Writing Action Part 1: Fight Scenes · 2:54am Aug 31st, 2019
Writing Action Part 1: Fight Scenes
This will be the first lesson in my return to helping writers improve their skills. I generally focus on action and adventure but am no stranger to slice of life tales as well. I used to do this sort of thing in forums since I didn’t have many followers back then, but with so many posts happening each day, I don’t think those gained a huge viewership.
So, class will held here from now on.
As with everything, it’s important to start small. With action and adventure, it can be easy for a writer to want to jump straight into the fray, trying to put memories of WoW raids or DnD boss battles onto the page. But fight scenes aren’t the only kind of action that can happen in an adventure.
So, if you want to include a fight scene in your story, there has to be a reason it cannot be replaced by another form of action, like a chase. Unlike visual media, fights do not happen for the sake of spectacle. While a good movie fight needs clean choreography and camerawork, the author has to ask him/herself different questions: Who is in my fight? Why would my reader care about the fight? How do I build up suspense to make the fight worth the pages?
That last one is the pinnacle of the three, as the first two questions serve as talking points to answer the third. Fight scenes are all about getting your audience excited, meaning the fight is either about releasing suspense or building it up. This is where planning ahead is critical. I will refer to two works as examples of how to accomplish this: one of my own stories, and Homer’s “The Iliad.”
If you have not read the Iliad, don’t worry. You’ve probably heard of Achilles. You probably haven’t heard of Patroclus, who serves as an aid and close friend to Achilles from the very start of the Iliad (he’s also absent for the first half after his first appearance, only to become very relevant in the second half).
So, when Patroclus dies in combat, after being sent by Achilles himself, the Greek hero seeks to avenge his fallen friend by killing the soldier who killed him, a Trojan named Hector. He does this (after ripping a tree out of the ground to block a river god) in what is an incredibly heated battle.
By the end, Hector begs for his body to be returned to his home so that he is not eaten by dogs, and Achilles bluntly tells him not to speak about home or family, because he does intend to leave his body to be torn apart. Metal.
When summarized, it doesn’t make for as good of a story, but the point still stands that in order for the hunt for, and death of, Hector to have meaning, the death of Patroclus must also have meaning. The stakes must be set up long beforehand.
This means, in a very G.R.R. Martin-esque style, you must plan to write a character who is very present with the hero, useful and friendly to the hero, and certainly likeable enough to the audience that they would feel like the about-to-be-martyred character is a worthwhile companion. That way, when the blood rage of your final battle hits, the reader is as invested in revenge as the main character is.
Wow. I thought I could write this a lot more concisely. I mentioned I would use my own writing as an example, but seeing as this is already so long, I’ll continue in part 2 with "Fighting to the Top." The lesson will involve incrementally building up a fight scene, blending writing techniques into the importance of character motivation we have discussed today.
And, if this all seems obvious or superficial, or if you need more explanation of how to pull this set-up off, I would suggest looking into other stories or adventure novels to read. Use what I have pointed out act as a guideline, see where characters are introduced in the plot. What are their relationships and motives?
Though we have only discussed how character bonds can cause tension, the same can be said for a character’s goals and how close they come to reaching them. Combine these ideas when you read to find if an author uses a fight scene appropriately. If not, ask yourself how you would have improved on its set-up.
Interesting and truthful lesson... though one that doesn't necessarily relate to just action. I believe that every scene as well as character placement on the figurative chessboard should have a planned purpose in pushing the plot forward in the desired direction, even if it's not readily apparent
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Of course, this is just an introductory lecture that will lead to writing action and fighting scenes. I decided to make it a post by itself to establish what kind of effect you should be striving for when you include a fight in your story. More writing techniques will be applied in the later lessons.