#combat writing

[brainstreams]

Be honest: are you describing every punch because you’re scared readers won’t ‘get it’?" Lol.

I broke down why that kills pacing and what to do instead.

Why Your Fight Scenes are Boring

[charliemwrote-cod]

This is an odd request, but could you provide some pointers on how to write combat? I’d like to improve at it, as much as possible

It’s not that odd at all and I’m honestly flattered that you’re asking me!! I’m still trying to improve in combat writing myself, but I can try to offer some pointers

For one, short sentences. Shorter sentences give a sense of quick bursts of action and things moving quickly, or sentences with commas separating the clauses if it’s a succession of events in rapid order.

Dashes! Not too many, of course. Maybe one or two, to indicate something happening suddenly without using the word “suddenly”. Usually if something unexpected/drastic happens or there’s something to interrupt the stream of action.

Keep fight scenes short. Even if the character is fighting for a while, high-stress situations tend to blur so there’s nothing wrong with skipping a little or being vague on details! Even two minutes for the average person is long, and feels even longer!

Realism! This is what I still struggle with the most. Do a little research and try to keep in mind the balance of pain tolerance and adrenaline response. A gunshot wound is probably going to take a (normal, human) character down for the rest of the fight unless it’s a graze, but then they’re still in pain and losing blood. Acrobatics are near impossible in close-quarters, et cetera

That being said, don’t be afraid to experiment or draw inspiration from videos and movie clips! Any writing is creative and fun so if it’s a little unbelievable, don’t stress! I hope this helped!

[brainstreams]

A practical breakdown of pacing, stakes, and fun in fight scenes.

I put a lot of time and effort into this post. Check it out!

Post by @brainstreams · 5 images

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · WHY YOUR FIGHT SCENES ARE BORING · Fight scenes are a dime a dozen. Most fiction has it. But good fights are as rare as gol

[aryn-randomness]

One thing I just realised is that writers who are considering any kind of combat stuff in their writings should put their combat system in the game skill tree/AOE skill/team combo gauntlets.

Like, if I have a nickle everytime I see a game version of a story and question why they didn't use the combat in the big war arcs, I would have two nickles more than I woke up with.

The first being the combat system in Hogwarts Legacy versus the spells they use in the Harry Potter series. The spells combo. The spells mastery skills. The potions and herbology use?? I was tweaking when I realised the final battle would have been more fun to read/watch if they use Hogwarts Legacy combat system.

The second being the team ultimates in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm because WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE KONOHA 12 USING THOSE ELITE TEAM COMBOS FULLY-ANIMATED IN THE HUNDREDS OF EPISODES ACTUAL WAR ARC???

[ahb-writes]

A private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling (Ret.) ("A Failure in Generalship")

[rachel-writes-words]

DnD scene

The cloud giant watched his partner stand still; his expression blank and axe limp by his side. The giant felt hot rage build in his chest and glanced at the small ones that fought his pets. His eyes darted across them; the dragon one shooting two beams into a werewolf who howled in pain and a snake latching onto another of his pets. His eyes narrowed on the purple devil creature that had shouted out strange words to his companion; her eyes were trained on him and he could see her whispering under her breath. With a sneer he tried to take a step forward but stumbled slightly as the ground around him had been destroyed and replaced with loose rubble. He let out a large growl and raised his arms as billowing mist enveloped his body. He focused his vision on the spot in front of the devil and stepped through.

Daera noticed the mist rising around the giant from the corner of her eye and felt a pit form in her stomach as the giant disappeared.

‘Shit, shit.’ She muttered under her breath, glancing to the side where Seishiro stood readying himself to run toward where the others were fighting the remaining werewolves. ‘Help, the spell!’ She managed to shout out as the giant appeared suddenly in front of her. The looming 20ft form towered above her; the bone axe raising high in the air to strike. She felt the rush of wind as Seishiro darted in and landed multiple hits up and down the giants thigh, knee and shin and she saw him twist his hand in a familiar way for the last hit causing the giants axe-wielding arm to drop beside him with a growl of pain.

‘He has no reaction, run!’ Seishiro shouted as he leapt back out of the giant’s reach. She felt magic swell up to her arms and let out a shout and clapped her hands together with an echoing boom that filled the room. The magic burst from her hands in a rolling wave of thunder with enough force to send the giant stumbling backwards, his axe dragging along the ground. As he was swept back, Daera glanced quickly back at the other giant as she darted away toward Seishiro; who was gesturing for her to get behind him. The giant still blankly stared at the ground, swaying slightly as she continued to hold the spell.

- 

Just a random super short fight scene that happened during one of my DnD sessions. It was an intense moment I wanted to write lol

[purplerakath]

The Three Elements of a Fight Scene

So instead of talking about my usual fandoms, I’m going to talk about anime because it gives me the best examples to really divide out the thing I want to talk about.

Behind a thing because this’ll be long, but I’ll be focusing on Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, and Grimgar. (In all cases you want to watch to about ep 15, except Grimgar which only has 12 eps) They hit the marks I want and have a strong concept theme basis to let me really explore how different these three fight elements are.

First Element - Story

So the first element I’ll be hitting is that all fights tell a story, the way characters move, act, interact, how confident anyone is, how they react as a fight grows long, how they react when things work, when they don’t work. All of it is telling a story. This is the element that’s human, this is the part that makes you like the characters.

In pro wrestling this is in ring psychology. This is what makes you like, dislike, love, hate, root for, and wait to see the end of characters over. And of the three animes I listed, this one is where Grimgar shines. Grimgar is about people, there’s no bigger weight of story other than ‘how will these characters fates impact you.’ And it gets there by being all about watching them hesitate, watching them freak out, seeing how they fight especially when things go wrong.

This part, largely, is what brings people people into watching things, is seeing people deal, watching their faces and bodies as they evolve through what they experience. And you might notice while Grimgar’s got strong animation, the fight scenes are not very... grand. They’re gritty, down to earth, and brutal. Nobody is good, everyone is just barely surviving. ...mostly. You’re not getting that Errol Flynn Swashbuckling vibe that most people expect from fantasy swordfights.

Second Element - Spectacle

The reason I picked Anime over, say, martial arts film, was spectacle. I could have picked Marvel but someone would say ‘why not DC’ and then I’d have to compare elements from Wonder Woman to Marvel films and... look this is easier. Spectacle is about how big, badass, and cool things are. But what it’s really about is how your body reacts to it.

In WWE this is where a spot comes in, or the weight of a finisher that isn’t specifically spottish. The moments where your adrenaline spikes.

Naturally this will be where I bring up SAO. Now SAO has some really cool looking fast paced scenes set to cool badass music. It doesn’t have the emotional weight of story most of the time. When the Black Cats are wiped out and when Asuna sacrifices herself you get that real story driven character result. But most of the fight scenes don’t have the weight of story, but they do still make people excited. They’re fast, and flashy, and the music is oh so hip.

Third Element - Wit

So this one I had trouble naming, everything felt too inexact. Even Wit feels not quite on the mark for what I need. But I’m going with it. Wit is about the strategic and clever ways one character gets the edge on another. If anyone reading this knows what the WWE version of this is, lemme know cause I can’t think of one. I know technically it’s a reversal but I want a bit more nuance than that.

Instead I’ll use Naruto as my ‘wider ranging example.’ When Naruto fights are bad it’s a sequence of new powers and new forms showing up to undo the previous part of the fight. When a Naruto fight is good it’s seeing a flaw or hole in the fight (or in one case, a hole in the battlefield), and exploiting it. Naruto fights also generally have a good amount of story that is... decently explored physically (Neji vs. Hinata is probably the best pick on story early series). This cleverness means that the stronger fighter might not win, if the wittier fighter figures out how they work.

Naturally as I used Grimgar, which is a grueling slog through not getting killed, for the first item. And I used SAO, which is all about how cool Kirito’s sword skills are, for spectacle. Logic says I gotta be talking Log Horizon right now. Nothing in Log Horizon is simple, there are rules, mechanics, and strategies in play. And the fights are an extension of that. How skills interact is the only power Shiroe has. His ability to control combat through his own foresight is the series. And while technical skill executes them, knowledge is the key tool here.

Three Elements Outside of Combat

Now I talked about this because combat, visually, is easy to follow, easy to deconstruct, and easy to use for other things. The lesson here is, all of this, can be applied outside of combat in scenes. Verbal combat is the act of framing the pacing of arguments and debates like a fight. Picking the right word and right event to have the most impact.

Try looking at debates and arguments in fiction like fight scenes. Look at how the music and camera are used to mimic spectacle. And how you can tell what words and actions impact everyone involved on a story level. And how one character turns an entire scene on its head with a single witty retort. It’ll be fun, I promise! (If you want the classic version of where to go, any legal drama is verbal combat).

[fromreadingtowriting]

10 tips for writing realistic combat scenes in fantasy fiction. Guest blog by Danie Ware.