  Action/Adventure
This week: Freeze! Action & Image Prompts Edited by: Cinn  
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I'm sure that some people have seen "30 Day Image Prompt Contest - CLOSED" stories, poems, and blog posts around WDC recently.  It is no surprise that I am a fan of the contest... I've judged it twice, competed twice, won once, and currently house it in my portfolio. But why? Image prompts offer more inspiration than any other type of prompt, in my experience.
Note that the contest is closed to new entrants. However, two rounds worth of prompts (120 images) are available to everyone. See links in the Editor's Picks.
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| ASIN: B004PICKDS |
Product Type: Toys & Games
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One of the problems I have with writing action is the amount of detail needed to depict what is happening in a scene. This is possibly why I'm not a fiction writer. Planting an image in someone's mind and creating tone, that is a bit easier. Many of my past newsletter ideas have come from movies and translating those types of scenes into a written format. Action is such a visual phenomenon, I suppose.
This brings me to the topic: Image prompts and action. I am a big fan of image prompts. They are generally the only type of prompts I enjoy because they are versatile. If I need a creative spark, I might pull any number of things from a single photo. An emotion, a tone, a setting, a topic, a scene, a character... you never know what will strike you about a photo until you look at one with the goal of writing about it.
But action can certainly be present in a photo, despite being a still shot--no GIFs here. Anyone who has seen sports photography or horrifying images on news websites (of which we seem to be in no shortage lately) can envision the motions before and after that single freeze frame. For instance, think of an image of someone in mid-leap over a fence. They ran to the fence and jumped before the shot and landed (or fell) after the shot. We can fill in the blanks.
It seems to me that image prompts might make ideal sources of inspiration for action stories for this reason. There is so much implied action, even if the picture is of someone simply sitting in a chair. They got there somehow. They will need to get up for something. That is a story. Add to that all of the aforementioned bits of inspiration (tone, setting, topic, emotive qualities, etc), and you have a powerful tool for breaking writer's block. It might be worth a try. Don't believe me? Try it.
What action led to these two being on the tracks? Running away from home? Off on an adventure? Competing to see who has better balance? What happens next? Does one break an ankle? Does a train come? Does an animal rush out of the woods? It isn't difficult to see where a story might come from this image-- or, as happens to be the case, many many many different stories. 
It is also possible to figure out the action in a picture with no visible action. Where is this light coming from? Who/what is on each side of the door? How did they/it get there? Is it a student studying late for finals or a child getting abducted by aliens or a hundred-year-old ghost or...? Do you look or run away or open the door? Do you hear movement behind it? What kind of room is behind that door? A basement or attic or bedroom or closet? How did the light and viewer of the light come to be there? What happens next? There are hundreds of different questions and just as many answers. Good luck and have fun!
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Here are 120 image prompts for you to peruse (not quite 120 yet, but at the end of the month, that will be the count). All are shareable, so you can put the image into the item if you want:
Other contests with image prompts:
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And a few for the poets specifically:
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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!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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| ASIN: 1945043032 |
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Have you ever written an action scene from a still image?  Did it work well for you? What is your prompt preference (image, word, song, etc)?
 
Here is some of the feedback on my last newsletter, "Novel Publication Tips from Pros" . If you didn't read it, you might want to give it a look. Well, if publishing is a goal of yours anyway.
I can't say I've really READ industry blogs and wot-not, though I have a lot of them bookmarked. I have this issue about people telling me what to do  However.... your fourth point here - about picking the right genre/s - is an extremely good one. Even if you're self-publishing. Amazon etc expect to have genres and keywords so as to direct your book to the right 'place', and even here on WDC we're expected to have an idea what we're writing so readers can find items. I mostly write gay fiction, and at some point I have to use the LGBT genre (though sometimes I avoid it) but... I am yet to find an LGBT fiction section in any physical bookstore. And that actually works fine with me. I'm really just telling (warning?) readers that the love interest is between two males. Other than that I'm just writing romance or horror or supernatural. I'm not actually trying to plug LGBT (as weird or as bad as that sounds). Except I know that pegging my stuff as mm (or LGBT) is what I needed to do to get the readers. I find it's a bit of a rock and a hard place - trying to be mainstream but also understanding you're not. Ha, bit of a rant, sorry about that! From Osirantinous 
Technically, lots of the industry experts are telling OTHER people what to do.  They answer questions from their readers, critique query letters/synopses, etc. Some give general advice and talk about their days, but I'm not that interested in their jobs so much as the job writers need to do if they want to play ball.
In the case of LGBT, you'd say in a query that the story is horror or romance or etc... the biggest genre that comfortably fits the writing is the way to go. On a side note about representing LGBT in query letters-- it is not a substitute for character development. If you tell a potential agent that your character is "a gay father" or something with no other character traits, it wont be very enticing. In general, they want to get a feeling for who the protagonist is as a person, what the obstacle is, and what steps they will take to overcome the obstacle. Just a little FYI for others who may be interested.
Your News Letter was worth reading with good points. From Monty 
Thank you, my dear! To be honest though, they weren't my points so much as points made over and over by industry experts.  Take wisdom wherever you find it, I guess!
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Action/Adventure: June 21, 2017 Issue [#8345]
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