  Action/Adventure
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Greetings! Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC 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. I'm back again in search of adventure and hope you will share with me this exploration and maybe create one of your own in prose or verse .
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Greetings,
Adventures begin in the imagination of our species and, if we dare, we act to embark on the adventure. We can partake physically of the action or, like most of us with commitments and family and obligations and, yes, a bit of fear of the unknown, we take up our pen and conscribe the adventure to print (or hard drive).
"Call me Ishmael," begins one such adventure, familiar to most of us either because we like to read of seafaring derring do or because we had to read it in literature class. But what is so compelling about adventures at sea? What draws writers - and readers - to embark on seafaring adventures such as "Moby Dick"?
Because it is unknown, uncharted territory. The possibilities of what exist or may exist across the vast expanse of the oceans are as varied and broad as the mind can imagine. And, whether related as fact or fiction, shipboard adventures of exploration, battles, scavenging, piracy, conquest, each compel the writer and reader to challenge known reality and explore possibility.
We recently explored some adventures to be found beneath the seas, encased in metal cocoons that somehow manage to not implode from the pressure of tons upon tons of volatile seawater, you know, submarines. Well, how about the vessels that skim the surface, appearing at times to soar with the wind catching sails and at others to list ominously near to capsizing as if grabbed by an unseen seawater fist and shaken about. Sailing ships have transported humankind across oceans for millenia, and the lure of the waters remains as enticing today as it did for Eric the Red or Magellan or Columbus or (fill in your favorite explorer, historical or fictional).
How to create a seafaring 'otherworld' that your readers will first, want to embark upon the adventure, and second, want to continue the adventure to its satisfying conclusion. Well, first, write what you imagine, what you feel and see when you take pen in hand (or fire up the keyboard). If you smell salt spray, show your reader that it stings the eyes or feels like beestings upon the hands pulling in the sails against an onrushing wave. Whether you've been on a sailboat yourself, or upon a cruise ship for that matter, taking evasive action when confronted with an earthquake driven tidal wave, or if you experience the essence of it in your mind, you can still create an adventure for your readers that they will want to actively embrace.
Our ongoing fascination with nautical adventures has found its way to common usage of terms. I wandered through an old (vintage) Websters for some background on nautical terms and some of them ignite the muse creative to 'sail off' on an action-packed adventure. Historical accuracy of the language does make the image more immediate, more believable, for both writer and reader. Here are a few common usage terms with a rich adventurous heritage ~ maybe some will ignite your muse creative to explore the high seas in prose or in verse. See how the nautical image has translated to its common usage in everyday language (some wordsmithing fun ).
 As the Crow Flies - A navigational tool. When lost or unsure of their position in coastal waters, ships would release a caged crow. The crow would fly straight towards the nearest land giving the vessel some navigational fix. The tallest lookout platform on a ship came to be know as the crow's nest.
Leeway - The side of a ship that's sheltered from the wind. Its opposite is the weather side. A lee shore is downwind of a ship. If a ship does not have enough "leeway" it is in danger of being driven onto the shore.
Windfall - A sudden unexpected rush of wind from a mountainous shore which allowed a ship more leeway.
Over the Barrel - The most common method of punishment aboard ship was flogging. The unfortunate sailor was tied to a grating, a mast or over the barrel of a deck cannon.[OUCH!]
To Learn the Ropes - There was miles and miles of cordage in the rigging of a square rigged ship. The only way of keeping track of and knowing the function of all of these lines was to know where they were located. It took an experienced seaman to know the ropes.
Footloose - The bottom portion of a sail is called the foot. If it is not secured, it is footloose and it dances randomly in the wind, ineffective in sailing.
Pipe Down - Means stop talking and be quiet. The 'Pipe Down' was the last signal from the Bosun's pipe each day which meant "lights out" and "silence".
Groggy - In 1740, British Admiral Vernon (whose nickname was "Old Grogram" for the cloak of grogram which he wore) ordered that the sailors' daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture "grog". A sailor who drank too much grog was "groggy".
Pooped - The poop is the stern section of a ship. To be pooped is to be swamped by a high, following sea.
Buoyed Up - Using a buoy to raise the an anchor cable to prevent it from chafing on a rough bottom.
By and Large - Currently means in all cases or in any case. From the nautical: by meaning into the wind and large meaning with the wind: as in, "By and Large the ship handled very well."
Cut and Run - If a captain of a smaller ship encountered a larger enemy vessel, he might decide that discretion is the better part of valor, and so he would order the crew to cut the lashings on all the sails and run away before the wind. Other sources - "Cut and Run" meant to cut the anchor cable and sail off in a hurry.
Overwhelm - Old English for capsize or founder (i.e., sink).
The Bitter End - The end of an anchor cable is fastened to the 'bitts' at the ship's bow. If all of the anchor cable has been payed out you have come to the bitter end.
I hope you've enjoyed this exploration, and before we reach the 'bitter end,' enjoy the nautical adventures in prose and verse envisioned by members of our Community.
Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Journey across the high seas with some of the members of our Community, then, now, and someday
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Okay, one of my adventures in verse
And we recall and begin again the adventure ~ imagine
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a challenge
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I hope you've enjoyed the nautical explorations and perhaps will embark on one of your own in prose or verse. Do share with us your seafaring 'otherworld' if you do.
Until we next meet, may your adventures be joyous and creative and fun to explore.
Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
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Action/Adventure: March 17, 2010 Issue [#3609]
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