Whatever the stakes we’re trying to create, if the reader isn’t feeling it, we’re not doing our job as novelists. We’re going to examine big stakes and big tension by considering those scenes that make the spine tingle! It can be a real challenge to convey big feelings across the page and really communicate them viscerally to a reader. Especially when we’re going for fearful, intense, creepy, or dark scenes when we all know it’s going to work out just fine for our hero–she is the HERO, after all! A master storyteller will have readers feeling it just the same. Register for this creative writing workshop to take your protagonist’s stakes to new levels.
What is a traveling chapter? And why do all books, regardless of genre, have them? What can you do to amp up your traveling, and make it interesting and compelling to your reader?
What is agency? How does it work in your story? And what does it look like? When is your plot driving your character, rather than your character driving the plot? How can you diagnose agency issues? And how can you maintain that agency all the way through your climax, even with a cast of characters?
What is nicey-nice? How can you use character flaws and irrational reactions to combat it? As a writer we need to remember to push boundaries, silence that inner critic, and steer clear of writing our own reactions into our character. So how do you fix a section that is too nice? And how can you use character reactions to build tension into your story? Make your characters reactions messy and their relationships imperfect and you’ll be on your way to writing characters that keep the reader engaged!
What are stakes? And how does your characters agency interact with them? How do you make your stakes personal and individual for your character? And how can you use your stakes to evaluate your plot structure? How should the stakes change through the story? And how do the stakes affect your characters actions? Remember, your characters agency must be the thing that drives your story forward!
