Yeah guns and super saiyan powers but the powers will mostly be used in one on one battles between the main characters and enemies. Ive tried to watch films with battle scenes to see what they focus on and what excites me. Maybe even come up with ideas that are not really used during fight/battles scenes, just to be different. Yeah will defo be using the 5 senses during the battle and cutting away to a hospital scene to focus a little on the injuries and how much death there is!! Thanks for everyones help, keep it coming lol xx
With the kinds of thrillers I read, there aren't too many fight scenes going on that really make my day. However, I have read Fuzzy Navel by J.A. Konrath, in which a cop is the MC. She has a pretty epic battle scene with an escaped killer who's had training in the marines, while there is also a sniper outside of the house toying with them. This is pure person-to-person fighting, with a few other people in the background, so not the army or big battle scene you're speaking of. But I think in no matter what kind of battle, there are similarities. The major things in writing a fight scene are to know what you're writing about, and to never forget to focus on what's actually around the main focal point of the fight. Yes the MC and the nemesis (one person or a large army) is a big deal, but what about the people around them? Or their surroundings? Mishaps happen. Death happens. Make a list of things that could go wrong and things that could go right. In a bigger battle with more enemies, there are going to be a lot of things to consider. Someone mentioned something about injuries. Everyone, I think, makes the mistakes of overlooking injuries. If the MC is injured, you may not look at it as such a bad thing, and it's mainly because you want them to be OK enough to continue fighting right or to escape the battle somehow. If not everyone then most people. Guilt, perhaps, for hurting the poor person. But it won't be believable if there aren't injuries...or even deaths in big groups, friends or not. Also don't forget, someone may not be able to get out of a tough situation alone, which is why it's handy to have friends somewhere around, or simply back-up. Noises are another thing. Don't let the world be quiet. You're in a big battle there's going to be crashes, gunfire, shouts, screams, and--most of all--people like to taunt one another. They don't have to be huge paragraphs of words, even the smaller sentences count, because the characters don't want to babble and forget about the world around them. The more you talk, the more your attention tends to be focused on the person you're talking to, rather things around you. (Someone sneaking up behind the character perhaps, or a sound they should've heard, but were too busy talking.) I think to end this...I'm just going to say one last thing, and end it with another example. Add tension. Make people think something's going to happen, even though it might not. Humors always good for bad situations, no? I hope my ramblings helped out a little for your scene. Everyone else has great advice too, and this one was purely based off a book I enjoy, but I still think perhaps there are some pointers here that work on bigger battles as well.
It depends on the POV you're using. First person, you only get what is happening from the limited perspective of the protagonist. What he/she sees, hears, smells, feels, believes, etc. Third person limited, it is similar, but you can get different vantage points based on the characters who are the POV ones. It is harder to get an overall understanding unless one of the characters has the overall view/knowledge. Omnicient (sp) can give the reader this, however. Instead of watching movies with battle scenes you're intereted in writing, read authors who have similar content with respect to what you hope to write. Study how they did it, and modify it to your writing style. The trick is to give enough information for the reader to visualize and understand, but not too much. Trust the reader to fill in some of the blanks, fill in the images and action with their own mind's eye. A delicate balance, to be sure, but if done right it's the most effective way.
I couldn't agree more. You want to be detailed enough that the reader understands exactly what's going on, but you don't have to spend a paragraph describing a few punches. Sometimes what a person is wearing, or what they smell like, might be important, and other times not. The reader should have a good idea of the rough build and size of combatants in most cases, unless of course you're taking them out at a distance via sniper rifle. If the combatants are integral to the story, the reader will probably already have a good description of their appearance and their temperament and style. Other than that, basics of body positions and movements should be clear. Then let the reader's imagination flow.
In the story I'm writing the main character fights a vicious cat with a pipe wrench. I think it's boring to say "I hit the cat with my wrench" over and over again with little change, so I'm going to have the character perform combos with the wrench to make it more interesting, like in fighting games and other things like that. You guys have any idea how to go about with this, all while writing in first person?
By 'cat', do you mean a common housecat with a bad temper or a big cat like a lion, panther, jaguar, etc? Just wanted to make sure. For a big cat...I don't know. A guy with a pipe wrench against one of those? Yeah, good luck. I'd focus more on the guy trying to get to higher ground as the cat follows him. Maybe one blow, he brings it down vertically, and another horizontally? Again, I don't know, because I doubt he'd make it. Who is this guy? Why is he fighting the cat with a pipe wrench? What does his surroundings look like?
Should of elaborated on that more. It's common housecat with a really bad temper. It was trying to steal something from him and when he tried to get it off it attacked him. He's using a pipe wrench because there simply isn't anything else that made for a weapon, and he was strapped for time. The surroundings are near the end of an empty city alley.
Okay, yeah, the pipe wrench is going to kill the cat. In two blows at most. Doing it over and over again is just overkill. Why can't he just use his bare hands? Now, I've never been around a pissed off cat, but wouldn't they simply claw/bite once before retreating to behind a bin, let's say in your setting, to hiss loudly? If he then proceeded to take the pipe wrench to start beating it, he's in the wrong. It may be in his character to do this, I don't know. I just know that if he decides to murder the cat with the pipe wrench, I should expect some ramafications from this. Guilt or something.
Yeah, guess your right. About his character, the context is that he had to travel a dangerous city alley alone, and was scared that something might happen to him. The whole pipe wrench fight is just a knee jerk reaction, and it's going to form a big mental problem for him.
Perhaps you can try to have the character to prevent the cat from taking it by scaring him off first. Have the character clap his hands or yell, as the cat will be using his claws against the character you might want to keep your distance. In the final attempt to get it (whatever the cat was trying to take) back, the character looks around for anything nearby that might scare the cat off, that's when he sees the pipe wrench and sways it to the cat to chase him away. So instead of it being his first reaction (which would indeed be a bit cruel) it's just a last reserve to get back what is rightfully his.
Exactly. Maybe the wrench (it being his last resort) is his way of making himself look big and threatening to the cat. He swings it around and accidentally hits the cat, killing it. This way, we can at least understand that he wasn't TRYING to kill the cat the moment he layed eyes on the feline.
I don't understand what would make someone do this. I was attacked by a large dog early Saturday morning on my way back from a bar. The owner wasn't there straightaway (the dog had raced off ahead by himself) but even though it was (a) dark and (b) frightening I had no urge to hit the dog in return. I pushed him away, yes, but even when he jumped up a second time I didn't try to hurt him. As for cats specifically: I've kept cats for two decades and this sounds like unrealistic behaviour. One of my cats died last year -- a few days after his 17th birthday -- and in his final months he had a terrible temper (he was senile and suffering from cancer) but even he never hurt anyone too badly. He would occasionally attack for no reason and he wouldn't give-up anything without a fight but his attempts were never enough to seriously wound anyone or to prompt that person to retaliate in a way that would hurt him - even so, he wouldn't attack for more than a few seconds at a time. This is often true with fights between cats too - they often take a step back and look at the situation before swiping again. Also, cats are very alert: they would likely run faster than you could hit them if they were even the slightest bit suspicious that you would hit them. Shouting loudly is often enough to frighten them off, too.
Agree with Yoshiko, a common house cat wouldn't go for a full on fight unless it was absolutely trapped, it'd run off. Also, I also find that if a character hurts an animal in a novel (assuming the animal isn't evil) then readers tend to dislike the character. Unless that's the effect you want to create, think twice about including it. Having a human using a wrench against a cat seems a bit of a power imbalance to me. I've been attacked my cats many times. They can scratch and bite a bit, but i don't think they'd cause serious damage unless you were very unlucky (like with the eyes or something).
Exactly. Unless they got you in the eyes (and you'd have be in a really odd position, or holding them close to your face, as they're only going to go for the arms and legs), the worse you'd get from a cat is a really big, bloody scratch. If I were attacked by a cat, I wouldn't need what amounts to a club to drive them off. Loud noises and loud clapping (with a bit of pushing off) are more than enough to get them to know you're not to be messed with, and they'll scamper off. Now, your character may have a mental disorder, but get ready to have a bunch of readers hate him when he decides to take a pipe wrench to that cat.
hey everyone, i am about to write a scene in my novel which will have a lot of 'actions' that the character does in a short space of time. Unfortunately my first try at it sounded like i was listing the actions but don't know how to stop this without losing the pace of the scene? It is supposed to be a high action scene where two of the characters are rescued from the bad guys. (Sounds cheesy but i couldnt think of another way to write it)
There isn't any one 'right way' to write a scene packed with action. There are many factors to consider besides writing style, including POV. What I'd suggest is to find a couple of novels/authors you've enjoyed reading that have action scenes similar to what you're attempting. Study how those authors accomplished it, including pacing, mixture of dialogue and description, length of sentences, etc. Then apply what you learned to your writing style and the scene you're attempting to write. Good luck!
I find it's useful to read the advice columns sometimes, especially when I have no clue where to start. Here are two I found that look like they have some decent tips: http://www.davidalexanderbooks.com/action.htm http://www.elfwood.com/farp/thewriting/dra2action/dra2action.html
I subscribe to Brandon Sanderson's theory for action sequences. Blow by blow has sort of a niche audience, where as if you other mc's in the same scene, place them somewhere doing something, then focus on your protagonist. Here's a great video of him explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTrlsuwZug I don't know if your sequence is going to focus on fighting or not, so I don't really know if you're looking for actual fighting advice or chase sequence advice. Luckily Brandon Sanderson has videos on both. PS: Since it's a person, not a company this isn't advertising, is it?
You need the basic action-reaction sequence. But then in between, throw in character thoughts, use fragments, and use long sentences from time to time. Think about it, violence is rather fluid. It's not really, I punch you, pause, you dodge, I swing to your right, you block and kick. It's not like that. It's more like I'm punching and kicking and while you're also doing the exact same thing at the same time. It's fluid motion, really. So I wouldn't be afraid to convey this sense of "everything flying by" by using long sentences. Then change pace by using a fragment or very short sentence, to convey the impact - the THUD when the character lands a punch - perhaps follow with language that could be more vague than previously to convey the dazed state of the MC and here's where you'd use character thought (shit I'm gonna die I'm gonna die). Then snap back into concrete action. Basically, it's no different to any other kinds of writing. Think of it as more like a dance, there will be abrupt moments and there will be fluid moments, and don't leave character thought and feeling out of this either (unless you're going Jack Reacher style, but even then there's much internal dialogue actually, Reacher calculating his next move or dropping in one of his "rules" that has just sealed the bad guy's doom, then BAM he strikes.)
Mix up the blow-by-blow descriptions (which can get boring) with some emotion and impact. I enjoy action scenes, but only if I can feel them. If your characters are being rescued, there must be a mix of emotions involved and the threat of death (or some other impending doom ). Play these up to create tension and conflict. Don't just write it from afar; make it personal.
I'm fairly decent at writing homely everyday scenes, but I do need to include action scenes and I just don't know how to start them. An example is like, "Suddenly, my phone started making a weird siren noise and the shock of it made me drop it." This just feels weak and inexperienced for a sentence. How would you go from a character just standing there chatting, then an attacker comes from the shadows and tackles them to the ground? (In first person - when I write in third person my tense and perspective get's confused easily)
If it were me, I'd just keep writing as you are, including the weak, inexperienced and boring sentences. Get your characters into the action scene any way you can. THEN, once you're finished with your story, go back and edit it. Most of the time these kinds of 'introductions' to action scenes are best fixed by simply removing them. Find the point where your reader actually needs to enter the scene. That's what you fix during the edit. I love the phrase 'literary throat-clearing.' You know, all that harrumph, cough, unaccustomed-as-I-am-to-public-speaking noises you make before you start an actual speech in front of a group of people? That's what you end up clearing out of your writing. But rather than worrying about it when you're writing your first draft, just keep going. Then, during the edit, concentrate on the point where the action begins, and see what you can do to pare away the preliminaries.
For jumping into action, I wouldn't start it with suddenly. Not a big fan of suddenly. I believe it cheapens the effect and comes across as a form of telling rather than showing. If its sudden, then make it sudden to the readers. For your example, I would've written it something like: "Once I slipped the phone from my pocket, the wailing of a siren emanated from it and an electric shock surged from its circuitry and singed my hand, making me drop it to the ceramic floor. The phone's faceplate popped free as it clattered against the tiles, exposing its innards, and the siren ceased. I clutched my chest as my heart raced out of control. Dammit! Someone is trying to kill me!" I don't know if this is how you would've interpreted this scene, but this is what I wrote based on what you gave me. I just thought it could be fleshed out a little more. Not only is detail important for conveying action, but you should also give some kind of impression of what the protagonist is feeling in response to the action. I hope this helps.
I love soup. Especially when I have a little bit of a sore throat. This was just the right kind, bisque, a little creamy but not too much. I dipped my spoon and slurped, dipped and slurped, settling into perfect contentment. The phone rang with a howl more suited to an air raid siren. I dropped my spoon, splattering creamy pinkness across the perfect beige carpet. Dammit.
