What's at stake here?

We have to write our characters so well that when the stakes are revealed/understood/hinted at, the reader cares. And cares enough to keep reading. Ever toss a book aside because the author didn't make you care enough about the main character to keep reading once the stakes were revealed? That's usually when I would scream in jealous derision, "And why was this crap even published!? I can write better than this! Why aren't I published? Why is this stupid book published and not mine?!" Well, anyway, you get the point. People have to care about the characters.

All this is established in your set up. If you fail, you will lose your reader. You won't get published. Your manuscript will be rejected before it even has a chance to become a book that annoys a frustrated reader who checked it out of the library thinking it might be good. So that's what's at stake for us writers. Now what's at stake for our characters?

Larry Brooks at storyfix.com lists five missions for part 1:

1. A killer hook (most agree it needs to be your first sentence)

2. Introducing your hero. This is where we get to know the characters enough to care what happens to them.

3. Revealing Stakes. May be done subtly and gently in a character-driven novel, or whammo-all at once in a plot-driven novel. Either way, it boils down to this-- what have your characters got to lose?

4. Foreshadowing. Where we hint at things to come. Foreshadowing is incredible when it flows into place, annoying when it's contrived. So be careful with this one! Don't force it, let it come to you and reveal itself naturally. Once you notice what's there, you can make the most of it. Like in my hook where I talked about the baby's eyes not focusing, and one of you insightful, super-intelligent commenters said, "foreshadowing of things to come perhaps?" Yes, yes, yes! That was brilliant, and I didn't even do it on purpose!

5. Preparing to launch. Preparing for the plot points, the twists and turns, further character development and all the later elements of story structure beyond Part 1. (Not sure if I'll keep posting about structure beyond Part 1. This is exhausting. Although explaining it all in my blog does help me understand it better, so maybe I will, for purely selfish reasons.)

So back to #3 Revealing Stakes. In a plot-driven novel with life & death scenarios, an evil villain, and worlds that need saving, stakes are fairly obvious. In a character-driven novel, like what I write, it's more subtle. First my characters are revealed, (hopefully in an intriguing and fascinating way of course), and as they are, certain elements come into play.

Like, what are my characters' inner demons? Backstory? Attitudes, prejudices, fears? What defines these people? Their strengths and weaknesses? And finally, what's at stake for them? What have they got to gain or to lose as the story unfolds?

If I create believable characters worth caring about, and give them tangible stakes also worth caring about, then I'm on my way. It all has to be vital enough to keep people reading, to make my reader care. Otherwise, what's the point?

"the seduction that is part 1"

We keep hearing over and over about the short attention span of the reader, that we have to get to the action right away. After all, we aren't writing 19th century Jane Austen or Henry James, where we have the luxury of spending copious chapters describing the character's homes, families, clothing styles, friends, hobbies, mealtime conversation, etc etc. The modern reader won't stand for it. Still, we need to be "properly introduced," as Lynn Price (Behler Blog) says in her post, Have We Been Properly Introduced?

Larry Brooks refers to it as setting up your story, acquainting us with the main character-- where they live, what they do, what their hopes and dreams are. This allows the reader to empathize, to care, and to want to know what comes next. The set up needs to happen before any plot twists, or before the "first Plot Point".

Brooks calls this set up "the seduction that is Part 1." (I love that phrase.) Your intriguing hook in the first few paragraphs captures interest. The set up does the rest, leading readers happily into the first Plot Point which takes them the rest of the way, securely entrenched in the story. Hooray! Mission accomplished!

There are 5 missions to be accomplished in Part 1, the Set-Up. First is the hook. I shared mine last post--thank you for your feedback! Second is introducing your hero.

Here's how I do it in my current WIP. It comprises two chapters:

Marcie McGill goes with all her kids to visit her sister Cindy who lives 2 hours away. They eat dinner and they talk-- about baby Jakob, about Cindy's husband Karl, a school teacher on strike. They interact with each other and with the children. In two chapters, here's what we learn about these two families during the course of this visit (above and beyond the fact that something is wrong with Cindy's baby):

1. That the teacher strike is bitterly adversarial, pitting teachers on strike against those who cross picket lines.

2. That Cindy is conflicted about using food stamps to help get by. She would like to, but Karl's against it. What does Marcie think?

3. That the McGill family has no tv in their home, because Marcie wants her kids to read and be creative instead of watching tv, but her children figure out ways to learn about their favorite shows regardless.

4. That Elizabeth McGill, the 10-year-old daughter, hates compliments because she feels singled out. "Nobody tells the boys they have pretty eyes and a pouty mouth! I hate it!"

5. That Cindy doesn't like where they live and wants to move back to Jacksonville near Marcie.

6. That Cindy had problems nursing her two-year-old when he was an infant and, due to La Leche League counsel, refused to give him formula thus almost starving him.

7. That while Cindy and Karl have serious problems to contend with, Marcie and Shawn on the other hand, are doing quite well.

These are a few of the issues, elements and background revealed in my first two chapters. Is it enough to engage the reader in the lives of these two sisters? Is it enough to keep reading on to Chapters 3 and 4 and beyond? Let's hope so. Next post-- Illuminating What is at Stake.

How do you handle set up? How do you like to introduce your characters? I prefer dialogue, because it's more engaging than blocks of explanatory paragraphs.

What techniques of set up and introduction of characters do you like to use in writing, or enjoy seeing in the books you read?