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This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
| Writing Fight Scenes Pt 1 So, as part of my time as someone who writes, I have conducted workshops for the local writers centre. I have done workshops on writing horror, writing short stories and research for non-fiction. But the only workshop I have been asked to do more than 3 times (5 at last count) is “How To Write Fight Scenes.” As such, I am going to put forth that lecture (generally a 3 hour workshop) here. In a few parts, but here. So, let’s start. A fight scene is one in which conflict occurs between two (or more) characters. The idea of this is to give help and hints to writers for portraying this realistically. And this is only hand to hand combat. If using swords or knives, then we are looking at either specialised skill or other things that complicate matters. Picking up a sword and just using it – as many fantasy novels seem to think is viable – is stupid and impossible. It takes training. You can Yeah, but… me all you want, but if I gave a regular person a sword and asked them to defend themself against me (with some training), I reckon I’d hurt them before they hurt me. Why include a fight scene? A fight scene is an excellent way to show the strengths and weaknesses of a character. We can see their intelligence by their tactics, their physical strength by the attacks they use, and even their standing in society by how used to fighting they are. It can show a hidden past or can show that someone is all talk and no substance. But the main reason for including a fight scene is to show the action and get the reader involved in what is happening in the story. Just saying, “he punched him, and he hit him back,” means nothing and is dull. But saying, “he drove his elbow into his jaw, sending him back a pace; in response, he swung wildly, his fist clipping him on the side of the head,” gives more detail. What about trained fighters? Yeah, this question needs to go here before we get into anything else, because the concept of trained martial artists or MMA fighters does complicate matters. But those people are not the sort of people likely to populate a story. You would not include a person with those skills in a book and have them use those skills without some knowledge. I could write about a MMA fighter without an issue, but would struggle with a proponent of Eastern martial arts because I have only peripheral knowledge. The majority of characters we write are not going to be trained like this; they might have some street knowledge, but we are not writing scenes from a Bruce Lee movie. Can we copy fights? If you have the language, can you copy a fight scene from visual media onto the page? This is a great question. No. Simple answer, but unless you are going to completely change things up, the answer is, “no.” But – and this is a big but – that only involves a fight from a movie or from broadcast TV. You cannot use it blow for blow. You can base it on the fight you see or, better yet, combine three or more because the individual moves cannot be copyrighted. And that is the purpose of this – to help people write fight scenes. And I will say here and now that the best way to write fight scenes is to actually copy visual fights, as in, write what you see in a fight. So... can I copy? No... but yes as well. We will get there. Can we leave fight scenes out? Of course! There is no rule that says you must include fight scenes. And some genres do not use them at all. Romance will rarely use a fight scene; Harlequin states none are to be used. Capital-L Literature will not use a described fight scene. Children’s books and Middle Grade books should not have fight scenes. In the USA, Young Adult publishers prefer there be none; in the rest of the world, they are not described in detail, but do exist. Having said that last one, I was encouraged to add extra detail in a fight by the Australian publisher of my YA book. In the old days, murder mysteries did not include them, but they are becoming more common. Fantasy, thriller and war genres sort of expect them. Science fiction and Westerns also use them more often than not. There is an audience expectation. Of course you can subvert that, but you might also be annoying the readers. Of course, as always, the call is yours. And that is the basics of why fight scenes are needed at times and where we come from when looking at them. |
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