A few words about writing action

After reading a few other self-published books and professionally published books put out by women, I can see why there's such a stigma against women writing in certain genres--most of the women whose work I've read lately are awful at writing action. I would like a female crime writer's work a lot more if she had more action in her books, but she seems to be completely against it. I would have better liked a pornographic "romance" novella if the action in that (and I'm not talking about the sex) had been better written. Instead, both of these women, pro and self-published, really dropped the ball IMO, giving women writers another black eye when it comes to writing action. A third self-published writer wrote action sequences, but she was repetitive and completely wooden in her depictions of action, describing some martial arts moves in one word "sentences". "Grab. Twist. Neutralize." That got old really quickly.

Since I like to write sci-fi, one thing I knew at the outset was that I could not shy away from action. Since my favorite characters to write are strong females, I need to keep in mind that not every five foot one hundred pound woman is going to be able to kick everyone's butt without getting a scratch every single time. In fact, I also tend to shy away from the "she's tiny, she's beautiful, and she kicks ass" stereotype altogether. I'd rather write about realistic women facing realistic challenges who don't always come out on top at first. I think it makes for more interesting reading.

So to any female who reads this and wants to try her hand at genres that expect action, in particular crime or sci-fi, I ask you to please learn how to write action and hire test readers if you need to so you can get honest feedback on how you are doing.

One of my favorite reviews of The Tourney is from a man who said he thought my action sequences were very well-written. I personally think there's a fine line between describing action too little or too much, and that's where practice comes into play as does listening carefully to honest feedback from your test readers.

If that doesn't convince you, consider which of the following action sequences you would rather see in a book:

1. "He knocked her to the floor and stood over her, gloating."

2. "Wham. His fist hit her in the stomach. 'Oof.' Her breath whooshed out of her. Pain lanced through her. Thump. She landed on the floor."

3. "His fist slammed into her stomach, driving her breath from her. She doubled over in pain, crumpling slowly to the floor. She peered up at him as he stood over her, gloating."

Personally, I think number three is the best. I think number one is too brief, cheating the reader out of more completely described action. I think number two is tedious, going into so much detail it reads like it's not happening in real time. I think number three walks the fine line between too little and too much. To me, it's a more graphic description of the action without being too detailed. I.e., it's the kind of action I like to read.