RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#2
I couldn't say for sure, but it's about skimming over what the reader finds boring and detailing what the reader finds interesting. Have a protagonist that fights in an interesting way helps as well.

Take Legendary Moonlight Sculptor as an example. The author makes it clear that he's fighting using strategies.

There's also the protagonists who bungle their way through a fight to comedic effect.

Then there's the human blender type protagonists who fight by ripping his opponents apart.

Point is that you have to come up with a style that your readers can get attached too and enjoy. Too many authors just have the protagonist blandly bang their swords together.

RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#5
'troubled salmon' pid='818070' dateline='1478995183' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='818068' dateline='1478992294' Wrote: Depends what you mean by improve.

Do you mean the techniques your characters use, the build-up to the fight, the length of the fight, the writing style, or just general advice?

I'm asking for general advice, like what makes a fight interesting, how long should it be etc?

In terms of format I very much like to use this quote below, with the finishing blow being the final sentence before the after effect is just a few words. Of course, it won't work with every scene but for important ones I think paying careful attention to formatting and word choice is important:

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.” 

? Gary Provost

In terms of what I think makes a fight interesting and length I think the build up matters more than the actual fight. No one wants to read 1000 words on a fight that doesn't even matter, alternatively, unless it's intentional, building up an important fight only for it to end in a few sentences can be disappointing unless it's meant to showcase the overwhelming power of a character.

The build-up being training of certain skills, the depiction of the foe and, the severity of the situation. Perhaps a long period of time/distance(as in within the novel's world) before actually reaching the fight. 

Like recently after a long and brutal fight that may have left some readers wondering if my MC is that strong, I built-up to a hunt and had a brutal scene right before it, only for the MC to destroy his opponents with little effort. 

People seem to like my story but I rarely get specific feedback on fight scenes(I do not, however, get complaints) other than the occasional epic so I can't be sure if my fight scenes are that interesting...

but as Reader, 

I believe these factors are what make fight scenes interesting. 

In the end, not every fight scene has to be super interesting or super exciting. That's important to remember as well.

RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#6
For a detailed simple 1v1 fist-fight (or sword fight), I'd generally make it short, over in (at most), half a page, otherwise it can get repetitive and the movements eventually would jumble up into a big messy blob of, "who's winning again?"

In fantasy, you can drag out a 1v1 magical fight across chapters if you want... as long as you keep introducing new crazy super moves (or whatever) to keep it interesting and suspenseful.

Anything else, pretty sure Aternus already covered and I'd need to see your writing for specified advise.
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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#7
There's already a lot of great advice here, but I want to touch on something specific. Remember that unlike visual media, fights in books can't survive off of action alone. This certainly isn't always true, but if every single fight scene is just a description of movements and actions, they'll all meld together and be forgettable.

Great fight scenes are usually ones that have a major impact on the plot or a character's growth. If they don't, then they probably shouldn't go on for too long. In many cases, a fight between two known characters is just an intense method of communication. They have two clashing ideologies or goals and their fight is the exciting medium that decides a winner and a loser.

...Rereading that, it kind of sounds like I'm talking out of my ass. Regardless, my point is that a fight scene needs more than just descriptions of attacks. What your characters think about a fight and the circumstances around it are just as important as the fight itself.
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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#8
I think the main thing with writing a good fight scene is to get out of the MC's head. The MC's perceptions of a fight often aren't all that interesting. A MC is more interested in "how do I counter this?" or "evaluating" the approach to the battle. This can work, but I find it can drain interest from an exciting scene.

If the MC is the engine in the exciting scene, show the scene from someone else's POV. This often can make a scene seem EPIC since we are no longer hearing the MC describe what he wants to do, and rather get to see what others are seeing when the MC fights. I find the best action scenes with whatever I write are done from changing points of view, either from the eyes of the MC or the eyes of participants, or from the eyes of unrelated observers, it can provide commentary, excitement, and maintain mystery. When the MC is losing a fight against an overpowered foe, is about the only time I like showing the MC's POV; because those are the battles where the mindset and panic of the MC can be best examined.
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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#9
In my opinion, the fight scene itself isn't the exact or the only thing that's important in making the fight itself better; I think it starts on creating a good and convincing reason to fight in other words emotional stakes or plot stakes in the fight.

Once that is done, the details of the movements of characters will be a plus point especially the details about keeping tabs on the current location/position and pose of the fighters.

I am not really a fan of dialogue while fighting, so just a personal preference I'd like to say that you should keep it to a minimum to keep the fight realistic. Remember, you're doing a fight scene not an argument; but there are cases where there should be a lot of dialogue for example when someone is attacking someone because of a misunderstanding and the person being attacked has to explain the misunderstanding something like that.

Anyway hopefully I gave out some helpful tips but I'm relatively a rookie too so I won't take my words too seriously.

Cheers!

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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#10
My two cents on how to improve would be to a) like bc said, read more books that 'do' action scenes well (worm by wildbow does it amazingly well for a webnovel) and b) don't treat the fight scene as a fight 'scene' i.e. make sure that it is a part of your wider story and contributes to the story in some way (maybe not plot-wise but perhaps by increasing the pace or setting the tone or something of that sort) Basically, avoid 'fights' for the sake of fights and consider them more like actions taken by your characters in response to certain situations.
Good luck!
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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#12
If you're doing it with a narrator, I have no idea, I suck at that part myself.

But if you're writing from a first person's point of view, make it short, intense, personal and senseful.
One-on-one fights are rarely very long, unless you're very evenly matched. You rarely have the time to stand around and talk, because you don't have the luxury of concentrating on that when you're in a life or death situation.
Instead, focus on your characters internal monolougue, his brain is in overdrive so make it erratic and chaotic rather than cold and speculative, unless he's very used to fighting.
Finally, include sensations whenever you can. If he tumbles on the ground, make him taste the dirt and feel the sting on his palms. If an explosion occurs, his ears are going to ring. If he's hit in the gut, he won't be breathing for at least a few seconds.

Then again, I'm a total noob at this, and I'm talking entirely out of my arse.
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RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#13
Two characters trading blows is boring, no matter how awesome their abilities are. If you want to make your fight interesting:

1 - Dangerous environment - Example: Fighting on the plains? Boring. Fighting in the middle of a world storm that is ripping mountains apart and throwing them in the air? While your two characters are flying, trying to stay above the clouds while the other kicks him down? Awesome (That's the book ending fight of Words of Radiance)

2 - Change the weapons for something else - Example: Two swordsman fighting? Boring. Two aristocrats facing each other in a royal ball, one trying to convince the other nobles that the other one responsible for the oncoming war? Awesome (That's the book ending fight of Volume 1 of Dungeon Defense

3 - Put your MC against actually impossible odds, failure causing the death of a person he cares about, when you have already killed other characters - Example: A slime facing off against two heavenly dragons, the most powerful human in history and an undefeatable army? When we know the slime never loses and gains new powers when he needs? Boring. A weak teenage wizard facing off against a dark wizard who can crush the mightiest wizards in history, with a friend at his side? Awesome (do I even have to say this one? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Take my advices with a grain of salt. I'm not a writer, just a reader who skips a lot of fight scenes because I think they are boring.

Corollary: I think it's impossible to write an interesting fight when you are describing a training session between your MC and his teacher/friend.

RE: How do I make fight scenes better?

#14
I should tell you beforehand that I am a complete newbie who has started to write two month ago and I haven't wrote that much in that time period.

It depends in the kind of fight.

If your fight doesn't have too much energy balls and beams, then try to look at a real fight or even better, try to experience a real fight (with all the safety measures of course, being hit hurts and hitting someone is scary since a human dies way too easily).

If you don't have a fighting partner, then you can try to imitate the movements that you are imagining.

I used a combination of the two above mentioned tips for the few fighting scenes that I wrote.

If the fight have a lot of energy ball, beams and stuffs like dragon ball, then try to make a great setting with short words. Avoid over-explaining every single power that the characters use and try to stick with abilities that the character already had.

An example of super powered battles:

***
All the main character's abilities are already known for the reader. The main character is in a fight where he absolutely needs to win.

"Light Saber!" I swung with all my power.
"Snow Wall!" She got enveloped in a storm of snowflakes as thick as a barrier.
My Light Saber is being stopped by the snow. But I can't lose here!

"Uwoooh!" I added more and more power.
Pierce it! Pierce it! Pierce it!
My Light Saber is slowly advancing through that snowstorm.

Just a little more... Come on!

"Storm!" An ice whirlwind appeared in the midst of that snow barrier, aiming for my head.
"Light Screen!" Following my instinct, I made an extra thick one.

Boom!

The Storm clashed with the Light Screen. The impact froze everything surrounding me, but my Light Screen is firm. I am unharmed.
However, her attack hasn't disappeared yet.

"Flux!" That ice whirlwind changed direction, circumventing the unyielding Light Screen to head towards me. The tornado of death is quickly reaching its real objective.

This is bad!

"Ligh...Gaah!"

My chest was pierced. I couldn't protect in time... this is really bad. I... I...

"Light Saber!"

***

Well something like this.