 Action/Adventure: March 14, 2012 Issue [#4927] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Why is This Adventure Necessary? Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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"When you catch an adjective, kill it.
No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them --
then the rest will be valuable."Mark Twain
Greetings! Welcome to the WDC Action & Adventure Newsletter. Join me, your host for the day, as we embark on an adventure, with some action to kick start the day.
My favorite action and adventure stories involve a quest, and the journey to actively attain the quest.
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Greetings fellow Adventurers,
There is no story without action, and you can create an adventure anywhere ~ whether climbing a mountain, diving for a lost ring, or dodging panhandlers on the way to work (the second obstacle course above). Action brings an adventure story or poem to life, engages taste, smell, touch, sight, mind, to make it real and visceral for the reader - staying in the moment as the story is revealed through the actions of the adventurer.
My favorite adventures begin with a quest, and the action is the journey the hero or protagonist takes to attain the quest, determined and focused, battling (or avoiding) adversaries that would deny him/her the goal. Along the way, the protagonist may encounter help or hindrance, doubts and verification, but does not digress from the focus on the goal (or plunge into a plethora of adjectives or adverbs to describe what he sees or perceives or imagines), and experiences his/her surroundings with immediate visual, aural, sensory impact on the way to securing his/her quest.
Action = movement = keeps the reader involved and anxious to turn each page, as eager to attain the quest as the protagonist, involved in the fast-paced 'otherworld' real or imagined, whether in the past, present, or future, the writer develops with economy of words to propel the story or poem (and the reader) forward along the journey.
So, for me, my favorite Action and Adventure stories and poems give me the following:
 A quest
A reason the quest is necessary or important to the protagonist
Adversary(ies) to thwart the attainment of said quest
Action that focuses the protagonist's journey towards the quest
(with economy of distracting superfluous verbiage)
Attaining the quest - or failing to - and how - by the adventurer
We can craft crafted an adventure out of an 'ordinary' humdrum day's activity, look at it in third person, perhaps, and add some action, while attempting to 'kill' the plethora of adjectives and adverbs - keeping it active. Create a quest, give a sentient identity to an alarm clock or, while driving to the day job, to oncoming minivans with cell phone-wielding one-handed sleepy drivers. Consider the elements that make any journey, mundane or fantastical, a quest?
Consider asking your character the following questions ~ the answers your character gives will help define your story or poem - give it sentient life. You may or may not show all the answers, or reveal them as the adventure unfolds, but your adventurer knows them and they guide the adventurer (and your pen)
What is the goal?
What is the significance of the goal?
Why Must the adventurer attain this (emphasis with intent)?
Are others vying for this goal? If so, will they do battle or set up obstacles?
Is it a race? What happens if someone/something else wins?
How will the adventurer benefit personally from attaining the goal?
Will others benefit from the adventurer's attaining the goal?
What is the danger of not attaining the goal?
Is attaining the goal the end? If not, then why do it?
As your story or poem takes on its life, more questions will come to mind, and your adventurer's answers will guide your pen to actively share the adventure with your readers
There is so much action and adventure in life, past and present, and future - to incite the muse creative to wax prosaic and poetic. I hope you enjoyed our brief journey today and maybe there are some questions you have that will incite an adventure in response to a quest.
Check out a few adventures envisioned by members of our Community ~ then create one of your own and invite us to join in 
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out some adventures in prose and verse both ordinary and not so ordinary, offered here for your pleasure reading, reviewing, and writing
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