Warning, Will Robinson. Danger!

The classic 60's Science Fiction TV series Lost In Space consistently depicted a simple truth. Danger attracts. Danger to people we care about attracts even more. And who could not like Guy Williams, June Lockhart and Billy Mumy -- Mr. Mumy being the quintessential 'adorable kid.'

Lessons for aspiring authors:

(1) Develop interesting and likable (or at least intriguing) characters.
(2) Put them in danger and keep them there.

There are lots of types of danger our characters can face, the most obvious being physical danger. Staying in the 1960's TV show category, these shows had a number of standby 'danger' techniques. You know the ones I mean. There is the classic situation of failing brakes while traveling down a steep, curvy road. Exciting stuff. Oh, and there's my personal favorite, the cliff fight scene. This is where the hero battles impossible odds while being pushed inevitably backward towards a cliff edge. Will he prevail or fall to his death?

We can laugh about these danger moments now, but these simple danger techniques kept us glued to our old Black and White TV's back in the day. Warning! Old guy reminiscing. Danger!

So, when the Robot in Lost in Space shouted "Danger," we knew two things: (1) Will Robinson was about to be in trouble and (2) something exciting was about to happen. Audiences might be more sophisticated and demanding today, but the importance of danger in story telling is no less valid today than forty years ago.

It is important to note, however, that danger comes in many forms and need not be mortal – or even physical. A lot of early American literature concentrates heavily on the danger to a characters' immortal souls. As authors, we can put our characters in other types of danger as well. The danger can be 'a moral danger' if our character is being driven to commit a heinous act. Another type of danger is 'emotional danger.' In The Marked One, when Pella lashes out at Beryl, the reader knows he is making a terrible mistake and that he is endangering his relationship with his love interest.

Your homework assignment: What other types of danger can we expose our characters?