 Action/Adventure: December 12, 2007 Issue [#2112] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: Puditat  
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Life without action is static, and by necessity, it would therefore be dead. Action writing takes the normal and shares it for all to live vicariously.
Adventure is the spice: the exciting, adrenalin-pumping, thrill that makes one feel so alive. Everyone has an adventuresome spirit. Maybe dreams of excavating some long-lost treasure, visiting a new country, or trying a new flavour of potato chip.  Some of us prefer our adventures to come between the pages of a book, and many of us like to write that adventure.
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Bigger is always better...right? - Death Scenes
Action and adventure is all about the fast-paced, most extreme, out-of-control ride...isn't it? Well, in some cases yes. However, there is an art to creating a rich story that uses subtlety to entrance the reader as much as the full-blown action scenes.
When trying to capture a reader's imagination it is always tempting to have the biggest explosions, the most startling way of killing someone, etc. Sometimes that is the method needed for that particular scenario. There are many, however, that might benefit from a little more refined and low-key use of language.
Let us consider an example:
Option One~
Ash turned the key in the ignition of his new Italian sports car, still not tired of listening to the engine's contented hum. The purr vibrated to life, and Ash had only a second to register the strange click that followed. The car exploded into shrapnel--fiery darts ripped from the metal and thrown to wound and maim. The fuel tank exploded, thrusting a fireball up. The shock sent reverberations travelling through the ground to quake the floor of office buildings three blocks over.
Option Two~
Ash turned the key in the ignition, listening to the purr of the Italian motor hum and feeling again the thrill of his new car. He noticed immediately the new sound, a click, the sound of a distant woman's heel against the pavement. This was closer, and more personal; discordant against the engine's muted hum. Ash's confusion died as the car filled silently with a clear and lethal gas.
The two scenarios are both completely valid, but have totally different effects and moods. In the first scene we see the grandiose explosion of such magnitude as to wake a few people up. It is designed to get noticed, or, shows a lack of concern over being seen. It gives instant gratification. It points to a killer who is ruthless and violent. It is efficient, quick, and has little regard for collateral damage. This scene could be considered cliched, but avoiding that depends on how you describe the scene. It is a sequence most would be familiar with.
The second scene is far more controlled and secretive. It hints at a killer who has time and likes to work with complex set-ups. It could also show a more personal relationship or cause between victim and murderer. The scene is different and brings something new to the reader.
Authors have the freedom to 'kill' people and effect only fictional characters. The death scene is as much of a vehicle in conveying mood and characterisation as any other part of the narrative or dialogue.
Take a second look at how you kill your characters off, if you do so. Are they always big, violent scenes, or the opposite. Mix it up a little and bring some variety into your stories and writing repertoire. Be ruthless or be refined, but always be innovative.
Puditat
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For this week's picks I've tried to find pieces dealing with death in some manner. That sounds terribly morbid, but it's not really...well maybe a little.  Enjoy!
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 hallo, puditat--
great newsletter covering detail and loose ends! great timing, as well--i'm working right now on my first novel, and the experience is exhilarating and a bit overwhelming, too. i'll be referring back to your advice over and over, i think. thank you!
Lauriemariepea
Ohhh, how exciting to be working on your first novel. Sometimes I wish I could recapture that exhilaration of the first novel. Enjoy it! Thank you for the kind feedback and best wishes with the writing. 
Hi Puditat!
I agree with you. It's better to build some plans, and take some notes about unusual terms/new thing. If I didn't do that, I always forget many thing. Moreover, keeping notes of some informations about anything you'd created will become much more useful than you thought.
Great newsletter! :)
Cyanvia
Thank you for the lovely feedback. 
Thanks for this newsletter. I just faced the same difficulty when finishing the rough draft of my fantasy novel. I planned to do something along these lines when writing my second draft, but here you have come up with guidelines for me...
I don't know why this hasn't been the subject of newsletters before. I'm sure it has been the bane of so many writers but nobody ever talks about it. Congrats to you for breaking the ice.
Thank you so very much.
SilverGryphon
 Thank you. It very well may have been a topic sometime in the past in any one of the numerous newsletters, but I do thank you for the lovely feedback. And...you're welcome.
Hey. I did exactly the same with my last novel. I did not keep important info and needed to re-read it all to re-check any details of places and people that I'd created. This time around I'm keeping profiles and maps to start with. Great newsletter.
A thinker never sleeps
It's never as much fun rehashing as the initial writing is it? Thank you for the kind feedback.
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