It's All About the Action

Dean R. Koontz knows the need for action in everyone's writing. He says:

     "Authors of so-called 'literary fiction' insists that action, like plot, is vulgar and unworthy of a true artist. Don't pay any attention to misguided advice of that sort. If you do, you will very likely starve trying to live on your writing income. Besides, the only writers who survive the ages are those who understand the need for action in a novel."

  No better advice for the emerging writer. I remember back to when I started to write seriously. One of the seasoned vets of my critique group took me aside to tell me that the wonderful description of my tower high on the mountain wasn't worth a damn unless I had a fiery airplane break through the sun-soaked clouds. Readers want action not pages and pages of description. Something needs to happen, some conflict needs to appear on each page of your story. Action is what we play in our heads as we visualize the words of the writer. As readers, we want to turn the words into action.

Find a way to put action and conflict on every page and you'll find success. Your story will interest your readers and they will keep coming back for more. As Dean Koontz says you'll never starve.

Posted by David Blinkhorn, Fraser Valley Writers School's instructor for Introduction to Creative Writing and The Writer's Toolbox

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