writing fight scenes

Battlehymn Republic · Post by **Battlehymn Republic** » 2006-01-03 06:36pm

I'm writing a Matrix fanfiction right now, and I'm having trouble writing the fight scenes. I'm not sure how much I should describe the action, so I'm considering on trying a completely ludicrous yet awesome way. Does anyone have any pointers?

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-01-03 06:44pm

If it's awesome, then go for it. When I write fight scenes, I tend to use runon sentences, which might or might not work. If it's short, you can describe it blow-by-blow; otherwise, you might want to go the way of the Inigo Montoya vs. Wesley fight in Princess Bride, which, IMHO, is one of the best-written fight scenes ever.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-01-03 07:15pm

I generally describe fights from the perspective of one of the combatants, although not to the extent that it becomes a first-person narrative. To clarify, I mean rather than saying "the combatants warred back and forth across the room, neither one able to land a blow on the other", I would likely write "The man gave ground to the other, and then swiftly retook it, all the while searching his opponent for some small weakness, a foot hold. There was none."

Oh, and if you want insanely awesome, go for it.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-01-03 10:55pm

I try to have any big description of what is going on before fight starts, so my scenes can be spar and hectic. I would advise writing the scene a couple of different ways and then going with the way that you like best.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-01-03 11:52pm

I've got an untitled piece somewhere in the FF forum that is nothing more than a series of hand-to-hand set pieces written from first person. I should really get back to that one at some point.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-01-03 11:58pm

Untitled Genre Piece, a little test story of mine.

General Soontir Fel · Post by **General Soontir Fel** » 2006-01-04 12:44am

The most important thing is that you see the environment and the initial and final states of both combatants very clearly in your mind.

Once you have that, the fight is going to write itself, and then you can reread it, see how it appears in your mind, and make changes to get the feel you want across.

Acting out some parts might also help.