1. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    How Do You Plan Your Action Scene?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Stormburn, Mar 30, 2017.

    I'm currently writing a fantasy series. Completed the draft of the story and I'm currently nearly complete with the 1st draft of book 2.
    Something I discovered during the 1st draft of Book 1 I really did not have a satisfactory way of writing an action scene. I really had not expected to have this issue. So, after investing in several different methods, by the time I got to the climatic battle of Book 1, I had fallen back to my advertising back ground and began to Story Board my action scenes.
    This had produced better results, and the action scenes in Book 2 have been a lot better. But, I'm thinking with the vast array of talent on these boards, it would benefit me to at least compare notes. So, I'm posting the steps I go through to produce an action scene.
    Please, provide suggestions and even share your method when approaching an action scene.

    The scene below comes from the climatic battle in Book 1:

    I draw out (in this case a battle) my map and then plot the sequences of actions ActionSceneOverview.jpg

    I then Story Board the action:
    ActionSceneStoryBoard.jpg
    I then write the scene:
    Assylyn lands on the wagon and it rocks under her. She makes eyes contact with the men waiting behind the wagons and hops as an arrow sticks where she was standing. She looks up, hoping onto the small thick front wheel as another arrow flies by. The grey hair archer fires again, Assylyn’s jumps off the wagon and lands on the steep bank.

    Shouts of ‘hurrahs’ rise behind her as the trapped men swarm out from between the wagons.


    Well, this is my process so far. I'm looking forward to see the other approaches take to do an action scene.
    Godspeed!
     
  2. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    Shorter paragraphs convey action pretty well. One to five words per line is my general rule. I desribe the setting before the action and not much after that, unless a prop or part of the scenery is used in the scene I dont mention it.

    I tend to streamline it so it packs a bigger punch. Plus I use more full stops than commas. I guess I'd call it a sharper flow? I'm sure there's a better word for it.

    Word.

    Two words.

    Two more.

    Maybe do four here.

    I'd probly put my longest here, ooo a comma.

    Fight kick punch.

    You get the idea.

    I didnt want to write an action scene for this lol.

    I wouldnt mention character drescriptions much, again I do this before the scene.

    I also think about my MCs fear level in any given scene and that of those around them. This makes them 'pop' in my oppinion and it gives the scene some emotional depth that a lot of scenes I read are lacking.

    Mention adreniline.

    Breathing fast.

    Heart pounding.

    Legs shaking. Etc. Etc.
     
  3. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I'm writing a fantasy-ish thing right now where I can't justify that the characters would know what adrenaline is, and it's killing my flow in tense scenes, because that's a go-to for me as well, hahah.

    I don't tend to sketch stuff out much. Saying "I wing it" probably isn't much help in a thread about planning, but there it is. It might come fairly easily to me because I have a bit of a martial arts background? In the most recent one that comes to mind I just decided that there would be one combatant who was bigger than the rest, and the mc immediately went "That one. That's the one I'm gonna fight" because that's the kind of person he is. How does he get the big one's attention? Charge in ahead, obviously. Then I considered the baddie's weapon and armor set vs my mc's (a big shield and an axe vs a bastard sword) and how those two would clash. My mc doesn't mind taking hits to the pauldrons, and he's a bit of an opportunist and reckless, which opens him up to take those hits. His opponent is easily aggravated, a bit of a berserker who doesn't think their actions through and tends to rage out, but can also take a lot of punishment to back that up.

    So I do wing it, but I wing it with a working knowledge of how each player in the scene is going to behave. Halfway through writing that particular scene, I realized it was going to be really boring and go nowhere, so I had other characters distract the big one after another enemy took a pot shot at the mc, and let him take care of the new one, which had an entirely different style and made for a more interesting fight. But I let him dispatch them relatively easily (with help from a friend) and circled back to the big one once I'd decided on how I wanted to kill them. In this instance there was sort of a set piece I'd established earlier that I wanted to take advantage of.

    None of it was planned, I just had the loose idea of "Obviously Merric wants to take on the big one (characterization!), and I want to utilize this set piece from earlier somehow (continuity!)" and worked it out as I went, figuring out what would be the most interesting thing to read. The berserker's shield is made of wood, for instance, so I got someone to set it on fire both to switch things up in removing it from play and antagonizing them to make them lash out in anger, opening a spot for the mc to get a hit in. I also had the mc stab them in the back, and they turned abruptly which tore the sword out of his hands - now he's completely disarmed and they're very much focused on him, so I have to figure out a way to get him out of this predicament.

    My loose rule is to never let things stay the same for more than a beat. It gets boring, and you want these things to stay fast-paced.
     
  4. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    This exactly.

    If you let it stay stagnant for more than that, it feels less like a battle and more like Sunday afternoon lunch for the ladies.

    Slow, leisurely, not intense.

    God, how do you do without it? Did you do that to yourself on purpose?
     
  5. rktho

    rktho Contributor Contributor

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    Blow by blow, then make it flow.

    Just came up with that rhyme now, actually. My method is to write it exactly the way you picture it in your head, then edit it so it's smoother and less mechanical.
     
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  6. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I haven't written fantasy in years and apparently underestimated how much I use anachronisms x_x Mistakes were made.
     
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  7. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    Me too.

    Maybe I should intentionally do this to myself.

    For learning.
     
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  8. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    I love your story board, by the way. My notebooks are more filled with scribble than anything else.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  9. texshelters

    texshelters Active Member

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    When I "plan" it's crap. So I have to write whatever comes to mind. If that doesn't work, I wake up at three in the morning and have a breakthrough, or take a long hike, or when ever. Peace, Tex
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  10. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I am a pantser all the way. Keeps things off the cuff and fresh (well as fresh as one can make them). :p

    Think about things in less specific terms when it comes to the other faceless person your fighting.
    In the moment you might mention a gender if they are perceptible at the moment, but not really
    the main focus. This is where it gets complicated, because in your case you would do well to know
    some of the basic swordsmanship terms to make it feel more genre appropriate.

    Then it comes down to things as simple as a punch. Obviously it would not be a good idea to say:
    then so and so punched them in the face. It doesn't carry quite the impact as, having a hard jab
    across their chin, knocking their head at an odd angle backward. Without the weight behind it
    it won't matter how tough or badass the one delivering the punch is.

    And in a battle of life and death, simply having short mundane things like: an arrow sailed just passed
    my head, and killed the guy behind. Oh the tension and suspense, I can't wait until guy number 103 just
    falls over his own bloody feet. Point being you don't have visual aid to show the intensity, so you kinda
    need to build it as you go. Moment by moment, will they win or will they be sliced in twain left disemboweled
    on the battle field.

    It is not that hard. Blades cleaving flesh like butter, and arrows howl like a ferocious wind of death.
    The ground like mud, as it soaks up the blood of the dead and the dying slowing our charge.

    You have to figure out how to blend the action, emotion, and impact into it. The other side is trying
    it's best to kill you, relay the desire to at least live long enough to beat someone to death with the leg
    of a horse before you give up. :p

    Action with out something else is boring. What are the stakes, why are we suddenly in a battle, who
    are we fighting, why should we want to defeat them? While some are satisfied with a simple protag.
    hit them in the face and they said ow, I like passion, meat if you will. Don't just tell me about a badass,
    show me that they are worthy of such a title. Paint me a grisly gore filled fest of pain and misery, with words,
    get gritty because if the character is experiencing hell, I want to be there with them feeling the pain and anger.
    We kinda know that they are going to make it through, but we have to have some sense that they are in peril.
     
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  11. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I am a pantser all the way. Keeps things off the cuff and fresh (well as fresh as one can make them). :p

    Think about things in less specific terms when it comes to the other faceless person your fighting.
    In the moment you might mention a gender if they are perceptible at the moment, but not really
    the main focus. This is where it gets complicated, because in your case you would do well to know
    some of the basic swordsmanship terms to make it feel more genre appropriate.

    Then it comes down to things as simple as a punch. Obviously it would not be a good idea to say:
    then so and so punched them in the face. It doesn't carry quite the impact as, having a hard jab
    across their chin, knocking their head at an odd angle backward. Without the weight behind it
    it won't matter how tough or badass the one delivering the punch is.

    And in a battle of life and death, simply having short mundane things like: an arrow sailed just passed
    my head, and killed the guy behind. Oh the tension and suspense, I can't wait until guy number 103 just
    falls over his own bloody feet. Point being you don't have visual aid to show the intensity, so you kinda
    need to build it as you go. Moment by moment, will they win or will they be sliced in twain left disemboweled
    on the battle field.

    It is not that hard. Blades cleaving flesh like butter, and arrows howl like a ferocious wind of death.
    The ground like mud, as it soaks up the blood of the dead and the dying slowing our charge.

    You have to figure out how to blend the action, emotion, and impact into it. The other side is trying
    it's best to kill you, relay the desire to at least live long enough to beat someone to death with the leg
    of a horse before you give up. :p

    Action with out something else is boring. What are the stakes, why are we suddenly in a battle, who
    are we fighting, why should we want to defeat them? While some are satisfied with a simple protag.
    hit them in the face and they said ow, I like passion, meat if you will. Don't just tell me about a badass,
    show me that they are worthy of such a title. Paint me a grisly gore filled fest of pain and misery, with words,
    get gritty because if the character is experiencing hell, I want to be there with them feeling the pain and anger.
    We kinda know that they are going to make it through, but we have to have some sense that they are in peril.
     
  12. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    There an old military saying: 'no plan survives contact with the enemy'

    I write 'what I see', so far, story boarding has been the best way for me to see action in my head. The location of that part of the story takes place in a place similar to northern Spain, so, I have pictures of places that look like where the action is taking place. I also have a rough idea of the time of day and weather. Then, in this case a battle, who is involved and where they are when the action begins. Then, the story board itself gives me and idea of POV and provide a ground level perspective of the action.

    I realize that is a lot that is happening between the lines of my 'whack, whack, whack' but, now that I can see the full picture I can bring out the little details to guide the reader on what is happening to who and when.
    Also, once I get to writing, characters can change things, I have new ideas, or I further develop the ideas cooking in my brain from the planning.
    Here an example:
    The battle above is about the adventurers coming to the aid of a caravan trapped in a narrow mountain pass. The wagons are pulled up in a double line for defense. The bandits are not in a hurry to assault the wagons, but, they do have archers on the slopes to either side.
    A previous group of bandits had been routed and are now fleeing to join the main body. The MC has mixed in with those retreating bandits with the other three adventurers pursuing.
    The MC ends up going left and up the slope after those archers while the others go right and clear the other slop with a combination of magic and archery.
    Now, the caravaners charge out and there is a swirling melee going on around the wagons.
    One of the adventurers is that druid who uses a battle cry as she charges into the fight.
    I realized at this point my MC is up on the slope looking down on the fighting. She hears the druids battle cry. Now, she is a singer and suddenly I have an idea. What if she mimics the druid's battle cry but, it turns into more like a banshee's wail? Did a little research and came up with a cry.
    Now, she will become known as the Wyvern Witch because of her braided hair ( as her best friend said, men who fight are heroes, women who fight are witches) and so is born her Witches Wail.
    It became a satisfying scene. People are fighting, she begins to wail and her cry echoes off the canyon's wall. Not planned at all, but, I do believe having the pieces in place were the fuel for the inspiration.
    Godspeed!
     
  13. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    That's awesome. Very outside the usual battle box, I love it.
     
  14. Dr.Meow

    Dr.Meow Contributor Contributor

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    Battle scenes kinda come easier for me than all the other stuff. For some reason I can "see" what's happening as I write. I stick to the usual paragraph structure, I don't break anything up or change styles during a fight. I draw on the actual skills that my MC's have. I currently have an action scene for my novel that I'm going to use later in the book, I just had to write it out since my mind was overflowing with ideas. That's the other thing, unless my brain has something in mind that I "have" to write down, I typically write nothing at all.

    I focus not just on the action itself, but also of details in between higher energy actions. If I want to make it clearer that two combatants are sizing each other up, for example, then I'll describe what's happening around them, or something to that effect. Planning out what happens exactly takes away the organics of it and makes things more clinical for me. You have to remember, in a small scale fight, or in a large scale battle, the actions themselves are going to revert to the basics of nature and instinct. Unless my character is almost superhuman (which technically one of mine happens to be, at least in his skill), then there's going to be a give and take. Your protagonist and antagonist(s) are going to be engaged in a back and forth exchange. You can try and plan this out however you want, but it will never seem as natural IMO.

    I try and plan out everything else, from plot to dialogue and everything...except for a battle. It has to be natural, it has to be organic, and if everything is already decided on then you're less likely to improvise. In a real fight, which I have been in a couple IRL, it's all improv. You have to think quick, and be a lot scarier than your opponent. You let your adrenaline go, it takes over, and if you are crazier than everyone else then it's your advantage. (BTW I don't condone fighting, the main one I was in was halloween, three drunk guys and my "friend" picks a fight and gets his ass kicked, and I had to save him at that point...)
     
  15. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    My planning is just setting up the stage, props and actors. Once I start writing I let the actors take over. I do not plan blow for blow and while I might have a specific dialogue or action in mind, I go with the characters actually do. So far, when I've planned something to that level of specific dialogue and moves I have never used it.
    My background in combatants is limited. I was an athlete in school, playing football and track. I love long distance running. The only real hand to hand fighting I've done has been your basic school yard fight and the occasional bar room brawl. As far as combat, as a soldier, my combat experience was limited to people trying to shoot me and blow me up. I've never used my combatant training in combat. I enjoy climbing, and currently climb wind turbines for a living.

    I really appreciate all the feed back and thank you very much.
    Godspeed!
     
  16. Phil Mitchell

    Phil Mitchell Banned Contributor

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    I plan it in my mind when I'm not writing. Fights scenes are not just people hitting each other it's telling story with physicality. That's why when I hear other comic writers saying they leave that to an artist... that's outsourcing half the writing to someone who isn't a writer, which strikes me as foolishness.
     
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  17. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    I can understand not planning the blow for blow. But,if you have a fight between an assaulting element and multiple defending elements that travels along an extended axis of advance for a duration of, lets say 20 minutes, how do you know who is where and when?
     
  18. Phil Mitchell

    Phil Mitchell Banned Contributor

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    I wouldn't even attempt to describe that in detail. My only job there would be to give readers the awe inspiring scale. The more detailed fights would be through the limited and manageable perspectives of the main characters. At any given time you only need to keep track of where they are and then only for the purpose of storytelling. Often you don't even need to do that. You just need to remind readers the character is present just for the purpose that it isn't completely jarring when you give them page time later. Nobody really cares about the path the character took to get from point A to B as long as it's vaguely plausible. It's not supposed to be education or a documentary so you just go where the drama and excitement is.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2017
  19. Lifeline

    Lifeline South. Supporter Contributor

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    Maybe try acting it out with Lego soldiers for the tactical situation? It'd make sense to me. I don't have any kind of experience, not writing and not otherwise, so I'll try out your method in addition. Thank you for sharing! :)
     
  20. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    I really appreciate the feed back. I'm going to take some of the action scenes I've already written, and write test drafts using the responses I've gotten. Obviously, I may have spent too much time in my own head and should of asked this question sooner.
    Godspeed!
     
  21. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    For fight scenes i sometimes act out the action in slow mo with some mates who i know from the martial arts scene, this kind of choreography is good for making sure action sequences work, and picking up any loose ends of the while MC is engaging bad guy #1 what is bad guy #2 doing type

    For battle or mob scenes that are too big and complicated to act out in real life , lifelines suggestion of lego is a good one - also toy soldiers, dolls , and model cars for car chases etc ... you can expect some funny looks in the toy shop but you can always claim you are buying them for your kids if you're shy
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2017
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