In Chapter 3 of the book and 7 of the workbook, we're dealing all about the personal stakes for the protagonist. What are they, and how do you raise them? How do you get the reader to care about what is happening to your characters, and how do you make it matter more?
His idea is raising the stakes--BUT--these new plot twists must be organic. Something that comes seemingly out of nowhere is not going to pull the reader deeper into the story. It has to come from the story, and from the characters.
I think the key is tiny little hints layered very early on in the story, so small that they lie unnoticed by the reader until the background of the character, the reason why someting matters to that character, is revealed or partially revealed. A character's reaction to something as noteworthy as a mother spanking her child in the grocery store parking lot, or as innocuous as passing by a stand at the farmer's market can ultimately reveal something about the character, and that then raises the stakes later on in the book. The trick, I think, is doing it so that it doesn't seem like deus ex machina or flying aliens or something that doesn't fit. It needs to be seamless.
Anyone have any good examples of this? I'm struggling with this as I near the halfway point in my ms, but this may be more a function of editing than first draft creation. Thoughts?
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