Your best tips for writing a fight scene

[Maraclea]

I'm writing a medieval fantasy novel and I'm going to have a lot of fight scenes, but the problem is, I've discovered that I'm terrible at writing them... So I'd like to know what your tips are to help me improve.
Thank you!

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

The most common answer I get when I ask this question is to focus on the emotion.
Of course showing the fight is important, but fighters aren't robots (Unless they are!)
Readers want to know what's going on in a fighter's head when they throw that juicy uppercut.
Just don't go overboard on descriptions (either their thoughts or actions)

 

[Adam Scribentis]

Yes, restraint and maybe a well-chosen comparison or two is much better in narrative prose than an attempt to describe the choreography of a fight
as you might see it in a film.

 

[Fyri]

On another hand. As with many scenes, I like to act out each character to get a feel for what they are thinking, feeling, and what their body might do in response to the above and/or an attack. Is Bully Bob slicing a sword down at Sister Sara? Okay, I will stand like Sister Sara was standing and think "Does she notice? Does she have good reflexes? Is her instinct to run or scream or block the sword with the book in her hand? Does she want to hurt Bully Bob or protect him from himself?" If she has good reflexes, act out how her body would work in slow motion, imagining the sword is coming at you.

Of course, the advice given here will highly depend on what part you feel you struggle with the most. Making it engaging? Making it make sense? Balance of exposition vs action? POV? Give us more info and we'll be able to give more useful advice!

What makes you feel terrible at writing them?

 

[Mad Swede]

This thread may help:

Descriptions of fight scenes

 

[Queshire]

Word choice and sentence structure can do a lot in a fight scene. Something like, "Left. Right. Punch!" Can be useful for someone who is, say, panicking somewhat during the fight while, "He swayed between the goblins axe swings before stricking back with a crushing uppercut." Would work with a calmer, more experienced fighter.

Personally I favor more cinematic fight scenes in my stuff, so I try to have actions in my fight scenes have one out of two roles. Either it's used to build momentum for one side or the other (or conversely reduce the momentum of a foe) or when one side has enough momentum over the other have a pay off that either concludes the fight outright or moves the fight towards its conclusion.

Now, the pay off isn't something that necessary has to come from the side that currently has the momentum advantage. It could be something like the dragon getting pissed off enough at the heroes beating it up that it breathes fire at them, but it still helps move the fight along and helps reset the momentum of the scene.

Also I reccomend keeping an eye out for secondary objectives you can include in a fight scene. You know, stuff like keeping the magic artifact away from the big bad, have the protagonists try to convince the buff Orc they're fighting to join their side, etc.

 

[Karlin]

well, there's that old "write what you know". So, taken to an extreme- get into some fights. If you survive, you'll be able to write about fights. Assuming you still have fingers. I was going to suggest reading first hand accouints of such fights, but I don't know if there are any.

 

[Ban]

I enjoy viewing martial arts, so in my fiction I want to be able to follow the action step by step. The type of scenes that work for me as a fight fan versus someone more distant from such sports should be seen as a key factor. While I want to know what moves are made at each moment, which stances are taken, what impact each attack has and how these all tie together in the form of a continuous fight, others need not desire any of that.

Focus on emotion if that is what aligns with you, your writing style and your audience. Focus on the technicality I enjoy if I am your audience. Focus on whatever may work for whichever audience. It is all rather relative.

A general tip would be to watch more fights and focus on writing what you saw. If you can retell a fight engagingly, you will also be able to tell a fight engagingly.

 

[Fyri]

Word choice and sentence structure can do a lot in a fight scene. Something like, "Left. Right. Punch!" Can be useful for someone who is, say, panicking somewhat during the fight while, "He swayed between the goblins axe swings before stricking back with a crushing uppercut." Would work with a calmer, more experienced fighter.

Mm! To piggyback off this, consider pacing. Fight scenes are the most actiony of action scenes. Too many details will slow your pacing, so keep that in mind. Do you want this to be fast paced or more contemplative?

He stabbed. Calum parried. He kicked sand into the air. Calum coughed as metal clashed with metal. Time was running out, but Clarice only needed five more minutes. He could stay alive that long. He swung through the dust cloud.

vs

His sword glinted in the sun toward Calum. Calum knocked it aside with his own sword, gritting his teeth against the pain in his side. Tristor's foot glazed the dirt and coated the air with sand. Calum's lungs filled with it, but he raised his sword to block the incoming side swing. A loud cling rang out as steel clashed with steel. Music.
Clarice only needed five more minutes. Calum would give his life to give her that. Blindly, he fought on.

One is faster paced and gets things done quickly. The other has more details and is more grounded. Both kinds of approaches serve different purposes.

Note: I have no idea how to write about sword fighting terms and techniques. OP mentioned medieval fantasy in the original post, so that's what I went with in examples. XD Use the research forum for tips on actual sword fighting if needed!

 

[pmmg]

It might be helpful if you posted a little of what you got...

Anyway, my commentary is not dissimilar to what I posted before. Battles are tricky, and take up a lot of space. It is not so easy to show a battle from the POV of one in it, and show the larger scale of what is happening on the field around them, as well as deliver a sense for who is winning and why.

Since battles can take some many different forms and serve so many different purposes, it would just be near impossible to write it all out. So, I can give only general advice. Typically, the blow by blow of a battle does not matter much, more important is the outcome and what it reveals. The battle should reveal more of the characters and advance the plot. Whether one dies from a cut to the head or the heart is kind of unimportant.

For myself, I try to keep the battle in the POV of a character in it, and give them enough presence that they can relate and respond to the over all feel of how the battle is going. A commander who senses in the battle that his line is not holding and orders them to fall back, or one who swarmed in melee and cuts and cuts until they are too tired to move, and then it is over, they can see the daylight and the surviving enemy is breaking ranks to flee.

What I would not do, however, is show things the character cannot know. A dragon spewing fire...yeah, they would see that. Their close comrade dying across the battlefield, not likely.

I also advice keeping exchanges quick. One or two blows and its over to keep the pace of the story moving quickly.

 

[Maraclea]

On another hand. As with many scenes, I like to act out each character to get a feel for what they are thinking, feeling, and what their body might do in response to the above and/or an attack. Is Bully Bob slicing a sword down at Sister Sara? Okay, I will stand like Sister Sara was standing and think "Does she notice? Does she have good reflexes? Is her instinct to run or scream or block the sword with the book in her hand? Does she want to hurt Bully Bob or protect him from himself?" If she has good reflexes, act out how her body would work in slow motion, imagining the sword is coming at you.

Of course, the advice given here will highly depend on what part you feel you struggle with the most. Making it engaging? Making it make sense? Balance of exposition vs action? POV? Give us more info and we'll be able to give more useful advice!

What makes you feel terrible at writing them?

This is an important scene in the MC's story, so I want it to be captivating and focused on emotions. I'm a little worried about making the scene boring and slow, and I'm having trouble finding the right balance between action and emotion. :')

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

It might be helpful if you posted a little of what you got...

Anyway, my commentary is not dissimilar to what I posted before. Battles are tricky, and take up a lot of space. It is not so easy to show a battle from the POV of one in it, and show the larger scale of what is happening on the field around them, as well as deliver a sense for who is winning and why.

Since battles can take some many different forms and serve so many different purposes, it would just be near impossible to write it all out. So, I can give only general advice. Typically, the blow by blow of a battle does not matter much, more important is the outcome and what it reveals. The battle should reveal more of the characters and advance the plot. Whether one dies from a cut to the head or the heart is kind of unimportant.

For myself, I try to keep the battle in the POV of a character in it, and give them enough presence that they can relate and respond to the over all feel of how the battle is going. A commander who senses in the battle that his line is not holding and orders them to fall back, or one who swarmed in melee and cuts and cuts until they are too tired to move, and then it is over, they can see the daylight and the surviving enemy is breaking ranks to flee.

What I would not do, however, is show things the character cannot know. A dragon spewing fire...yeah, they would see that. Their close comrade dying across the battlefield, not likely.

I also advice keeping exchanges quick. One or two blows and its over to keep the pace of the story moving quickly.

Depending on the situation that last bit might be up to taste (or the actual fight) depending on what you're writing and the setting.
I wrote a scene where two powerful physical mages were locked in combat for about three days.

But I didn't write a play-by-play for every single blow.

The first bit of the fight (with a bit of banter I might need to trim)
Some Narration
The Last Bit of the fight ( with a bit of banter that may need trimming)

However, that scene was a proper 'duel' and neither of them were out for eachother's blood.

The fight that happens directly after isn't near as long, on top of being the opposite side of the spectrum (one fighter literally wants the life of the other) and it happens fast enough that all of the characters barely have time to process it.

 

[Fyri]

This is an important scene in the MC's story, so I want it to be captivating and focused on emotions. I'm a little worried about making the scene boring and slow, and I'm having trouble finding the right balance between action and emotion. :')

Hmm, well at that point, feedback might be better than blank advice! Share what you have with others and gauge different people's reactions to each part. Feedback and critique are some of the best ways to learn!

 

[skip.knox]

"Fight scene" is so general. Even narrowing to "the Middle Ages" leaves much unresolved. Is this one-on-one, or groups fighting? Are there knives? Swords? Are they all human? Any magic involved? You will want to sort out location and the instruments of the fight.

Then there's what brought us here? Chance encounter? Planned duel? Heated argument? A fight between friends or siblings, or between Hero and Villain? Have they fought before? Do they arrive in peak health or has someone been injured, been ill, is drunk, or even just lacks sleep.

Ideally, your readers should come to the scene already knowing how they got here and for whom they're cheering. They will know what's at risk.

By the time you sort through questions like these, you should have trimmed away a host of possibilities and will see aspects you are eager to describe. Here some fight choreography, there some internal thoughts, there some actual dialog, and over there some description.

But you can't get very far with how do I write a fight scene. It's really how do I write these characters in this place at this moment.

Finally, when you have a fight scene written, run it by some folks familiar with the weapons used. See how badly they shred it. No worries. So long as they only shred the actual techniques and weapons. Most of the writing won't be much affected.

Now I've said that last, I'm interested to know if "folks familiar with weapons" might have a different take. (they often do <g>)

 

[Karlin]

well, there's that old "write what you know". So, taken to an extreme- get into some fights. If you survive, you'll be able to write about fights. Assuming you still have fingers. I was going to suggest reading first hand accouints of such fights, but I don't know if there are any.

There are first hand accounts of battles, but, as far as I know, only fairly recent ones, which means firearms, not swords and the like. Though Mad Jack Churchill supposedly carried a longbow and a broadsword into battle in WW2. `And a bagpipe.