Raising the Stakes

You’re writing along, you’re hitting your beats and checking off points on your outline.

But for some reason, the story isn’t thrilling. It doesn’t move your emotions.

Raise the stakes!

Chances are, you’re playing it too safe in your story. You haven’t pushed the protagonist hard enough. Throw them a reversal or a failure. What happens if they lose? What happens if the villain catches a lucky break? What happens if you make things worse for them?

When I do this, I usually find myself caught in a trap - I’ve raised the stakes and things aren’t going the heroes way, and now I have to imagine my way out of whatever bind I’ve gotten them into. Scary stuff, right?

No. That means I’ve actually pushed the story far enough to start making it interesting. If I can’t immediately see a way out for the hero, chances are the reader can’t either. That means I’m probably writing something good. Finally.

So raise the stakes!