One of the genres I'm most interested in writing is an Action/Sci-Fi story that involves fight scenes. I've read quite a few books and fan fiction where authors attempt to make these scenes. Some were successful, but some were not. It made me think, what can an author do to make a fight scene interesting for the reader?

I came across this video by Super Eyepatch Wolf on YouTube. The video is on anime, but it made some good points. One thing that stood out is that the video made a clear distinction between a fight scene and action scenes. Action scenes involve the protagonist/antagonist going up against a large group of characters, whom have no significance or involvement with the plot.

Actual fight scenes are different. They take place between two characters, usually between the protagonist and the antagonist. This scene is pre established by the plot. Both characters have a motive for being there and have a clear consequence for the victor and the loser. It involves character dialogue, usually in the form of arguments, and there's some sort of narrative during the fight to boost the scene overall. Both of them have their uses in stories and they are fun to write.

My Little Pony has some of these scenes as well. An example of an action scene is the Main Six against the horde of changelings during the second part of the Canterlot Wedding. An example of a fight scene would probably be Twilight vs Tirek in Twilight's Kingdom. I'm sure there are other examples in the show, but I can't remember at the top of my head.

Now back to the question. What can an author do to make a fight scene interesting for the reader? It would have to be between two characters with plot significance. Both of them would need a reason for fighting in the first place. The author must provide a consequence for the winner and loser of the fight and it would beneficial to add technical or emotional narratives.

That's pretty much it. Can anyone provide examples of fan fictions here on this site that do a good job with these scenes? What other advice can you give to new writers who wish to write these scenes?

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Keep the action cohesive.

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A good example of fight scenes that work well is the fic called Dark Matter. It's the end of the Foal of the Forest series of stories. Moguera managed to strike a visceral balance that few ever reach.

In fact, he got everything right; the scenes never seem forced or rushed, something that always seems to happen.

Take mine for instance; I tend to go over-the-top with fight scenes, to the point where my characters are excessively OP. Or, they seemed tacked on.

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Action scenes involve the protagonist/antagonist going up against a large group of characters, whom have no significance or involvement with the plot.

I don't understand.
Are these scenes fluff or they serve another purpose for the story?

If the protagonist actually talks to the antagonist and gets him to agree and stop
messing with the protagonist, is it still a fight scene?

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How to write a good fight scene depends on what type of story you're writing and what you want the feel of the story to be.

Drama, and anime especially, has certain conventions of how a "fight scene" should work. If you want your story to feel like anime and your target audience is people who want anime storylines, just play by the anime formula of protracted dramatic fights, maybe with some clever twist or tactic that ends up being decisive for one side or the other, and probably you'll be alright.

But, to be honest, these heavily stylized types of fights haven't done it for me for a long time because they're heavily contrived and unrelatable, and therefore aren't very effective in engaging thoughtful readers. People who know anything about a fight know that they don't happen like that, and therefore the long, drawn-out, argument-fight with protagonist and antagonist going back and forth about their personal philosophies and why "I'm going to beat you because I'm right!" rings false and can actually end up being painfully cringy to read.

Often, the best answer to the question of, "how do I write a good fight scene?" is not to put the emphasis on the fight scene because the fight itself is not what really matters.

Real fights involve no dialogue and they're over in seconds. There's not that much to tell or show: whoever hits first wins quickly and it's sort of a blur. It may not sound exciting, but if your story is meant to be realistic and deal with serious themes that real people relate to, well, that's how most fights happen. In a story that treats fights realistically, the interest and the drama is usually in the plotline leading up to the fight. These stories explore how and why characters make the choices leading them there and the fallout of what happens afterward, which are usually a lot more interesting than the moment itself.

So I guess my advice would be that what makes for good fight scenes is a matter of context. Know what you're aiming for. Write the fight that's appropriate for your goals and don't try to substitute action for genuinely engaging in-depth character exploration. The fight is usually interesting because of what surrounds it, not interesting in itself.

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Now I'm by no means an authority on this matter, but my advice is to write a good action/fight scene, don't try to write a fight scene. Rather keep your focus on the narrative and character development. Those are the two factors that drive your story forwards and they're what will determine the structure and proceedings of you scenes.

Sometimes you may not need a fight scene in the first place, and sometimes you'll follow the narrative and later find a place where you do need a fight scene, or one will pass and only realise afterwards that what you wrote was actually a fight scene.

Second to that, advice like 'keep it short', 'use active voice', or 'focus on character actions' becomes a matter of style and tone, and should be decided on based what fits into rest of the story.

I don't particularly have much experience, though from what I've gathered, what matters is knowing some stuff about fights and having a choreography.

First of all, I don't really buy into anime fights, not anymore at least, so my advice is about making fights that will appear realistic (as much as possible). It means researching about weapons and fighting styles. It means mapping those to each character involved and for each, figure his actions and thoughts.

You're making a choreography, one of thought, emotion and movement.

For the duels, or fights with very few characters, all of which are important, I'd say write a detailed account of the actions, thoughts and emotions happening. Well, don't write the emotions, let those bleed through the words. Let them be implied from the actions of each.

While you have an ending in mind, I recommend forgetting it on the first draft. Forget your desired end and just focus on how those characters attack, defend, counter and dodge. Let them decide how the fight progresses and how the fight ends. Your goal is to accurately represent the fighters.
Second, seasoned veterans can have an eye for detail. they can notice things in the heat of battle a rookie wouldn't, or make a plan in less than a second, something you're likely not capable of. Luckily, you're not in the heat of battle. You're free to take time to think about the scene, about each character and their actions. You can actually spend hours, even days if you need, figuring out a plan one character came up in less than a second. Take advantage of that.

Once you've got it down, it's time to change the ending. For that, I prefer the subtle approach. any rocks or roots to trip on? any obstacles to a move you can insert there to mess one action? any background character that could join or influence the outcome? You've got an entire battleground whose details you control, more than enough to nudge things. Even your characters can have one kick or punch altered due to one misread movement of the other.

Lastly, if you follow the realistic approach, fights last seconds or tens of seconds usually. A minute is already very long. Besides, with all the details you've got in, making it any longer would tire out the reader.

As for action scenes, I'd suggest a more tactical approach. You're not likely to be interested in what everyone thinks, feels or does, so focus on a few characters (preferably their thoughts and emotions rather than actions) and describe the flow of the battle. You may zoom in on a few attacks, but best keep those rare.