Elliot Kessler

So far in this series, we’ve discussed how to create your characters and setting and hide evidence from your readers while establishing its presence in the story. Now, we’re going to talk about stakes.

When writing a mystery, the stakes can range from injustice to losing money or from death to losing a loved one. Things can get real with mystery stories. But how does one establish the stakes? Well, we can’t outright tell the audience. Sure, every Marvel movie says the world is at stake, but how often does it feel like the world is at stake? The audience has to feel the stake. They have to feel that everything is at risk. To do that, we can not simply tell them. We have to show them.

But how does one show their audience the stakes without telling them what’s at risk? Simple. We show the audience what the character wants and show a threat that can strip it away from them. Let me explain.

There are two things a character must have: a want and a need. Everybody has something they want. They have goals, they have things to look forward to and work for. But we all have needs, too. When those needs conflict with our wants, then we have internal conflict. That’s what our characters need, too. They need to have internal conflict. For instance, let’s say someone wants a new Xbox but needs to pay to fix a friend’s window they broke. What do they do? Do they indulge in their wants, or do they pay for the broken window? That’s internal conflict.

However, in stories, the things at risk are typically more than an Xbox or a broken window. In my example, the Xbox and broken window aren’t even the things most at risk. The thing at stake in that scenario is the person’s honor. It’s their morality. Do they think only about themselves? Or are they selfless and pay for the window instead?

In many stories, especially Disney movies, the protagonist strives toward a goal, which motivates the story’s events. In the end, the protagonist typically ends up with their want. This is all well and good. It works seeing as Disney is now a huge studio and is often seen as a group of master storytellers. However, I typically find stories more impactful when the protagonist doesn’t get what they want. What if they sacrifice their want for their need? Or, in the case of “La La Land” and most Shakespeare works, what if they get what they want and tragically lose what they need? Those can pose much more interesting questions and explore characters deeper. For instance, in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” Peter Parker wants to be Spider-Man and have a relationship with Gwen Stacey, but he needs to have one or the other. He believes he’s strong enough to do both, which results in Gwen’s tragic death.

So, what’s the difference between stakes in a mystery and stakes in any other story?

There isn’t any. Stakes are identical for every genre and are necessary for every story. Without stakes, there can be no story. However, there is an exciting way of creating stakes with a mystery story that cannot be done in most other genres. What if the protagonist begins investigating a case, and it looks like the answers he will uncover might have drastic consequences?

This kind of story can be seen in “The Batman,” where the investigation of the Riddler leads to corruption and fraud. Bruce Wayne then learns that his parents may have had a journalist killed. While this doesn’t change too much of Gotham, it does change Bruce and, therefore, Batman. If the Waynes are corrupt, they are everything Batman is fighting against. If the Waynes’ legacy is fraud and deception, how can Bruce be a hero? This brings up interesting questions and creates themes for the story to explore, such as whether the sins of our ancestors define us now. It is very interesting to tell a story by having the protagonist uncover and experience it alongside the reader.

Establishing stakes for a story is essentially to the thrill, engaging the reader and making them want to keep turning the pages. Take away or threaten something dear to your characters, and your readers will have sympathy for them and connect with them better.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.