Fight scenes are something a lot of authors struggle with in their books. Most of us are not professional fighters, but the good new is you don’t have to be to write a good fight scene. The best fights have a few action sequences sandwiched between sensory details and internal responses. Let’s look at seven aspects of a fight you need to consider before trying to write a fight scene.
1. Motivation
Every person has to have a motivation to fight. Both the protagonist and antagonist. There are three main reasons people fight: survival, honor, or protection. The reason for fighting will stem from the character’s wound. Did his father drill into his head to always be the strongest? Then he will fight for honor. Was he abused by his father as a child? Perhaps, a fight causes a flashback that puts him into survival mode. Did he watch his father beat his mother? Maybe he can’t resist fighting to protect those around him now. The character’s greatest emotional tragedy will be his fuel for fights. Keep that in mind for each fight so your character’s motivations are consistent.
2. Relevance
Every fight needs to be revenant to the story. You can’t throw in a fight scene just to have a fight. There needs to be stakes and goals to each fight. Someone has to learn something. An important decision needs to be made. Or someone’s path must alter. The fight has to make sense in your plot and push it forward toward the end. If you can take the fight scene away and not miss a beat in your story, then you don’t need it.
3. Excitement
If we are being honest, fights scenes are supposed to be a wow factor in the story. They need to be exciting and escalate the reader’s emotions. It can be a positive emotion because the protagonist won or a negative emotion because it was a loss. Either way, it needs to evoke a strong emotion from the reader. You do this by showing internal thoughts and feelings throughout the fight. Start with a confident fighter, and make him lose. Draw in a reluctant fighter, and let him feel the rush of the fight. Giving an unexpected response is an easy trick to draw the readers in and play with their emotions.
4. Characterization
Each fight needs to be portrayed through the POV character. Highlight things only that person would notice and do. A novice isn’t going to fight the same as an experienced fighter, but even amateurs will hit differently. A doctor may know all the body’s weak points and target them. Women may hit low and run. A street thug may pummel the torso until he tires. If you can replace one character for another in your fight scene without change, then you haven’t done enough characterization. Make it unique to them and important for that character’s arc, and it will be more powerful for your readers.
5. Depth
There needs to be something working below the surface of every fight. It shouldn’t just be a blow-by-blow of the fight. Give character thoughts, senses, and reactions. What goes unsaid? Does someone have a hidden agenda? What are the stakes or consequences if the protagonist loses? The result of the fight needs to impact the character beyond that scene. The protagonist’s internal world should shift because of the fight scene.
6. Pacing
Fight scenes can be written in numerous ways. You can use short words and sentences to punch out a quick paced fight. Or, you can use long descriptive sentences to show a more methodical fight. For example, the climax. The delivery can be abrupt and harsh. One second the reader is in the thick of it, and then the protagonist is knocked out. Or, the climax can slow down for details. Show the feeling and sensory details of blacking out. See the satisfied grin on the opponent’s face. Smell the dirt where the protagonist falls. Pick any descriptive style you want, but stay consistent throughout the book.
7. Typical Fight Structure
Carla Hoch is an excellent source for writing fictional fight scenes. In her research, she developed a formula for the basics of creating a fight scene. Below are her current steps, but I suggest checking her website to see if any new additions or changes have been made.
I. Walk Out
This is when the character “walks out on stage” for the fight. Start him in a place of safety and use sensory details to drawn him to the fight. You’ll need to build tension to escalate it into a fight. You might have your protagonist walking down his street, and then he hears fast footsteps behind him. Maybe some yelling starts, or he smells something burning. Any sensory details that put him on alert and start the adrenaline flowing.
II. Face-off
This is when the protagonist realizes a fight is going to happen. He realizes that someone else wants something opposite to him, and only one person will get what they want. The protagonist should be completely aware of what is at stake, and his motivations should be evident. This is usually the place for internal thoughts and acceptance of the fight.
III. Throw Down
Now punches are thrown. Things get physical, but don’t keep it there. You need to show the internal reaction of the fighter as well. Carla’s rule is to use only three major moves per fight scene. Have him make an attack, and then pull back and show what’s happening inside his head. Repeat that two more times. Make sure to include sensory details as well. The reader needs to feel the fight in order to sympathize with the protagonist.
IV. Take Away
The fight is finished, and the protagonist has either won or lost. Either way, he’ll need to decide what to do next. How will he take what has happened and use it? Every fight needs to have lasting consequences and an impact on the story. Let him process what happened in the fight and how it affects his future.
Final Thoughts
My favorite advice about fight scenes is this: a fight is a conversation with fists. It’s not about what moves or words you use. It’s about what is being communicated and revealed to others. Characters need to walk away from a fight having learned a lesson or conveyed a message or both. While fights are cool to watch, they are not fun to read step-by-step. The reader needs to be able to follow what is happening, but they really want to know how it feels. Giving readers the internal reactions and sensory details of a fight is more impactful than having a cool sequence of moves. Then if you can carry that impact from the fight scene into the rest of the book with meaningful consequences, you will have happy readers.
Thanks for reading!
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