By Sara Beth Williams @WilliamsSaraB
What makes a good story?
A well-developed plot.
What helps drive the plot forward, besides a character’s strong, identifiable goal?
High Stakes.
Now not all high stakes are “I’m going to die,” or “He’s going to die.” Sometimes, they’re emotional high stakes. Romance for example, deals significantly with emotional high stakes. But without some kind of high stakes, your story won’t keep readers turning pages.
Spoiler Warning Ahead!
Examples of High Stakes
Jurassic Park (1993)
Well…let’s see. Dinosaurs are locked in cages and the power goes out because of a hurricane. Because of the power outage, all the dinosaurs subsequently escape. People run for their lives. If they don’t run, they don’t survive. Yep. Classic example of high stakes.
The Hunger Games by Suzzanne Collins
Having to survive by killing or being killed is another classic example of high stakes. For Katmiss, it is not a small matter of “I can get through this.” No, it’s a matter of “If I don’t win, I will die.”. That is high stakes.
Finding Nemo (2001)
This is a great example of how emotional and physical high stakes are woven together. Nemo is a clownfish who swims too close to a boat and is captured by a diver.
Nemo’s father Merlin, thinks his son is in immanent danger. Also, he lost Nemo’s mom and vowed to protect Nemo at all costs. So, he crosses the ocean to search for him.
Nemo, we find out, isn’t exactly in danger, until we discover that the dentist who captured him is planning to give him to his niece, Darla, who the other fish in the tank label a ‘fish killer’ because she killed the last fish that was given to her.
Merlin’s emotional attachment to his son drives him forward at every turn as he searches..
A Walk to Remember: By Nicholas Sparks
Both the movie and the book do a great job of portraying the emotional personal stakes that Jamie and Landon are dealing with. Jamie flat out tells Landon “You have to promise not to fall in love with me,” Why? Hopefully most of you have seen or read this. If not, Spoiler alert!
Why would she tell him not to fall in love with her? Because she’s dying of cancer. What does he do? Of course, he falls in love with her.
Don’t let me die! By Lindsey Caldwell
In this YA novel, we meet a young girl who is partially paralyzed after a terrible accident involving a jack-knifed big rig. What drives the story forward is her determination to live and to walk again. But she is her own worst enemy. She has to overcome her doubts and fears and learn to live with who she is now versus who she used to be before she became paralyzed. Contrary to the title implication, she is not dying. There is no ‘saving the world’ or “survival of the fittest’, but there are still high stakes. Her friends and family root for her. Her physical therapist motivates her to keep going when she wants to give up.
You might assume that some genres lend themselves better to high stakes (actions, thrillers, suspense, mystery) but in truth, any story of any genre can and absolutely should incorporate high stakes, particularly the emotional kind. It is imperative that your character has something dire to lose if they do not achieve their overall goal.
What are other examples of books and movies with high stakes?
Check out the rest of the What Makes a Great Story? series posts
Sara Beth Williams is a published author, an ACFW and CIPA member, wife, mother of two daughters, and dog mom of a lovable, spunky Pomeranian-Shih Tzu mix. Her third novel, Anchor My Heart, was a 2022 Selah Award finalist. She lives in Northern California and also works as a freelance publicist. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys playing guitar, reading, and spending time with her family. Get to know her better on her website, www.sarabethwilliams.com
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