Action/Adventure Stories Aren't Just For Men

It used to be that nearly all fiction, in the action/adventure genre, was written about, and for, men; but that's changing. Women like to read about adventurous situations, and action filled lives, whether they are stories about male heros or women heroines.

I have a solid love of adventure, and have lived a life full of action and adventures, and I'm a woman so I know what I'm talking about. Not all women want to read romances or cook books, some of us are more at home roaming the Alaska tundra or sailing singlehandedly across the ocean. Or just like to read about it and pretend we're there.

Action/adventure stories that feature women are really fun to write because a lot of the cliches that litter male action/adventure stories can be dropped (and that's not a bad idea,) and replaced with heroes and heroines a little less super-heroic, and a little more human.

The most important thing to remember in these stories is that ACTION is the vital word. These people don't sit around bemoaning their fate, they get up and go out and do something, anything, about them. They fight, they run, they chase, or get chased, they kill, and sometimes get killed.

Action heroes and heroines usually have a sidekick, and often that person is a little more timid, a little less likely to go running into the face of danger than the hero or the heroine. It makes for balance, as well as tension in the storyline.

Don't spend a lot of time describing the sunset, or someone's appearance either, make all your descriptions a part of the action, if you can, because this is what your readers want, action, not description.

The best part about writing action/adventure stories is that, almost always, the hero or heroine solves the puzzle, gets the prize, saves the world, or their family, or their own lives. Sure, sometimes the hero takes a pretty bad beating, but they always get up, to fight again, to have more adventures, to live life with gusto and bravery and high energy.