  Action/Adventure
This week: Fitness of Character Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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While we worry about our own fitness from time to time, it may also be something to consider when it comes to characters. Fiction does a lot for suspending disbelief but some things will help along to the way to ensure the characters can do the actions they need to make their story work for the reader. |
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I often like to write these newsletter topics about things that I'm working on with writing. While the Action/Adventure genre is fun, I don't always have that same focus. This time, however, I do. While I've been working on my own physical fitness, as I walk 2-3 miles a day I spend part of the time thinking about characters and stories. It made me also think about how fit some characters have to be in order to survive their stories and to be believable to the reader.
Cause our characters go through the ringer often times. They may struggle and have set backs, but it's awesome when they triumph through to the end of the story.
But why worry about it. Well, I read a young adult book last year and to be honest, believing the character's ability to do the things he did were in fact affected by what we initially learned about him in the very beginning. Even with the character being an older teen, being in a real world, somewhat present day setting, with lots of action, martial art like combat along with outrunning gunmen... the main character couldn't just be someone who went from the couch to doing that all at once. Instead, when he starts trying to figure out the mystery in the very beginning of the novel, we find out he studied martial arts and was very very good. That helped make some of the other stretches of ability far easier to believe (though it does use a little the concept that no matter how many shots are fired, the hero escapes basically uninjured). The book, by the way, is The Last Thing I Remember. It was a pretty good read, though I haven't gotten to the sequel yet. Seeing some of those fitness details can make a story work in the case of Action/Adventure.
Does this mean your character needs to be a master in fighter and super fit to take part in this kind of story? No. It helps to lend some believability to actions but it's not a set requirement either. My main advice, however, if going to have a character who isn't up to par with the challenge go through intense situations, don't just make it look like all of a sudden they can do it with ease. Show some struggle, some errors and the anguish that they go through having to endure the difficult challenge they might have not been quite ready to handle. Don't put someone like me and expect them to run from villains, trek across terrain for weeks, and not have a complaint or struggle.
It's not always easy to get the right amount of information in with a story. Don't be afraid to overwrite and give too much information, but also don't forget to edit out some of it later. But give something so the reader has a general idea. Just have to find what way works best for the story you are writing. Some may take a training sequence, which brings me to the next reference and why you can have someone unfit do some pretty great things.
Kun Fu Panda is a fun movie which showcases an unfit panda being put in the role of a warrior who is supposed to save everyone from an angry fighting master that has been locked away for year. Po, the main character, is not what one thinks of when it comes to a karate champion and he struggles hard along the way. Not only are those struggles shown but also it has a fun little training sequence where he learns to fight. Does he get more fit? To a degree. But in the big fight scene he's still the "panda" and it's interesting how he uses what had once hindered him from a fight in order to have better success. If you haven't seen it, I suggest checking it out just because it's a fun movie, though I don't know much about the sequel as I haven't seen that one yet.
Now that I've rambled... a basic summary. While characters don't need to be very fit in order to take part in action or adventure, it helps to show some levels of fitness when they do have them, and to show struggles that one might endure in order to keep from losing a reader in the process. And have fun writing as the action scenes can bring all kinds of different writing approaches and styles, depending on the story you are working on. For me, I have an epic fantasy to plan and a world to build from the 2012 NaNoWriMo where the characters were indeed, very active. While my characters are trying to be fit so they can run from monsters, practice fighting in training sessions, and having to walk days on end; I think I will do a little to improve my own fitness in return.
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How fit are your characters? As a reader does it help to know some physical ability of character in order to believe demanding actions? What do you think?
Last time, I discussed some things that the reader may not need to know in the story. The feedback was awesome and here are a few of the comments sent in:
benjwriter14 said:
The bathroom is a good one. Another one is sex. Sure there are genres that focus on it, but action/adventure novels are built on a fast pacing. Unless the scene is pivotal to the plot, then it will slow down the story. Feel free to let the characters embrace and then pan up and fade out. Its just not important. What is important, is how the characters got there, the emotions involved, etc, but the detailed, play-by-play actions we don't need to see. Thanks for a great article. I always look forward to this one.
Joy  said:
Great NL, Dawn, and thank you for bringing up one of my pet peeves.
Sometimes, there is just too much information, too much unnecessary description, especially in the self-published work I read in Kindle. I understand some unneeded anything can seep into the first draft, but during the revision that information should be edited out. On the other hand, I'll take anything as long as it is important and crucial to the story, even napkins in a make-do bathroom   .
Tileira said:
To this and a part extension to writing beginnings: you don't need every detail and you can back fill.
An example from something I reviewed today: I don't need to know about the trees which are not there not providing shade. You can tell me the bushes provide no shade or are no shadows across the drive, but you don't need to tell me that if the bushes were trees there would be shade which isn't currently provided by the bushes which are not trees and are not providing shade.
The other example from the same item is backfill. You don't have to tell me it is a hot day before you tell me that your character is feeling sweaty. Tell me that your character is hot, sweaty, and craving a shower first. Give me that second of wondering why it might be. For that whole second it could be for any number of reasons. Then tell me it's because the sun is a jerk and the clouds are on vacation.
It's tempting to start with the weather or describe a room all in one go. What I do is write the layout of the room, the stage and props, on a separate sheet and then feed things in just at the last moment.
Everything should serve a purpose. It doesn't have to serve the character's interests or the plot, but it needs to do something whether that something is give information relevant later, relevant only to describe character or setting, or whether it's a deliberate red herring to mislead the reader.
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Action/Adventure: September 24, 2014 Issue [#6564]
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