This week: Action-Adventure: Person Against Nature Edited by: Jayngle Bells  
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| Continuing with the theme of "What is action, anyway? Is it a standalone genre?", let's take a look at whether or not too much action bogs down your message in character vs. nature themes. |
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Action, Adventure, Horror, Thriller, Quest, Mystery...Buddy Story?
Believe it or not, these are all different dissections of Jaws (film version).
The novel even treads into romance.
Person against nature, or character vs. nature, is the conflict between your main character and some type of natural force. This can be a natural disaster, the wilderness or even the weather. It includes animals (although some would further sub-genre this, I'm not going to).
The premise of person against nature is nature is unrelenting. It doesn't emote. It isn't swayed by what's in its way or who it is taking down. Nature just is and it doesn't really care much about us. While your MC struggles with an emotional toll or a deeper message, nature sets about doing its thing.
The sea isn't new territory for person against nature. There have been tales for centuries - millennia, even - yet, as time passed, the increase in action may begin to water down the ultimate message of the tale. Icarus lost to the sun, but there is no doubt that's not the ultimate takeaway.
Moby Dick and The Old Man and The Sea take their turns with obsession and control, power, morality and mortality. Again, nature does not care much for the petty feelings of humans. An interesting update on these two books is Shark Drunk, and although it takes a different track, it's quite engaging, although like its predecessors, it will not be accused of being an action book.
In the modern context, person against nature tends to fall into the action category (although my previous newsletter talked about the flop of a non-action character vs. nature concept). But buried under these stories, there is usually an underlying theme. In the aforementioned flop, the lack of action is what allowed the themes of greed, isolation, fear and lawlessness to be clearly captured by the audience. It may have swung too far in the other direction, but the message wasn't lost.
How many stories today want to mirror the themes of social order, our lack of connection with nature, authority, corruption, mortality and control (or lack thereof), but completely lose the message in breakneck scenes? When the MC barely has a moment to catch their breath, there certainly won't be time to contemplate anything of great value.
At what point does the story get lost to the action, or does the action kill the story? How much is too much? If you're writing in the action genre, how do you craft an engaging story and keep your message intact? Or is the message no longer the point for the genre? It's possible action is now full-on trope and popcorn. I don't know that I agree with that sentiment, but I'm not ready to rule it out.
So, back to the original question.
What is Jaws, anyway?
The story (film version, primarily) has been analyzed nearly to death by scholars and critics.
Is it a thoughtful analysis of the decline of hypermasculinity and the rise of feminism? Is it a reactionary tale to the dangers of corruption and the self-interests of authority in a post-Watergate world? Is the ominous stalking shark referencing the looming threat of nuclear war? Is it about morality? Is it a modern update of Moby Dick or The Old Man and the Sea?
Once your work is out there, you lose control of the interpretations (protest as hard as you'd like, people will do what they want). How you lay out your action in the story will not only influence how much of your message is understood, but also how much is remembered.
Is there a message in there? Or, to paraphrase Spielberg, is it just a story about a shark? |
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From "No Spoilers"
I believe I just read a review of a story I do not want to see or read.
I can definitely think of better ways to spend 90 minutes!
Sometimes one can figure out the twist, especially once enough clues are given. Like, while conducting a criminal investigation, you got a person in an underwater lab with panic attacks that needs oxygen right away. Wait, why is the oxygen levels in the lab dropping?
Exactly! It's always fun trying to figure out a twist, but if there's not much challenge, it takes some of the fun out of it.
Thank you very much for including my short story.
Make sure to send more if you have any! I'm always on the hunt for new pieces!
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Action/Adventure: April 20, 2022 Issue [#11323]
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