 Action/Adventure: December 05, 2007 Issue [#2094] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
** Image ID #1163628 Unavailable **
"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."
-"Star Wars: Episode IV"
"We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't see what anybody sees in them...Good morning!...we don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water."
-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
|
| ASIN: B01MQP5740 |
Product Type: Kindle Store
|
Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
|
|
The Call To Adventure
Have you ever looked up into the star-filled night and felt a longing--a sense that you don’t belong here--a feeling that you came from someplace else? It feels as if the vault of the sky were sliding toward you, gaining momentum like an avalanche; it comes as quiet as starlight dripping from the sky and as clear as rainwater--a crystal clear voice that tugs at your very soul leaving you feeling hesitant, unsure, afraid of your next move, and alone. It's a calling.
Have you ever looked into a dark cave, or stared down into the depths of the ocean and felt the yearning to enter it? Or stood at the base of a snow covered mountain and felt you must climb it because a voice inside your heart tells you there is something there that is part of you: a kindred spirit that will allow you to pass through unharmed and will offer up a secret knowledge that has, until that moment, eluded you?
What you feel is 'the call to adventure': the desire to know the unknowable until it has been completely experienced. We all hear it, but few heed the call. Sometimes, like Frodo Baggins, we are reluctant to travel the hero's trail because at home we feel safe, warm, and comfortable; whereas, a character such as, Luke Skywalker, can not wait to cross light sabers with the likes of Darth Vader and the dominance of the evil Empire.
The appearance of ‘the call’ provides the first step into tension. Will the hero accept the call? Would you? The audience wills the hero to accept and do what is right and moral. It also fears what dangers may be encountered if the challenge is accepted.
The 'Call to Adventure' is the first stage of the mythological journey. The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a clarion call to down tools, take up sword (literally or figuratively) and head off into the unknown. It signifies that destiny has summoned the hero from within the pale of his society to be chosen because he is somehow different. He must put aside all that has been foreseen, all that has been devised, all that has been constructed, and then set off walking into unfamiliar territory.
When writing an adventure story, it is not a question of repeating spiritually what others have done before us, for a good adventure begins beyond that. It is a question of a new creation, entirely new, with all the unforeseen events, the risks, the hazards it entails -- a 'real adventure', whose goal is uncertain victory, but the road to which is unknown and must be traced out step by step in the unexplored. Something that has never been in this present universe and that will 'never' be again in the same way.
Few of us are born to be heroes or to take risks, so in a sense, an adventure must be thrust upon us by the powers that be. But there are those who love adventure. It is these I call upon now, and I tell them this: "I challenge you to write the greatest adventure of all time."
Until next we meet,
billwilcox
|
High Adventure and Feats of Daring-Do
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1244595 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1313036 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1095768 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#813894 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1335695 by Not Available. |
|
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
| ASIN: B085272J6B |
Product Type: Kindle Store
|
Amazon's Price: $ 9.99
|
|
The Adventurer's Board
faithjourney
Submitted Comment:
Thanks for your newsletter on getting inside your story. Yes, you are definitely in a different zone of reality when you write. If I can't put myself in the story, at least in some context, I just can't write it.
lulubelle
Submitted Comment:
My stories do always seem to be way better when I become my character. Thanks for the great newsletter. It made a lot of sense and was helpful. I enjoyed reading it.
-Ashton Rose
monty31802
Submitted Comment:
You did a fine job on this Newsletter Bill. I really liked reading it and thought of how it reminded me of my own favorite poetry writes.
-Monty
inertia
Submitted Comment:
Hi,
I thank you for the advice on creativity and how to get into character. I am sure this will help me when I am writing my novel. I welcome your suggestions with open arms.
|
| ASIN: 1945043032 |
|
Amazon's Price: $ 13.94
|
|
To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.
|
This printed copy is for your personal use only. Reproduction
of this work in any other form is not allowed and does violate its copyright. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
