Upping the Stakes

Suffering.  It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, seeing as how three family members live each day in pain and yet they are three of the strongest people I know.  I’m beginning to see why God allows suffering to exist.  Not that he wants it, but he allows it, simply for the fact that it will help mold the person into a stronger, more interesting person.  If everything in life was hunky-dory it’d get pretty boring.

Same goes for stories.  I’ve realized I long to protect my characters that I’ve lovingly created.  But when I do that, the stories are boring.  The characters are boring.  There’s no real motivation for the characters to do anything.

So a few months ago I decided to do something drastic to my current work in progress.  I sat down with two pieces of paper: one for each of my main characters.  And I asked myself a question: what would be something I wouldn’t want to see happen to this character?

And I brainstormed.  Before long, I had several ideas.  But then, I decided to go a step further.  My heart pounded as I really pondered, what would be the absolute worse thing for this character to have happen to them?

And immediately it came to mind.  I didn’t want to do it to them.  But I realized, to make the story real, to make it suspenseful, to make it interesting, to give the characters motivation, I had to do exactly that.  I had to cause them suffering, if only for a chapter or two.  I had to give them a real dilemma.  I had to up the stakes.

I’m glad I did.  They seem more like a real person as opposed to a character on a page.  They have depth and soul.  I like the story so much better.

So, how do you feel about the concept of upping the stakes?