Forced conflict kills a story.
Organic escalation, on the other hand? Chef’s kiss.
Here’s a simple but powerful technique I use with my coaching clients: escalate your stakes from personal to community to global.
You can see this technique executed perfectly in my favourite film: Star Wars.
In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker begins as a farm boy with personal problems. Then he joins the Rebellion—a community cause. By the climax? The fate of the entire planet, Yavin 4, is at stake.
You can use this same method in your novel. The progression keeps the story grounded while steadily increasing the intensity. Readers follow your protagonist’s journey and grow more invested as the world expands.
But Star Wars isn’t the only example. In The Hunger Games by Susan Collins, Katniss begins by volunteering to save her sister—deeply personal stakes. Soon, she becomes a symbol of rebellion for her district—a shift to community stakes. By the final book, she’s influencing the fate of an entire nation—global stakes.
The key ot this technique is that each new level of conflict grows logically from the last. It doesn’t feel tacked on—it feels inevitable. That’s what makes the escalation feel organic.
Another great strategy? Let your antagonist escalate the stakes.
Maybe the protagonist starts out wanting to solve a local crime, but the villain begins targeting larger groups. The stakes rise not because the hero wants them to—but because the villain forces the issue.
As a writing coach, I often help authors chart out this progression visually so they can see where the story’s pressure points are—and where they need to build more heat.
So start with a small, intimate conflict and then let it ripple outward. Keep raising the cost of failure. And by the time the galaxy—or the moral fabric of society—is on the line, your readers will be fully invested and turning pages with white knuckles.
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Kevin T. Johns is a Canadian writing coach helping fiction authors build suspense, raise stakes, and write stories readers can’t put down. Get his checklist for turning ordinary scenes into literary gold:
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