Chapters 7, 8 and 9 Summary and Analysis

"How to raise the emotional stakes" In this chapter, the author discusses ways that the reader's intellectual and emotional attention can be more fully engaged with the life and world of the characters by making what is happening to them more important to them—in other words, by raising their stakes, what they have got to lose or gain. He describes several techniques in considerable detail—creating the (suspenseful) potential for pain and suffering, either physical or emotional (see "Quotes," p. 68), creating the sense that a character is capable of making great sacrifice, and putting characters in physical and/or emotional (but believable) jeopardy. He also explores the value of sexual tension and/or attraction between two characters and the value of signs, symbols and omens (adding a layer of emotional intensity by connecting the experiences of...