 Action/Adventure: May 30, 2012 Issue [#5074] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Perception Edited by: Leger~  
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This week's Action / Adventure Editor
Leger~
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Perception
I got a rare chance last weekend to have a racing dragster adventure. The opportunity, like most, is a twisted-funny story and no one thought I would do it. But after flying down the drag strip at 149 mph, I can say I did it!
First, they suited me up in a fire suit. That was comedic by itself, the jacket was big, the pants were tight and I made the mistake of leaving my shoes on and got stuck half-dressed. Then they had to get me in the car. Hey, those suits are thick and bulky and I had to step on a box to drop into the seat without falling onto the driver. Then we pulled onto the starting grid. I've watched enough drag races to know the back wheels were going to chatter when the driver hit the gas. (It was a side by side ride, I didn't drive, nor wanted to.) So I pressed myself hard against the seat so my teeth remained in my mouth for the first burnout to warm the tires. And chatter it did. Then the timing tree did its blink-blink to the green and we were off. The sensation is much like the downhill on a roller coaster, except there's no swoop at the bottom. You start getting mashed from the g-force and you forget to breathe. What did surprise me, was the complete blurring of most of my peripheral vision. It looked like we were flying down a tan tunnel.
So when the ride was over and helmets tugged off, I asked the driver - what point does he focus on? Because I could see nothing solid to aim toward. To me, it was very disconcerting, like diving into a puddle of pudding and not seeing the bottom. He asked me if everything went blurry. I said it did. He said because he drives a dozen trips down the track a day, it doesn't blur like that for him any more. He said your brain gets used to the speed and can focus once it adjusts. So it was merely a matter of perception.
Think about your characters and how they perceive their surroundings. A city-born person might find a quiet woods and soft ground very disconcerting. A child adventuring out onto the lawn might find stepping on the grass very odd. A dog raised on a farm and always allowed to run free might panic in the city, on a leash. Think about how your characters are going to react in an unfamiliar situation. You'll be able to hint about it earlier in the story and pull some raw emotion from your character when deep in unfamiliar territory. Will they run or become enured to it? Something to think about, and as always, write on!
This month's question: Do you like to throw unusual challenges in front of your characters? Why or why not?
Send in your reply below  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: The shot set them off and with sides heaving they surged down the turf, a beast with a hundred hooves, poetry brought to life as if the fleeting grey surf on the Irish Sea was attacking the grass, devouring it and churning it into a light wintery pulp as they cut through the haze, all that was visible a glimpse of the curve of a jaw, the contour of a shoulder, the sleek sweaty neck straining forward, then back into the beast itself, the throng of heaving muscle that was moving as one. Thousands of years had tamed something ancient that now resurfaced in the mellow February light with a roar and a smell and a weight that had spelt terror and victory for countless ages.
| |  | Invalid Item
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#1650333 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: How do you explain Before, to someone who has only known After? It is not something I've ever faced. Yet here I am, with The Child, unsure if she even hears me as I try to describe the world before The Rains. Even now they pursue us. We are unsafe here. Unsafe anywhere, truth be told, but I won't tell her that. I just tell her that we must keep moving; that we have somewhere to go.
Excerpt: A spirited stallion, bred to go the distance, Sovrano nickered as I mounted him and slipped my boots into the stirrups. When the bell rang we lurched forward with the rest of the pack. Putting my head down low, just above Sovrano's shoulder, I issued a challenge. "Come on boy, let's see if you can live up to your name." Sovrano's owner told me that, in Italian, Sovrano means King.
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This item number is not valid.
#1134079 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: John sat leaning against the rear slick of his dragster as the world slowed around him. The thunderous roar of the crowd and the high pitched whine of the sirens faded away. He was dazed and unsure of how to react to what had just happened. His mind played the last few minutes over again, as if he was watching a movie of himself
Excerpt: The lady at the counter took my ticket, and ripped it in half. She punched the stub into my stomach, and I walked forward. "Let's go! Move it!" I said. Mia and Amy were close behind. I was not ready to wait for them much longer. The weather was perfect for a day at Cedar Point. I was full of energy, full of life.
Excerpt: My hands shook as I waited in line. Normally, a wait for the Dragster would take hours, but our family had been sure to get up early just for the prestigious roller coaster. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it wouldn't go down.
Excerpt: The rabbit hopped into our yard, letting Jeffrey to walk slowly up to him. He stood still and allowed Jeff to pet him! Stories circulated in the neighborhood about the rabbit, how it had escaped from our neighbor's hutch, how it had survived in the woods, and stayed away from all people. This was indeed a rare sight!
| |  | Manfred (E)
As story of greyhounds, racing, and the tragedy of raceday economics.
#1565067 by Ghostlancer  |
Excerpt: "This will be Manfred's final race son", the cold emphasis he put on 'final' nearly had me in tears. But I assured myself it would never happen. I wouldn't let it.
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This item number is not valid.
#1749153 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Josh was having a fine time drag racing on the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a hot evening, perfect to impress the ladies with his tight white t-shirt sculpted over his muscular upper body. He was at the starting line again, this was the final race, this time it was not for a position in the finals, this was the finals, and pink slips were on the block for this race.
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This month's question: Do you like to throw unusual challenges in front of your characters? Why or why not?
Last month's question: How do you use character memories as a tool? In flashbacks? How else?
swanlakegrrl responded: Hi! I found out that my main character's memory and his reflecting throughts often give the reader in-depth knowledge about characters that that only show up briefly or not at all in the story. Yet my reader knows everything about these characters that my hero knows. I think memory is a magic tool to populate a story / book.
akil.bandele sent in: I usually use memories as a tool to convey the characters struggle with a decision that harkens back to his/her past via flashback. I also use character memories during daydreams so that the reader can see into the characters past.
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