Why should anyone care about the story you’re writing? Before you launch into an explanation of how your stoic hero is also tenderhearted and how your heroine helps heal his wounded heart, step back for a moment. Yes, compelling characters are vital to a good novel, but you also need to consider the big picture and ask the question: What’s at stake? What: There are three different types of stakes: public, private and personal. Public stakes are what we care about as a culture: an alien invasion of our planet (Independence Day) or some sort of global attack on humanity. The movie Sahara has public stakes because an unknown toxin threatens the world’s entire water supply. Personal stakes hurt the heart of your main character. Think about it: How often […]
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Quick Skills: How to Build Scene Tension
I just finished book 2 of the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire. Excuse me while I go pick up book 3 and spend the day ignoring my to-do list. This series is a lesson in how to create fabulous tension. Not only is the story premise powerful, but every chapter has that “can’t put down” quality. Why? TENSION on every page (as the Master Donald Maas would say!) But what is tension. Recently, I read approximately 1,768,639 contest entries. Okay, not quite that many, but it felt like it. And very few really wove real tension into their story. Obstacles and Activity are not Tension. Tension is a combination of a Sympathetic Character + Stakes + Goals + Obstacles + Fear of Failure. If any of these are missing, we don’t […]
Read the RestLet the fight begin! How to use stakes and motivations to build a powerful story!
Last week we talked about how to discover Stakes and Motivations. But, how do you use them to create a powerful story? Let the Fight Begin! One of my favorite movies for continually raising stakes and forcing the viewer to the edge of her seat is the thriller, Cellular. Just to recap, in a nutshell, it’s a movie about a woman who is kidnapped. She uses a demolished phone to call for help and gets hold of a young man whose girlfriend has broken up with him because of his irresponsibility. A deadline of sorts hangs over their conversation (an essential element in any suspense), because, at any moment, they could get cut off, and she may never be able to dial out again. She must convince this random guy […]
Read the RestCreating a Push-Pull Motivation for your suspense scenes
Yesterday, we talked about the use of Public and Private Stakes to raise the epic element of your suspense, and drive your reader through the story. But that is only one part of the equation. You need motivation as well. You need to employ something I call the PUSH-PULL. Let’s start at the beginning of the story: Your character will need a motivation to start them on their journey. Some Why and What do they want? This is easy – you simply take a look at their greatest dreams and give them glimpse of hope that they can achieve them early on in the story. But that’s when things get tough. See, on every great journey, there is conflict – or obstacles along the way. And your character will […]
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