Writing Tips!

How to Write a Badass Fight Scene

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I was BORN to write this post.

Listen. I know how you feel. Fight scenes are so, so hard to get right, but they happen to be one of those things I really love and am really good at writing, so...you came to the right person? Maybe? That's a hard maybe because I'll have to see if I can put my process into words.

That said, let's try to break this down.

Now the two things I think that make fight scenes hard to write is because A) you are describing almost every movement your two (or more) characters are executing and B) it's hard to do that in a succinct and exciting manner without boring your reader. I think if you can do them right, though, then you have your reader on the edge of their seat, able to visualize each manoeuvre with the same clarity that you did.

-Before you even start writing, have one or two manoeuvres that you want to include. Use those to try and build the scene in your head beforehand. A good 30% of the scene I come up with as I write, but it comes easily as I write from one point to another.
-When you get to the writing itself, try to vary the sentence length, leaning towards shorter sentences*. It gives the illusion of a fast moving scene and it forces you to get across what's happening without being too wordy.

=*This can also be achieved with liberal use of commas and semi-colons! (ex. "Sheblocked with her blade, angled the weapon, and shot" or "Shecocked her gun, shot again" or "Pop,hiss, a beam of light cut through the cloud beside her. Screams followed, then cut short; her teamhad not escaped.")

-Try to use short words as well. At the same time, though, don't get repetitive. Each sentence should be unique.

=Important: don't let grammar rules hold you back. If that sentence fragment helps your flow, then who's gonna stop you from using it?

-To help keep fight scenes interesting, show your character's personality. You don't have to have banter (although if your character is the type for it, I highly encourage you add some in because it makes for a lot of fun!) but have your character show who they are in how they fight.

=Spiderman's fights are a GREAT example of this.

-Another thing to keep in mind: you should put a lot of thought into HOW your character fights and with what. Does your character use guns? Fists? Knives? Are they afraid to get hit and avoid it at all costs, or do they take blows with ease and fight on regardless? Are they cocky and thoughtless? Careful and intelligent? How do they feel about the fight? Are they confident about winning, or unsure? Is this a serious fight for them, just another day at work, or something they find fun? These questions can help make your scene unique and interesting instead of something your reader skips over with a yawn.

=Additionally, keep your characters' strengths and weaknesses in mind while they're facing down. Depending on their fight style, your character might be poorly matched up, lending to a losing battle.
=Example: While I was going over why I couldn't come up with material for a certain fight scene, I discovered that the problem was that my one character is a solo fighter by virtue of her abilities, and in this particular fight scene she was supposed to fight something with an ally. There was no way they could fight side by side without it being a disaster, so I had to re-work the entire scene.

-Use your environment! Get your fighter to throw sand in their opponent's eyes, smash plates over their head, stab them with a pencil (I'll never forget that scene in John Wick (both movies have GOOD GOOD fight scenes, check it out!)).
-Try not to make the fight too long. If your characters are humans without any special enhancements, then they aren't going to be able to fight for too long before they are in serious need of a break, ESPECIALLY if they're accumulating injuries. Keep within the realms of reality; your readers will only suspend their disbelief for so long.

=I highly recommend you check out the fight scenes from Atomic Blonde. The fighters become EXHAUSTED and it gives the scene a delicious atmosphere of desperation as they try to take the other down while being on the verge of collapse.

-Look at reference. Whether you're looking up sparring matches on Youtube or even watching fight scenes from movies (yes, I know, not usually realistic but still fun to watch!) anything goes, really. Make sure you have the specs of any weaponry in use. If your character is using bullets, MAKE THEM RELOAD. That pause can be used as a life or death moment AND it keeps things realistic! Really spices things up.

=John Wick reloaded. Not all the time, but like...enough to make it interesting. I really like the John Wick movies.

-Now that you have your fight scene and you're happy with it, make sure you edit. If you're anything like me, your fight scene will go through a bunch of minor changes, adding in dialogue or removing and fixing confusing and vague sentences.
-Which brings me to my final point: you need to wait. Once you're content with your scene, let it sit for a few weeks to a few months. Yeah, that long. Let it fade from your mind. Don't even think about it!
-And then, when you finally re-read it, you'll have forgotten your intention with the scene and actions. Go through and fix the parts that are vague or confuse you; if YOU can't figure out what you were trying to do there, chances are your readers won't either. Even if you figure it out after puzzling for a few seconds, that's enough to pull your reader from the action and that won't do. FIX IT.

Aaaand that's all that I can come up with at the top of my head, but if you want specifics about something or another, shoot me another ask and I'll talk about it more.

EDIT: Also wanna add: music! I usually listen to badass instrumental songs while I'm working. Really gets you in the mood.