We’re learning how to overhaul our stories this year, and we’re going to start with one of the biggest criticisms authors hear: Your story simply isn’t compelling. In order to overhaul a weak story, you have to start by standing on the outside of our book and asking the big question: WHY.
Why will someone care about our story?
A story usually starts with a story seed, something that has niggled at the author’s attention and made them ask, what if? From there, an author begins to build the story, adding in characters and plot. Sometimes, authors simply dive into the story from there, writing their way through it. Others step back and plot it out, seeing the big picture, and then diving in.
Regardless of your method, however, an author must consider the reasons someone might pick up your story before writing, or rewriting your book. This big WHY will comprise the backbone of your pitch, and keep your story on track as you write it.
The WHY of your story is answered in the STAKES of your story. And here’s the key – they are external stakes. Often, an author wants to pitch the internal stakes of the story – will she find true love? Will she learn to forgive? Will she overcome her fear? Of course she will – that’s the point of the story. And this question is posed in the Story Question/Theme of the book (which we’ll get to in an upcoming blog). The Stakes of the story are the external risks of the hero’s journey. What will happen if your character doesn’t complete his goal?
How do you find stakes? First, let’s take a look at the three types of stakes:
Public Stakes: These are the things that we as a society care about. Right now, we have a cold blast threading through the country. Ever seen The Day After Tomorrow? It’s a movie about the threat of another ice age sweeping the planet. Epic movies are often built around Public Stakes – the threat of war, terrorists attacks, contagious diseases, financial meltdown, a zombie invasion! Ask yourself: What do you worry about when you leave the house? If you fear it, so does your neighbor. This is the foundation for public stakes.
But Public Stakes only work in tandem with Personal Stakes.
Personal Stakes are those elements inside the Public Stakes that touches our heart. In The Day After Tomorrow, as the planet ices over, the story centers around one man’s efforts to reach his son, trapped in frozen New York City. It’s Jack and Rose’s story as the Titanic sinks, and the entire premise of Saving Private Ryan. We only care about epic events as they relate to the ones we love. Remember Dante’s Peak? Everyone would have been fine if Granny hadn’t decided to stay on the mountain. Or Outbreak (an old Dustin Hoffman/Renee Russo movie about the Ebola virus) – we started caring about people dying when the heroine got infected.
So, threaten the kids, hold someone hostage, give someone a fatal disease, trap them in the burning building, crash their plane – whatever it takes to add in the personal stakes. (and if you really want to make it compelling – add in a deadline, or a “ticking bomb.”)
Ask: What do I care about? Then..How can I make that personal?
But what if your story isn’t about the cataclysmic ending of the world?
No problem – you need Private Stakes, or the assault of two worthy values pushing against one another. All great stories have that moment when the hero/heroine must choose between saving the girl and saving the world. This is a simplified version of private stakes.
We grapple with Private Stakes every day. Do you go to work or attend your child’s play? Do you visit your mother in the nursing home, or attend women’s bible study? Do you workout or call your mother? Reiterating my previous statement about the external stakes, although these elements touch the heart, they are still external choices the hero/heroine have to make.
When we put private stakes into a story, they create a powerful, compelling premise. One of my favorite uses of Private Stakes was a Deb Raney novel, Beneath a Southern Sky
The heroine, a missionary wife, loses her husband in the jungle, and has to move home and put her world back together. Worse, she’s pregnant. Three years later, she’s put her life back together and met a wonderful man, who’s become like a father to her child. They marry…and suddenly her missing husband is found.
Now what? Does she chose her first husband, or does she stay with the man who’s helped her heal, the only man who has been a daddy to her daughter?
The story is built around this impossible choice, and is a fantastic example of Private Stakes driving a story.
I built my recent book, You Don’t Know Me (Deep Haven)
In Take a Chance on Me (Christiansen Family)
Ask: What values does my hero/heroine hold and how can you pit them against each other? Or, what difficult choice (with two equally great options) does your character have to make?
As you start to makeover your story, begin by asking: What kind of stakes do I have in my story? Or, look at it like a reader: Why would you pick up this book and read it? What makes you care about this story?
If you don’t have an answer, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and apply some stakes.
(here’s another trick: Try writing the Back Cover Blurb for your story. Remember to focus on the external plot. You’ll quickly discover if you have story stakes!)
Extreme Book Makeover Challenge #1: To determine if your story has stakes, finish this sentence: My story is about what happens when…
Public/Personal
(the world is about to freeze over and a man races against time to save his son from an icy death.)
(a volcano erupts and the mayor must fight to save her town – and her family.)
Private
(a woman has to choose between saving her family or telling them the truth about her past.)
(a woman has to choose between the husband she thought she lost, and the man who helped heal her heart.)
Next week we’ll talk about the difference between a High Concept and Low Concept story (and how to make both publishable!)
(Want more in-depth explanation? – check out this class on creating story stakes in the MBT Store!)
Go! Write something brilliant!
Question: What Stakes are you YOUR story?