In a post on BookBaby, Scott McCormick says that your protagonist’s goals aren’t as interesting if you don’t set serious consequences for failure. “If the stakes are high enough, even the silliest ideas can be compelling,” he says.
It’s not enough that your character suffer disappointment if they don’t reach their goal. Something tangible should be at risk, and it should be important enough for force your protagonist to take action despite any obstacles you throw in their path. If the stakes aren’t high, there won’t be any reason for your character to stay in the game. Your hero needs to have enough skin in the game so they don’t quit.
McCormick also advises keeping the stakes in line with the tone of your story. “Trying to win a pickleball tournament to pay for a loved one’s life-saving operation, for example, would be tonally dissonant,” he says.
In addition, writers need to more than set the stakes – they need to raise them at appropriate moments. “In other words, if it was important for your main character to succeed in the first half of your story, you need to make their success absolutely vital in the second,” McCormick says. As an example, McCormick cites to Star Wars. In the first half of the movie, Luke’s goal is necessary to saving the rebellion. By the midpoint, the heroes learn that the Empire has built a weapon capable of destroying planets and that the information they carry will help the rebellion destroy it. The same goal – deliver information to the rebellion – now has astronomically bigger stakes.
Parallel to your story stakes, you should invest in creating emotional stakes for your protagonist. For example, in Back to the Future, Marty has to ensure that his parents get together in the past, or else he’ll never exist. However, his emotional need is for his family life to be better, which he achieves by helping his father, in the past, believe in himself. When Marty returns home, he exists, and his family is happier and more successful due to his actions.
