How to Start Writing You Novel, part 5

Consider the stakes

Welcome to part five in the six-part series How to Start Writing Your Novel. Today is all about understanding what is at stake in your story.

Who and what is at risk in your novel? What does your protagonist stand to lose or gain? What does he or she want, and why is it important? The stakes must be clear for the reader to care.

Jane, the protagonist of Joanne Ramos’s The Farm, is an immigrant from the Philippines and a struggling single mother who is serving as the surrogate for a wealthy family. She lives with other Hosts at The Farm, a prison-like environment where residents’ lives are tightly controlled, their pregnancies closely monitored. Meanwhile, her own small daughter faces unknown dangers in the outside world. Jane confronts two competing needs: to make money in order to survive on one hand, and to be with her daughter on the other hand. There are no easy answers, no clear solution. The stakes are high, so we read on.