The Story - Risk and Reward

It’s easy to give a character something. Let’s say the writer wants X to have a sword so he can go on adventures. Maybe he’s had the sword for as long as he can remember, and the writer gave it to him before the story started. But a sword isn’t something most people just start with. A sword represents the ability to protect yourself and get what you want, and most people don’t start with those things. We earn our swords, or have them given to us in times of peril. This is the essence of Risk and Reward.

But first, what does it mean for the author to “give” a character something? Obviously it can be more than just a sword. Any item in a character’s possession is something the author gave them. Their adventuring equipment, their many outfits and accessories, their trinkets and treasure. They may have found the magic ring in a cave, but the author placed their hand on it. And consider every aspect of the character: their titles, position, family, memories, experiences, lessons, and beliefs. A major addition to any character are the various special, supernatural, or superhuman abilities many protagonists have. Authors give their character everything they have, and the character lives out the story with these gifts. Though to keep things simple, let’s go back to that sword.

Imagine the sword just poofed into existence. X didn’t have a sword, and then suddenly they did. A writer can do that easily by simply saying it happens. With enough flavor text anything can seem possible. But why does X have the sword? There has to be some internal story reason for it, because otherwise it’s simply the author willing it to be so. A story is better when everything has internal consistency; a story becomes less interesting when the author’s external reasons become apparent, or the only reason for something happening.

So how should X get the sword? Again, it can be very easy. Maybe this is a world where people can just poof-summon swords into existence. Maybe an uncle or father owned the sword before them, and gave it as a gift. Maybe (breaking from cliche) the sword’s previous owner was their mother or aunt. Maybe X won the sword in a game of cards, was given the sword when they joined the army, or took the sword from a sacred shrine. These are all various ways of giving X the sword easily, and fine for the start of a story or new story arc. But still they are just the author giving X a sword because that’s what the author wanted.

The better way to give X a sword - especially in the middle of the story where a writer can’t risk losing their audience - is through Risk and Reward. Risk is quicker but has some element of danger. Perhaps X picks up a sword but doesn’t know how to wield it and might cut themselves, or the sword is cursed and will devour X’s soul, or now everyone will try to kill X because they have a sword. Having the sword puts X in serious danger, but if they survive the sword will be theirs. In other words, taking on a Risk should lead to X getting some Reward.

Reward is slower and not necessarily safer. Perhaps X works hard every day and finally earns enough money to buy a sword, or X goes on a long and difficult journey to find the sword, or X is given the sword for doing some good deed. X earns their sword, with or without Risk, and now can put themselves at Risk going on adventures with their new sword. In the best cases, gaining a Reward should lead to X taking more Risks.

And that’s Risk and Reward. If you noticed, they're essentially a cycle the Hero goes through to accomplish objectives. Risks lead to Rewards, and in the best cases Rewards lead to Risks, until the Hero gains the Reward (or Risk) they wanted or needed from the start.

The most important thing about Risk though is that it is a true Risk. There must be a chance of failure, and the Hero should occasionally fail. Maybe a powerful Hero fails one out of every ten times; maybe a weak Hero fails nine out of ten times. Heroes who are especially good at some skill should fail less with that skill, and for contrast fail more with others. Heroes with a strong destiny or motivation might fail often – except for when doing so would change that destiny or motivation, meaning they succeed only when they most need to. Or everyone could fail the same amount, even Villains and ordinary people, meaning Heroes are heroic because they take more Risks, suffer more failures and gain more Rewards. On a related note, Heroes need strong personal motivations to seek heroic Risks.

Authors can play around with Rewards and how good they are. A seeming Reward might actually be more of a Risk, or a minor Reward might be revealed as the greatest Reward in the world. Rewards can become an aesthetic of the author’s style, such as how some writers only grant minor Rewards no matter how great the Risk, or major Rewards for even small Risks. Worlds with many small Rewards might feel difficult and gritty, while worlds with many big Rewards might feel cheerful and fantastic. Rewards might only be given for doing the morally right thing, or not. And again, the key component of Rewards is leading the Hero to some new, greater Risk.



Examples of the Rule:

Curses are a great way to add Risk because they don’t feel like a Reward at first. Suppose the Hero’s hand gets turned to stone. Hands are very important to humans for manipulating the world around them, and this unmovable stone hand is a real Risk to the Hero’s wellbeing. Yet they can punch things pretty hard, which is a silver lining type of Reward. And maybe they can learn through effort and trials to use their curse, turning their entire body to stone temporarily and granting them some measure of invulnerability in combat. This earned Reward should lead to them taking Risks, such as fighting more dangerous foes than they could before, even foes whose attacks can break stone. There could even be a long-term Risk of the curse going out of control if they use it too much, meaning their full-body stone form would become permanent, effectively killing them.

The Hero placing themselves in danger to gain some Reward can be good, but the Hero not knowing the true Risk of their decision can be interesting too. This difference between what the Hero knows and what the audience knows allows the Hero to remain naive or innocent. Or if the Hero is a coward or very cautious and would never place themselves in true Risk, the author can disguise the Risk to tempt them into seeking a necessary Reward. Suppose the Hero is going on a journey and deciding what to take with them. If they don’t know about the recent forest bandits they might not bring their sword, making the encounter against them later one with greater Risk and making the Reward for surviving feel more powerful.

And of course Risk and Reward should apply out of combat situations too. Suppose the Hero is entering their first day of a new school year. Their old friends might be steady and supportive, the Reward of old Risks. But what the story follows is the Hero’s attempts to make new friends. The people they meet should have an element of Risk to them: the bully with a heart of gold, the honor student who might betray their illicit activities, the spoiled jerk who has something the Hero lacks, the slacker who shows apathy toward everyone. These potential new allies are more interesting than the bland ordinary kids who get along with the Hero for no apparent reason. Interestingly, the audience will expect a Risk if none is obvious; the character who tries too hard to become friends with the Hero will seem creepy or suspicious.



Exceptions to the Rule:

A story could feature a Hero who never gains any Rewards but continues taking Risks because they have some greater Reward in mind. This kind of Loser Hero might desire a perfect love, the greatest power, or position of highest honor. If they were to reach it, the story would end because there would be no greater Reward. The Loser Hero can spurn all lesser Rewards because they seek only their desired end Reward, and so any Risk becomes worth taking.

Some stories feature Meta-Heroes who do simply get things from their authors. They then break the fourth wall and point out the author’s intent, as if to apologize for their author. The audience is made aware of the author’s external motivation, and thus is implicitly asked to forgive the lack of Risk and Reward and continue on with the story. The Meta-Hero doesn’t need to waste time taking certain Risks and earning certain Rewards, leaving them more time to pursue others.

There are certain characters known as Mary Sues (or Marty Stues) who get everything for free. They do face Risks, but are so powerful or resourceful or lucky that no Risk is truly a danger to them. They gain Reward after Reward, but to the audience each Reward feels more unearned than the last. Without struggle, without true Risk, Rewards lose meaning. No one wants to read a story where the Hero gets everything they wanted, but writers enjoy writing them.

Sometimes things do just happen in stories. Stopping to explain the internal consistency of what happened would feel like an info dump or Telling, so instead the author just Shows it happening. But the author should eventually Show why it happened; if the audience is very curious about it they may even accept a Telling explanation. Risk and Reward doesn’t supersede Show Don’t Tell, and navigating the collisions between them is part of the skill of writing.