on Live Write Thrive:

Fiction writers are told they must create high stakes. What are stakes and why are they so important in fiction? Simply put, stakes are about anything that can be gained or lost. Stakes can be tangible or abstract. Your job may be at stake if you keep showing up late to work. Your sense of self-respect may be at stake if you fail to speak up against a wrong being committed in front of you.

Just like real people, our characters have desires, fears, and aspirations. And when you put those things at risk—in situations where they might be forfeited—you are creating stakes.

Think how boring a story would be if the main character is not challenged in any way. If everything in her life was easy and great. If they didn’t really care about anything.

Compelling stories are all about stakes. Your character has to care about something, and when you threaten what matters to her, you bring believable, riveting tension to your story. Stakes emerge as the driving force that propels characters through their narrative arcs.

Stakes can be subtle, emotional, personal, hidden. They can be hugely public, impacting thousands or millions of people. Your story may have personal, public, or both types of stakes. But be sure you have this element running through every page of your story!

Pay attention to these five ways to create high stakes in your story: