So, I say to Rachel, hey, we’re going to talk about Stakes this week on MBT, and she says, Nummy, I like mine rare!

Ha ha, very funny.

No, I’m not talking about a T-bone, or Sirloin. Stakes are those things that make us see what we could lose. It helps us stand at the precipice and say, is it worth it to step over into the unknown? (Reminds me a lot of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy has to step out in FAITH. What a great scene!)

Stakes are those things that drive the story, that make the reader say, hey, I care about this story, I want to know what happens. They might not even be as big as we know starting out, but by the end of the book, they should be worth all the effort the hero (and the reader) have put in to get there.

There are two kinds of Stakes: Public stakes and Private Stakes. Public Stakes are those stakes that we embrace as a corporate body. As Americans, or as human beings. Stopping nuclear war, for example. Or protecting our country from a terrorist attack. Even, protecting a people from genocide. These are big issues that the public can get behind, root for. They are also bound in time. For example, a story set in WW2 would have issues of patriotism and fighting the great war, while cold war era stories would be about loyalty, and fighting the Russians. Stories set during Vietnam might be about freedoms. Public stakes can be found by asking: What is important to our community, and what would I stand up for? What would I go to the mats for?

Private stakes, on the other hand, are the things close to our hearts. They are the stakes that attack our values, and challenge us in our roles as mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters…as people at large. They’re issues of integrity, or honest, issues of protecting our children, or standing up for what is right. Even a movie as cute as How to Lose a Guy in 10 days has private stakes…her career versus her heart. Private stakes are found by asking what matters most to me in my personal life? What would I bleed to make sure did or didn’t happen? What would I put my life on the line for?

It’s like saying: People go to war for their country. (Public Stakes) They die for the people they care about. (Or the guy next to them). (Private Stakes).

And the great stories have both. Saving Private Ryan is one I often refer to when talking about Stakes. Public Stakes are fighting the battle against Germany, and even, to some extent, finding Private Ryan. Private Stakes are the values Tom Hanks is willing to sacrifice for someone he doesn’t know, and more, for the soldiers under his command.

So, how does this affect our hero? As he stands there, refusing his call, he needs to look out and see what is at stake. Maybe he won’t glimpse the entire picture, but he’ll know, at least, a little of what is looming, what he has to fight for or against. When Frodo took off with the ring, all he knew was that darkness was headed for the shire and he needed to get the ring away, and protect his hamlet. The bigger picture came later, and in pieces (certainly as he realized just the evil he was up against as the Nasgould’s horses breathed on him as he and his friends hid in the forest! That scene still gives me the shivers!) The stakes need to loom over him, and touch him in some way, enough to shake him. Scare him. Make him shrink back. Make him refuse, at least for the moment….the call to journey.

I’m headed to Minneapolis this week to teach at the MN Christian Writer’s Guild – Basic Novel Writing, and then on Monday, advanced plotting and characterization techniques. Next week, we’re going to talk about the dreaded BACKSTORY – how to work it in (and how not to!). Rach and I will be stopping by Voices as we can over the weekend, and giving input on your Public and Private stakes…

Oh, and I like mine medium rare. Wtih a little A-1, and some garlic salt. Num!
Have a great weekend (and here’s to a couple of steaks on the grill. Oh, great, now I’m getting hungry…)