by Michelle Sass Aleckson, @MchelleAleckson
As authors we talk a lot about goals. The main character needs a clear goal for a story to have any momentum. Goals can present themselves as a mystery to solve, a problem to fix, a need to fulfill, or something our hero needs to find or achieve. And hopefully you’ve also thought about obstacles that will get in your hero’s way. If there’s nothing preventing your hero from achieving his goal it will be a boring story. But we need more than an obvious goal and some obstacles for a can’t-put-it-down read. The story needs stakes.
So what is on the line for your hero? If there’s nothing at stake for our hero, the reader won’t care.
For example, our wealthy and handsome hero wants to win the one-thousand-dollar prize for a local baking competition. Clear goal? Check! We give him some major challenges to overcome: a broken oven, a shortage of a necessary ingredient, distractions from friends, and a worthy opponent in the competition. We have obstacles! But if our hero has nothing to lose, does it really matter if he wins or not? He’s already wealthy. He doesn’t need that one thousand dollars. Winning would simply be another trophy on the shelf. But if we add some stakes, tweak the circumstances so losing the competition means losing something important to our hero, our story will truly be compelling.
Let’s take away his wealth. Let’s say that thousand dollars means the difference between our hero buying life-saving medicine for his son’s rare condition or going without. Now our reader has something to worry about! It’s not simply about reaching that goal, overcoming the obstacles and winning the prize. It’s about saving his son’s life.
If you’re finding you hit that dreaded saggy middle, up the stakes. If you’re not sure if you’re stakes are high enough ask yourself, is this something my reader will worry about? What happens to my hero if he doesn’t solve the mystery or fix the problem? What happens if he doesn’t win? If it doesn’t make much of a difference in our hero’s world, give the guy something to lose. Keep your readers worried until that satisfying conclusion. They’ll thank you for it.
Stakes don’t have to be life or death. They might be more personal. Maybe it’s our hero’s heart on the line. That’s the whole point of a romance. Or maybe it’s fulfilling a lifelong dream or his job is at stake. If the reader can relate and see sufficient motivation and need, they’ll get behind your hero and root for him to the very end.
The key to solving a kidnapping…
Lies buried in her past.
After witnessing her aunt’s abduction, veterinarian Talia Knowles will do anything to find her—even as the kidnappers set their sights on her. But missing memories from her past might hold answers she didn’t know she had. And relying on neighboring ranch hand and ex-marine Noah Landers could be the key to finding her aunt and discovering the culprit’s true motives.
From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
After growing up on both the east and west coasts and traveling the world, Michelle Sass Aleckson now enjoys living the country life in central Minnesota with her husband and four children. She loves rocking out to 80’s tunes on a Saturday night and playing board games with family and friends. She’s a graduate of Novel Academy’s Storycrafter course, and she won the 2018 Genesis Award for Romantic Suspense and the 2018 Cascade Award for Contemporary Fiction.
She writes contemporary stories full of romance, grace, and, yes, a little sass too. You can connect with her at michellealeckson.com!