Building High Stakes in a Romantasy Plot

Romantasy (fantasy with a romance-centered plot) might be heavy on the relationship building between protagonists, but that doesn’t mean the worlds and stories fall by the wayside.

(What Is Romantasy, Anyway?)

Stakes, conflicts, magic systems, and tension are foundational to building a high stakes, epically romantic world in fantasy romance. So how can it be done? When a world and storyline is both rich with romance and immersive with magic and lore?

The way I like to create the tension and stakes in a story comes by the characters and chipping away at their motivations. Be it the dastardly plans of the antagonist or the hopes and desires of our (preferably) shady-on-the-morals MMC, or the struggles and trials of our FMC.

When the motivation of the characters is clear, from there the building blocks of their internal and external struggles can take shape.

The struggles might stem from other characters and their choices, or perhaps there are conflicts in the world itself. Are they a captive trying to find a way out of an enemy prison? Are they locked in forced proximity with a rival assassin and forced to journey around the land to find a certain mystical gemstone to stop the spreading dark magic? But at the heart of it, their motivations are clear and the driving force in their moves throughout the story.

A good thing to keep in mind while building a world, character motivations/desires, and rising stakes, is the placement of conflict and inciting incidents. A lot of us realize there is usually something that occurs at the beginning of a book that “incites” the story, it forces the characters and plot forward into the tale we’re about to read. Perhaps it’s an attack, a death, a plot for revenge.

In my latest release, Broken Souls and Bones, my FMC Lyra has been living as a servant in Jarl’s household, and she prefers it that way. Because she’s hiding a coveted, dangerous magic that kings desire to own for themselves.

Her story begins when the silent Sentry of the king arrives in her village with soldiers, under the guise of gathering boons for the upcoming wedding of the prince.

But, of course, our broody, dangerous MMC has other plans. He knows exactly who Lyra is and forces her magic to reveal itself in the worst way she can imagine. After, Lyra is not only forced on a new journey from her inciting incident, but she’s not in the hands of a man she considers a dangerous, ruthless enemy. Cue the enemies to lovers tension.

But stakes don’t die at the beginning or the middle can feel . . . long. Gradually increase the troubles the characters faced in the beginning by foreshadowing, adding fears and unknowns, creating a new dilemma they didn’t see coming.

In my fae enemies-to-lovers, The Ever King, the inciting incident is an enemy pirate king returning after ten years and kidnapping his enemy’s daughter. But to keep the tension and trouble building (while also drawing our two enemies closer) after she’s been kidnapped and brought to his kingdom, she’s unexpectedly faced with a siren-like character who entrances her and forces her captor/enemy’s hand to break her spell in brutal ways. It brings the characters an inch closer to lovers, build the darker parts of their world, and adds a new conflict to keep readers enjoying the ride.

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I don’t think the middle of books needs to be the long haul to get through. I love the mid-point of books because it’s where the nitty-gritty world building and character development really starts to take shape. The mid-point is a great place to add a new stake. Be it a new problem, or an addition to the one they faced toward the beginning. Here, it’s fun to ramp up tension between lovers, maybe the first kiss or intimate moment occurs. Maybe a secret is discovered about the motivations of another character. It’s an excellent place to introduce new information that is going to ramp up the thrill of the story, leading to the climax.

Make the conflict deeply emotional and personal to the characters. Doing so can add that extra layer that draws readers in, so they can feel what the characters are feeling.

Here is where we can really reveal the motivations of our antagonist. To add more layers, more stakes, more beautiful tension that keeps the heart rate up, craft a villain who makes sense. A villain who truly believes their motivations are superior, their plans are the only way to go, even if they are simply a cruel person who wants to burn it all. Make it believable.

Keep the stakes visible and teetering on the edge for the protagonists and they face the climactic experiences in the end of the book. This can be final battles where they face off against their foe, perhaps it’s a vicious betrayal and they’re forced into exile to save their lives and the lives of those they love. Perhaps the lives of those they love literally hang in the balance and they are forced to test their own morality with their actions.

Whatever it is, keep it believable, fierce, and full of those gut-punches we can’t stop devouring.

Stakes are in every story. They might be more life or death in some books, but if they’re believable, emotional, and fierce, readers will find the wonderful escapism and storytelling they want.

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