Fight scenes! The writer’s quintessential source of action! Fights are useful because we as human beings are hard-wired to respond strongly to violence, in the same way we react to things like food or sex. They’re an effective storytelling device.
Fight scenes should always be a part of the story. This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people get this wrong. A fight scene should not exist for the sake of itself. It should be a part of the deeper narrative. This is what ultimately makes a fight scene powerful.
A good fight scene should, like anything else in writing, accomplish multiple things at once. It’s not just the characters punching each other. It should be about their goals or motivations, showing who the characters are and how they react to violence. Something has to be at stake. There have to consequences. A fight is only exciting if something is riding on it.
Bad fight scenes don’t fit into the deeper narrative. They do nothing more than advance the plot. They exist purely for the spectacle (Michael Bay comes to mind). Some would say that, in a fight scene, the main character must have the potential to lose. I don’t necessarily think this is the case. Your main character can absolutely be in a fight scene where they utterly dominate. A fight scene like this, though, should not exist to generate tension or merely to move the plot forward. It should serve some other narrative purpose.
We’ve been raised in an era of cinema. I always think of movies when I think of fight scenes. But we aren’t writing screenplays! A written fight scene has to rely on different tropes than a visual fight scene.
Fight scenes don’t require technical knowledge of combat maneuvers. Sometimes you can find ways to be more abstract. For instance, in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, he describes fighting styles with abstract terms (i.e. “he switched from Smokestance and fell into Windstance”). Robert Jordan does this too. You can find ways to use general descriptions or statements to present action without knowing all the nitty gritty.
Think in three dimensions. When creating a fight scene, have a physical or mental map of the location where the fight is taking place. The environment is just as much a part of the fight as the fighters are. If you can’t picture where people are in relation to other people or things, chances are your reader won’t either.
Also, here's a tip:
Don't take lessons on fight scenes from video games!!!
If you try to translate Skyrim's combat into writing, you're shooting yourself in the foot. No, I take that back. You're shooting yourself in both feet. Video game fight scenes rely on the player's experience of gameplay to work. They don't translate well into other mediums. It's the same reason why blow-by-blow fights work great in movies, but less so in writing.
Speaking of which, there are several ways to write fight scenes:
Blow by Blow – this is like a baseball game or a boxing match getting narrated over the radio. It’s a step by step, incremental description of the action. This is tricky to use because it can easily become monotonous and boring to read. Employ with discretion.
Hard Hits / Killing Blows – instead of describing every sword swing or dodge, you focus on the actions that have the most dramatic impact, like killing blows. By being selective about what parts a fight you mention, you can create a fight scene with a faster pace.
Snapshots – ideal for chaotic mass battles, this type of description gives the reader specific snapshots of the action. A soldier getting shot, another cowering behind a wall, and a third yelling into a radio. These snapshots can be disjointed and are useful in particular when setting the tone of a fight.
The Battle Map – a form of abstract writing where all the action is described from a distance. Think of a tabletop scene or a game of chess, describing the pieces in play and moves being made. These fight scenes take place on a grand scale and focus on strategy and tactics, while being completely disconnected from the “on the ground” perspective.
One of my favorite movies of all time that incorporates good fights scenes is none other than The Raid. Aside from the combat itself being intense and visceral, there’s always something at stake in every fight. The main protagonist is a rooky cop fighting for his life in a tenement occupied with killers and thugs. The fights are intense because 1) he’s struggling to survive, 2) he has a wife with a child on the way and he’s determined to return to them, 3) he’s trying to save his fellow cops who are trapped in the building with him, and 4) he’s exhausting his resources along the way, i.e. ammunition, weapons, and body armor.
His plight becomes progressively desperate as the movie goes on. The fight scenes tie into the narrative on multiple levels and, as a result, you feel for the protagonist. You’re rooting for him every step of the way. The fight scenes are long and drawn out, making each feel more exhausting than the last (in a good way).
I’d recommend this movie to anyone who likes action flicks in general. It’s a great example of how fight scenes can be powerful from both a technical and narrative perspective.
Fight scenes! The writer’s quintessential source of action! Fights are useful because we as human beings are hard-wired to respond strongly to violence, in the same way we react to things like food or sex. They’re an effective storytelling device.
Fight scenes should always be a part of the story. This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people get this wrong. A fight scene should not exist for the sake of itself. It should be a part of the deeper narrative. This is what ultimately makes a fight scene powerful.
A good fight scene should, like anything else in writing, accomplish multiple things at once. It’s not just the characters punching each other. It should be about their goals or motivations, showing who the characters are and how they react to violence. Something has to be at stake. There have to consequences. A fight is only exciting if something is riding on it.
Bad fight scenes don’t fit into the deeper narrative. They do nothing more than advance the plot. They exist purely for the spectacle (Michael Bay comes to mind). Some would say that, in a fight scene, the main character must have the potential to lose. I don’t necessarily think this is the case. Your main character can absolutely be in a fight scene where they utterly dominate. A fight scene like this, though, should not exist to generate tension or merely to move the plot forward. It should serve some other narrative purpose.
We’ve been raised in an era of cinema. I always think of movies when I think of fight scenes. But we aren’t writing screenplays! A written fight scene has to rely on different tropes than a visual fight scene.
Fight scenes don’t require technical knowledge of combat maneuvers. Sometimes you can find ways to be more abstract. For instance, in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, he describes fighting styles with abstract terms (i.e. “he switched from Smokestance and fell into Windstance”). Robert Jordan does this too. You can find ways to use general descriptions or statements to present action without knowing all the nitty gritty.
Think in three dimensions. When creating a fight scene, have a physical or mental map of the location where the fight is taking place. The environment is just as much a part of the fight as the fighters are. If you can’t picture where people are in relation to other people or things, chances are your reader won’t either.
Also, here's a tip:
Don't take lessons on fight scenes from video games!!!
If you try to translate Skyrim's combat into writing, you're shooting yourself in the foot. No, I take that back. You're shooting yourself in both feet. Video game fight scenes rely on the player's experience of gameplay to work. They don't translate well into other mediums. It's the same reason why blow-by-blow fights work great in movies, but less so in writing.
Speaking of which, there are several ways to write fight scenes:
Blow by Blow – this is like a baseball game or a boxing match getting narrated over the radio. It’s a step by step, incremental description of the action. This is tricky to use because it can easily become monotonous and boring to read. Employ with discretion.
Hard Hits / Killing Blows – instead of describing every sword swing or dodge, you focus on the actions that have the most dramatic impact, like killing blows. By being selective about what parts a fight you mention, you can create a fight scene with a faster pace.
Snapshots – ideal for chaotic mass battles, this type of description gives the reader specific snapshots of the action. A soldier getting shot, another cowering behind a wall, and a third yelling into a radio. These snapshots can be disjointed and are useful in particular when setting the tone of a fight.
The Battle Map – a form of abstract writing where all the action is described from a distance. Think of a tabletop scene or a game of chess, describing the pieces in play and moves being made. These fight scenes take place on a grand scale and focus on strategy and tactics, while being completely disconnected from the “on the ground” perspective.
One of my favorite movies of all time that incorporates good fights scenes is none other than The Raid. Aside from the combat itself being intense and visceral, there’s always something at stake in every fight. The main protagonist is a rooky cop fighting for his life in a tenement occupied with killers and thugs. The fights are intense because 1) he’s struggling to survive, 2) he has a wife with a child on the way and he’s determined to return to them, 3) he’s trying to save his fellow cops who are trapped in the building with him, and 4) he’s exhausting his resources along the way, i.e. ammunition, weapons, and body armor.
His plight becomes progressively desperate as the movie goes on. The fight scenes tie into the narrative on multiple levels and, as a result, you feel for the protagonist. You’re rooting for him every step of the way. The fight scenes are long and drawn out, making each feel more exhausting than the last (in a good way).
I’d recommend this movie to anyone who likes action flicks in general. It’s a great example of how fight scenes can be powerful from both a technical and narrative perspective.
This might come out a bit jumbled, my apologies in advance, but this is arguably one of my most favorite topics. I love fight scenes. I have a ton of them in my narrative, from playful sparring to all-out major battles with thousands of participants. So I am gonna put on some Rohan music on Youtube and have at this. Slice into this topic like a dual-wielding berserker savage.
Describe some different ways you can write a fight scene.
I approach scenes a few different ways. Usually as a participant or an observer. Participants have a more biased view and sometimes I will do either protagonist, antagonist, or switch. Observers see all the action. I also will write a fight scene incorporated into a tale, so the perspective is slightly different as an individual is recalling the events.
What makes a good fight scene?
BELIEVABILITY
Did I emphasize this enough? Blood, sweat, tears, physical motion, all have to make some sort of sense. Granted, we are dealing with pretty awesome heroes, but even awesome heroes or heroines are reasonably bound by the rules of physics and a skeletal structure.
Good fight scenes also feature competent explanation of weapon mechanics. How do swords work? Bows? Shields? Do you use a mace the same way you use a sword? A katana the same way as a scimitar, or a longsword? You don't have to be an expert in weaponry, but knowing how basic stuff works, will aid with believability. I study Youtube videos of medieval style sparring using period weapons if I can. If you're using magic, do you pre-charge spells? How do you deal with the loss of mana? How do spells look? Do they take time to cast? Do they fail?
Other senses play a factor too. Weapons make noise, participants make noise. There are smells too and sense of touch, textures. The environment plays a factor.
Are there consequences for a bad move? In my opinion the best fight scenes involve mistakes. Arrows miss, opponents parry, block blows, change tactics mid-fight. It creates tension when all does not go so well for our hero. Behavior is unpredictable, especially when you're fighting for your life.
Injury and consequence for mistakes made on the battlefield. There is more than just blood and guts, there's sweat, urine, excrement, magic residue. The list goes on.
A good fight scene has three main components in my eyes. Pre-fight, fight, post-fight.
Pre-fight:
Donning of armor, final farewells, checking of weapons, prayer, the humanity of answering the call to do battle, locating the enemy, battle tactics discussion are all components of the pre-fight. Not all of these need to be incorporated, but unless we've created a bunch of crazy violent dragonborns, there needs to be a reason to engage. Even if you are evil. Motivation.
Fight:
The actual event. What is the character going up against? Devising movements and counter-movements. To me, it is a lot like good choreography. Things really need to make sense. Do we want a play by play, or do we need to switch from a more detailed to a more general picture to save time or narrative space. Does the battle have a climax? Is the death move logical?
Post-fight:
Dealing with the bodies, the wounded. How does your character heal? Or does he/she heal? How long is recovery time if they are indeed injured? What are the repercussions of the fight? Does the encounter mean something?
Does shit need to be repaired? I don't know about you, but armor can break and needs maintenance. It falls apart, it needs cleaning. You are in it all day. Do you even take it off? Must stink like Oblivion if you don't. My guy takes his off often. Weapons too. bows need restringing, blades sharpening and stuff breaks.
What makes a bad fight scene?
When a person takes down a group of foes in one blow or they are so over-powered against their foes that the fight is ridiculous. When a character doesn't seem tired afterwards. Perhaps this is because I play with an overhaul that makes fights much more challenging where errors cost you big time and I can't heal without magic. There is no regeneration in Requiem. Granted, some tales don't emphasize fight scenes and that's okay, but if you're going to make them a part of your story, they need to make sense, and as a result, my guy, even if he's a very experienced warrior, he will need to shut down and rest.
I'm sorry, I don't care, only gods take down dragons in one blow. My guy actually ran out of arrows in his first dragon encounters and he showed his inexperience with the creatures, forcing him to even retreat. What did he do? He made more arrows and he devised different ways to deal with them.
This relates to the good fight scenes. If the scene is written the same way regardless of the weapon being used. You do not fight the same way with an axe as you do with a bow and arrow. The tactics are completely different. Likewise a heavy armor wearer does not fight like a light armor wearer, though you can be swift in heavier armor if you're experienced. Mounted combat offers an entirely new dimension, as does the use of animals (trolls, dogs, dragons) or war machines.
The cop-out that is the constant use of the word "take down". I'm guilty of this on occasion, I think, but I try not to be. Take down? How? How was this done? Better to write how the foe was defeated or don't write it at all save in passing.
Do you have a rule of thumb for fight scenes?
1. Is the fight scene necessary? Does it propel the narrative, or is it just there for violence's sake? Usually violent encounters in my narrative have significance or illustrate something. The harshness of travel, for example. Or a major event in a character's development.
2. I plan them out in advance. The battle for Crystal-Like-Law took two weeks to plan. Albee's first dragon took about a week. My narrative is pretty battle-heavy though.
3. I do research. If I don't know how a weapon works, I find out. Youtube is a great source. Lots of sparring videos out there to study.
4. I write a rough draft of how I want the fight scene to progress, adhering to my three basic points; pre-fight, fight, post-fight, but I ignore many details. Sometimes, you just need to get the words down.
5. I then play the battle sequence in my mind. If it looks stupid, sounds stupid, it, more than likely, is stupid.
6. Rinse and repeat steps 1-5 until I'm satisfied.
7. Clean up the language, making sure the voice matches the action. Uh, when you're fighting, I don't think the speech will be nearly as fancy, especially if the battle is from the perspective of a character.
Talk about your favorite fight scene from a book or other medium.
I have two favorites that are very different. The pre-fight in this scene is wonderful and surprisingly sensitive. The choreography and taunting is deliciously funny. There's a twist mid-fight. And the post-fight punchline is great.
This one is more traditional and is an army battle. Is it entirely accurate, probably not, but who cares? I still love it. And the human touches with Eowyn and Merry. The music, the atmosphere. The book version is also very moving.
I am done. My apologies on the silly long length.
This might come out a bit jumbled, my apologies in advance, but this is arguably one of my most favorite topics. I love fight scenes. I have a ton of them in my narrative, from playful sparring to all-out major battles with thousands of participants. So I am gonna put on some Rohan music on Youtube and have at this. Slice into this topic like a dual-wielding berserker savage.
Describe some different ways you can write a fight scene.
I approach scenes a few different ways. Usually as a participant or an observer. Participants have a more biased view and sometimes I will do either protagonist, antagonist, or switch. Observers see all the action. I also will write a fight scene incorporated into a tale, so the perspective is slightly different as an individual is recalling the events.
What makes a good fight scene?
BELIEVABILITY
Did I emphasize this enough? Blood, sweat, tears, physical motion, all have to make some sort of sense. Granted, we are dealing with pretty awesome heroes, but even awesome heroes or heroines are reasonably bound by the rules of physics and a skeletal structure.
Good fight scenes also feature competent explanation of weapon mechanics. How do swords work? Bows? Shields? Do you use a mace the same way you use a sword? A katana the same way as a scimitar, or a longsword? You don't have to be an expert in weaponry, but knowing how basic stuff works, will aid with believability. I study Youtube videos of medieval style sparring using period weapons if I can. If you're using magic, do you pre-charge spells? How do you deal with the loss of mana? How do spells look? Do they take time to cast? Do they fail?
Other senses play a factor too. Weapons make noise, participants make noise. There are smells too and sense of touch, textures. The environment plays a factor.
Are there consequences for a bad move? In my opinion the best fight scenes involve mistakes. Arrows miss, opponents parry, block blows, change tactics mid-fight. It creates tension when all does not go so well for our hero. Behavior is unpredictable, especially when you're fighting for your life.
Injury and consequence for mistakes made on the battlefield. There is more than just blood and guts, there's sweat, urine, excrement, magic residue. The list goes on.
A good fight scene has three main components in my eyes. Pre-fight, fight, post-fight.
Pre-fight:
Donning of armor, final farewells, checking of weapons, prayer, the humanity of answering the call to do battle, locating the enemy, battle tactics discussion are all components of the pre-fight. Not all of these need to be incorporated, but unless we've created a bunch of crazy violent dragonborns, there needs to be a reason to engage. Even if you are evil. Motivation.
Fight:
The actual event. What is the character going up against? Devising movements and counter-movements. To me, it is a lot like good choreography. Things really need to make sense. Do we want a play by play, or do we need to switch from a more detailed to a more general picture to save time or narrative space. Does the battle have a climax? Is the death move logical?
Post-fight:
Dealing with the bodies, the wounded. How does your character heal? Or does he/she heal? How long is recovery time if they are indeed injured? What are the repercussions of the fight? Does the encounter mean something?
Does shit need to be repaired? I don't know about you, but armor can break and needs maintenance. It falls apart, it needs cleaning. You are in it all day. Do you even take it off? Must stink like Oblivion if you don't. My guy takes his off often. Weapons too. bows need restringing, blades sharpening and stuff breaks.
What makes a bad fight scene?
When a person takes down a group of foes in one blow or they are so over-powered against their foes that the fight is ridiculous. When a character doesn't seem tired afterwards. Perhaps this is because I play with an overhaul that makes fights much more challenging where errors cost you big time and I can't heal without magic. There is no regeneration in Requiem. Granted, some tales don't emphasize fight scenes and that's okay, but if you're going to make them a part of your story, they need to make sense, and as a result, my guy, even if he's a very experienced warrior, he will need to shut down and rest.
I'm sorry, I don't care, only gods take down dragons in one blow. My guy actually ran out of arrows in his first dragon encounters and he showed his inexperience with the creatures, forcing him to even retreat. What did he do? He made more arrows and he devised different ways to deal with them.
This relates to the good fight scenes. If the scene is written the same way regardless of the weapon being used. You do not fight the same way with an axe as you do with a bow and arrow. The tactics are completely different. Likewise a heavy armor wearer does not fight like a light armor wearer, though you can be swift in heavier armor if you're experienced. Mounted combat offers an entirely new dimension, as does the use of animals (trolls, dogs, dragons) or war machines.
The cop-out that is the constant use of the word "take down". I'm guilty of this on occasion, I think, but I try not to be. Take down? How? How was this done? Better to write how the foe was defeated or don't write it at all save in passing.
Do you have a rule of thumb for fight scenes?
1. Is the fight scene necessary? Does it propel the narrative, or is it just there for violence's sake? Usually violent encounters in my narrative have significance or illustrate something. The harshness of travel, for example. Or a major event in a character's development.
2. I plan them out in advance. The battle for Crystal-Like-Law took two weeks to plan. Albee's first dragon took about a week. My narrative is pretty battle-heavy though.
3. I do research. If I don't know how a weapon works, I find out. Youtube is a great source. Lots of sparring videos out there to study.
4. I write a rough draft of how I want the fight scene to progress, adhering to my three basic points; pre-fight, fight, post-fight, but I ignore many details. Sometimes, you just need to get the words down.
5. I then play the battle sequence in my mind. If it looks stupid, sounds stupid, it, more than likely, is stupid.
6. Rinse and repeat steps 1-5 until I'm satisfied.
7. Clean up the language, making sure the voice matches the action. Uh, when you're fighting, I don't think the speech will be nearly as fancy, especially if the battle is from the perspective of a character.
Talk about your favorite fight scene from a book or other medium.
I have two favorites that are very different. The pre-fight in this scene is wonderful and surprisingly sensitive. The choreography and taunting is deliciously funny. There's a twist mid-fight. And the post-fight punchline is great.
This one is more traditional and is an army battle. Is it entirely accurate, probably not, but who cares? I still love it. And the human touches with Eowyn and Merry. The music, the atmosphere. The book version is also very moving.
Of course, you write this very informative response that's great and what do I fixate on?
Fights are useful because we as human beings are hard-wired to respond strongly to violence, in the same way we react to things like food or sex. They’re an effective storytelling device.
"oooooo, we should do sex scenes next!"
Gutter mind, I got a gutter mind and I ain't ashamed, I tell ya, I ain't ashamed.
Actually, might be useful. How much is too much? That sort of thing.
Of course, you write this very informative response that's great and what do I fixate on?
Fights are useful because we as human beings are hard-wired to respond strongly to violence, in the same way we react to things like food or sex. They’re an effective storytelling device.
"oooooo, we should do sex scenes next!"
Gutter mind, I got a gutter mind and I ain't ashamed, I tell ya, I ain't ashamed.
Actually, might be useful. How much is too much? That sort of thing.
I hope you took my above comment in stride, Okan, and realize that my coarse humor was in jest. If the topic was presented, I would certainly not approach it that way.
What I mean is that a topic discussing sex and/or romance, as you put it, would be a good opportunity to finally set some boundaries of appropriateness. Give bloggers some useful guidelines.
If people can't handle adult conversation on the subject matter as it pertains to how to approach it in writing, a bit ridiculous, don't you think?
Of course, up to you.
I hope you took my above comment in stride, Okan, and realize that my coarse humor was in jest. If the topic was presented, I would certainly not approach it that way.
What I mean is that a topic discussing sex and/or romance, as you put it, would be a good opportunity to finally set some boundaries of appropriateness. Give bloggers some useful guidelines.
If people can't handle adult conversation on the subject matter as it pertains to how to approach it in writing, a bit ridiculous, don't you think?
Oh god, I am TERRIBLE at fight scenes. I have been trying to avoid them as much as possible as I write my blog. I'm gonna need to read these responses.
Oh god, I am TERRIBLE at fight scenes. I have been trying to avoid them as much as possible as I write my blog. I'm gonna need to read these responses.
I would agree that believably is important. It sounds to me like you favor blow-by-blow descriptions.
"Take down? How? How was this done? Better to write how the foe was defeated or don't write it at all save in passing."
Sometimes just saying "he took them down" is enough, at least from a narrative perspective. Yes you're sacrificing specificities, but too much detail can bog down the reader. Sometimes it's a matter of knowing what to include and what to leave out.
I'm the kind of guy who loves learning about the technical aspects of things, don't get me wrong. But when I sit down to read a story, I'm not sitting down to read a fighter's manual.
I would agree that believably is important. It sounds to me like you favor blow-by-blow descriptions.
"Take down? How? How was this done? Better to write how the foe was defeated or don't write it at all save in passing."
Sometimes just saying "he took them down" is enough, at least from a narrative perspective. Yes you're sacrificing specificities, but too much detail can bog down the reader. Sometimes it's a matter of knowing what to include and what to leave out.
I'm the kind of guy who loves learning about the technical aspects of things, don't get me wrong. But when I sit down to read a story, I'm not sitting down to read a fighter's manual.
If you want a good example of a fight scene without nitty gritty, look no further than 'The Princess Bride' by William Goldman, chapter five, The Announcement:
They touched swords, and the man in black immediately began the Agrippa defense, which Inigo felt was sound, considering the rocky terrain, for the Agrippa kept the feet stationary at first, and made the chances of slipping minimal. Naturally, he countered with Capo Ferro which surprised the man in black, but he defended well, quickly shifting out of Agrippa and taking the attack himself, using the principles of Thibault.
The WHOLE scene goes like that and you have no idea what they're doing but you can just picture it anyway because the pacing is so fast and the writer sounds like he really knows what he's talking about (even though he actually made all of it up).
If you want a good example of a fight scene without nitty gritty, look no further than 'The Princess Bride' by William Goldman, chapter five, The Announcement:
They touched swords, and the man in black immediately began the Agrippa defense, which Inigo felt was sound, considering the rocky terrain, for the Agrippa kept the feet stationary at first, and made the chances of slipping minimal. Naturally, he countered with Capo Ferro which surprised the man in black, but he defended well, quickly shifting out of Agrippa and taking the attack himself, using the principles of Thibault.
The WHOLE scene goes like that and you have no idea what they're doing but you can just picture it anyway because the pacing is so fast and the writer sounds like he really knows what he's talking about (even though he actually made all of it up).
