This week: Survival and Outdoor Adventures Edited by: NaNoNette More Newsletters By This Editor
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“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” ~ Seth Godin |
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Survival and Outdoor Adventures
Action adventure stories are some of the oldest tales as surviving in nature has been a pasttime for humans since time immemorial. Many (most) of those adventure tales came well before the comforts of modern life.
As we can't keep reading about the exploits of Greek heroes, or Gilgamesh and his father Lugalbanda, we have to create adventures that are closer to us in time so that we can identify with them somewhat.
Robinson Crusoe was written in 1719, so not exactly a modern tale. However, the idea to be marooned on an island without other people is fascinating. And scary. Definitely adventurous. The idea has been reused time and time again because it taps into a simple fear and thus keeps us riveted to the page (or screen) to find out how the people in the story will prevail.
Seeing a character thrust into an unforgiving environment where survival odds are directly tied to resourcefulness is fun. It's fun to see problems arise and the solutions that come from it. The struggle to overcome the weather, dangerous animals, solitude, or injury is a common factor in survival tales.
Survival tales are usually very hopeful. The hope is right there in the name: survival. The idea is that we know the story because the character was discovered and taken back to civilization. These tales can be set in a real location that people can go visit.
Obviously, survival adventures are not limited to earthly settings. They can also happen in fantasy worlds, sci-fi environments, or in outer space, and any other setting that you can come up with.
Do you have any real life adventures that happened to you somewhere outside? |
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Replies to my last Action/Adventure newsletter "Narrative Structure of Adventure Stories" that asked How often do you read an action/adventure and have a sense of knowing the next story beat?
markmore wrote: Quite often
brom21 wrote: I really can't touch on any action/adventure stories I have read. I write fantasy and now I realize all my stories follow the action/adventure template! It just comes naturally to write this way as I am a pantser. It just seems to start that way. I think Lord of The Rings is an action/adventure and fantasy mix. And that is considered the ultimate epic fantasy book of all time by most people. Thanks for the NL!
Lord of the Rings is definitely adventurous.
Monty wrote: Seldom.
Beholden wrote: Quite often, although I try to remain in the story rather than spend my time picking it apart. And that's quite difficult when you have a wife who delights in telling you what she thinks is going to happen next. I wouldn't mind that too much but she's always right!
I too find it hard to watch a story on TV and not guess what will happen next.
Damon Nomad wrote: Thanks Annette, nicely written summary of the structure of adventure stories. A genre that seems under appreciated in the short story publishing market. I love adventure stories, ones that truly take the reader on a journey.
They do! Action adventures can take us anywhere. We should write and read more of them.
Creeper Of The Realm wrote: Great newsletter, Annette! Even though I don't write adventure stories directly, a character has to have a path, a purpose, to get them from point A to point B. It might be an indirect adventure, but without it, there wouldn't be much purpose in writing a story at all, now would it? ~ Gaby
You are so right! A story needs a purpose.
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