Put up your dukes! Writing action scenes that punch

Although author Scott Bell's discussion at the recent meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas was titled "Writing Action Scenes." But although "action, technically, is anything except dialogue and description," what he had in mind was "action that involves some level of peril."

And yes, specifically fight scenes. But whether they involve micro or macro levels of peril--think a fist fight versus the Battle of Waterloo--fight scenes are some of the most difficult in a writer's repertoire.

So why write such scenes? Like all action, fight scenes are the stuff of character-building--the number one concern of every writer. They also are huge building blocks of suspense--the element that keeps readers turning pages long after bedtime. 

And since anything this important--whether it's a minor street fight or a full-blown battlefield--is worth doing well, Bell identified four elements for writing fight scenes that take readers' breath away:

1. Characters we care about
2. Consequences 
3. Choreography
4. Conclusions

"If you don't care about (the characters) the action falls flat," Bell told his audience.

I couldn't agree more. One of my biggest gripes about action narratives is the opening with violent action involving anonymous victims. A bad example I remember from a book whose title is best forgotten was, "The killing began at noon." Wait--killing of who? Or what? And why? Book closed, and without even the guilt I might feel about turning away from a news story of an atrocity because--it was fiction. These weren't even real people!

Besides occurring with characters we readers actually can care about because, though fictional, their authors have done the heavy lifting of characterization, "the action has to be expressive and organic. . .it comes naturally in the story," Bell said.

image: pixabay

It also must be within the character's range of capability. Unless we already know the character is Superwoman, it's no fair suddenly bestowing her with muscles of steel. Remember that issue of "characterization"? If not, check out my posts on writer Tex Thompson's tips for combining character with action.

And just as readers need to care about the people involved in the perilous action, they also need to have reasons to care about the consequences of those actions. What bad things will happen if/when the hero fails? How will the story's tension escalate? 

And just as it's not fair to endow a character with unexplainable powers, Bell also warned against interrupting the suspension of disbelief required from our readers. Remember the truism of Chekov's gun? That if a gun appears in the first act, it must be fired by the end of the story? Similarly, if a gun is fired late in the story, that story's author must have prepared the reader by introducing the gun earlier in the narrative. The gun (or whatever is necessary for the resolution) cannot appear out of the blue.

Are you asking by now, when will we get down to actually writing the action? Have I kept you in suspense long enough? Here are some of Bell's suggestions about choreographing that action you're panting for.

Write it in short, choppy sentences. Or the opposite--long and breathless sentences. Sometimes we can even use them together, Bell said. (Personally, I favor short sentences for the beginning, some long ones in the middle, with short sentences again at the end to put the brakes on.) 

How short? "I don't usually tell you to violate the rules of grammar," Bell said, but sentences consisting of only one word can be effective. And consider how the visual layout of the scene on the page, with frequent paragraph breaks and even one-word paragraphs. 

And while we're discussing breaks, remember scene breaks as well. These can also be places to change point of view characters, most especially when writing with multiple points of view.

Even though it’s a scene of peril, don’t forget to add in sensory information and even dialogue.

And forget "filtering"--that insertion of the author between herself and the audience. Maybe it works in some situations, Bell said, but not during action!

Unsure what "filtering" is? It's what occurs when the author adds tags such as "he felt," "she saw," "they heard," to the scene. In well-written action scenes (with peril!) there should be no doubt who's seeing, hearing and feeling the action. If a punch hits someone's gut, we'll know who's feeling it!

Speaking of punch, "exercise your verbs!" Bell urged his audience. Nothing against adverbs, "but in action scenes you probably want to avoid them," he said, recommending thesaurus.com to locate punchier versions of too-tired verbs.  

Finally, take a deep breath. Think about the conclusion of this wonderful action scene you've written. Who won? Or did they? What shape are they in? ("No magical healing," Bell warned, perhaps anticipating another of my pet peeves--the tough guy who underwent multiple head blows without consequences. What, no concussion? No swollen eyes, no broken nose, no missing teeth?) 

At the end, what shape is the character's world in? Or her street? Or his marriage? Leaving readers a conclusion they can sigh over, cry over, and, best hope of all, read the next chapter. Or even the next book.