In a guest post on C.S. Lakin’s blog, DiAnn Mills says that the stakes of failure for your protagonist should get bigger and go faster the closer you get to your ending. “Creating high stakes is much like a snowball gaining strength as it rolls downhill,” she says. “The story gains momentum, building throughout every scene.”
It’s not enough to have stakes in every scene. If every scene has the same level of tension, your novel will feel flat, even if you have crafted strong conflict and stakes. Instead, each scene should build on those before it, complicating your hero’s struggle and putting more obstacles in their path. “Scene two can’t happen before scene one, and scene sixty can’t happen without scenes one through fifty-nine,” Mills writes. If they can, your structure and character arc is probably out of whack.
So how do you create a snowball effect with your high stakes? Mills suggests four questions to ask:
- What is the POV character’s goal or problem to solve?
- What does the POV character learn that’s new information?
- What backstory is revealed?
- How are the stakes raised?
Question 4 is the key, Mills says. The answer prompts your reader to turn the page and find out what happens next. “The high stakes don’t have to be earth-shattering and can be physical or psychological, but the stakes must initiate emotion,” she writes. “The opposing focus is the something that stops the character from achieving their goal.”
Everything your character does to get out of trouble only makes the situation worse – Jerry B. Jenkins
Tight, high-stakes scenes use the character’s fears and weaknesses against them. As a result, your character has an internal struggle as well as external or physical obstacles.
“Watch plot twists emerge that will add levels to the storyline,” Mills says. “Seek ways to ensure the character faces one difficult situation after another. Assign traits that defy the character’s goals and raise the stakes. Stop the character from moving forward by establishing a barrier that ensures temporary defeat.” She closes out the article with a list of tips for creating increasing stakes.
