The Stakes
I just had a conversation with one of my editors in which she asked me to make some changes to my next Nocturne. The main thing--the biggest plot element I have to add--is a higher stake for my hero. Her suggestion was brilliant.
You see, my heroine has a very high stake--the life of her brother. But my hero--he's a long for the ride. In terms of dramatic tension, there wasn't enough. He needs more invested in their journey, in their fight against the bad guys.
It's good advice for me--for any writer. If you look at a lot of action movies, the scripts often have that element. Yes, the hero wants to save the world--but if his daughter and wife are being held hostage until he does, it's personal somehow. Remember The Rock, the movie with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery? Yes, they were saving the city from the insane bad guy with the nuclear device or whatever the heck it was. BUT . . . Nicholas Cage just HAD to find out his girlfriend was pregnant AND in the city. Now he had not just her--but his unborn child.
You get the idea.
So now my hero's stakes are to find out the truth about his daughter's disappearance. And get the heroine in bed and save the world and all that. ;-)
And what about you? What are your hero's stakes or your heroine's?
You see, my heroine has a very high stake--the life of her brother. But my hero--he's a long for the ride. In terms of dramatic tension, there wasn't enough. He needs more invested in their journey, in their fight against the bad guys.
It's good advice for me--for any writer. If you look at a lot of action movies, the scripts often have that element. Yes, the hero wants to save the world--but if his daughter and wife are being held hostage until he does, it's personal somehow. Remember The Rock, the movie with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery? Yes, they were saving the city from the insane bad guy with the nuclear device or whatever the heck it was. BUT . . . Nicholas Cage just HAD to find out his girlfriend was pregnant AND in the city. Now he had not just her--but his unborn child.
You get the idea.
So now my hero's stakes are to find out the truth about his daughter's disappearance. And get the heroine in bed and save the world and all that. ;-)
And what about you? What are your hero's stakes or your heroine's?
posted by Erica Orloff at 5:59 AM
12 Comments:
Timely as always.
Heroine's stakes: her reputation, possibly her life. Check.
Hero's: ah, t-bone. As in, about as exciting as watching someone eat. :( Well, if the heroine dies, he ain't gettin' any, so he does have that going for him.
I always seem to focus on one or 'tother, and then have to go back and give the other character reasons to be worthy of page time.
Hi Lainey:
I sometimes have the stakes match--but not always--and now I realize how much better it is to have the character fully invested in the outcome. Not just for the principle of it, or because he digs her . . . but because it really matters. Without it, I think the book is weaker.
I watched the movie Children of Men last night. It's a brilliant study of stakes moving from personal to public to global.
I haven't really tackled going global with stakes yet, but it's something to think about. Maybe with the big thriller I'm brainstorming.
Jude:
I thought the change in his character in the movie (and book--by P.D. James) was brilliant. A fascinating performance . . . I was disappointed the film got ignored at Oscar time.
E
Yeah, that's a shame. It's the best movie I've seen in a while. I think it should have at least won best screenplay adaptation (although I liked The Departed too).
I thought the absence of a musical score in Children of Men made it all-the-more bleak and chilling. I think I'm going to watch it again tonight and really study it.
Jude:
And clive Owen is so yummy.
;-)
E
You're making me want to see COM even more than I already to.
For my hero--it's to save the current generation of people like him as well as future generations (there's a direct threat). Eventually, he'll also have to find the man who killed the heroines husband and prove to her that he and his fellow mutants aren't mindless killers.
For the heroine--right now it's about getting over her husband's death. I'm sure there's more but I haven't discovered it yet. I know she needs more (I have the same prob as Lainey LOL) but this is definitely the hero's story.
Hero: His mom's life. His stakes are established firmly in the beginning of the story. He does something very, very bad but it's because they're holding his mom hostage.
Heroine: Her sister's life. But this stake doesn't appear until toward the end of the book. Until the sister is abducted, she's just doing her job. She actually wants to throw in the towel midway through. Then BAM. Sis is kidnapped, it becomes personal.
Do you think that it's okay that her stakes don't get so high until towards the end?
PS: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "The Rock." One of my fave action movies.
Amie:
The movie is awesome. I was blown away by it--cinemetography was excellent, too.
E
karm:
I think an exception is the cop/FBI agent/career reason . . . because they get drawn into it. And then you can raise the stakes.
E
Erica--timely post! My WIP needs the edge generated from upping the stakes for the hero. I've been at a holding point--your post is just what I needed to steer me in the right direction. Much gratitude coming your way!
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