Do you have any tips on how to write fight scenes? I’m okay with most other types of writing, but for some reason I really struggle to describe action. Thank you! :)
I don’t write a lot of fight scenes, but I do write a lot of sex scenes and they’re very similar in a lot of ways. I’ll give you a few tips that work for me, and then hand it off to the blog to give more suggestions!
- remember that you don’t need your readers to have the same picture in your head that you do. They need to know the general contours of the fight, but when it comes down to details like right versus left hand and things like that, you only need to include them if they’re relevant. Does it matter which hand is doing the punching? No? Then skip it.
- use verbs that include movement in them. Running and jumping are obvious, but you can mix it up with other words too. Just like up above, if you don’t have to explain how someone got from point A to B in detail, just say they moved and get back to the fight.
- you also don’t need to describe each individual hit or shot etc. Which ones lead to a change in who’s winning? Which ones lead to an injury or a loss of balance or something else that could tip the fight one way or the other. Those are the ones to focus on.
My writing style tends to skip the details in order to keep things moving, so these suggestions might not work for you, but if you check the notes I’m sure you’ll see more.
Very good advices.
Another thing important too (in my opinion) is the description of what the character feels- both physically and for the feelings.
Describe the adrenaline when he/she miss an opportunity to grab a weapon, for instance. How does it feel ? Does his/her heart skip a beat ? How does it feel when he punches the assaillant in the face, how blood tastes in his mouth, how pain feels first then grows ?
Details are important as much as how quick the fight goes. Not too much details, but just what's essential to feels as much anxious/angry than the characters.
When I’m writing action I try to picture it as a scene in a show or a movie and try to really create a detailed picture of what’s happening so my readers feel immersed in what’s happening.
I focus on a lot of things, but these are key for me:
Where is the action taking place? Is it inside or outside? How does the surroundings affect the fight? Are they in a narrow alleyway, in a field during a battle, inside a house at night? Is it light or dark out? Really picture where the fight is happening so you know the ways in which those surrounding affect the fight!
What experience do your characters have with fighting? Is one a superhero and the other a regular person? Does one know how to use a gun and the other a knife? Is it hand to hand combat? How are their bodies different and how does that affect a fight? Is one skinny and the other muscular?
Why are they fighting? What motivates their fight? Is this a death match? A duel? A fight between two people who love each other but have been pushed to the brink of hate? How do their emotions make them fight? With rage and desperation? Exhausted despair—barely clinging to their weapons, praying they’ll survive?
I find this way of looking at a fight incredibly helpful because it also helps solidify for me who the characters are and why they’re behaving how they are. Picturing it as a movie really helps me see how they move and act, how they react—it all paints a picture on the page!
