 Action/Adventure: August 17, 2005 Issue [#559] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: NaNoKit  
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Welcome to the Action/Adventure Newsletter. This month I decided to have a little chat about believable characters. I hope you will enjoy it  .
kittiara |
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The world is ending. Again! The whole human race is in great danger (along all animal and plant life). But there is one man standing between us and that not so very pleasant fate…
The cameras zoom in on Arnold Schwarzennegger/Bruce Willis/Jean Claude van Damme/Will Smith or whoever it is that shall rescue us this time, the kind of heroes we have gotten used to seeing in action films…
I call it the “He’s-the-man” syndrome.
Mind you, I do like films such as Terminator (and especially Terminator 2).
It is just that whenever I hear that same voice (I am pretty sure it's the same voice every time!) announcing for a film preview that there is one man who is going to rescue us from certain doom, I feel that I know the film already.
And I can imagine what type of hero we will meet. He's a tough guy, not showing many emotions, able to carry an enormous amount of weapons, probably an ex-cop/ex-military man/ex-FBI agent. He may be a family man but still we do not get to know who he really is. I tend to find them hard to relate to and care for.
Which is why I would like to encourage you to write about a different kind of hero. People like you and I ending up in unusual adventures. People you can really relate to.
One author who is very good at creating believable characters is Dean Koontz. His novels are commonly more in the horror genre than action/adventure, but still he manages to really draw me into his stories and feel for the characters. They respond the way I would, in strange situations or at least in ways I would like to think I would. They have feelings, emotions, regular lives, doubts... The villains are not your regular baddies either. In fact, his novels are not a matter of pure good versus pure evil. Each individual character has a believable personality and believable motivations.
This just goes to show you can make a story interesting with everyday characters. I would enjoy reading about how a woman like myself might respond to gaining superpowers and being faced with dangerous situations, or about how a hotel owner faces his fear of the dark to find out what really happened one night, so many years ago... The possiblilities are endless.
Believable characters are the key to making me experience a book rather than just reading it. And they make me remember a story, want to read it again and even recommend it to others.
If you feel the same way, then it might be worth experimenting with a different kind of hero.
***
On a different note: I promised you that action/adventure story poem. Again! Thing is, I seem to have as much poetic inspiration lately as, well, something with no inspiration whatsoever. I have ideas, sure enough. They just won't come out. I shall just blame it on my muse going on holiday to different realms. Or something like that.
As soon as my muse returns, I shall post the poem. A promise is a promise. In the meanwhile, just to give you an idea of what I was talking about, here is another story poem I wrote awhile ago:
Though not really an action/adventure poem, it might give you some ideas about creating a story in poetic form. I am certain that there are much better ones around but hey, I am proud of this one. Someone gave it a ribbon!  |
A few items for your enjoyment:
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A samurai woman seeking revenge, a ninja's last job, a soul collecting dragon...
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And a contest:
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I welcome your thoughts, feedback, ideas for future newsletters or whatever you wish to share, so don't hesitate to contact me .
~~~
Nikola~Thankful Library Lady  - Kitti, That sounds like a fascinating trip! And you are so right, history does provide us with many interesting characters. ~Nikola
Thank you Nikola . It was a fascinating holiday indeed!
~~~
billwilcox - Thanks for the feature, Kit, and I will be waiting for that poem  . Your newsletter is yet another example of how reality, past or present, is but fodder for a creative writer,
W.D.
Errrrm looks like you will have to wait a bit longer . My muse is not being kind to me lately. And if it is, it appears to want to write stories, instead. I keep my promises, though. So one day, when everyone has forgotten I owe them a poem, there it will be  .
~~~
PlannerDan  - Kittiara, I was so pleased as I read your newsletter. I love history and shared with your comments. And then I saw that you featured my pending book; I was surprised and thrilled. Thanks for the attention. And great newsletter!
Thank you, and you are most welcome!
~~~
esprit - Kittiara; what an interesting subject you chose to write about this month! one person had been cleared of all accusations…
I want to read this story since you've peaked my interest. I hope someone writes it. lol
Thanks esprit! I hope so too! There are several books about the Lancashire witches, for example: The Lancashire Witches (1848) - Author: Ainsworth, William Harrison. And of course there is the book about the actual trial: The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, by Thomas Potts (1612).
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