 Action/Adventure: December 30, 2020 Issue [#10525] |
This week: By The Seat of My Pants Edited by: GeminiGem of House Lannister  
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 f you know me at all you are probably wondering, what in the world is GeminiGem doing writing the Action/Adventure Newsletter?
Well, that would make two of us.
I decided that I would like to explore this genre, and being the offspring of teachers, I know that writing about a subject is a good way to learn. Remember writing those pesky research papers in school? Now, don't worry, I'm not going to write this in report form. It is not possible to get this pantser
| A pantser is a type of writer who will write a story without any advanced planning, allowing the story to develop organically. The term comes from the saying "flying by the seat of your pants." That sounds like an adventure, doesn't it? |
Being the high-brow intellectual that I am, I naturally began my quest for information regarding the genre by searching the all-wise oracle that is Google. Here is what they came up with:
"Action Adventure Genre – What's the best definition for the action adventure genre? Books in the action adventure genre not only have the action sequences seen in the action genre, but the plots continue into an adventure that takes the characters on a personal journey or to different geographical locations."
No offense, Google, but that definition sounds like the stuff I used to write when I had a word count requirement on a school assignment. Hey, maybe I did write it! Wait, no, the internet hadn't been invented way back then. Maybe someone cribbed one of my old high school papers? It's not as big a leap of logic as you might think. My mom used to swipe my research papers and use them as a teaching tool in her classes. She swears they were used as examples of good writing, but let's just say forty years later it is still an issue between us.
Let's go back to that elegantly-written definition from our old friend, Google. There are two golden nuggets that can be gleaned from it. The first is action sequences, and the second is a personal or geographical journey.
Hoo boy, let's talk about action sequences. Right off I am visualizing car chases, explosions, as well as people running and jumping in astonishingly anti-gravitational ways. What immediately comes to your mind? (Remember this question, you will be quizzed on it later.)
Action, in some form, is essential in storytelling. Your character needs to do something, not just sit there like a lump. There are cups of coffee to sip, fingers to drum, cats to pet. Action helps drive the plot forward, makes your characters believable, as well as keeps the reader engaged in the story.
It seems to me, though, that the action in the action/adventure genre may be a bit bigger than that. It may not necessarily be explosions and car chases, but it should keep the reader on the metaphorical edge of their seat. Action sequences can be planned by the character or completely spontaneous. You need to decide what would work in your story. Could something like a character slipping from behind one large potted plant to another in the attempt to hide from an ex at a big party work? How about sneaking into an abandoned warehouse to discover great-grandpa's hidden past, or a high-speed pursuit across a city park after a bothersome squirrel (if your character is of the canine variety)? Would going over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house, or dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh count? Okay, I'm getting a little off track, but you get the idea. Get those characters doing exciting stuff and traveling to interesting places, physically or psychologically.
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This interactive is the perfect way to try writing action/adventure.
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As promised, here is that quiz. Actually, it's not so much a quiz as an informal survey.
 What immediately pops into your mind when you think of an action sequence?
What kind of action sequences do you include in your own stories?
Do you find action sequences challenging to choreograph so that the reader can make sense of the action?
Do you have any special tricks to help you develop your action sequences (like drawing a diagram, making a storyboard, etc.)?
What is another type of journey a character could go on (besides personal or geographical)?
I would love to hear your answers to these questions!
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