Most genres can go hand in hand and create a pretty decent story. So can these two. Simple as that. I like to say simple because, once you start writing, this word gets tossed out the window. While Mrs. Adventure leans on Mr. Action to create the spark in the story, Mr. Action can function all on his own... At least in the written world.

Mrs. Adventure, in most cases, shows the sensitive side throughout your writing. A hint of romance, a bit of mystery, perhaps even a dash of drama. How else do your characters have fun in their own story? However, the most important thing is location. Location, location, location. It can be exotic, historic, even secretive, but the better the setting for your characters, the more you'll see Mrs. Adventure. She's the one that makes things possible, shares the different possibilities of what could come next, and decides to let you introduce Mr. Action to the environment you've created.

Mr. Action sees things in a completely different light. There's nothing feminine about this macho man who's all about taking risks and putting your characters in danger. He has no regard for their safety. All men want to be like him, while most women adore him. He get's their adrenaline pumping through their veins. When he makes a presence in your story, all things are possible, yet more likely than not, things blow up around him. He is the ultimate destroyer! Making things possible is his middle name.

However, while Mrs. Adventure creates the background for your story, sets the tone for it, decides on the location of things to happen, she will always rely on Mr. Action to step in at certain times to make things more interesting. Nevertheless, she'll instruct him how much action is required and at which particular scenes. He can't just jump in and end the story at the beginning of it, now can he?

Still, Mr. Action is powerful enough to be on his own and create his own scenes, mischief, as well as story line. His main plot is, get in, assess the situation, blow things up, and hope you come out alive. Very inventive! I mean, for a guy.

The movie Escape Plan, which came out just recently makes me think of Mr. Action in all his vivid colors. The setting is manly, as is the plot. The main character goes into prisons to asses the situation, then tries to escape. Few things get blown up along the way, of course, but as long as the character comes out alive, that's all that matters. He gets the main character stuck in a high security, under lock and key prison, and let's him do whatever is necessary in order to escape this one last time.

The thing is, it was a good movie. Main characters were played by Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and unlike the other All Star combination in movies with too many characters, played by famous actors, this movie had real promise and stuck to the plan. If there was any comedy added to it, it was carefully placed at the right moments. If there is one thing worse than having too many tough main characters in a story, it's adding forced comedy scenes to it. Nothing good comes of it.

So, next time you sit down to write an action packed story, consider who wears the pants in this Action/Adventure relationship and whether or not the destination is a worthy cause. Just remember, there can never be too much action! It keeps things going, not to mention your writing.

And before I wrap this up, I hope you don't think that I stereotyped these two genres, because I probably did. It's just unavoidable due to my imagination. If I wrote Mr. Adventure, I'd picture a guy wearing a very colorful apron while vacuuming the house and that wouldn't have gotten this newsletter anywhere!