Young Writers Society

Does anyone have good ideas and tips on how to write battle scenes in a fiction novel? You might be writing about human vs humans, or magicians, or gods and gladiators, or monsters. They all have different fighting techniques and styles, and for some people, writing battle scenes might be quite difficult, which is my case.

I've been working on a novel titled 'The USA Abattoir', and in this story, it is basically humans against monsters. The main character is Aaron Blackwood, or as he goes by to strangers (which is just about everybody), Joe Jackson. His whole family died, or so he thought, when he was young. The Blackwood mansion collapsed, which was actually caused by Aaron himself. He has this power that allows him to talk (order) to things that are not alive - for example, concrete, bricks, handcuffs, walls, etc., although he never really uses it except for in very extreme life and death situations, because it caused his whole life to crumble down and kill his family. He also has a silver sword brought from his house before it collapsed that drinks blood, and hums when it wants to feed on blood. Yes, you might have figured out that Blackwood family is special in some ways. Back to the point. The monsters in this story are, to put in one word - revolting. They are 2 meters tall, their skin pale and blue veins showing through, some horns and bumps protruding at random places on their head, two large, black beady eyes with many other same-looking eyes between them. They have this HUGE mouth that is full of white fangs and looks unhinged with tentacles sprouting out of it. For last, their whole body is covered with acid that will melt you on touch. The description of their tentacles goes like this : [Out of its mouth, mouth hanging open so wide it looks unhinged, sprouts 5, awfully familiar looking tentacles, all coiling at the end, slithering, snapping to side to side like a very large, white, slimy and angry snake and dripping milky, thick liquid.] The monster's name is Basiliscus Aráneam, which means Basilisk Spiders. Basiliscus Aráneam's whole body description goes like this : [For a couple disturbing seconds, he gets to register the creature’s appearance. A 2 meters tall creature - two black, large eyes planted in its forehead and dozens of smaller, beady versions of it between them. Its four legs, two on each side, are very fast, almost like a spider. Horns and oozy bumps sprouts out at random places on its head, dotting the white, pale and vein-showing skin. Out of its mouth, mouth hanging open so wide it looks unhinged, sprouts 5, awfully familiar looking tentacles, all coiling at the end, slithering, snapping to side to side like a very large, white, slimy and angry snake and dripping milky, thick liquid. Acid. White, razor sharp fangs sprout from its maw. Even with a couple meters separating them, the shadow’s nose is overwhelmed by the smell of rotting flesh.]

I'm not sure how to write my battle scene with those lovely characters - whether or not I should just write them like this (Ex : Aaron ducks low to dodge a tentacle, keeping his eyes on the Basilisk in front of him. It roars in fury, then attempts to send its tentacle right through Aaron's head. Aaron throws his body to the side, trying to get a hit on the monster, not just get chased around. It's when something white, streaked with blue, whistles into his vision, getting closer rapidly that Aaron realizes that something has gone wrong. About a second later, the thing slams into the left side of his face. It immediately starts to burn and sizzle, blood flowing down in thick streams down his cheek. Aaron howls in pain, collapsing down onto the ground, his hands letting go of his sword and cradling his injury gingerly. The Basilisk should have attacked by now, but it doesn't.]) Or in some other way that will make the readers engaged more.

I need some tips and suggestions! If you have any tricks on writing battle scenes, you can post them to discuss on here.

Thanks

you have to put yourself in each characters shoes (taking into consideration the character's personality and tendencies, such as aggression or tact) and really try to kill the other character. think of it as playing chess against yourself, and already knowing whether white or black wins. you take it move by move, going back and forth between perspectives. here's an excerpt from a story i'm working on as an example:

Abrand raised his battle-axe and swung downwards at the soldier, who easily side-stepped it, bringing his blade to his side to ready his counter attack. Abrand expected this evasion however, and stopped short of smashing the ground. He turned his axe sideways and pushed his full strength into a swing at the soldier. The soldier had just time to reposition his greatsword so that it blocked the axe. He was pushed several yards back by the blow and skidded to a stop. Abrand did not let up - he closed the distance in a flash and swung horizontally. The soldier stepped back just as the axe reached him - the tip of the blade scraped the front of his breastplate. Abrand used the momentum of the missed swing to spin around and bring the axe downward again. This time the soldier did not have time to side-step - just barely time to raise his greatsword and block the attack. The axe slammed in to the sword, generating a hail of sparks. The soldier's boots were driven an inch into the ground.

Now it was Abrand's turn to smile. The soldier sneered back. He barked a yell of effort and the sword exploded with upward momentum, driving the axe into the air and Abrand backward. Before Abrand could get his footing, the soldier yanked his sword downward. Abrand had only a split-second to dodge - it was only enough time to get partly out of the way. The sword sliced through his left arm at the shoulder, severing it before striking the ground. Abrand yelled and staggered backward, releasing his weapon and grasping at the new oriface as great torrents of blood sprayed from it. "Bastard!", he growled at the soldier. The soldier smirked back.

that's my style. if you like it, learn what you can from it.

People far more skilled and capable than myself have called out my style when it comes to writing action to be far too verbose. I have come to acknowledge how important this is. You do not want to bore readers with a fight scene. People are going to skim over three paragraphs of action, and no amount of ability will change this fact. They are going to skim.

My suggestion is to be quick, direct, and concise. Barring a few rare cases (such as an epic final duel), there is no need to say in three paragraphs what you could say in three sentences. It just slows down the narrative, keeps us from reading the plot-relevant bits. If you are beating up on some random minions, do so quickly. There is no need to devote that much to fighting.

You should try to keep the tension going. Keep us worried. Make us involved. Action is interesting because of the characters involved, not just the action itself. It's like composing an intricate and complex piece of music, that then turns out to be boring, lacks any form of feeling to it. This can be done deliberately, but usually, it's not a good idea. If your character is narrating a fight scene, your character is probably going to be afraid, possibly determined. Maybe he's relishing it. Either way, he's most likely going to be concentrating, and under physical stress. Make this shine through your words. Make it go beyond puppets on strings swinging at each other, turn it into people trying brutally to save their lives. Involve the readers. Fight scenes have the potential to be especially powerful when played right. Don't waste that potential. Focus on the emotions more than the actual fighting. Focus on what's going on in your character's mind and gut.

My two cents.