I’ve managed writers for a long time, and I read a lot of scripts. When giving notes, something that pops up fairly often in early drafts is a lack of stakes. A storyline in your feature or pilot is basically a goal or objective with a series of complications. Character A wants something, and someone or something else stands in their way, but what happens if character A doesn’t get that thing? If the answer is “not much,” then why would a reader/audience member care?
Part of your job as a writer is to create situations where we care about the outcome of your character’s journey. If that isn’t successful, you’ll have a hard time getting/keeping an audience engaged. You should always ask yourself “so what” when creating those stakes, and see if that “so what” is enough. The stakes will not always be life and death, but they should be enough that we give a damn about that character getting (or not getting) what they want. Without that, what’s the point?
As always, happy to answer any questions.
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Listen to Spencer on this! Let the reader know what the stakes are, and what happens if the hero doesn't succeed.
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"You should always ask yourself “so what” when creating those stakes, and see if that “so what” is enough." Great advice, @Spencer! I do that in my outlines. I like to come up with stakes for major and minor characters.
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thank you for posting this Spencer Robinson It’s something I wish I had learned earlier in my career.