“You want readers to worry about the story question, so the objective has to be essential to the well-being of the Lead. If the Lead doesn’t get it (or get away from it), her life will take a tremendous hit for the worse.” (James Scott Bell, Write Great Fiction – Plot & Structure)
CHARACTER STAKES IN MAGICAL REALISM: A WRITING EXERCISE
Techniques to Practice:
Creating a protagonist with a non-negotiable emotional or metaphysical need Blending the surreal or mythical into the fabric of daily life to heighten stakes Using symbolic action or ritual as the vehicle for urgency and change
500-Word Writing Prompt:
Write a scene in which the protagonist must perform a strange, inexplicable task or ritual to prevent the loss of something central to their identity—memory, language, love, ancestry, or sanity. The stakes must be dire, but the magical element should be treated as ordinary within the world of the story. Begin in the middle of the protagonist’s attempt: the last step in the ritual, the moment something goes wrong, the voice that returns to the radio.
Examples: a woman must feed her dead husband’s favorite song to the kitchen drain before midnight or he’ll be forgotten by their children; a boy must convince a cloud not to rain over his family’s orchard; a teacher must bury her students’ names in jars of honey before the town forgets they ever existed.
Evaluation Criteria:
Stakes are existential, emotional, or mythic—not merely logistical The magical element is seamlessly integrated and emotionally resonant The protagonist’s desire is palpable and time-sensitive The story question is anchored in symbolic but deeply personal consequences
Strong Response:
The magical premise is accepted without explanation, rooted in the protagonist’s reality The objective is original, emotionally loaded, and impossible to ignore The writing avoids overt exposition; the reader feels the stakes without needing them spelled out Every image, gesture, and line of dialogue points toward the cost of failure
Weak Response:
The magical element is treated as a gimmick or feels too detached from character motivation Stakes are theoretical or abstract with no tangible consequence The protagonist is passive, confused, or easily distracted from the task The tone wavers—too whimsical or too realist without harmony between the two
Follow-Up Questions for Workshopping:
Does the magical action reflect something personal or generational about the protagonist? What is truly being lost or gained—beneath the surface task? Could the story work without the magical element? If so, what’s missing? Is the emotional logic of the world stronger than its literal logic?
Recommended Reading:
“Light is Like Water” by Gabriel García Márquez (from Strange Pilgrims): A perfect example of characters accepting the fantastical as ordinary. The story’s final turn delivers emotional stakes wrapped in a surreal act, and the consequences are irreversible, intimate, and profound.
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