Amanda Frederickson's Blog: Musings - Posts Tagged "the-hobbit"
Danger: Stakes
I'm continuing some thoughts on establishing danger since it's a multi-faceted thing that deserves some more depth.
Ultimately, in any given story there is no suspense if there is nothing being threatened. Therefore, you need two things: a threat and something threatened. It's the simplest and hardest factor in writing anything because this is what will hold your audience or lose them.
Let's start with the thing being threatened. The stakes. This is what will make the audience care about your story. It can be the old standby of life, the universe, and everything, it can be the fate of a relationship, or it can be as simple as lunch. (Don't disregard the power of where the next meal is coming from; many a character has effectively hooked an audience by being hungry. Too many to start naming examples.)
So much for the easy part.
Any and every story has something at stake. The trick to it is making the audience care as much as (or more than) the characters do.
First, it has to matter to the characters.
An excellent example of this can be found in The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien opens with a detailed description of Bilbo Baggins' home and its occupant, establishing his comfortable and predictable life (which of course is about to be disturbed). Why, given that Bilbo has "apparently settled down immovably," would he ever leave his hobbit hole for the dangers and discomfort of an adventure?
Because the stakes of the quest become personal.
...the music began all at once, so sudden and sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else, and was swept away into dark lands under strange moons, far over The Water and very far from his hobbit-hole under The Hill.... And suddenly first one then another began to sing as they played, deep throated singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their ancient homes; and this is like a fragment of their song, if it can be like their song without their music.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold....
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.... He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns... he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quiet Hill and kindling it all to flames. He shuddered....
There's a little more that goes into Bilbo's ultimate decision to join the party, but this is his hook. Through the conveyance of the dwarves' haunting song, Bilbo gets a taste of what is at stake for them and it resonates with him, not only paving the way for a change of heart but also drawing in the reader. The words find a place in the reader that also empathizes with that longing and that's when the magic happens. The reader shares in that desire, that longing, and the stakes become personal.
The stakes for the characters become the stakes for the reader.
Ultimately, in any given story there is no suspense if there is nothing being threatened. Therefore, you need two things: a threat and something threatened. It's the simplest and hardest factor in writing anything because this is what will hold your audience or lose them.
Let's start with the thing being threatened. The stakes. This is what will make the audience care about your story. It can be the old standby of life, the universe, and everything, it can be the fate of a relationship, or it can be as simple as lunch. (Don't disregard the power of where the next meal is coming from; many a character has effectively hooked an audience by being hungry. Too many to start naming examples.)
So much for the easy part.
Any and every story has something at stake. The trick to it is making the audience care as much as (or more than) the characters do.
First, it has to matter to the characters.
An excellent example of this can be found in The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien opens with a detailed description of Bilbo Baggins' home and its occupant, establishing his comfortable and predictable life (which of course is about to be disturbed). Why, given that Bilbo has "apparently settled down immovably," would he ever leave his hobbit hole for the dangers and discomfort of an adventure?
Because the stakes of the quest become personal.
...the music began all at once, so sudden and sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else, and was swept away into dark lands under strange moons, far over The Water and very far from his hobbit-hole under The Hill.... And suddenly first one then another began to sing as they played, deep throated singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their ancient homes; and this is like a fragment of their song, if it can be like their song without their music.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold....
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.... He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns... he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quiet Hill and kindling it all to flames. He shuddered....
There's a little more that goes into Bilbo's ultimate decision to join the party, but this is his hook. Through the conveyance of the dwarves' haunting song, Bilbo gets a taste of what is at stake for them and it resonates with him, not only paving the way for a change of heart but also drawing in the reader. The words find a place in the reader that also empathizes with that longing and that's when the magic happens. The reader shares in that desire, that longing, and the stakes become personal.
The stakes for the characters become the stakes for the reader.
Danger: The Threat
Jumping straight into things, the threat is whatever is trying to ruin your hero’s day. For this particular application I’m assuming some sort of monster-type threat (versus an evil empire type threat or interpersonal type threat or any other type threat). The threat is the foundation for the story’s conflict, so you want to make it a good one. A hero is only as good as the opposition, which means your threat cannot be easily defeated. Like, say, by a leaf.
Here’s the thing: the threat can’t just threaten the hero (though it certainly should do that as well). It has to threaten what’s at stake.
Think of our little hobbit hero. What is the main thing standing between Bilbo Baggins (and the dwarves) and reclaiming the dwarves’ halls of gold? The nice whopping dragon curled up in the middle of it all.
Are dragons dangerous? Of course they are. Everybody knows that. But why?
Because they breathe fire and eat people. Through Thorin’s detailed story we have the example of what this particular dragon has done in the past when it took over the Lonely Mountain in the first place. He set fire to everything (and just about everyone).
But is it enough to show that the monster in question is capable of destroying things? Actually, no. Simply being capable of threatening what’s at stake doesn’t mean that it will. It needs its own stakes and the motivation to pursue them. These opposing goals are what will truly make any conflict compelling. The audience can see what would result if the monster achieves its goals, and it needs to be bad. The dragon comes into play when its stakes (the heaps of gold) cross with Bilbo’s actions, and when it happens things really heat up. (Haha. ^_^;)
This is where tension is born.
So, the monster has its own goals and we see that it is capable of achieving those goals. Now it needs to do something about it.
(Because this thing ended up very long, I decided to move the detailed application for Rings of Akhaten to a second post. If you like seeing things applied to examples or if you like to see things torn to shreds, go on to that one. Coming soon: gratuitous deaths.)
Here’s the thing: the threat can’t just threaten the hero (though it certainly should do that as well). It has to threaten what’s at stake.
Think of our little hobbit hero. What is the main thing standing between Bilbo Baggins (and the dwarves) and reclaiming the dwarves’ halls of gold? The nice whopping dragon curled up in the middle of it all.
Are dragons dangerous? Of course they are. Everybody knows that. But why?
Because they breathe fire and eat people. Through Thorin’s detailed story we have the example of what this particular dragon has done in the past when it took over the Lonely Mountain in the first place. He set fire to everything (and just about everyone).
But is it enough to show that the monster in question is capable of destroying things? Actually, no. Simply being capable of threatening what’s at stake doesn’t mean that it will. It needs its own stakes and the motivation to pursue them. These opposing goals are what will truly make any conflict compelling. The audience can see what would result if the monster achieves its goals, and it needs to be bad. The dragon comes into play when its stakes (the heaps of gold) cross with Bilbo’s actions, and when it happens things really heat up. (Haha. ^_^;)
This is where tension is born.
So, the monster has its own goals and we see that it is capable of achieving those goals. Now it needs to do something about it.
(Because this thing ended up very long, I decided to move the detailed application for Rings of Akhaten to a second post. If you like seeing things applied to examples or if you like to see things torn to shreds, go on to that one. Coming soon: gratuitous deaths.)
