Young Writers Society

In my current piece I have a sword fight. I'm new to writing physical fights and fantasy. Does anybody have any tips about how to write a sword fight without it sounding, well, stupid?

Is it a staged fight or match? Or is it a fight to the death sort of thing? Or fight to the first injury?

I am amidst writing a dueling bout in one of my novels right now, and the best tips I have for you are to know your characters [strengths and weaknesses], know the weapons they are using [or rather is it open hand combat], and know how said characters would react or act in a fight, would they grapple, doing something underhanded, are they trained, do they know anything about how to fight... For example, I character I once worked with was a wuss when it came to swords, she was given one once and proceeded to drop it and run away screaming.

Oh, and read everything you can get your hands on about the kind of fight you are writing. Even novels with sword fights in them to get a handle on the kind of scene you will be writing.

Hope this helps,
Cal.

Hello!

I'm in the exact same situation. I did a lot of research (and got a free swordfighting lesson at a fair,) and here's some of what I found out.

Footwork is key, though a little boring to write about. When fighting, it's best to keep a relaxed stance, or you'll trip and topple over.

There are three basic moves, Slash, Thrust, and Strike, and one basic defense to each of them: Block, Parry, and Get Out Of The Way.

A slash is trying to cut your opponent diagonally. You start high, then bring it down across them, most often it only hits the enemy on the arm, (if lucky, the enemy's sword arm). To prevent injury from a slash, you use a block: hold the sword so it's perfectly vertical, with the tip just above eye level. The slash won't be able to go through it.

Thrusting is like a jab, trying to stab the opponent. The defense to that, the parry, is where you turn your sword sideways, and whack/push the (thrusting) sword in a direction away from you.

A strike is where you raise the sword above your head, then bring it down as fast as you can with as much force as you can. There's really no way to avoid this one. A parry or block would shock your arms and be very painful. The best way to avoid it is just to get out of the way of the sword and try to attack before they realize they missed you. xD It's powerful, but also can be clumsy.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Let me know if anything doesn't make sense.

Well, does it have "impossible" stunts, like a Jedi duel? Or is it a down-to-earth thing? That changes things a lot.

In a real duel, I'd suggest you watch as many fighting styles as you can. For instances, a fencing match. Or a big fight scene in a movie.

For impossible stuff, watch "Star Wars" or maybe "Advent Children."

Swordfights, you ask?
I don't know anything about your story, but the best thing you can do is to get a feel for swordfights by watch people duel on Youtube or something like that. If you don't have broadband, you can rent or buy some movies like the Lord of the Rings, Zorro, and the 300.
I personally love The 300's battle sequences. The only thing about when you're watching battle sequences, is that the fights tend not to last very long.
In war-type conflicts, the hero encounters a hapless bad guy. Two swipes and a parry later, the bad guy is in two pieces on the ground; repeat. It's not quite as exciting as a long, drawn out duel.
Of course, in real life, fights go like that. I'd have to say that unless I've been wearing pads and gloves, any fight I've been in lasts about 3 to 5 seconds with about a minute of psyching myself up. The fact of the matter is that one person is usually better than the other person, and if you're hitting hard enough, the first blow knocks them down.
Then again, I've never fought with anyone who really knows what they were doing except for this huge black guy who had an equally black belt in his closet. Suffice to say, I lost that one.
A word of warning, don't make your fight scene too technical. The reader may not be looking for a guide on how to swordfight.
I have an example below of a fairly short sword fight.

In an explosion of movement, Jeb dove forwards, heaving his massive broadsword in a wide arc.
The darkly clothed stranger didn't even seem to move as his rapier smoothly caught the blade and tossed it aside as deftly as Jeb flipped an egg.
With a grunt, Jeb stumbled forwards and sent a massive stab against the stranger's unprotected leg.
The only reward Jeb got was the splitting of a seam in his trousers and sharp a rap to back of his skull.
Stranger-man stood back and cackled at him.
The man's taunting laughter somehow seemed to anger Jeb more than the sting of the blow.
Growling angrily, Jeb hurled his blade at the odd man.
The large sword spiraled through the air and were it not for the stranger's quickness, he would have had a new hole in his face.
Even though Jeb didn't hit his target, the stranger's expression was reward enough.
"Very well, then." the man spoke, almost regretfully. "You have learned something."

That's just a small example. Use your imagination. Have the characters interact with their surroundings, like ninjutsu. Have them dive off walls, jump over tables, and throw chairs. Anything goes as long as it makes the story more interesting. Nothing is more boring than, "They met, they fought, and one of them won."
Just use your imagination to make the fight come alive.
I'd say more, but it's my dinner time.

TTFN.

Well, you can have the long and drawn out but still good type of fight scene, but then you can also get the long and drawn out to the point of exhaustion sort of fight scene. Obviously you'll want to get the first type. So write in shorter sentences as you do in action scenes and try as hard as you can to keep the reader intrested and tie off the fight nice. The other type usually comes about when you try too hard and it goes on for ten pages and the readers just wonders "why the hell did I have to read ten pages only to find out *insert character* dies?" It's a surefire way to disrupt the flow of your story.

Bug Poor Imp about it.