 Action/Adventure: January 20, 2010 Issue [#3507] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Greetings! I'm honored to once again be your guest host for this week's Action & Adventure Newsletter.
Each day is a blank page, an adventure to be written, action and re-action ~ be pro-active. Writing itself is action ~ creating an adventure for your readers to embrace in prose or verse.
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Greetings, Jack's Back!
The strongest adage in writing is "show don't tell." And nowhere is this more evident than in an action and adventure story or poem. You want to display the action for your readers instead of just conveying events. For example, Jack and the snitch arrived at the rooftop just ahead of the helicopter tells your readers what happened. But showing them what happened, you may reveal that "Keep going up the stairs, and don't stop," Jack commanded the wounded snitch, then turned and grabbed the pursuing shooter's rifle, muscling him over the rail. As the disarmed thug landed four stories down, Jack dispatched the second pursuer with his dead companion's rifle before following the snitch up the stairs and to the rooftop, just as the helicopter arrived to transport the pair.
This is an actual scene from "24" which began another 'day' this week. If you're not familiar with '24,' it's a TV series that runs in real-time action-packed one-hour weekly episodes. Each hour poses a crisis within the day's plot which is resolved, or thickens, with action and depth moving the day's adventure forward. The hero, 'Jack,' is a flawed and often unwilling participant when the 'day' begins, who skirts protocol for what he deems the greater good. The ancillary characters also have their stories to show, each somehow intertwined with the day's focal event.
If you recall, last week we explored historical adventures and the reality and immediacy that one can impart to events which happened either in historical reality or the writer's interpretation of an aspect of history distant or near to create an adventure packed with action and depth. Today, I'd like to explore the present (and perhaps future) and some ways to create the same depth and weave an 'otherworld' your reader can enter and run with along with your heroes and villains of today.
"Heroes symbolize the possibility of successful action in the world ... whether it's the world of politics or business or whatever. ... Even if we're completely helpless, you want at least to imagine the possibility of effective action. And the hero story is the symbolic way of imagining that. That's why we try to find common ground between ourselves and heroes." ~ Richard Slotkin
Current adventures focus beyond U.S. borders and invoke the technology that exists in real-time to effect sometimes heroic rescues and solve plots that were fictional in the 'James Bond' era of stories and film. The past decade's spy adventure stories are written about intelligence officers and the profession of intelligence, and some writers submit their manuscripts to the CIA for pre-publication review.
At fan gatherings, writers' conferences, publishers' meetings, and in the intelligence community itself—analysts, spymasters, and covert operators read the genre both for entertainment and to pick up ideas. A co-worker of mine formerly with the government attended one of these conferences in D.C. two years ago, which featured presentations by the writers of '24,' and one of the 'Agency' reps commented to him that he wished their organization had envisioned some of the writers' potentially workable uses for the common cellphone.
Again, as with the historical adventures, the writers have done their research. Much is available on-line - a good starting point - and then the writers ratchet up the intensity (and action to create the adventure) while keeping the story believable within the confines of today's world and out of the realm of science fiction.
Remember, every action has a reaction. When writing of technology and covert actions, the scenery is often part of the action. But keep it short and swift, giving your readers enough of the backdrop to see or smell or hear the action taking place, then move to the reaction. There are twists and ever movement, with the occasional breath of interaction (perhaps a love interest, or a family secret unfolding), then back to the action. The hero may save the day, but there's generally a cost either to the hero or someone close to him/her. Just like in today's reality, there are consequences to actions taken, and omitted.
I'd like to share in closing a website I found that provides a well-rounded overview of modern tactical weapons and technological 'tools' which may give you some ideas for an adventure packed with action. Get with today's technology (and a taste of tomorrow's) ~ and, like the historical adventures, research can be fun reading as well as a good starting point to get your weapons and details straight =
http://www.howstuffworks.com/war-tech.htm
Wishing you active adventures in both life and writing ^_^
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I invite you to partake in a few of the action-packed adventures of today (and tomorrow, perhaps) penned by members of our Community ~ and do take a moment to let them know if you can jump right into the action
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A counter-assassination is ruined by a mysterious man.
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An assassin is ordered on a mission and in the process his world is turned upside down.
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Terrorist or Patriot, an IRA Provo on the Racetrack
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Terrorists take over a nightclub, a journalist's girlfriend is one of the hostages inside.
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Intrigued? How about getting in on the 'action' with a new interactive adventure ~ check it out and see if you'd like to jump right in.
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In response to last week's edition about the historical 'basics' of Action/Adventure stories and verse, a couple comments I'd like to share ~ I hope you visit with the writers and see what adventures they have in store for your reading pleasure.
From Angelica Weatherby- Grateful28 
Hmmm that'd be a challenge for me to do! History isn't my strong suit. I enjoyed your newsletter; as is I'm reading not writing. :-d Have fun!
Thank you for your encouragement ~ Read On ~ In just about every interview of a published writer, the writer is asked what he/she enjoys reading ~ and invariably each does read, and read rather voraciously. So Read On to inspire your Muse Creative
From StephBee 
Great newsletter, Kate that touches on the fundamentals of A/A writing. Thanks for sharing!
Smiles
Thanks for your encouragement ~ I'm sharing here my own journey and hope that others find something to ignite ~ or incite ~ the Muse Creative.
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Thanks for actively sharing my reading and writing adventure.
Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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