Stakes Escalation Ladder
Raise tension step by step across the story.
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Build a stakes ladder. Story premise: [PREMISE]. What the protagonist stands to lose: [STAKES]. Number of acts or sections: [SECTIONS]. Define stakes at three levels: personal, relational, and public. Then create a ladder of ten rungs from the opening problem to the climax, each rung raising cost or risk in a new way rather than repeating. For each give the event, what is newly at risk, the choice it forces, and the consequence. Check for escalation by type (physical, emotional, moral). Point out places where stakes are asserted but not felt and how to make them concrete with specific details. Add three 'lowest point' options and the one that best fits the theme. Add a table of three alternative lowest-point options and the way each connects to the theme, and a list of ways to make stakes concrete in a scene with a ticking element, a visible cost, or a relationship at risk. Include a test: if the stakes were lowered by half, which scenes would stop working?
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