This was taken from a discussion with Allison Brennan and Sandra Brown, authors of romantic suspense.

Every good story has to contain significant risks for the hero and heroine.  Common sense, right? The better you define those and the reader can associate with them, the more you elevate the drama. The stakes have to be high — or at least perceived as high to the reader.

In a Thriller, the stakes are either deadly or personal. The person is going to die, be physically harmed in some way, or perhaps lose someone they love. Or maybe, they will lose their career, their family, their respect, or relationship. Or two or more of these may occur. That’s pretty high, right? The more creative you get with this the better. 

In a Paranormal — it may be destruction of the universe, destruction of mankind, or destruction of a character’s sanity. Definately high.

Make sure you define the stakes up front before you start writing. If the stakes aren’t high enough, the story won’t hold interest and keep the reader reading. If you’re not sure how to define the risks, watch television crime shows like NCIS, etc to help with developing your story line to show the risks.

Get out a paper (or a spreadsheet if you’re on the computer), make three columns. Label them, Hero, Heroine, Villian. Under each, one write what is at stake for them. What is so critically important to them that their life will be forever changed or ruined if they don’t achieve it. List three or four ways they are witheld from achieving it. List what has to happen for them to achieve it.

In the writing of your story, your villian should always be working toward resolving those stakes while preventing the others from resolving theirs (normally because they are in direct conflict).

Weave little tidbits that show how high the stakes are to each character into every chapter.

Note that this is my perception of the take-away from the RWA Conference and in no way represents the opinion of anyone else, nor has it been solicited or compensated in any way for any purpose. It is shared simply for informational purposes.

Have a fantastic day.