Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How can I raise the stakes and make a character's decision compelling?

I am currently writing a short story in which the story's climax revolves around the protagonist making and carrying out a decision to take action. I have come to realise that the decision I orig...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by manyaceist‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:55:46Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/26031
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar manyaceist‭ · 2019-12-08T05:55:46Z (about 5 years ago)
I am currently writing a short story in which the story's climax revolves around the protagonist making and carrying out a decision to take action.

I have come to realise that the decision I originally set up is a win-win situation for the protagonist – there is a downside to the decision, but it's not personal to the protagonist, which drains out the tension and makes the protagonist's choice too easy.

I would like to raise the stakes and make it a genuinely difficult decision for the character. I have some ideas about sacrifices that this decision would force on the character, but I would like to get some tips and insights on raising the stakes and heightening the reader's interest in the decision. Any resources on the topic or examples of short fiction that does this well would be very much appreciated!

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-01-13T07:57:40Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 4