StoryGodmother Newsletter #15
Hello!
Hope your autumn is going well. Somehow we’re already half-way through October! Due to many deadlines, I couldn’t quite get this out last Sunday, but better late than never, eh? So, what’s going on?
Access Industry Professionals.
GET YOUR WORK IN FRONT OF INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
The Middle Grade Weekend was due to run this weekend, but to a lack of voice on my part, I’ve had to reschedule. New dates will be announced. Follow me on Eventbrite to get the notification as soon as it is announced as there are a few tickets still available.
With all the frustration which comes with querying agents, I’m trying to find more ways of connecting writers with industry professionals directly. I had a picture book published and secured a 2-book deal for young fiction before I started looking for an agent seriously (and happily landed my first choice!) so I’m a big fan of being proactive and making stuff happen. So...
I’m really thrilled that participants the MIDDLE GRADE WEEKEND will have the opportunity to talk to the brilliant AQUILA MAGAZINE, who commission short stories and various articles for 8-12 year olds. This is a great way to kick-start your career. I regularly write short stories for the magazine, and can testify they are wonderful people to work with.
Secondly, we will also hopefully be joined by an indie publisher and I will have more information about this in the next week once new dates are confirmed. Exciting times!
On top of these brilliant networking opportunities, you will also receive top notch teaching with SIX masterclasses (Generating & developing ideas, Breaking into the fantasy market, Character building, Antagonism: beyond the villain, Handling structure, and Opening Lines), plus daily Q&A sessions, breakout rooms and optional 1:1s with me to discuss your work.
Tickets are only £85 for the whole weekend. If you can only attend Saturday or Sunday, you are welcome to do so at the reduced rate of £43. Please contact me directly at sparkles@storygodmother.co.uk to arrange.
Keep your eyes open for future Story Godmother opportunities for get your work in front of industry professionals.
COMPETITION TIME
The Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize submission window closes at the end of this month (31st October) so don’t get caught out. There’s more info about the prize on my website here.
You can enter online at these links:
EVENTS & COURSES
FREE STORYGODMOTHER EVENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Monday 30th October
Fed up with silence? Losing heart? Feel like you're shouting into a black hole? Come along for a free session looking at tips and advice for navigating dark times, and an opportunity to ask any questions about career or the industry.
Please do not forward these links as this is a subscriber-only offer. Make sure you use the email address you've signed up to the newsletter with, as cross-checking will take place.
Limited places available. The event is split into three groups for ticketing purposes but will all direct to the same session. If one group says it's full, please try the others.
RESOURCES
This newsletter I want to talk about STAKES.
What does it matter? What does any of it matter?
This is precisely the question your protagonist should be asking themselves at the inciting incident. Why are they going to actively respond to the problem posed? Why aren’t they just going to go back to what they were doing, and say, ‘yeah... maybe not today’?
If the central problem (the external conflict) of the story doesn’t really matter to the protagonist, then this causes problems on several fronts.
1) Your protagonist isn’t so motivated to act.
This means, when the going gets tough, your protagonist is more likely not to take the difficult path. Difficult path = more conflict = more excitement = good story material. But if they aren’t genuinely motivated, and take the difficult path anyway, because you kind of need them to, it will feel fake. It will not feel believable. Your reader will read on (possibly) questioning why on earth your protagonist made that decision. The magic storytelling web starts to disintegrate.
2) Your reader isn’t so motivated to read.
When there are no stakes, your reader may be less motivated, unless you have another aspect to your storytelling which really draws them in (and yes – this is absolutely possible. But that’s for another time). Without excitement in the story and consequences if your protagonist doesn’t succeed, the plot may lack energy and direction, because at the end of the day, the outcome of the story – how it all ends – doesn’t really matter.
3) Less emotion.
When the stakes are lower, or non-existent, there is usually less emotional weight to the story. Why is this a problem? Emotion helps us get into the protagonist’s head. We see how they experience feelings, and often it brings to the surface emotional hurts or emotional truths. Without this, we can become less engaged with the character.
This may seem obvious, but in many manuscripts, the stakes are either not high enough, or they don’t genuinely matter enough to the protagonist (sometimes despite the fact the protagonist insists that they do).
So, how can you fix this problem?
1) Make the external conflict PERSONAL.
Why does your protagonist have to be the only one who can solve this problem? What matters to your protagonist? Friends? Family? What does your protagonist stand to lose personally if they don’t succeed? Something personal may be more likely to make your protagonist respond more readily and genuinely. Something they care deeply about is on the line...
2) Escalating stakes.
To keep your protagonist on their toes, keep upping the stakes. They may, for example, think they have solved the initial problem posed by the inciting incident... only to find the mission is so much bigger and badder than they originally realized. Not only does this keep your protagonist engaged, it keeps your reader engaged, too.
3) Work with the internal conflict.
The internal conflict is what the protagonist actually needs to develop more fully psychologically or emotionally as a character. When the external conflict requires the protagonist to fully examine themselves and push them into personal growth in order to solve the problem, there is usually emotion involved. This is often because the reason the internal conflict has been undealt-with before, either due to a lack of awareness, or a lack of emotional strength to address it. Either the increasing self-awareness or the growing of emotional strength can generate an emotional response in the character.... the character feels... so the reader feels... and, BAM! The reader is more invested and likely to read on.
This is obviously a rather simplified view on stakes. It can be a lot more complicated than that, but I hope this gives some food for thought!
END NOTES
I’ll leave you in peace now. Have a lovely autumn!
If there’s anything you’d like covered in the newsletter in the Resources section, please do let me know at sparkles@storygodmother.co.uk and I’ll see what I can do.
Thanks very much!
Story Godmother.