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A good action scene is all about pacing. Period. Plain and simple. In fact, a scene - any scene - is a story in itself. You must have an exposition, rising action, a climax, falling action, and a conclusion. This is especially true with action scenes. There is no tension, no action, without build-up and proper pacing.
The anatomy of an action scene:
The exposition: At the beginning of a good scene a writer will lay down the setting. He/she will describe the characters, what they're feeling at the moment, and so on. This is part of the tension build-up process. It is up to the writer's own judgement as to how much description and character 'thoughts' to include in the exposition. But remember: too much or too little of any scene writing elements can kill your story.
The rising action: This is were the conflict begins. Maybe your MC has stumbled onto the villian or an enemy of some sort. Or perhaps the antagonist for your scene is not a person at all, but an inanimate device or substance like fire, or some such dangerous element. In the rising action of a scene, your character or the reader generally knows something bad is going to happen (Not a rule). This is a good time to use dialogue between characters to build the tension. If two characters are arguing follow this tip from a Writer's Digest article:
You want rising conflict in every scene. And you get it by notching up the tension, or the comedy, with each succesive line of dialogue. It sounds hard in theory, but it isn't. Think about the last argument you had with someone. Chances are it started with a tense moment (exposition/rising action), grew and grew in intensity, and then whammo - big-time conflict. If you think of writing good [action] dialogue as being as easy as getting into an argument with someone, you're all set.
Rising action is pure build-up. You've laid out the setting and now your charcter is experiencing tension. Whether it be by fear, argument, anger, love Anything. This is also a good place to describe your characters feelings and thoughts about the situation. But like in the exposition, don't over do it.
The climax: This is the most important element of the action scene as it is the action. Try to avoid transition words like 'suddenly' or 'all of the sudden'. I know it's especially hard to avoid these words when you're trying to include an element of surprise for both reader and character, but do your best. There are different techniques in transitioning, but it is by far the most difficult part of 'anatomy executing'. Here is a condensed action scene of mine. Let's take a look at it:
Booker walked back out into the maternity ward and headed toward the surgery room. He noticed several policemen outside the door, badges glinting in the florescent light, a lieutenant speaking quietly to the broad shouldered doctor. He was gesturing insistently at the waiting room with the window viewing Eva's surgery. Booker stopped, his senses heightening. Each of the policemen had their guns drawn – ready to shoot, expecting a struggle – and the lieutenant was holding a photograph. Booker squinted at it and his heart began beating at his ribcage. It was a picture of his face.
They were looking for him.
Booker took in a deep breath and stepped back slowly. Stay calm, collect yourself, you can get out of this. He racked his mind for a reason – any reason – they would be looking for him.
The raid.
But he hadn't left behind any evidence. He had been wearing a mask. Their had been no survivors. He hadn't even fired a gun. As he backtracked toward the elevator, Booker saw a policeman exit the surgery room and look down the hall. Their eyes met for a split second and Booker knew he had been caught. Swearing, he spun around, sprinted for the elevator and mashed his finger on the down button. Shouts erupted behind him.
“Booker Lee. We have the hospital surrounded. You are under arrest. Please submit peacefully,” a bullhorn blared. He heard several men begin running down the tiled hall.
“The hell I will,” Booker hissed and the elevator opened. He didn't move. Three more policemen stared back at him, frozen. You are a Black Dragon now, my jian. You strike and you strike hard, whispered his father's voice. There is no mercy in a Dragon's eyes. Fight. And fight hard.
Now.
Flipping the lid off of the Styrofoam cup in his hand, Booker flung the scalding coffee into the face of the man on the right – his wounded shoulder screaming in acute pain – simultaneously lunging for the middle man and wrapping his arm around his neck in a head lock. Before the third officer had time to react, Booker lashed out with his foot, kicking his groin as hard as he could. The footsteps down the hall were getting louder. Taking the struggling middle man's head in both hands, he jerked down hard, feeling the neck snap like a carrot stick in his grip. He elbowed the groaning, scalded officer in the nose and reached down to snatch the dead man's gun from his holster, ramming it forward and then back, disengaging the security lock. Spinning around, he fired twice at the third policeman. Blood and shattered bone spattered the wall behind him.
And he slid down the wall like a limp marionette.
Grunting, gritting his teeth, Booker brought the gun butt down on the remaining officer's head. The man let out a gasp and fell over unconscious. Booker kicked the down button again and the doors began sliding shut. Several policemen appeared on the other side of the closing exit and opened fire, bursts of light emanating from the barrels of their guns, bullets rebounding off of the sliding steel. Booker flung himself against the left wall, chest heaving, eyes screwed shut. The elevator lurched and headed back to the first floor.
A radio crackled from a dead policeman, “He's heading down again! Seal off all exits. I want a man on every fire escape and every door. Lock this bastard in!” Trying to ignore the bodies, Booker reached down and detached the radio from the man with the broken neck, shoved the gun behind his belt, and punched the red emergency stop. He was a monster. A killer. These men all had families, friends, homes. He surveyed the two bloody corpses and the heavily burned face of the only living officer.
What had he done?
Did you notice how I didn't jump right into the fight with the three policemen? I took as much time as possible in easing my character+reader into the conflict. I tried to hold onto my character's thoughts and feelings as long as I possibly could. I cannot stress effectiveness of the description of feelings/thoughts of a charater as a transitioning technique. Also, noticed how I used the one-line thought 'Now' as my main pivotal transition. Your reader is your character. And they want to feel like your character. 'Thought transitioning' in my opinion is the most effective.
In a fight scene climax, similar to mine, describe as much as possible without bogging your reader down with unneeded adjectives. Use simple similes and metaphors. The biggest goal in writing a story is to have your character relate to it. By contrasting and comparing actions in your story to common real-life actions you bring your reader into your story completely. Like my comparing the breaking of a neck to the breaking of a carrot stick. Everyone has snapped a carrot in half, but how many people have broken a person's neck?
So the key to a good climax is description. And sentence structure (But that's another article
.)
The falling action: After the climax has concluded reel your character's thoughts back into the picture. The falling action should also tie directly into the conclusion. The falling action should include the end of the action.
After the action description has been finished, you have reached your conclusion.
If the anatomy is followed, a good action scene is produced. Of course, this is only my style. Other people handle the anatomy of a scene differently. Maybe you will handle it differently.
Just glean what you will from whatever experience I've had.
-Kylan
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