 Action/Adventure: July 20, 2016 Issue [#7757] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Revenge as a Motive Edited by: Cinn  
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I've been watching some classic 80's action movies over the past week, and it struck me how often revenge is the motivating factor for protagonists. I've seen the same pattern over and over. It seems like a topic worth examination.
could have spent infinity dollars and thrown a million
bodies at finding the few, lasering our revenge
into a kind of love, the blood-hunger kept exact
and more convincing for its precision
~Excerpt from "Full Flight" by Bob Hicok
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Let's start the revenge discussion with an example. In Steven Seagal's first four movies, the plot is essentially this: The protagonist is casually doing his job or not actively involved in a crime. Bad guys murder a family member or partner. The enraged protagonist breaks every rule imaginable in his pursuit to destroy said bad guys. He kills them all. The end.
How reasonable is this scenario? Is it believable?
Now, I can understand a character wanting revenge for wrongdoings, especially if it is within his means to get that revenge. An indestructible martial arts expert who can kill a room full of people without breaking a sweat does have the means. He also has the motivation, technically. However, would a human being really behave this way? Would this reaction be logical or likely if the character was at all realistic?
I have given it some thought and decided that it depends on how emotionally involved the protagonist is. Too little attachment to the victim, and the desire for revenge would be mild at best. On the other hand, too much attachment to the victim would make this reaction absolutely ludicrous.
 Too Close
The murder of a wife or child could be terrible motivation for a murderous spree of revenge. Before you all sink into the depths of shock, let me elaborate.  The way these plots usually unfold, a bad guy murders the protagonist's wife and/or child, and our hero leaps to action. Sometimes he sets out for revenge immediately after the funeral. Sometimes even before the funeral. This is utter nonsense. The grief of losing a child or spouse would be far far greater than the desire for revenge.
The only way in which the family-murder revenge makes perfect sense is after time passes. Take the same scenario and advance it a year or two or ten. Let the loss sink in. Let the character move past grief and live alone for a while. Let him really experience the loss, and the revenge will be much more powerful for the reader. Would I be terrified of a grieving father blindly flailing about? Not really. Would I be terrified of a man who had thought of nothing but revenge for a few years and finally had his chance? I'm pretty sure I would!
 Just Right
If the story must unfold in a short time span, I think avoiding close family is the best idea. No killing of parents, spouses, or children. Perhaps a niece or nephew who lives in another city? That would be the type of emotional distance that makes sense. There wouldn't be as much grief as anger.
A partner's death seems like a reasonable motivation as well. If you work with someone for years, you obviously would care about them. You probably would know your partner's family. There is a definite emotional investment, but losing a partner would create nowhere near the level of emotion trauma involved in the loss of family if (and this is a big "if") the partner is not a surrogate family. A happily married protagonist with children and a big support system would be angry at the loss of a partner. A single protagonist with no family at all except his partner (who is, of course, "like a brother to him") would be an issue for the same reason as losing a close family member.
I like a good romp as much as the next person. Who doesn't love a good revenge plot? Melodramatic and ridiculous as they may sometimes be, it's nice to have those "Oh, snap! That guy is gonna get it!" moments in movies. In stories that unfold on the page, without the aid of explosions and bone-break sound effects, you might be better off trying to keep it real.
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What do you think makes revenge sweetest in a story?  What type of relationship or situation do you think would create a burning desire for revenge?
 
Here are a few interesting responses to the last two Action Adventure newsletters I edited ("Action/Adventure Newsletter (June 22, 2016)" & "Action/Adventure Newsletter (April 27, 2016)" ):
These days I think a good tip for writing a timeless story is to have no datable technology in it, so you can't stuff it up! If I'm doing an era, then it is usually pre 1900 because you can keep away from most electronic/"modern" stuff, bar the occasional street lighting, or present day (because I know what the technology is and generally don't stuff it up). I re-read all my Trixie Belden recently and was puzzled when the kids got on a plane to go show someone a photo before remembering it was late 70s and that emails didn't exist. From Osirantinous 
Keeping it "evergreen" is a reasonable way to go about it, and as long as that goal is in mind while writing, there should be no strange slips. I've had those odd moment while reading and watching films as well. Usually, it is either 'why not text' or 'just email it to him' type situations where I have to remind myself that it just wasn't an option. 
I was trying to write a story for a contest in Steampunk. How to act and write in the 1800's with some machins and gears thrown in, I gave up. Its too hard. I'll have to reaqd more steampunk stories. From Quick-Quill 
I can barely wrap my head around writing stories that happened more than 50 years ago. I feel totally out of my depth even thinking about it, so you're definitely not alone! 
Fine News Letter. You can stay pretty straight if you live through the time. I was twenty in 1960 and had my first VCR in the 70's and still have two today. From Monty 
I must not be cut from the same cloth as you, love! I constantly look things up because I can't trust my memory. Just yesterday, someone mentioned M2 (aka MTV2 now) as something around in the mid-90's, but I only remembered it in the late 90's. We watched it in homeroom in say, '98-'99? Turns out that it launched in 1996, but I can't remember seeing it before '97. These things happen to me all the time. Why trust my own experience when I can just look it up? I'm very much a part of that spoiled internet generation, I suppose.
I haven't thought about stories (although looking at an old novel it was rather funny), but I was watching some old 80s and 90s shows the other day and it was rather amusing to see the different tech. That's another way to help with setting your stories in my opinion. From Shanachie 
The Zack Morris brick phone? True enough... that is a good way to see what things were like at the time, dramatized and skewed as they might be. Films and TV shows can definitely point you toward some further areas of research too. Great advice!
Two rules I try to follow when introducing characters in a story (especially a novel). One, don't reveal everything right away. Provide enough details to generate interest, then build on that as you go through the story. Two, don't introduce a character until they're relevant. It does no good to introduce a character in chapter one who won't even be a factor for six more chapters.
As for a confusing novel, I give you "The Minotaur" by Stephen Coonts. He strayed far from his expertise (naval aviation) to go into a story of intrigue and espionage over military secrets. The military writing was good. The espionage? So convoluted that it looked liked he got lost while writing it! From SkyHawk - Into The Music 
"Don't introduce a character until they're relevant" is a bit of advice that would have served the author well in the example I gave in "Action/Adventure Newsletter (April 27, 2016)" ! It would have spared me part of the headache. Thanks for the tips, love! 
Great newsletter, Cinn. Names are so important and mixing between using first and last times in a story can be massively confusing (and usually gets out of hand for the author too).
I sometimes have an issue with gender-free names - once getting through an entire chapter before Shane adjusted her skirt and I went 'whaaaaat, a skirt??????' Nothing prior indicated Shane was female! So actions and descriptions are important to help a reader out. From Osirantinous
 That is exactly the type of thing that throws me in stories too, Os. The sudden skirt...  Thanks for the reminder to be gender specific if applicable!
That name choices would have stopped me as other things that make you look back to find what a writer is talking about. Thank you for a fine N/L From Monty
Honestly, it almost stopped me too. It would have for any other author, in fact. I tend to give my favorites a bit too much leeway probably. In the end, it certainly wasn't worth the hassle. I don't mind occasionally referring back to prior information, but I ended up bookmarking about 5 separate pages just to help me keep track and prevent paper cuts. Not an ideal experience by any means.
Character names are as important as the plot. I loved your idea that one unusual name is memorable. Two are forgettable. Great point. I loved this NL. Keep them coming. From Quick-Quill
Happy to oblige, love! That seems to be the case for me more often than not. If every character has a quirky and unique name, then they are all just... boring and interchangeable. At least, that is definitely the case for me. Happy to hear that I'm not the only one who things so.
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