  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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Writing Exposition
We moved our chairs forward. This was the nearest I had ever been to her, and the thing I wanted most to do was to move my chair back again. She was horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillow case, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin. Old-age liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils. Her hands were knobby, and the cuticles were grown up over her fingernails. Her bottom plate was not in, and her upper lip protruded; from time to time she would draw her nether lip to her upper plate and carry her chin with it. This made her wet move faster.’
-“To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
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'Working On Your Writing'
All too often, writers try to kill their readers' interest by clubbing them over the head with too much exposition. Hiding exposition can be as tricky as trying to cover-up a pimple in the middle of your forehead, or a wet spot on the crotch of your pants. The trick is to work it into the action of the story.
Exposition is information that is offered to readers to help them understand the plot, characters, or setting in a story. Exposition is telling, not showing, and passive rather than active. It is a narrative summary of events that if not handled carefully, can disrupt the flow of action, bore the reader, and make it sound as if the author is lecturing. Many writers make the mistake of "dumping" this information into the story in big chunks, often providing more than is actually needed. If this occurs at the beginning of a story, the mistake is multiplied tenfold as it will generally result in losing the reader’s interest before the real story even gets off the ground. You’ll see this in Fantasy, or Science Fiction because the author is trying to describe a world never before seen.
There are times when exposition is necessary. There are even times when it can be used effectively to strengthen the flow of a story, as when it’s used to break up a long flow of action or dialogue. The key is to use it sparingly, doling it out in small chunks and only when absolutely necessary. To involve readers in your story, you need to maintain their interest and pique their curiosity. You do that by revealing just enough details to make a character or situation intriguing without insulting the reader’s intelligence by spelling it out for them; and if you can offer those same revelations through dialogue and action, so much the better.
The house was odd, not odd because of who lived in it, but odd the way you can sense something’s not quite right about a place. It slumped down like a tired old man in an overgrowth of weeds and ferns that wove their spidery webs together into a green embroidery of cascading bougainvillea, laurels, palms, and fragrant eucalyptuses. I had hoped that all it really needed was a bit of repair and a new coat of paint, but the way the house sagged, it appeared as if paint would just slide off. There had been an earthquake way back when, and from the road, it looked as if the house squatted upon its foundation like a hungry old ogre patiently hiding in the bushes and waiting to be fed.
-"The Photograph of Carolina Stump" by billwilcox
The best way to reveal needed information is always going to be through action—showing rather than telling.
For instance, if you suddenly awoke one morning and found yourself in an alien environment, you would immediately want to know as much as you could about this place. But there isn’t going to be someone there waiting to fill you in on all the details about your new environment. You will have to figure it out on your own, using the clues and cues you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste. It will take time. You might find yourself in some sticky situations (conflict!).
The road to discovery is an adventure, and that’s what makes it interesting and fun. The beginning of any story should essentially be the placement of the reader in an unfamiliar environment, one where there is Action & Adventure. Reveal too much about where the reader is and what’s going on and you take all the fun out of it.
Until next time,
billwilcox
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Action & Adventure
When I think of Action and Adventure my mind always runs to my all-time favorite author, Robert E. Howard. In that vein, I'd like to present some awesome action-packed tales by some fantastic writers right here at WC...
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If you'd like to read the entire Conan novel just click here...
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Phenomenal Feedback
Lothmorwel  says:
Great newsletter. I found this really helpful. It is good to see 'inside' a writer's writing, to analyse how Dan Brown sets up a very good scene.
If I get stuck in my story then reading a similar passage in a book helps me compare and try and see what I did wrong. It is still quite an ambiguous thing to do - next time I'll do as you suggest and look at the specific syntax rather than the passage as a whole.
Thank you for another enlightening newsletter.
Hazel
Thank you, Hazel, I'd be very interested in reading some of your Action/Adventure stories.
Puditat comments:
Bill, a very nice editorial on action scenes. Clear example and use of formatting to demonstrate the subject. This should be helpful to everyone.
Puditat
Thanks, Pudi! I'm always glad to help.
SHIVA remarks:
Adventure stories now a days making creative mind to invigilators so that the stories come out to the world is best to all.
Thank you so much, I think, but I have to admit I am at a loss as to what 'invigilators' means.
Vivian  says:
Another helpful newsletter, Bill. You have some excellent advice for those of us trying our hands at action/adventure, which most stories have at least a tad included. ~~ Viv
Thanks Teach, it's always good to get an 'atta boy' from you...
schipperke asks:
Hello Mr. Bill (wait, that reminds me of an unfortunate character on SNL ). Do you know if there is already a written list of great action verbs out there in the ethernet?
There are a lot of words on the ethernet. Some are action words and some are not. But if this is what you mean...
http://www.rfp-templates.com/search/for/List-Action-Words-Used-in-Writing.html
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Product Type: Kindle Store
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Action/Adventure: November 08, 2006 Issue [#1359]
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