will make bad decisions to avoid doing so, then chances are your readers will feel a sense of urgency on their behalf. Also, how does their goal tie into the bigger picture; how does it affect other people? Does it mark a defining moment in your protagonist’s life?

Raising the Stakes

 1. Time Crunch

One of the easiest ways to raise the stakes, as long as this works for your story, is to set a time limit. If the characters only have a short amount of time to accomplish their goal, it’ll affect the decisions they make along the way. It’ll also speed up the pace of your story and create a sense of urgency as the clock winds down.

 2. Bigger Reward

Raising the stakes might also look like adjusting or changing the character’s goal, or changing the reward. Maybe instead of winning a housing scholarship for college, the character needs to win a full ride. Without a housing scholarship, the character won’t be able to live on campus, but if they need a full ride, then without that scholarship they might not be able to go to college at all.

 3. Obstacles

Another way is to consider how many obstacles stand in the way. Does your character meet enough resistance on their journey? By adding obstacles, making the goal seem further and further away, you can gradually increase tension. Some, or all, of the obstacles can also change the character’s course of action, and by changing the course you can play around with what they stand to lose.

For example, you have a character in a robotics competition with a monetary reward. They want to win because they made a bet that if they lose they’ll have to do the school bully’s homework for the rest of the year. An obstacle the character faces is that their mom reveals she lost her job and she can’t afford to buy any more robot supplies because the house is about to be foreclosed on. This obstacle changes what the character stands to lose and raises the stakes in a way that applies to other people. It also puts the character in a position to act: they need to steal supplies to finish building their robot. These actions will have their own consequences and stakes that add to the story.

4. Personal Investment Mixed with External Conflict

You can also raise the stakes by raising a character’s emotional/personal investment. Essentially, the more they care about the outcome, the higher the stakes. An example could be a protagonist who works as a nurse in a hospital where five patients are admitted with a terminal infectious disease. Even though she doesn’t work in that specific ward, there’s now an increased risk for everyone in the facility. The nurse becomes personally invested when she finds out her sister is one of the patients admitted. No longer thinking of best safety practices, the nurse becomes inclined to venture into the infectious disease ward, without authorization, to see her sister. Thus, mixing personal stakes with a larger external conflict.

Why Stakes ARE Important

 Stakes keep readers engaged because they reflect everyday life. We are constantly weighing risk and reward, facing consequences for our decisions, and so should our characters. You want to make sure the stakes of your story are big enough, that your character has something worthy to gain and enough to lose for readers to feel invested in their journey. If you’re mapping the plot of your story or looking to revise what you already have, consider how deep the water is that your character is treading. Are they at risk of drowning, or do they not realize they just have to straighten their legs and their feet will touch the ground? Then ask yourself which of those seems more exciting!

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