“I couldn’t put it down!”

“I was glued to the pages!”

“I read the book in one night!”

If it these aren’t the highest compliments that can be paid a writer, then I don’t know what are.

So how do we keep readers compelled from “once upon a time” to “happily ever after”?

We create conflict and suspense.

But how do you do it? How do you raise the stakes for your characters and write compelling conflict?:

• You dangle the carrot.

• You make your character face psychological, physical, or professional death.

• You open a new loop when another closes.

So what does all this mean? Well, let’s break it down…

Would you hop a thousand miles just to be rewarded with a carrot at the end of the journey? Pfft, no! If you’re a rabbit, however, you would hop a thousand miles and you would hop a thousand more. Why? Because you, a bunny, want a gosh dang carrot more than anything in the world.

What is your character’s carrot? What do they want more than anything in life? What would your character die or kill for?

You need to discover what his carrot is and then dangle it: (aka) do whatever it takes to keep it from him. And that, dear gumdrop, is your story’s plot.

You want to guide the reader through a series of scenes which make him wonder from the first page to the last chapter, “Will Mr. Hero get the carrot? Will He lose his life trying to get this carrot??”

This is where character crafting comes into play. You must deeply know your character. The desire of your character must be unique to his circumstance. Even if his desire isn’t something the reader would risk their life for, it must be a reasonable and believable thing for the character to want in comparison to his circumstances.

So again, what you need to understand about dangling the carrot is this:

• Discover the “carrot” or desire of your character (what they would kill or die for) and keep it out of his reach.

• The carrot must be unique to the character’s circumstances and ultimate goal.

Psychological death would be a broken heart, or loss of sanity for example. Physical death is, well, pretty obvi. Professional death is death of a career or prominent title.

James Scott Bell said, “If there isn’t threat of professional, physical, or psychological death to your character, you’ll have a story of weak wills.” And nobody is interested in lukewarm conflict.

Consider the example of Tom Hanks’ character in Cast Away.

Chuck Noland crash lands on a deserted island with nothing but some Fedex packages and one volleyball to his name. Having no one to spend his days with, Wilson (aka volleyball) becomes his friend. Wilson- in an ironic way- keeps him sane. Wilson helps him survive psychologically.

But when Chuck leaves the island and Wilson accidentally becomes separated, Chuck loses his mind. His only friend is now floating away across an eternal ocean. The heartbreaking scene grips us and we mourn with Chuck.

Why are we crying over a volleyball? We don’t need a volleyball to survive, it means nothing to us. But to Chuck, the volleyball means everything. It’s his key to psychological survival, and it’s just been taken from him.

The stakes are raised, the unbearable suspense of Chuck’s ordeal grips us and we become deeply invested in Chuck’s outcome. How will Chuck survive his ordeal now?

Chuck faced psychological and even physical death in his circumstance. Whereas death of a professional career or professional title threatens someone like Batman, Superman, or Spiderman. If Batman doesn’t save Gotham from every one of the Joker’s ruses, for example, he might as well hang up his utility belt. People of Gotham won’t be able to trust Batman to do his job again if he cannot overturn every one of the Joker’s threats.

The stakes are at their highest every time. Save Gotham, or suffer death of his heroic title.

So, here’s what you need to remember about the three deaths:

• If it’s not a threat of physical, professional, or psychological death to the character, then it’s not strong conflict.

• The death should relate to the character’s ultimate goal. (e.g.: Batman wants to save Gotham, but if he doesn’t it’ll be the death of his life’s ambition.)

In psychology, the Zeigarnik Effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.

That means readers are affected by new problems that aren’t given an immediate solution.

A perfect example of this is represented in the movie A Quiet Place (a h*ckin good movie btw!!)

Earth is overrun with aliens that hunt their prey through their keen sense of sound, and one family takes every precaution to survive in silence.

Emily Blunt’s character, VERY pregnant, is doing some laundry. Believing her daughter is home with her, she feels relatively secure in her surroundings. Going up the old wood steps with a laundry basket, her dress gets caught on the edge of the stairs.

Tugging, it releases, but Emily’s character doesn’t see that a nail has been pulled up from the wood as a result and is now sticking out. Sharp end up.

She goes about her business, and we go to the next scene where John Krasinski’s character is fishing with his son.

It seems like nothing but in fact, the stakes are through the roof here. Why? Because we know this seemingly little problem has potentially countless horrendous outcomes- all of them ending in death. And we are deeply invested in this family’s survival.

This unclosed loop kills us. We’re desperate to find out what happens next. And to move on to the next scene without itching that scratch makes this scene certifiably compelling. Even gripping.

So continuously open new loops, or problems, just when your character makes progress. It’s scientifically proven to keep your reader glued to the page! 😉

Here’s what you need to keep in mind about loops:

• Just when the carrot swings closer, yank that carrot further out of reach. AKA: When one problem is solved, create a new problem, no matter how small.

• Create a problem that promises one of three deaths.

There are countless ways to raise the stakes in your story. But make the ways count! Remember that if you want to undeniably raise the stakes in your story then:

1. Dangle the carrot.

• Discover the “carrot” or desire of your character (what they would kill or die for) and keep it out of his reach.
• Make the carrot unique to the character’s circumstances and ultimate goal.

2. Make your character face psychological, physical, or professional death.

• If it’s not a threat of physical, professional, or psychological death to the character, then it’s not strong conflict.
• The death should relate to the character’s ultimate goal. (e.g.: Batman wants to save Gotham, but if he doesn’t it’ll be the death of his life’s ambition.)

3. Open a new loop when another closes.

• Just when the carrot swings closer, yank that carrot further out of reach. AKA: When one problem is solved, create a new problem, no matter how small.
• Create a problem that promises one of three deaths.

Creating conflict and tension in your story takes more than just maneuvering the basics. It also takes learning how to use dialogue to your advantage, how to use foreshadowing, and how to create plot twists that satisfy readers.

So how do you do this with ease?

You check out the new online course I have coming for teen writers just like you:

This 13 chapter online course teaches you the fundamentals of great storytelling, including:

• Unseen Story Structure Every Great Work of Fiction Needs

• Pixar’s 7 Steps to Outlining a Story

• The Elements of a Killer First Chapter

• How to Create Characters that Matter

• How to Create a Love Triangle Readers Won’t Hate

• The Art of Showing AND Telling

• The Art of World Building

And so much more!

Find out more about this online Course here

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