Action/Adventure: December 11, 2013 Issue [#6046]
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Action/Adventure


 This week: Going Underground
  Edited by: Leger~ Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

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

About This Newsletter

The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.

This week's Action / Adventure Editor
Leger~ Author Icon


Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

Going Underground


One of the most fun action / adventure scenes or settings can be underground. Whether it's a place for your character to hide, get lost or exist, underground is an option. Subterranean fiction has existed for centuries. In Dante's 'Inferno', Hell was a series of caverns beneath the Earth extending to the other side. In Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 'The Coming Race', the Vril-ya were an angelic underground people.

Alice fell down a rabbit-hole in 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Lewis Carroll originally called it 'Alice's Adventure Under Ground'. L. Frank Baum's Oz books referred to an underground Nome Kingdom. In the book 'Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz', Dorothy is trapped in a cave at one point. She also meets dragonettes and gargoyles.

Eoin Colfer's series of Artemis Fowl books focus on crimes committed by or against the Fairy-folk who live beneath the earth's crust in a technologically advanced society. And the Dark Elf Trilogy, by R.A. Salvatore was the first of the Forgotten Realms books to describe the underground world of the Dark Elves called The Underdark.

When writing your underground adventure, consider a few things. Are your people indigenous below the ground? How did they get there? Is it a friendly or hostile environment? How do the characters see and what kind of light is it? How are your people nourished? Water? Food? How do they travel? Underground streams or tunnels? All these factors can add or subtract from the conflict in the story. Do they leave the underground area? What are the consequences of leaving? By answering a few of these questions before you get started, your story will be more cohesive and leave less dangling details. Write on!

This month's question: Have you created an underground world or species? What are they like?
Send in your reply below! *Down* Thank you!


Editor's Picks


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#1463498 by Not Available.

Excerpt: Through the years he was tormented by the town's folk, especially the children during the summer months when they were off from school. His heart was once well, but it now began to turn black after years of being a recluse; like a blood red apple left on a tree long past harvest. Marty was rejected by the women around town, and he now turned ugly on the outside as well.

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#1817246 by Not Available.

Excerpt: Out in the back meadow, a young gnome shuffled out from the tree line with a step ladder hoisted over one shoulder. Despite the distance and the thick glass of the picture window, Ashe could hear a soft melody whistled as the gnome went plodding along, his head bobbing to the rhythm of his gait.

 Demon Days, Angel Nights Open in new Window. (13+)
Unemployed American looks for a job at a mysterious delivery service and gets a task test.
#1957537 by Noizchild Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: “We have one opening left,” the other woman said on the line.

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#1963737 by Not Available.

Excerpt: Digging is my thing. I know it is for lots of dogs, but my digging is a compulsion. Can't control it; love to do it. And I don't want any damn dogie shrink trying to break me of the habit. It's a breed need..

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#1596898 by Not Available.

Excerpt: The painting entitled “The Fountain of Youth” wasn’t very old, perhaps seventy years or so. It looked older though, just as the artist had intended. Painted to recreate the romantic masters, the colors were shadowed, but still retained their vibrancy. The image was one of fantasy. An elderly woman in a flowing blue gown sat on the edge of a large three tiered stone fountain overgrown with ivy and wildflowers. Her gaze was locked with another woman – younger and of surpassing beauty - within the still pool. Both women looked wistful, neither seemed content. The elder leaned towards the pool, three fingers immersed in the water. Where her fingers entered the water her skin smoothed and lightened to become that of the youth in the water.

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His Mother's Eyes Open in new Window. (13+)
A dying old man confesses everything to his son
#867807 by W.D.Wilcox Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: He had the dream again, the one where he thought he was being suffocated. His eyes, now wide open in fear, took in the white pristine walls of the hospital room as they closed in around him. He felt the coarseness of the over-starched sheets on his body, heard the soft humming of machinery, and smelled the cool, pure oxygen that hissed through the long, thin tube that ran from the wall to his nose.

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The Writer's Cramp Open in new Window. (13+)
Write the best poem or story in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPS!
#333655 by Sophurky Author IconMail Icon

Win 10,000 gift points each day!

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
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#1964971 by Not Available.

Excerpt: This is your chance to create an insane world of your own! From melting clocks and fluctuating reality to impossible creatures roaming a quartz world. Inspiration for this contest has come from the Looney Tunes episode Duck Amuck, The Sopranos' dream sequences, Reddit's r/heavymind, and (of course) Salvador Dali!

 
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Word from Writing.Com

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!
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Ask & Answer


This month's question: Have you created an underground world or species? What are they like?

Last month's question: Have you found inspiration in a veteran's story?


Elle - on hiatus Author Icon replied: You asked in your last newsletter if we had found inspiration in a veteran's story. Both my grandfathers served in WWII - one received a Distinguished Flying Medal for courage and bravery as a glider pilot and the story is quite something. My other grandfather was a member of the very first SAS and SBS (special boat service) units and while much of his service will never be known, it certainly fires the imagination. I've written an account of what is known so far, but would love to write it as a story - showing instead of telling. If any other members out there have veterans in their family who inspire them, they can share their stories in "Roots & Wings ContestOpen in new Window.. We'd love to hear them.

Pepper Author Icon answers: My inspiration often comes from my father, a WWII vet who passed away in 1986. I cannot even begin to express how much I wish I would have recorded his stories to share with future generations. Now, I can only imagine what the experience was liked based on the little he said and my vague memories of those conversations.

Shadowstalker-- Covid free Author Icon said: I am actually trying my hand at a horror/mystery story using my own experiences in the military as well as that of many friends I have known who have made it back from one or more wars. It's true a veteran's story lends itself well to creating some action scenes, but what happens after can also make for some good material depending on how you present it. "Invalid ItemOpen in new Window.

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