First of all, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread. It seems like it, but I could be wrong. Obviously. But, anyway, as I work on my current project, I struggle with action. I personally like to read a lot of action in books, but I don't know if there is a point where there's just too much. In my current situation, I opened up (chapter one) with huge action. The idea was to get the reader excited for the rest of the book. And by chapter three, I want to implement another battle. Should there be more spacing between big fights or am I worrying too much?
I think you're worrying to much. Write in a way that makes you feel comfortable. While you should worry about spacing between action, I wouldn't let it interrupt my writing process. Good luck!
Welcome to the forums, Zleyt! I like your username. You need to space out action in your stories. Your readers need to get to know your characters, and they need to be able to "breathe"--so to speak--in between these big scenes. If you repeatedly throw high-action at your readers, they'll eventually get used to it, and the big, dramatic effects you want won't have as much power. Even in action-adventure stories, there are lulls in the action. People sleep, or they chat, or they do research. Most readers, whether they realize it or not, like characters the best. (What they differ in is what they like to see those characters doing, saying, etc.) Characters are the main component of a story. They cause the action and they trigger events. If your huge action scenes are sparked by forces beyond their control, you also have an issue, because you're making the story bigger than the characters. That is, characters are only secondary to the plot when they should be equals. "Huge action" at the very beginning of a book makes me cringe a little, but it would depend on how you did it. Do you jump in and start with the shootings, chases, or whatever your action is about? Or do you sort of creep toward the action, building suspense, revealing character, environment, atmosphere? No matter how much or how little action you have in a story, you'll need all those things.
It all depends on what kind of story you write. You can let your action define your characters. I have read a lot of good adventure novels that may not get in depth with a chracter but I know what he will do in certain situations. It is all based on your story. Some stories get really involved in character and the subtleties of a character. Do you want the reader to know your character as well as you know your best friend or as well as you know Indianna Jones.
Well put. I personally prefer to write my novels with a slower pace and an impending sense of doom, then after allowing the readers to know and love the characters-then I kill them mercilessly. When I killed off one character, a girl from school that read the story was nearly in tears. In my opinion, that gives me more satisfaction than anything, it makes me feel like everything paid off in the end. (And I prefer writing characters to action anyways.)
Hmm...Thanks for the replies. What I'm working on is a fantasy novel. I'm trying to go a different direction with it than what I'm used to reading, and chapter one was intended to offer background information on the current situation while supplying excitement. I have a lot of ideas, but I need to connect the dots. Thanks again. I'll probably just write whatever I enjoy writing and hope others like it too. Edit: Not "probably", that's what I will do. Writing is meaningless if you don't enjoy doing it. That's how I feel, at least.
Of course you should just write whatever makes you happy. However, when it comes to revising and producing a final product that you want to submit to publishers, it is worthwhile to decide if trimming down on the battles is a good idea. People do need room to breathe and rest from the intense moments. Some people have said that they liked their final product better when they broke it up a bit and gave us those calm moments. It also makes the battles that much more exciting when we get to them.
I like your avatar BTW. Was she angry that the character died, or did she enjoy the story and understand why the character had to die? There are stories that make you cry, and you think, that sucks, why? And you never recommend it to anyone else. And there are stories where a MC dies and you love the hell out of the story and understand that the guy/gal had to die. As far as the OP. It is advisable to space out action.
Thanks, that's my wife. She understood why the character had to die, and was happy that later on in the story he came back in another incarnation. She did love the story though, or at least that's what she tells me. My new Signature is the last sentence of the story, btw. When you're talking about stories that make me cry, the first thing that comes to mind is The Green Mile.
I see what you mean. And I decided I'll try to give some more calm moments. It only makes sense. So for the next few chapters, at least, I'll be building up to the main "thing" in the story. After that it should become easier to make a not-so-action-packed book. Thanks.
Hope that everything works out for you, Zleyt. If not, you can always post a question up here for us to try and help with.
Build-ups are also really exciting. I don't read a lot of books like that, but there are some great movies you can watch as examples. In The Two Towers, they made a point of having a huge build-up, and it was inspired by the build up in the movie Zulu. In the TV show Deep Space Nine, they have some decent ones, too.
