 Action/Adventure: March 25, 2009 Issue [#2965] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Each day is a blank page, an adventure to be written, action and re-action ~ be pro-active
Greetings! I'm honored to be your guest host for this week's Action & Adventure Newsletter.
One can say that life itself is an adventure, as we daily encounter (fellow writers, we don't merely pass by, we notice) something to solve, surmount, answer, question - you get the point And we can write of such adventure, real or invented, in a number of genres. Adventure stories and poems can be romantic, historical, science fiction, fantasy, mystery....
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Greetings! Action, by definition, is movement.
Action and Adventure stories and poems therefore are intense, forceful and maybe violent. The action keeps your reader involved, on edge, and needing (not just wanting) to keep reading
Action is movement. We don't want to see it interrupted by reflection, detailed internal thought. We want to see the characters react to the situation, their environment, and act to effect change.
Where do you see the most action in an adventure?
Todd winced as he pressed his back against the windowless warehouse, picking his path among the shadows cast by the setting sun. He preferred working in the dark, but if he waited the package would be out of his hands on open waters. He had to get close enough to grab it once he struck, but far enough that his prey could not reach him. He winced at the sight of the limb dangling from his shoulder like a cast off tow flapping without purpose. Gripping the handle with his left palm, he raised the gun, shook off the coppery sweat running into his eye, and fired once at the open target. The sulfur-tinged recoil of the silenced pistol assaulted his nose and ruined shoulder at the same time, and his feet gave up the shadows for the prize atop the open rotunda. Without slowing his run, Todd grabbed the cord around the captain’s neck and pulled free the pouch. Tucking the pouch into his pocket, he reached for the tow line with a parting glance at his now silent assailant, smiling at the silenced mound weeping a magenta tinged rainbow in the setting sun.
Yes, it’s a battle. We want to engage our readers in the battle, make them see, hear, taste, smell it happen along with our character(s). And, we don’t have to experience it to imagine it and make it real. Whether it be a solo act as above, or a pitched battle in a military campaign, or hand-to-hand combat among humans (and/or non-humans), we want to have our readers there with us, a part of the action. We want our readers to step into the character’s shoes physical, emotional and intellectual and take part in the battle. That doesn’t mean we have to have done it – we couldn’t, for example, honestly have taken part in a medieval knight’s campaign – but we have to imagine the battle itself from our own reading and research and show our readers what’s going on as it happens.
 Treat the battle as a story within the story itself, a campaign whether brief or extended, with its own beginning, middle and end.
Use all the senses – show what your character does, thinks, sees, smells and tastes. Whether in first-person or third-person, the action is driven by the character and his/her instant perception and reaction to the event at hand.
Show the details of the battle. The sunset may be framed in a cerulean blue sky, but your character isn’t going to stop and admire it. Your character doesn’t care about other ships in the area or how long the warehouse has been empty. He instead feels the weight of the weapon in a non-dominant hand and struggles to fire it true.
Focus your attention (and your reader’s) on the immediate surroundings as they relate to your character’s goal. Whether it be a pouch, a patch of land, a fair maiden, a dragon’s keep, or a heroic attempt to secure a place or person from harm, keep it immediate. The character can make comparisons, use analogies or metaphor, but tightly interwoven with the action.
Conclude the battle, end it with a victory or defeat, and move on. Philosophical discourse or poetic musing can come later, once the character engages another ‘player’ in your story or verse. While the battle is waged, keep the character (and your readers) in the moment.
Thus, the battle was engaged, waged, and won/lost. I know you will enjoy reading the epics/battles I’ve highlighted here, and I hope you share your comments with the writers in our Community who engaged their characters in battle.
Embrace your Active Adventure ~ Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Some battles epic in prose and verse penned by the versatile, creative authors in our Community ~ enjoy the read, and do let them know how you embraced their battle
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Engage your Muse Creative in a cooperative effort perhaps here
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And it's not all serious folks, not knowing when I'll be back, I thought I'd share an 'action' parody prosaic ~ a battle of words though it be
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Like a daily challenge to action for your muse creative? SophyBells  has been offering our Community some great incentive for seven (7) years ~ check it out
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