Action/Adventure: April 28, 2010 Issue [#3698]
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Action/Adventure


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  Edited by: Storm Machine Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Hi, I'm Storm Machine Author Icon and I'm honored to be your Guest Editor this week.


Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

What's the Point of View?


I think I'm specifically asking in the Action/Adventure genre. Does that matter? Well, each genre has expectations from the readership. When you're looking for a great Action/Adventure story, you're going to wonder if the writer uses too many clues that make you think it's a Romance. This is not to say you can't mix the genres, but knowing what your reader expects can help you steer him or her in the direction you want and create a satisfying reading experience.

There are several points of view your story may be written from and each one changes the story being told. What's most often seen in this genre? The what and how rather than the why.

Think of popular movies for a second: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, The Matrix, and Terminator all rank highly on IMDB's Top 50 Action film list. (Some of them, I'm listing the series rather than the films.) When we follow the protagonist, or even a group of them, we follow the play-by-play. Give me the lightsaber fights and the struggles with the One Ring. Show me how Indy gets through his troubles by using his wits. You can even blow stuff up and I'll be watching intently.

It isn't that we don't care how they feel. It's just that the actual goings-on are the focus in these stories. If you go too deeply into one person, showing the agonies of each happening like Chick Lit, someone's going to be missing what actually happened. Or you'll slow down the action that's supposed to be driving the story.

Choose your viewpoint characters and how much you reveal about them. You can use omniscient third person viewpoints to give grand schemes, and also more limited viewpoints to get in close for the play-by-play.



Editor's Picks

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1036340 by Not Available.

Crystal Ball Open in new Window. (13+)
He said, "Go, then. There are other worlds than these."
#170592 by Starr* Rathburn Author IconMail Icon

 Stone Mason Open in new Window. (13+)
Stone Mason is a man bred to the mountains.
#166097 by Shadowspawn Author IconMail Icon

 Desert Sands Open in new Window. (ASR)
Story about a man's adventures on the way to help a friend.
#638438 by Shadowspawn Author IconMail Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#698140 by Not Available.


Submitted item:
 Aether: After the End CH 1 & 2 Open in new Window. (13+)
After the End of the World, survivors wander in search of civilization.
#1647762 by Krish D. Author IconMail Icon

 
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Word from Writing.Com

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Ask & Answer

SantaBee Author Icon Thanks for popping in. I think credibility is very important in crafting an action/adventure story. If you don't have it, it doesn't make your story work.

Thanks. It's fun to pop in here.

Krish D. Author Icon I really liked this article because I feel it is a very important concept. Even in a world where the mysterious and somewhat magical can seem to happen, I like to have some kind of logical explanation for everything, even if that explanation is not revealed right away.

As long as you're internally consistent, it doesn't have to be real. Logic rules.

monty31802 Great newsletter, points well made. Always nice to read what you notice as being fact.

Happy writing.

tangerinedream Those are very good points that you reminded us of. I've had times where I reviewed my own work and decided I needed to change something, but forgot to in another area in the story. The good thing is upon second viewing of it, I'd found it. It can be very embarrassing if it happened to end up being published, and wasn't corrected.

Yes, it can be embarrassing. And it does happen - even with the biggest names out there. Just do your best.

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Word from our sponsor
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