 Action/Adventure: November 24, 2021 Issue [#11089] |
This week: Intensity Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Intensity!
In writing, we know we have the elements of a story: exposition/beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement. In editing your story, I'd like to suggest you look at the intensity of your words. Do they match the intensity of the element you're working on?
If your introduction to your character is showing how bored he is with his job, use bland words. Nothing happens, no excitement, help your reader feel the mundane life your character leads. Rising action should have a few more clear descriptions of what is going on. Get the story moving along your plot and head toward the climax. Then there is your climax, get your protagonist and antagonist in there with some action.
Let me interject right here...climax doesn't mean sprinkling in some exclamation points. Please, don't.
Then we've arrived at the falling action. Bring down the tension, lay down the swords. Use emotions to head toward resolution. Soften your words, make them show the characters are ready for resolution, and then tie up loose ends and show your character's emotions in resolution. Is the victor ecstatic or just happy? Is the loser emotionally drained or defeated in some other manner? Show us and Write On!
This month's question: What words do you like to use in the climax (or other parts) of your stories?
Answer below  Editors love feedback! 
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| |  | Invalid Item
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#2262173 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: When major home appliances becomes old, obsolete, or beyond repair, they are replaced. Not surprisingly, the emotional state of these once indispensable products is seldom considered or acknowledged by their owners.
Excerpt: The serenity hid the chaos invading the town.
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This item number is not valid.
#2261627 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: We first crossed paths at the Greyhound station in San Antonio. It was mid-summer, lousy hot, and she had tossed her duffel bag against an out-of-the-way wall and was reclining against it, maybe trying to catch a nap, maybe not. She was wearing denim shorts and a tank top to combat the heat, but from across the waiting room, I first thought she wore long sleeves and slacks. Numerous tattoos adorned her arms and legs, and but for that, her long blonde hair and elegant face would have made her stunning. Assessment complete, I went back to reading my book, a pulp thriller I had picked up off the station rack to wile away the time.
Excerpt: Zorith sniffed at the winds, so different from the cold, thin air of his native land, and stared into the setting sun. The winds brought the gritty dust of the empty fields to his teeth, where he could taste the earthy essence of Tarm. Sia, or Shien as the sun was known to the flatlanders was long past equinox, and the Season of Burning would soon bring its own bitter harvests of fire and rage.
Excerpt: “Kimberly?”
The surgeon’s incredulous expression, as he looks up from the paperwork and sees my face, mimics the nurse’s earlier reaction. Not the first time I’ve seen this response, nor the hundredth. But I still feel that inner twist of sorrow: sorrow, anger, pain.
“It’s not our Kimberly,” the nurse supplies before I can answer. She, too, momentarily thought I was their receptionist, inexplicably out of its permanent seat. “I know she looks like a Kimberly unit, but she’s not.”
Excerpt: Three years had passed since she woke from winter slumber to devastation; three years without the power to call forth spring.
Excerpt: She wore all black as if she had never stopped mourning. Only a red kerchief hung from her belt right next to the set of heavy keys.
Ever since she had come, death in the village was never the same. After all, Madison May was a special woman – Madison May knew how to raise the dead
| | | The nanny (13+)
Short story of a greedy selfish girl wanting to get what she thinks she deserves.
#2179449 by Sumojo  |
Excerpt: From about the age of six, Kylie recognised she had an affect on people.
Excerpt: The word that came to mind was ‘pathetic’. Den watched her walk along the parked lorries, knocking on cab doors and turning away when she was refused entrance.
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This month's question: What words do you like to use in the climax (or other parts) of your stories?
Answer below Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Action/Adventure Newsletter (October 27, 2021)" question: How do you deal with stress? How do you show your character's stress?
dogpack:saving 4 premium: DWG  : Show don't tell was something I had trouble understanding because I have limited vision. I missed a lot of visual cues and therefore had no idea about how to show and not tell. After taking a WDC class I found the answers about how I could show emotions like stress and not tell about a character being stressed. Your comments about showing stress have added to my collection of ways to show emotions, thank you.
Elfin Dragon-finally published  : How do you deal with stress? - I have Bi-Polar Disorder with Anxiety and so am very familiar with stress. I have taken "Mindful Management" classes which have taught me a bit about what causes my stress and how better to relieve it. Meditation is a great stress-relieving tool. As is, just stopping to take a few deep breaths.
How do you show your character's stress? - In one of my novels, my character is a shapeshifting elf. She relieves stress by either practicing her martial arts, weaponry, painting, or sculpting. It all depends upon the mood she's in and where she is.
As with anything, space can be a factor in what sort of thing works for you to relieve stress. For instance, I could never have worked on all the crafts I currently have in the small apartment I had when I lived in Tucson. But now I have room to roam. 
Mary Ann MCPhedran  : When I write a poem in my Scottish accent I write the poem as I and the language of every person in the town, but at the bottom of the poem I write what the words mean in proper English, for instance. the word ; Windie= window
Prosperous Snow celebrating  : Fast food is one of the ways I deal with stress. In fact, I wrote a blog entry about that "Midweek Reflections on Stress and Fast Food"
Monty  : How do I deal with stress? I try to get my mind working with words, concentrating on what I wish to write.
~SilverMoon~ :
Any of these can indicate stress:Wringing thier hands
Sweating,
Red-faced,
clenched hands,
Unable to speak (or stuttering)
Hesitation,
A look of restraint on their face
Slumped posture
Headache
Nightmares
Abnormal Bodily functions or lack of
None of these sound fun.
Sounds like how my mind works sometimes. In fact, I make it so extreme that I end up laughing at myself.
***I guess that's a coping mechanism too.
There's always that underlying stress thing that just don't go away. It kind of gnaws at you like a hungry dog.
You da bone.
***I can get real ugly if someone's stole from me or lied to me. That's just hard to get past. I have to be careful though like if something comes up missing and it's not visible. I temporarily go on tilt. Lol. Thank God that nobody's around to see it.
But my characters can be more in control. Until they're not.. lol. Oh darn. That kind of sounds like me. Dang fire breathing dragon lady. Haha
Bob  : I make them tense, jumpy, nervous, glancing about and over their shoulder like they are looking for a threat, real or imagined.
Jay O'Toole  : My character usually gets really quiet when under stress, fades into the woodwork, slips out the nearest door, and heads to the nearest coffee shop for an hour-long break.
When she’s at home, and under stress just look for her in the nearest reading nook, alcove, or bay window with a cup of coffee or tea at the ready. I wouldn’t engage her in conversation at that point, since she might not hear you, or she could get up without a word, moving to the next reading room, shutting the door, and locking the door loudly enough, that her “click” seems rude enough to give all hearers a clear message.
keyisfake : I listen to music and write. I put their lives in danger or threaten their relationship, let one of them destroy the kitchen.
TheBusmanPoet : I show mine personally by becoming angry. My characters will reflect that in my writings if it calls for it.
elephantsealer : When one lives as long as I have (I am an oldie), I believe stress is and has been the number one problem I faced. To show a character's stress in one's writing is sometimes difficult because there are factors that one has to either avoid or bring to the core, in order to make certain the stress becomes one of the factors that the character must learn to face and resolve.
Dr Perry Ride : By smiling. I simply can't show it. It's out of reach for me but recently Schnujo is Late to Lannister  has helped me out. Thanks.
Dragonfly : Boy did you hit this nail on the head LegerDemon, stress can and does kill.
I fortunately came upon the worlds of yoga, meditation, and personal therapy. They've all helped me tremendously. I have a pretty extensive library covering all three areas.
As for my characters, well, I'd have to say they no where near have as much stress in their lives and when they do, it's handled far better. Most often, they live the lives I wish I had.
Mikibits :
For my Characters: By showing them either losing touch with their best self, or finding it. Stress in conflict is what drives their character arc.
For me: Chocolate 
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