What are Stakes?

Stakes refer to what characters stand to lose or gain as they pursue their goals. They create tension, a sense of urgency and help the reader to connect with the character on an emotional level, keeping them invested and turning the pages.

Types of Stakes

1. External: Often involve societal issues or physical dangers. For example, a character might need to save their town from a disaster or prevent a war. The Host by Stephenie Meyer depicts an earth over-run with parasitic, body-snatching aliens, threatening the survival of the species.
2. Internal: Whereby a character’s actions are motivated by emotional or psychological factors, such as love, the desire for revenge, or guilt. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie follows the path of a serial killer bent on retribution, resulting in the reader wondering if she’ll eventually be caught and punished for her crimes.
3. Personal: What a character wants to achieve and why it matters to them. This could involve relationships, personal growth, or fulfilling a dream. In Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, Lou learns to embrace her true potential as she risks her heart by falling in love with Will, who wants to end his life in Switzerland.

One of my favourite stories for showing all three types of stakes is The Handmaid’s Tale. Externally, Offred is forced to live in a society which has taken away the rights of women to control their bodies, their fertility and their freedoms. If she doesn’t escape, she risks an existence where she is kept isolated and used as a breeding machine. If she’s caught trying to escape, or breaking the rules, she will be punished or killed. Internally, she is driven by love for her daughter, the desire to reunite with her, and determination to keep her safe from a system that subjugates females. On a personal level, Offred wants to be free of her Commander and his wife and return to a place of safety with her family.

Top Tips

• Employ multiple types of stakes to create a richer, deeper narrative and keep readers engaged.
• Raise the stakes as the story progresses to heighten tension and maintain reader interest, e.g. by introducing new challenges or escalating existing conflicts.
• Make stakes relatable by ensuring that the stakes resonate with readers on a personal level, making them care about the outcome.

Sources: ProWritingAid, Masterclass, Self Publishing School, The Novel Smithy, Writer’s Edit

Experience

I often need to remind myself to ensure that the stakes are high enough for my characters, and not only that but to keep raising them, turning up the heat and making things as difficult as possible for them until reaching the heart-stopping climax. The reader must be eager to read on to find out the consequences of a character’s decisions. Will it all work out for them?

In my love stories, I find it easier – the characters risk their hearts, their chance at happiness, their relationships.

In my darker novels, there has to be that tension that something isn’t ‘right’ and it has to be plausible, which I do find difficult to balance.

Final Thoughts

What are the stakes in your novel/s?

How do you sustain and raise them?

Do you have any recommendations for novels which demonstrate high stakes?

Are there any books that you’ve read which lacked high stakes and did this affect your reading experience? Does genre matter, e.g. literary vs. thriller?