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This week: What Is Too Much Action Edited by: Vivian  
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I tried to watch a show on television the other night and finally turned it off. The action piled on top of one after another, too much and too unbelievable.
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Let's Have Action
Action and adventure are needed in most writings so that the reader will stay interested. However, what if it's too much, impossible? Any mature, discriminate reader will laugh or frown and leave the book or story or show. Let's look at the plot of the show I tried to watch recently. In the twenty minutes I endured:
The hero fought four bad guys, and was winning, until another villain whacked him in the head with a 2 by 4, knocking the hero partially unconscious. As he lay on the ground, dazed, the other men left him with the prints of their shoes in his side and on his back. The man fought unconsciousness, crawled to a dumpster, and pulled himself to his feet.
As the protagonist struggled to get into his car, a shot rang out, and the poor man was slammed against the fender, a hole in his shoulder and blood pouring from the wound. He dodged behind the car, held his hand over the gunshot hole, and closed his eyes. "Wish I had my gun," he muttered.
When no other shots came his way, the hero managed to get behind the wheel and drive to his girlfriend's, who just happened to be a doctor. As she removed the bullet and bandaged his wounds, Girl-doctor told him he had to take care, that he wasn't invincible.
The glass windows to the balcony crashed inward, and a man clothed in black, from his head to his feet, faced the couple, a knife in hand. The doctor screamed and scurried behind the couch (at least she had sense enough to take her cell phone with her and to call for help). The hero stumbles to his feet, grabs a pillow from the couch, and prepares to meet the antagonist with the knife. During the fight, our wounded hero is stabbed, but he still manages to disarm the attacker and knock him to the floor. He sits on the villain until the police arrive.
Huh? That was just too much. I changed channels.
When is too much too much? I could take any of the scenes and suspend belief enough to accept them in the plot, but all three, one on top of the other? Please.
When we write anything with action and/or adventure, we need to be sure that readers can accept our plot and subplots as possible. Maybe they aren't exactly plausible, but they need to be at least possible. Hmm ... that advice is good advice to follow with any type writing. |
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Words from Our Readers
SkyHawk - Into The Music 
Viv,
I've always felt that the best dramas have some sort of comedy element involved, either large or small. BUT, it has to be in the right place and time in the drama. Random jokes, for lack of a better term, just don't work. An example where such a joke did -- at one point in the film "Apollo 13" the crew is facing a crisis with too much CO2 on board the spacecraft. One of the astronauts admits he ran his numbers wrong, thinking of two people in the lunar module instead of three. The third crewman, a last-minute replacement, quips, "Does that mean I have to hold my breath?" Later in that film, engineers at NASA headquarters realize the air filters on the lunar module are round tubes, while those on the command module are big squares. On learning of the "Square Peg in Round Hole" situation, the chief of Mission Control says, "Somebody tell me this isn't a government operation!" Two examples in one drama where a line in the right place used in the right way generates some humor, but wouldn't have worked elsewhere in the story.
aegreenfield
Regarding: "Tomorrow's Vision (Chapter 3)" (ID #2036776)
Drama seems to hook me into a story and make me want to know what will happen next. The chapter I submitted is filled with drama, and I hope it stays with the reader and makes them continue reading.
billikus
I think all stories need some drama. Especially illustrated kids stories where you have to draw Ma. Get it, draw Ma! *Facepalm*
Elfin Dragon-finally published 
I wanted to tell you I enjoyed this newsletter of "writing through the pain". It's something I do often and your techniques are spot on. Smile I also thought I'd include a poem which deals specifically with this.
Thank you for your comments. I'm sorry I'm not able to give individual replies. I've just gone through a difficult time and am now ill. Thank you for joining me again this issue.
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For Authors: April 29, 2015 Issue [#6953]
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