19th Century "Action Hero"

Timbrian

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I'm writing a series of books, about the global adventures of Jesse Donovan, a professional gunfighter for hire. I was hoping to have a mixture of serials with the Western. I am not looking to "steal" or "rip-off". My inspiration for the series of books is "Have Gun - Will Travel" meets "Indiana Jones". Even though I am nearly, done. With the first book, I am trying to stay true to the Action-Adventure/Westerns of the past. Less swearing and practically no nudity and no sex scenes. In order to get readers to really dive into my series, what makes a good adventure story?
Should new cast of friends/partners/sidekicks be included in every new book or keep the same old cast? I was thinking of killing off Jesse's friend in the first book, but I am not certain. I mean I like him a lot. However, I am debating on if people would get tired of him, and want him "killed-off" in the next book and or wanting to bring in someone new. I only wish to make it interesting and adventuresome, but not forget that it is still a western.
 
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Cindyt

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Blood, guts, and mystery. One of my all time favorite 19th Century action heroes is Steve Morgan of the Rosemary Rogers Sweet Savage Love series. If I ever write that type of book I'll use him as a model minus the sex and cursing. Rogers based Morgan on Clint Eastwood gunslinger in the A Fist Full of Dollars films.
 

frimble3

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I'd say if the adventures involve a lot of travelling around, no need to kill anyone off right away. Have the MC move on to another locale for his next adventure, knowing that he has a buddy back in X. You may need him later, and loyal readers will remember 'that's the guy from X'.
Not crazy about series where a buddy of the MC is invariably killed. After a while I start to wonder why people hang around with him. Like moving to a quaint village and taking up with the old lady who's always at the scene of a murder.

I don't know any Western examples, but my dad liked British naval stuff, Hornblower, Ramage, etc. and in one of them, in every book, there was a young officer or a midshipman - basically, a young, innocent guy, whose role was to die, tragically or pathetically to remind everyone that life was dangerous. It annoyed me after a while.

Why not mix it up - sometimes your MC rolls into town, meets up with an old buddy who helps him, then leaves old buddy and his settled life for the MC's next job. Or, he comes into a strange town, meets someone new - does he trust them, does he have doubts? Then leaves them. Or someone travels with him for a couple of adventures, then leaves him, either for business of their own, or because they want a settled life.
People coming and going also spares you the 'Doc Savage' problem, where Doc has a group of buddies who all turn up, and have to be explained, in every adventure.
 

Tsu Dho Nimh

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People moved around frequently in the American West so you can have him reasonably encounter people he knows or has heard about even in towns he has never been in, and use them in the current adventure.

They don't have to be all gamblers, snake oil salesmen and horse thieves - the Old West was more like Little House on the Prairie than most people imagine.

Travelling professions for respectable people: preachers, doctors, seedsmen (seed and ag equipment sellers), specialty merchants (fabric sales reps, medical sales), the inevitable scientists collecting specimens of fossils or plants for some rich back East institution, surveyors, mining engineers and geologists.

For a good travelling character yours could encounter sporadically - find the biography of the first Episcopal "missionary Bishop" of Montana. He was all over that huge territory, and had a fine time of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_S._Tuttle
 

Richard White

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However, if you want a good example of a troubleshooter and what happens after the ranchers don't need him any more, I highly recommend the old Steve McQueen movie "Tom Horn".
 

Cindyt

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Another good example are the two brothers hired by cattle ranchers to drive sheep herders off "their" government land in Centennial by James Michener.
 
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CWatts

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If you do kill off his friends, make it matter.

Maybe his friends start dropping and he realizes to his horror that the sweet farmer's daughter he's been courting is actually Kate Bender....
 

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"Have Gun Will Travel" was simply one of the finest Western TV series ever produced. It was different, darker and deeper than almost anything else, and the premise was taut and riveting. It's a great inspiration for something like this, but don't get overboard on action and excitement. What made HGWT work so well was its use of suspense, drama and timing. And some great Western movies might be worth your time to watch, too, if you can find them (not always an easy task):

Posse, starring Kirk Douglas and Bruce Dern
There Was a Crooked Man, starring Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda
The Ox-Bow Incident, starring Henry Fonda. Based on the great novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Hombre, starring Paul Newman and Richard Boone (also the star of HGWT)
Open Range, starring Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner
High Plains Drifter, starring Clint Eastwood (and IMO the best of his early Western movies)
Unforgiven, also starring Eastwood, in a very different kind of character
Once Upon a Time in the West, a huge rambling epic with an ensemble cast including Fonda, Charles Bronson and Jason Robards, among many others.
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, starring Paul Newman and Roddy McDowell.
Little Big Man, starring Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam and Richard Mulligan (based closely on the great novel by Thomas Berger).

You can never do too much research when writing about historical periods.

caw
 

Scribhneoir

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"Have Gun Will Travel" was simply one of the finest Western TV series ever produced. It was different, darker and deeper than almost anything else, and the premise was taut and riveting. It's a great inspiration for something like this, but don't get overboard on action and excitement. What made HGWT work so well was its use of suspense, drama and timing.

The radio version of Have Gun, Will Travel is great, too. Another good radio western is Frontier Gentleman, where the hero is a journalist working for the London Times providing stories of the real West. His job gives him a good excuse to be moving around and meeting different people in every story.
 

tommyb

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I'm writing a series of books, about the global adventures of Jesse Donovan, a professional gunfighter for hire. I was hoping to have a mixture of serials with the Western.
Why kill off anyone if these are 'global adventures'? If he revisits a place he has contacts.
About 40 years ago I read short stories and comics about gunfighters in other countries. They rarely explained why they were there, or placed them in public.
Good luck, I hope it goes well.
 

samchapman

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A good adventure story requires a hero that's two things: relatable, and indestructible. You know he'll survive every scrape, but you always hold your breath when he's in danger anyway. To keep things moving, come up with new opposing forces, each of which tests Jesse to the core--but always allows him to come through stronger. And have a cool new location for every new story featuring him. Plus, despicable villains we love to hate and love interests are great ways to get the reader invested.

I wouldn't kill too many people off, though. The old adventure serials never really did that. You can easily have a dark tone without bloodshed--it's all in the themes.