Young Writers Society

In the novel I have been attempting to write, there's a huge fight scene. However, every time I sit down to write it, thinking I have every thing figured out, I come to realize that it just doesn't....flow right and I get stuck once again. Are there any tips out there for writing fight scenes?

Epic fight scenes, to me, contain three elements:

1- Realistic movements
2- The character's style
3- Danger

1- Realistic movements

Usually gotten from knowing some basics in fighting technique. If you've never taken self-defence (and I do recommend taking a little of it, just for practical reasons) then look up various techniques for fighting. Books can be a good source, but videos tend to be much better because you see the full movement, and you can really get a sense for what the move entails. This helps your description a lot.

2- The character's style

A combination of "Keep it in character" and "Make sure it fits the person [grammar] you're writing in."

Somebody who's very cold-blooded about fighting, considers it part of everyday life, and/or knows how to fight is going to react very differently than somebody who rarely fights, dislikes it, and/or doesn't know how. Also, a fight-scene written in third person often reads as different than a fight scene written in first person. In my experience, first person fight scenes are more introspective while third person scenes are a bit more focused on the chain of movements.

3- Danger

If it's a major fight, then there needs to be some sort of risk involved and a wonder just what shape the character will be in after the fight scene. Even if it's not that major a fight, danger and injuries are the best way to show even the best fighters get hurt and aren't nigh invulnerable.

Hope this helps!

Hope this helps: www.youngwriterssociety.com/topic53411.html

Thanks! All those tips helped! =D