Writing a fight scene in a story might seem intimidating.
How can you possibly make a bout between two people as interesting as a movie or TV show?
Thankfully, it’s not actually that hard! And there’s some tips and tricks to help.
During the last stream, the subscribers voted that we talk about how to write a fight scene.
Watch the video here for the full discussion plus examples from Harry Potter and Hunger Games, or just scroll down for highlights.
#1. THINGS TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE THE FIGHT SCENE
- What is your character’s motivation for the fight?
- What do they hope to accomplish by fighting?
- It takes a lot to drive someone to violence, so why here?
- If your character doesn’t care about the fight, then we won’t
- How does it affect the plot?
- How does the fight play into your bigger story?
- If the fight doesn’t feel connected, then we won’t care about it
- What are the stakes?
- What are the consequences of failure in the fight?
- If there are no stakes, then we won’t care about the outcome.
- All of this is partly why you don’t usually want to start your story with a fight scene, because the reader doesn’t know these three things yet!
#2. THINGS TO THINK ABOUT DURING THE FIGHT SCENE
- What NOT to do
- Don’t spell out every detail in a blow-by-blow description
- If it takes longer to read than it would to actually do, cut it
- Don’t use flowery language/similes/metaphors, just simple/tight
- What TO do
- Let the reader choreograph in their heads, Goldilocks-level detail
- Vary up the sentence length and structure
- Especially now, use ALL the senses
- Keep in mind that HOW your character fights says a lot about them
- Bloodthirsty and merciless? Show us their strength and glee
- Calm and tactical? Show us planning, keep the actual fight short
- Inexperienced and weak? Show cobbling together something
#3. THINGS TO THINK ABOUT AFTER THE FIGHT SCENE
- Show the reader the consequences of the fight
- It’s much more interesting for a character to be hurt than invincible
- How has the fight physically/mentally affected the character and/or their life?
Chat then voted that we write a fight scene between these two characters: a construction worker that uses their power drill for self-defense, and a martial artist who hates visual artists.
Here’s what we came up with:
Jax ran down to the basement of the hotel, drilling through the lock to the boiler room, and threw open the door. Standing there, deadly fists raised in the air, was just what he’d expected.
“Ceno!” Jax yelled.
Ceno gave Jax the briefest look with his fiery eyes. He reeled back one of his straight palms, covered in white bandages like the rest of his arms and legs, and sent it crashing into the concrete foundation.
It slid into the wall like a metal wedge. The entire building shook. Bits of dust crumbled from above, sprinkling into Jax’s eyes and mouth, but he didn’t so much as blink or cough. All it would take is another blow from Ceno’s deadly fists to bring the entire building down. Along with the thousands of people inside of it.
Jax yanked the power drill out of his holster and flicked the switch on his generator backpack.
“Stop it, Ceno!” Jax said. Flexing his drill with several whirring spins. “This is your last chance… it’s not a drill!”
Ceno merely smiled at Jax with his sharpened teeth and slicked bleach hair.
“Sorry, old chap,” he hissed. “But it’s time to teach this city a lesson about the dangers of pretentiousness. Buildings that are too fancy for their own good don’t deserve to stand!”
Ceno brought back his flattened fist for another go. Jax only had seconds before everything crumbled down. It was time to drill!
Pounding his heavy boots against the floor, Jax dashed toward Ceno. He thrust out the whirring drill right at Ceno’s head, but just before the sharp tip dug into the madman’s brain, he deftly stepped to the side. Jax smacked face-first into the concrete siding, sending his drill, tape measurer, and hammer falling to the ground. Chunks of the wall spilled away, dribbling lime and sand dust into his mouth.
Jax felt himself yanked backward. He swiveled his head to the side to see Ceno holding a palm right above his backpack generator.
“Now I finally get to bury you,” he hissed with glee. “And you finally get to meet all of your old friends. Give them my regards!”
Before Jax could move, Ceno slammed his palm onto his backpack, cracking it in half. The wires and metal insides cracked and sizzled with electricity, rendering all of Jax’s power tools useless.
But Jax didn’t give up. His legs bent from the force of Ceno’s blow, he grabbed his hammer from the ground and whirled it through the air. Ceno merely smacked it away, shuffled to the side, then whacked Jax in the back again with one of his bullet blows.
Jax stumbled across the room and collapsed to the floor. Behind him he could hear Ceno’s soft cloth-covered steps approaching him.
“You know what I hate most about your so-called ‘beautiful buildings?’” Ceno asked. “The fact that all the time used to build them could have been put to better use. It takes all the same tools to vomit out one of your curvy eyesores as it does to construct a building that actually has a purpose. The poor tools, the abuse you put them through! They deserve better.”
Jax pushed himself up to sitting, coughing through the lightning pain in his back.
“You know what?” he said. “You’re right.”
A look of surprise flashed across Ceno’s face. “Oh really?”
“The tools… they do deserve better. In fact, I’d say the tape measure should finally get its time to shine!”
Before Ceno even realized what was going to happen, Jax pressed the retract button on the tape measurer in his hand. He’d held onto it ever since Ceno had whacked him to the other side of the room, and now the yellow tape extended all the way across the floor.
Right between Ceno’s legs.
The tape immediately retracted back into the roll. Jax let go of the holder. The two ends flung toward each other, snapping to contact right where Ceno’s two thighs met. The crack of the tape was nothing compared to the crack of pain that erupted out of Ceno. He groaned and gripped himself. His bloodshot eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to his knees.
Slowly, Jax stood up and marched toward Ceno. He sat there, bobbling back and forth, veins popping out of his forehead while drool spilled from his open mouth. Jax clasped his chin in one hand.
“You’re too strong for hammers, and you broke my drill,” Jax said. “But thankfully, I have another way to seal the deal.”
With his other hand, Jax reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal spade and tiny bucket. On the side, the bucket read: Quikrete.
“This powder only needs one ingredient,” Jax said, cracking open the bucket with one hand. “Water. And guess what your body is already full of.”
Be sure to check out the video above for my reading of the story, as well as some more examples of fight scenes from books!
After that, chat voted that we write this prompt: Opening sentence: “I am a corpse on the return home.” Topic: Despair is in a relationship with long division.
Here’s what we came up with:
I am a corpse on the return home. In my hand, I hold my murder weapon. A white square blade slathered in red. It is a perverse cruelty, forcing the condemned to carry the weapon to their own executioner. As Jesus bore his cross through the crowds screaming for his death, I too walk toward my own inevitabile end. I break through the barrier and close it behind me. I shall never return to the side of sunshine and sweet breezes across my lips.
Not even a moment to savor the memory of the life that I had, my murderer demands her weapon with an open claw. I hold it out and let it go, closing my eyes and praying it will be swift. Unfortunately, she has a eulogy planned.
“Another D on a math test, Stephen? Come on. I know long division is hard, but there’s no need to despair like this.”
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso