Make It Matter
Why stakes and change decide whether a story lives or dies
If your story feels like it’s just… happening, we need to talk.
Not in a “your book is bad” way. But in a “your book is currently a pot of warm water with onions floating in it and I need you to turn it into soup” way.
At some point, in almost every writing journey, there’s a phase where the story looks like it should be working but it isn’t quite doing the thing. When that happens, it usually comes back to two missing ingredients: Stakes and change.
No stakes = no tension.
No change = no story.
You can have gorgeous prose, stunning worldbuilding, and characters with impeccable vibes…
but if nothing is at risk and nothing transforms, your book becomes that soup that tastes like someone waved a carrot over the pot and called it a day.
So what are stakes, really?
Stakes are what the character stands to lose or gain.
Not just “the world might end” stakes, but personal stakes:
Will she lose the only person who believes in her?
Will he finally become the thing he’s afraid of?
Will they have to choose between love and survival?
If the answer to “what happens if they fail?” is “well… they’ll try again” then we have a problem.
And change is the payoff.
Change is what the story does to your character.
They start one way then they end another.
If your character finishes the book emotionally identical to how they began, congratulations: you’ve written an extremely detailed diary entry.
Readers aren’t here for that.
They’re here to watch someone get wrecked, rebuilt, and then transformed.
Example Time: The Hunger Games
On the surface, the plot of The Hunger Games could be summarized like this:
Katniss enters a competition.
She survives several challenges.
She forms alliances.
She wins.
That’s technically true but also completely unhelpful.
What makes the story work is stakes and change:
The Stakes
Katniss isn’t just trying to “win a game.”
She’s trying to:
keep her sister alive
protect the people she loves
avoid becoming a weapon of the Capitol
survive without losing her humanity
Every choice risks something she deeply cares about.
The Change
Katniss starts as someone focused only on survival and her family.
She ends as a symbol of rebellion who can no longer return to a quiet life.
The arena doesn’t just test her skills, it transforms her identity.
Same events. Totally different story.
That’s the difference between “stuff happening” and narrative that emotionally wrecks us.
The Soup Test
Here’s how you know if a scene is working:
Ask yourself:
· What does the character want right now?
· What are they risking by trying?
· How are they different when the scene ends?
If you can’t answer those, your soup needs salt.
Why we teach this and what you missed this weekend
We host writing workshops every three months, and this weekend’s was all about giving your story a real backbone with Structuring Your Narrative. From emotional design, to pacing, to cause-and-effect plotting.
Writers left with:
clearer drafts
stronger scenes
and fewer existential spirals
If you’d like to join the next one, you can sign up here:
https://www.museandmargins.com/writersworkshops
Final thought
If your story isn’t working, it’s not because you’re a bad writer.
It’s because your characters are wandering around without enough to lose and nowhere important to go.
Give them stakes.
Force them to change.
Season the soup.
Your readers will thank you.
This newsletter has a sister. Check out Megan Mossgrove to read about cause and effect plotting!