Tips and Tricks for Effective Fight Scenes: BAM! POW! THWAP!

Almost every writer I’ve ever spoken to has a particular type of scene that is their nemesis—the scene they skip over with a quick “insert (blank) scene here”. And usually that is either the fight scene or the sex scene. Now if you’ve heard me speak at a conference, you know my issue is NOT the sex scenes. Those are my favorites to write.

However, fight scenes give me fits. I don’t skip them. I would hate leaving my most dreaded writing bits for last. But I do struggle through them, and they take a lot more time and effort for me to get just right.

Over the years, I have amassed a number of “hacks” and bits of wisdom that help me get through writing those action-packed fights that are a staple of the kind of books I produce, and I thought I’d share them in case your struggles are similar to mine.

Don’t Over-Describe

A few years back, I had the opportunity to take a Writing Fight Scenes course at a local conference. It was interactive and involved participants pairing up and facing one another. Then one person would shout out math problems like 2+2 and 12-7 while throwing a light punch either toward the opposite person’s upper right, upper left, lower right, or lower left sides.

The recipient of the “punches” had to block with their own hand AND answer each math question correctly at the same time. And let me tell you, that is HARD. The point? To show writers just how much concentration it takes someone to stay focused in a fight. If you’re writing a scene involving a lot of battling participants, the point of view character CAN’T be noticing what’s going on all around them, or think deep thoughts, or worry about their love life, and still handle their own individual adversary.

So many writers overwrite fight scenes, explaining every move, every gunshot, every punch and shout and injury sustained. And I suppose if you are writing in omniscient point of view, you might get away with that. But deep third or first person? There is no way your main character is going to notice anything much beyond the fist flying at her face, some background noise that amounts to an indecipherable roar, and possibly the pain of her most serious injury, and even THAT might be dulled by adrenaline until the fight ends.

Block It Out

No, I don’t mean block the punch. I mean blocking as in choreography. It’s easy to lose track of the participants in a big fight scene. And every move the characters make will take them from one area of the battleground to another. Then there are the set pieces like tables and chairs, and if you move from room to room, running and dodging, things get even more confusing. It’s easy to forget where things are, or furniture and doorways vanish altogether in the middle of the craziness.

There are many ways you can block out the action in your fight scene before putting words on a page. For one, you can draw simple pictures of the areas that will be in use during your fight. Use graph paper. Measure out the sizes of the spaces in squares and draw basic shapes to represent pieces of furniture or other obstacles/items that might be present. This is also good for visualizing things the characters might use to hide themselves or improvise into makeshift weapons. “Oh yeah. There’s a chair there. My character could pick that up and throw it.” Or, “That wall is just plywood. The bad guy could shoot right through it. And he’s smart. He’d think of that.” Having the characters engage with the environment during the fight also helps readers visualize the scene better.

Another way to accomplish the same goal is to use three-dimensional objects like miniatures to represent your characters, or doll house furnishings, or whatever you have on hand.

Finally, you can always walk through the motions the characters make, to “see” things more clearly. I’ve employed my spouse in this activity more than once. “Hey honey, pick me up for a second. Now, if you flipped me over backwards, how and where would I land?” I’m not saying to actually DO any of those moves unless you have the appropriate training, but sometimes just standing face to face with someone and saying, “If I did this, what would you do?” can really be effective in working through a fight scene before writing it down.

Ask An Expert

When in doubt, ask someone who knows! Don’t know anything about guns? Go to a shooting range and fire one or at least speak with some enthusiasts. Axe throwing? Archery? Daggers? Throwing stars? It’s not hard to find people who compete in these activities. Martial arts? Stop by a dojo. Watch a class. Ask questions.

This can be very helpful both during the writing process and after the scene is written. See if an expert will take a quick look at your fight scene and point out any glaring errors. Ask for some appropriate lingo. Be sure you’re using the right names for everything. Don’t be afraid. In my experience, most people love to talk about their areas of expertise and enthusiasm.

Ready to write that fight scene now? Go for it! (Just don’t forget to duck.)