How to Raise Your Story's STAKES (Fiction Writing Advice)

[@blueseaturtle6031]

Stakes - is what your character stands to gain and lose Two types of stakes - There are personal stakes (stakes that are important to one specific character) - And there are community stakes (stakes that affect more than just your main character or characters) Personal vs community stakes (optional but still good to consider) - Give your character a dilemma where he has to choose between his personal stakes and the community stakes ( The last of us ending, where Joel had to choose whether or not to sacrifice Ellie for the sake of humanity possibly making an anti - zombie cure ) - Which will they sacrifice When to raise your stakes - As your story moves along, the potential loss should become more and more devastating (at first it will usually start off small and then evolve into something much more unpleasant) - When raising your stakes you should do it at the more important moments in your story ( Preferably around the midpoint or 50% mark because there is typically a new piece of important information conveyed to the audience around this point ) - you should also be raising your stakes in minor ways throughout the story and at the end your stakes should be at their highest Example of stakes 1. Beginning My bully won’t stop abusing me and I’m afraid to stick up for myself 2. Midpoint If I don’t stick up for myself my father will disown me for being a pathetic child 3. Ending I must stick up for myself or else my bully will brutally murder everyone I know

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for these!

[@lezliepatz6353]

I'm actually surprised of how i understand this quickly, when i study i often cry becuase i cannot understand, but this one is so easy to understand! I love it!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad the video helped!

[@C3raMic]

Omgooodness lezliePatz hiya when I read your comment I thought YaY + :( I appreciate you expressing that ya get emotional when studying! You don't understand but I also these last few years have been eager for self education n knowledge but it often brings me to sadness with my lack of understanding so I'm grateful to know I'm notthe only one! Have a great day!

[@DPXerxes]

You forgot to include a third type of stakes, which is the one I use the most in my writing : mistakes.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Do you raise the stakes at the Midpoint of your current work-in-progress? Let us know!

[@potatomanboooi3105]

I raise steaks when u get the chance to.like a simple one is a guy that looks like a girl goes into the womans room whilst peeing standing and the person in the other stall notices that.thats a simple steak if its like a spy movie and he had to discuise as a woman at one point

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@potatomanboooi3105 Ideally you want to consistently raise the stakes as the story goes on. Every chance you get (without overdoing it and making a mess of things, obviously)

[@potatomanboooi3105]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty yep thats why i said when i get a chance.when there iant a point you should have breaks for character devopment and stuff like that

[@dianasaurstudio]

This is interesting, glad I clicked on this! My mc currently starts off with having already lost a lot-- friendships and career path, but he will have a love interest come into his life soon but she's a deuteragonist so I'm not sure how I can incorporate that loss. It's for an ongoing series, not a one-off book though so that's probably what's holding me back. I'll keep thinking of other ways to raise the stakes for him though!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Best of luck with it!

[@MaggieMiller1]

Love this channel. I can't tell you how much this has improved my rewrite. :)

[@opollitico]

This is really helpful thank u 💥

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled to hear it! As always, thanks for watching

[@Marcnshae2011]

Great advice, thank u!

[@emilyeshraghi8197]

Thank you for this! Can you speak more on romantic stakes?

[@PhoenixCrown]

I raise my stakes at the midpoint because my MC unexpectedly uses magic. This likely means that all of the "peasants" in my world are capable of magic use, and the entire societal structure (the Divide between classes) is manufactured. It's a huge deal for our MC, but even bigger for the community at large.

[@PositiveWriterr]

Thank you for this!

[@Disgruntled_Dave]

Lately I've been working on a character who loses everything/everyone he cares about. His story starts off as protecting his home and family and ultimately failing, then dedicating the rest his life to revenge. Do you have any advice on maintaining tension for a character who has nothing left to lose? Edit: The part of this that I've been struggling with the most is that, while he doesn't stand to lose anything (other than his own life, which he really doesn't value anyway) he doesn't seem to have much to gain either. But after posting this, I'm starting to think he might learn to actually value his own life over the course of his vengeance-quest. Still, if you have any thoughts on establishing stakes for a character who's already at rock-bottom, I'd love to hear it!

[@outcast4087]

In my work-in-progress story the initial stakes are uncertain. I really don't know what to say about them, other than if the protagonist succeeds, he will become a monster fighter, and if he fails - he will return to his meaningless life. One could say that the stakes for him is to prove himself that he does actually worth something, and is not an absolute failure, like he always thought. The stakes in the middle of the story could be that the unknown villain is threatening to destroy the base of the international organisation which he and his new friends and collegues are now a part of, which makes it crucial for our heroes to track down the villain. The final stakes would be not just total annihilation of their monster-fighting organisation, but mainly overflowing the world with almost infinite amount of monsters and granting the villain unlimited power to reshape Reality itself.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Awesome, sounds like your stakes have a steady progression throughout your story. Best of luck with your writing!

[@outcast4087]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty thank you, your kind words mean a lot to me! Though I'm unsure about one particular thing: after the raid on their base and figuring out that the protagonist was actually the main target (there is a reason behind this), the heroes decided to act as if he was indeed killed during the raid: reported him dead, hid him for a month or so, and then brought him back under a new alias and identity in general. And though this course of action does sound pretty logical and life-like (I guess), I am concerned that it might come off as kinda "cheap" from the writing perspective, it just shouldn't be that easy.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@outcast4087 Easy story solutions often leave the audience feeling cheated. If the scenario is realistic with him being reported dead, try to find a way to make things difficult for your heroes. Maybe another character stirs up problems in some way

[@ashlysiva9496]

The video discusses the importance of stakes in storytelling. Stakes are what characters stand to gain or lose in a story. The video emphasizes that stakes should be meaningful and impactful, and that they should be raised throughout the story to keep the audience engaged. Key Points * What are stakes? Stakes are what characters stand to gain or lose in a story. * Why are stakes important? Stakes make stories more meaningful and impactful. * What are the two types of stakes? * Personal stakes: These are stakes that are important to one specific character, usually the main character. * Community stakes: These are stakes that affect more than just the main character, such as a family, a town, or a country. * How can you raise the stakes in your story? * At the midpoint: This is a great opportunity to raise the stakes by introducing a new piece of information that changes the game. * Throughout the story: You can raise the stakes in smaller ways throughout the story to keep the audience engaged. * At the end: The stakes should be at their highest at the end of the story. Steps to Raise Stakes * Identify your characters' goals: What do your characters want to achieve? * Determine the potential losses: What could your characters lose if they don't achieve their goals? * Raise the stakes at the midpoint: Introduce a new piece of information that changes the game. * Raise the stakes throughout the story: Use smaller moments to increase the tension and suspense. * Raise the stakes at the end: The stakes should be at their highest at the climax of the story.

[@DarkTider]

To answer the question; Kinda no, it happens more at the 2/3's point where everything the reader thought they knew about the story is turned upside down and events begin escalating out of control.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Cool, sounds like you have a good handle on your story

[@doublekiwi6320]

Should I come up with the stakes first then plan the story out?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Depends on the type of writer you are. If you like to plan, plan. If not, discover it as you go

[@juju10683]

Steaks mmm 🥩