3 Rules to Raising Story Stakes

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Many novels fail because the protagonist doesn't have anything at stake. Laurence MacNaughton shares three rules to making sure your story has the necessary stakes to make readers care. 

I will never forget the time I watched an author face-plant the career opportunity of a lifetime without even knowing it.

This happened at a multi-author book event, with dozens of people attending. One particular author was reading the opening scene of her new book to a restless crowd. I sat in the very back, intently trying to listen, but I couldn't really get into the story. My mind kept wandering.

The person sitting next to me—a literary luminary who routinely negotiates million-dollar book deals—sighed with disappointment. “What’s at stake in this story? There's nothing at stake here.” And with that, they lost all interest in this author. Maybe forever.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com