  Action/Adventure
This week: Action Drives Reactions Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Like many of you, I've considered myself a writer my whole life. But in 2007, I shifted out of hobbyist mode, started writing for an audience, and embarked on the exciting journey towards publication. As I continue on that path and delve ever deeper into the craft, I feed an insatiable appetite for creative writing theory. I seek out how-to books and workshop experiences to augment and amplify whatever talent I possess. For those of you like me, here's a little theory to appease your hunger. |
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As authors, we strive to draw readers alongside our POV character and into the action of the scene. The goal is to so thoroughly engross readers that they forget they're reading words on a page and begin to watch the compelling scene playing out on the movie screens of their minds.
Achieving this goal begins with an author's understanding of one simple concept: Action drives reactions.
Consider this: In real life, if you bring a hammer down on your finger (action), pain will explode in that digit (reaction). You may yelp (reaction), possibly unleash a string of curse words (reaction), maybe throw the hammer down and clutch the hurt finger (reactions).
Now, if this scenario were to play out on a movie screen, you wouldn't hear the actor yelp in pain before you saw the hammer hit his finger. Nor would you see him clutch his finger and then hear him yelp in pain. Actions and reactions must be in the right order for the scene to come across as realistic.
One of the most common mistakes in fiction writing is presenting the reaction before the action. How many times have you read something like the following?
Pain exploded in Paul's jaw as Jason's powerful punch connected with his face.
Here, the reaction (pain exploded in Paul's jaw) happens before the action (Jason's powerful punch connected with Paul's face). The sequence of action and reaction is out of order.
To better understand why it is crucial to write actions and reactions in sequential order, it helps to recognize that actions are external and objective, while reactions are internal and subjective responses to that action.
To illustrate this theory, let's hone in on the action from the example above:
Jason's powerful punch connected with Paul's face.
Notice that this action is external, as it occurs outside Paul, the POV character. It is also objective, because any character in the room could have seen it happen. This action is the catalyst for the chain of reactions it sets off, so it must come first.
The reaction, however, is internal. The pain exploding in Paul's jaw is felt from the inside. None of the characters present except Paul, the POV knows what the punch feels like, in this moment.
Reactions are also subjective because they are responses to what the POV character perceives, what comes through the filter of his or her awareness. Though his impressions may not match the perceptions of other characters in the scene, they are what motivate his reactions. And the POV character's reactions are the keys to drawing readers inside the POV character's heart and mind, and ultimately into the story, itself.
It's also important to the authenticity and believability of an action scene that certain reactions happen before others. Instantaneous, knee-jerk reactions logically occur before conscious actions and speech. Continuing with our example, Jason has just punched Paul in the jaw:
The immediate, involuntary reaction is the pain shooting through Paul's jaw. A split second later and in response to that pain, Paul's reflexes fire. Very quickly, though, Paul recovers. His rational mind catches up, and he's ready for conscious action and speech. Here's a revised and expanded scene:
Jason's powerful punch connected with Paul's face.
Pain exploded in Paul's jaw. He shook his head in disbelief. As his vision cleared, he looked up through stringy brown hair and smirked. Raising his dukes, he circled Jason. "That it? That all you got, little man?"
Notice that the action is presented in its own paragraph, separated from the reactions in the new paragraph that follows it. This is also important to the logic and comprehension of the scene. The transient pause in narration at the end of the action paragraph allows the reader to absorb the implications of that action, before going on to experience the POV's reactions.
The sequence of actions and reactions is cyclical. When the POV has fully reacted, he will be spurred to further action (which will go in a new paragraph). This action will initiate reactions by the other characters, which in turn will cause them to act, triggering more reactions by the POV, and so on. The sequence of actions and reactions repeats, until the scene ends.
Writing compelling action scenes is a skill that sharpens over time with practice. Writers new to the craft, though, may find that concentrating too hard on theory hinders their creativity. This is a legitimate concern I once shared. I would suggest writing the first draft with unfettered, creative abandon. Then, use the revision phase to scrutinize drafted scenes, correcting wherever the sequences are out of order and the reaction comes before the action. Doing so will strengthen your current manuscript, while honing your writing skills for fiercer first drafts, in the future.
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Excerpt: The voices were muffled and unintelligible. Something scraped against my cupboard door. I started coughing again from the dust. Huddling down, I covered my mouth with my shirt. Finally the door opened and I stared out at four English soldiers, afraid to move.
Excerpt: A tribe of savages blindsided us as we were marching through a small valley. It was brutal; most of us didn't even have our weapons readied when the first arrows struck the boys at the front of our marching order. The savages weren't nearly as fearsome as we had been led to believe, but they had the element of surprise, the advantage of knowing the terrain, and absolutely no sense of fighting fair. We would learn soon enough that ambushes and concealed traps would be part and parcel of the experience out here.
Excerpt: A wet miasma of smoke, concrete and caramelized wood surrounded Max. Moving with studied care demanded by his bruised form, he turned his head to where he thought was up. His guess was apparently correct. It had to be gravity compelling the granulated waterfall of rain dampened soil and debris o the once-grand edifice onto his battered body in response to his slightest movement.
Excerpt: The house he grew up in - gone; swept away with the rest of the town.
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Excerpt: Zana opened both emerald green eyes and peered up at Aldia the witch. She raised her tiny hands to smooth sleep-rumpled hair from her face and sat up. She yawned, politely covering her mouth.
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Excerpt: Grit in my nose and clumps of hard mucus made breathing difficult. There was a whistle when breathing through my nose; of course, it may be broken also. There was really no way to tell. Inside, my mouth was covered in a fine grit from having been open the hour or two I had managed to doze, a sip of water would have been gratefully welcomed.
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Excerpt: Henrik's game had become a compulsion. Every day he'd set his jar in the sand, take eight good paces and sit on the same bowing palm trunk. Then he'd gather up a handful of small pebbles and throw them, one by one, into the jar.
Excerpt: The Emperor lounged indolently in his deeply padded throne-like seat, which, as one would expect, offered the best of views over the sandy-floored arena. With languid indifference he picked at his teeth with a fingernail in a casual attempt to remove a piece of meat that had become lodged there a little earlier. The Arena Master had sent up tit-bits and snacks in an almost endless stream, doubtless in an attempt to make up for the depressingly predictable fights scheduled for the afternoon.
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Excerpt: One morning, when Grandmother sun was sailing across the sea of sky, hundreds of seedlings were planted in a large meadow in Mother Earth's womb. Each day, the nearby villagers would tend to the ground the seedlings were so delicately cradled in. They exercised great patience, taking care with their finger-like tools to give each seedling equal amounts of water and nourishment.
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This is my first official WDC newsletter. (*takes a clumsy, self-conscious bow*) It will take me a couple issues to get into my zone, find my 'newsletter voice'. I welcome your comments and feedback! All will be helpful as I adjust to this new format. My next Action/Adventure edition will reach your inbox on April 27th. Until then, I look forward to reading your input!
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Action/Adventure: March 30, 2011 Issue [#4318]
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