 Action/Adventure: March 03, 2021 Issue [#10644] |
This week: Stakes Edited by: Jeff  
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"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff and I'm a guest editors for this issue of the Official Action/Adventure Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 350 newsletters across the site during that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via email or the handy feedback field at the bottom of this newsletter! 
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STAKES
One of the most difficult elements of an action/adventure story to get right are the stakes. And that's because you don't just need to get them right when you're setting things up; you also have to get them right consistently throughout the story. If you go too big, you won't leave yourself with many options to ratchet up the stakes again when you need to (a common problem in long-running television series), but if you don't go big enough, then you risk turning off an audience who doesn't get invested in what's happening.
Figuring out the stakes of an action/adventure story can be particularly challenging because they span an incredibly wide range. On the one hand, it could be a story as small as a character fighting for what's right all on his own in a small town. On the other hand, it could be a story as large as one where the consequences are globe-spanning or, even in the case of sci-fi action/adventure, ones that have repercussions across the entire galaxy or universe. Even for more traditional modern-day action/adventure set right here on Earth, one of the most popular types of action/adventure stories are thrillers that take the reader all around the world, from exotic locale to exotic locale.
When coming up with the stakes of your story, it's important to start somewhere that really catches your reader's attention. Large or small, it has to be compelling enough to get them to want to keep reading. This will largely be a function of the genre you're writing in and the expectation readers have. If it's an espionage drama, it'll probably need to be something big and flashy. If it's a police procedural about the local town sheriff, not so much. You have to start from a place the audience is familiar with, because many readers seek out stories that appeal to them and for which they have certain expectations that need to be met. If you're writing a police procedural about a small-time sheriff and the first thing he encounters is a plot to bomb the G7 summit in Switzerland, you're already setting the stakes way above audience expectation and are going to run into problems.
The same is true of raising the stakes during the second act of the story. The rising action should progress naturally out of what you've previously set up, and where the character(s) need to go. If you ratchet things up too far too fast, you're not going to leave your characters with much runway toward the end of the story. For example, if you're writing that police procedural about that small town sheriff and he's investigating a murder and by the midpoint of the book he's already figured out the entire town is in conspiring to cover it up and he's already been involved in a massive shoot-out in the town square complete with cars exploding, buildings being destroyed, etc., then where does your character go for the last half of the book? What stakes can possibly be higher than fighting off the entire town and destroying a big part of it already?
Stakes require planning.
Stakes require calibrating your story to make sure you're incrementally increasing the tension and rising action that your protagonists face.
One of the best ways to engineer effective stakes is to know where you're heading. If you know the setup and ending to your story (i.e., where the story starts and will ultimately end up), then you can start working backwards to try and figure out what would be an appropriate and steady escalation to get from Point A to Point B.
As you're developing your next story, ask yourself what the stakes of the story are, and whether they're appropriate to the kind of story you want to tell.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
I also encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: “We are a’splorers of the great un… un… of places nobody’s been!” Addie declared, pushing the pole she was holding against the ground, trying to make the tub they were in move.
EXCERPT: I told one of my sisters once not long ago I was planning a trip by car to Kingman, Arizona and pwoukd be camping at the beautiful KOA campground near Williams I had I had stayed at before. It had a pool, jacuzzi, and even indoor showers. Not only was the scenery incredibly beautiful but the campground was away from the hustle and bustle of Flagstaff.
EXCERPT: Her iron-clad grip on the wheel relaxed slightly, as she sucked in a sharp breath of relief when the military-grade Hummer broke through. The further North she drove, the higher and wider the drifted banks of snow became. She couldn’t afford to become one of the many stranded, unfortunate motorists freezing to death out there.
EXCERPT: “Don’t tell anyone you saw me. I wasn’t here. You didn’t see me do it.” With that statement, John ran off, leaving me with keys to his car and his dog on a leash.
EXCERPT: Hive was not going to put up with her bulls--- anymore, he decided, as he clung to the exterior of a rapidly spinning space station, his tether torn, his magnet boots and gloves the only thing keeping him from flying off into the abyss. The spin was enough to simulate almost 1G. Great, for when you’re inside the station. Not so good for exterior maintenance, especially on a day like today. The planet below spun sickeningly over his head, making him almost dizzy. He tried to focus on the cold metal surface in front of his face.
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Feedback from "Action/Adventure Newsletter (February 24, 2021)" about defining the action/adventure genre:
From Quick-Quill  :
Typing a story is difficult. Trying to find a story you like is just as difficult. I'm glad there are further distinctions. Crime=detective or True Crime. Mystery=Cosy, thriller, suspense. This is so general I hope Amazon does a better job at the genre
Amazon is actually really great at having so many different genres so you can find exactly what you want. I love the fact that their crime genre, for example, can be broken down into subgenres for heist, kidnapping, vigilante justice, etc. I get frustrated when I go into a bookstore where all fiction is just in a "fiction" section, or every single subgenre of mystery, thriller, action/adventure, suspense, etc. are all just "mysteries."
From Monty  :
How about Poetry? (submitted item: "LAW OF THE GUN"
I have nothing at all against poetry. 
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