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Q&A How can I raise the stakes and make a character's decision compelling?

As you rightly perceive, this is about sacrifice. It is about loss. It is about how much the character is willing to bleed for this. The implication of this is that much of the story has to be ded...

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26042
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:55:47Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26042
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:55:47Z (almost 5 years ago)
As you rightly perceive, this is about sacrifice. It is about loss. It is about how much the character is willing to bleed for this.

The implication of this is that much of the story has to be dedicated to making it very clear how much bleeding would be involved for the character in this situation. It is why so many quest stories spend so much time at the beginning on the joys of home. Think the beginning of LOTR and how much time it spends on establishing Fordo's love of the Shire. Think about how much time the Spriderman movies spend on the romance with MJ before Spidy has to choose between her an a bus full of children.

The stakes are not established in the moment. The whole of the story before the climax are spent establishing the stakes, so that in the moment the reader knows exactly what the decision will cost the protagonist, just how much they are going to have to bleed for it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-01-13T14:38:23Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 4