Story Building (Part IV): story currency

In the last part of the story building series (Story Building (Part III): saving the Shire), I closed with this paragraph: Whatever you choose to make your story about, make sure that we as the audience want it too. Make it hold weight for us. Make us care about it through making it worth something, by making it have a cost, not only to the MC, but also to us.

Today we’re going to touch on the currency of your story—sacrifice.

How often do you hear someone say that something “wasn’t worth it?” In our world, we base value on how much someone is willing to pay or do to get something they want.

It’s no different when readers approach a story world. If Frodo merely had to leave the ring in the sealed envelope that Gandalf drops it in…we wouldn’t keep reading for very long. The story wouldn’t hold any weight, because there is no price paid.

Instead, he leaves his comfortable home, struggles hundreds of miles across the world, fights wraiths and goblins, is betrayed, gets separated from his friends, is led by a greedy, grasping creature that tries to turn him against his only friend, is tortured by the ring, is filthy, starving, and can barely put one foot in front of the other. But he keeps going. And because he does, we know that destroying the ring is worth it. It’s that important.

The amount your Main Character will pay is how much the story goal is worth. And if you want the story goal to mean something, you’ve got to make him or her pay a whole lot, both physically and emotionally. However, you can’t just say that your MC wants to kill the dragon and then he loses both arms fighting it. You’ve got to make us want to see the dragon dead too.

You do that by:

1.      Making us care about the MC

2.      Making clear, horrible consequences for the MC/story world if the dragon doesn’t die

3.      Making consequences for us, the reader, if the dragon doesn’t die

Let’s break each of those down further.

1.    Caring About the MC

Readers will care about your MC for several reasons:

·       It’s not because you, the author, think he’s epic.

·       He probably should have something bad happen to him close to the beginning of the story to make us feel sorry for him.

·       Even if he’s a jerk to begin with, he should have some skill/admirable traits.

·       Ultimately, even if not until well into the story, he needs to have a spirit of humility.

·       His goal needs to be relatable/significant to us. That skips down into point three, which I’ll get to in a minute.

2.    Making Consequences for the MC/Story World

If there are no consequences for the people in the story if the goal isn’t achieved, then your MC will feel like an obsessed character doing insane things that we won’t understand. People avoid pain. They never pursue it unless they are mentally instable or unless they believe something good will come from it. The consequences of the story goal being left unfulfilled need to be at such a great cost that the price your MC pays for it makes sense.

This doesn’t mean your MC’s failure to get his goal means world domination or planet takeover by the villain. It just means that Albert Narracott will do what it takes to find Joey after the war, because they are true friends and Albert will keep his word (War Horse). It means that Louie Zamperini won’t give in to The Bird because he will not let down his fellow prisoners of war. He will not let them lose hope. He can’t let himself lose the hope that he’ll get out and get home (Unbroken). It means that Frank Hopkins will race his horse through the desert, cross cultural barriers, and stumble over the finish line if need be to find and prove his place, pride, and honor in the people he came from. If he doesn’t, then he’ll never know who he really is. He won’t have a place (Hidalgo).

3.    Making Consequences for the Reader

Something in your MC’s goal needs to touch on what we as readers want and believe. We want to believe that Albert keeping his promise is more important than the impossible work it would take to find Joey again. We want to believe that hope and endurance will see us through the darkest of times in the most torturous of places. We want to believe that even the dirtiest, smallest, most insignificant people have something to be proud of—something to hold onto and call their own.

And so, if Albert, Louie, and Frank are willing to pay the highest price for those things, we can’t afford to watch them fail. Because, in a way, our hopes will collapse too. The things we believe deep down inside will die with that failure. We care about the goal, because we understand and relate to it. It tests us and asks us how much we would pay.

When we see them give their all fighting for the same things we hold true, it keeps our hope alive that those things are worth more than anything. We keep reading. We want to make sure they get their goals, that they’ll pay everything for them. Because if they don’t, then maybe the things we believe aren’t worth anything after all. And we don’t want to see that happen.

Happily Ever After?

But what if you don’t want a happy ending to your story? Even The Lord of the Rings is bittersweet. There’s still all the pain of everything the characters went through. In fact, all three of the stories I mentioned earlier (War Horse, Unbroken, and Hidalgo) are incredibly painful, and you (and definitely the characters) walk away with some battle scars.

What if the villain escapes, the ship carrying the treasure sinks, or his best friend betrays the MC?

Can there still be resolution? Can there still be the affirmation of the truths we believe deep down inside?

Next week, in answer to these questions, we’ll look at the fourth element of stories: the ideals.

Until then, think about the cost of the goal that your MC will pay and the consequences of failure to reach that goal. Leave your questions or thoughts in the comments below! Have a great week. :)

…

Reagan’s composure worried the assassin, and he stepped into a braced, fighting stance, his muscles taut. “Give me my prince; I’ll pay whatever you want.”

“A dangerous offer.” Reagan sucked in his cheeks briefly, all jest and spark gone from his eyes. “I only take blood.”

– from Lionel of Angrasté: Assassin of Love

…