Lack of Stakes

Without stakes and consequences for failure (or victory), there's very little to entice a character to act, let alone a reader to keep reading. Stakes make everything that happens in a novel matter more. Here are some articles on developing and raising the stakes.

A sampling of articles on adding or raising the stakes

• What's at Stake? How Do You Make Readers Care About Your Story?
• So What? Making Readers Care
• Up the Stakes by Narrowing the Focus
• Decisions, Decisions: Character Choices That Matter
• The One-Two Punch: Creating Conflict and Raising the Stakes
• Three Questions to Get to the Heart of Your Story
• Revising to Raise the Stakes
• Raising the Stakes: Revising to Keep Readers Reading
• Fundamental Check: Do Your Scenes Have What They Need?
• Pile On: Combing Scenes for Dramatic Punch

See all articles on stakes