Fighting scene? Full description or just "He smacked her"

[ScarletWeeb]

The story, I am currently writing is an action/fantasy story, so I have to write a lot of fighting scenes, so I want to know, how do you guys prefer the scenes should be? Should describe every movement or just a little bit? And how do you guys write fight scenes?

 

[NotaNuffian]

The story, I am currently writing is an action/fantasy story, so I have to write a lot of fighting scenes, so I want to know, how do you guys prefer the scenes should be? Should describe every movement or just a little bit? And how do you guys write fight scenes?

The answer is "what are you comfortable in?"

Or here.

Writing - [Tutorial] Writing ACTION 1: The Trick to Writing Action Scenes that Work

The Trick to Writing Action Scenes that Work: Action THEN Reaction! The #1 Most Common cause of Confusion in Action sequences...? Putting the Reaction BEFORE the Action. WARNING! This tutorial is NOT meant for those do Creative Writing. This essay was originally written for writers seeking...

forum.scribblehub.com

 

[BlackKnightX]

The story, I am currently writing is an action/fantasy story, so I have to write a lot of fighting scenes, so I want to know, how do you guys prefer the scenes should be? Should describe every movement or just a little bit? And how do you guys write fight scenes?

Capture the moment instead of every little movement. Capture the feeling.

For example: if there’s a spar between two great sword masters, when the two clash their swords, it’s extremely fast, normal people would see it as a blur. How will you describe such a scene, then?

You can’t just get into every bit of movement there, can you? It’s gonna be a very tiring read.

Just capture the moment. The intensity and the fierceness of the clashes. How the sparks are flying. The sounds it produces. Just capture the feeling. Feeling will always be better than physical movement.

 

[Grandloaf]

Do just enough to give the reader a feel of what is happening. Don't go into too much detail cause that ruins pacing and don't even bother trying to get the reader to see the fight scene exactly as you see it in your mind cause you can't.

 

[Asami_Shirogane]

Expand upon fight scenes only when those characters/mobs become relevant or if helps the MC grow as a character later down the story. If they're able to dispatch of them with relative ease, it shouldn't take up no more than a paragraph or two.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Write what you want to read, and someone else will also love it.

 

[MissPaige36]

The story, I am currently writing is an action/fantasy story, so I have to write a lot of fighting scenes, so I want to know, how do you guys prefer the scenes should be? Should describe every movement or just a little bit? And how do you guys write fight scenes?

Find your favorite novel or a fighting novel that has good choreographed fights and try to understand it and then try using that information to make your own fight. I’ve done this… not been that successful but I’m better with pacing and fights now. It’s like drawing. You have to fail to get better ^^

 

[Silver_Sky]

It shouldn't be too much or too little. One is too tiring to read and the other leaves one frustrated.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

The story, I am currently writing is an action/fantasy story, so I have to write a lot of fighting scenes, so I want to know, how do you guys prefer the scenes should be? Should describe every movement or just a little bit? And how do you guys write fight scenes?

Depends on if it's more of a comedy or a serious work. I dont care for details as long as it fits with the comedic tone of the story. If it is.
Like, "without preamble, he kicked the fuck out of her and sent her flying like a fart in the wind."

Vs

" without warning, he lashed out with a swift kick to her ribcage. He struck hard and with deadly precision, feeling the crack of bone as his boot connected to her center. She was sent stumbling back, the wind knocked from her lungs."

 

[Noel_Elitia]

to be honest, sometimes my single fighting scene takes an entire chapter of 6-8k words, and i think i like writing that way a lot

 

[ScarletWeeb]

Depends on if it's more of a comedy or a serious work. I dont care for details as long as it fits with the comedic tone of the story. If it is.
Like, "without preamble, he kicked the fuck out of her and sent her flying like a fart in the wind."

Vs

" without warning, he lashed out with a swift kick to her ribcage. He struck hard and with deadly precision, feeling the crack of bone as his boot connected to her center. She was sent stumbling back, the wind knocked from her lungs."

Yeah, my story is more on the serious side, I will try to do that.
Thanks

 

[CheertheDead]

It highly depends on your preference.

Hardcore action usually sticks with detailed fighting, while casual action skipped most of them. Each of them offers different thing to the audiences and each of them serves different purpose for the author.

Usually graphic description of a fighting scene is much more difficult to do properly than concluding the result in a poetic way.

Some novels though would benefit the most if there is a good ratio between the two.

As per rule of necessity, you would want to keep thing simple if the fight is not important.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I feel like "he smacked her" is funnier and to the point. Though since you're writing action, you should describe more

 

[BearlyAlive]

If it's an important fight, show how the fighters move/fight and then don't really focus on the fight itself anymore. Focus more on the characters, their thoughts and their motivations.

The worst you can do is describing so much it breaks the flow.

 

[ScarletWeeb]

If it's an important fight, show how the fighters move/fight and then don't really focus on the fight itself anymore. Focus more on the characters, their thoughts and their motivations.

The worst you can do is describing so much it breaks the flow.

“Crimson Rush” Sakuma screamed as his arms became bigger and broader, his torso became humongous, and his legs became tighter and muscular. His red hair grew longer and his canines were longer and sharper.

He positioned his hands like a claw, and a crimson aura engulfed them, creating a big, sharp claws, which could tear through titanium.

He then rushed towards the purple monster in front of him, and started attacking its chest with his claws, there was a glow on the man’s face, it appeared as if he was enjoying it to his heart’s content.

“Not bad” The purple monster said as it took the attacks to his chest, “But, now it’s my turn”

The monster then punched the man in front of it, launching the man a few meters away. After launching the punch, it rushed towards Sakuma to launch a second blow.

As it moved towards Sakuma, a blackish-red aura started forming around its hand and forearm, and with that arm it punched Sakuma.

After receiving the second blow to his torso, Sakuma crashed in a tree, he was all bloodied up, and he slowly started reverting to his original form. The monster then went ahead to kick Sakuma who was a meter away from it.







Is something like this good?

 

[BearlyAlive]

“Crimson Rush” Sakuma screamed as his arms became bigger and broader, his torso became humongous, and his legs became tighter and muscular. His red hair grew longer and his canines were longer and sharper.

He positioned his hands like a claw, and a crimson aura engulfed them, creating a big, sharp claws, which could tear through titanium.

He then rushed towards the purple monster in front of him, and started attacking its chest with his claws, there was a glow on the man’s face, it appeared as if he was enjoying it to his heart’s content.

“Not bad” The purple monster said as it took the attacks to his chest, “But, now it’s my turn”

The monster then punched the man in front of it, launching the man a few meters away. After launching the punch, it rushed towards Sakuma to launch a second blow.

As it moved towards Sakuma, a blackish-red aura started forming around its hand and forearm, and with that arm it punched Sakuma.

After receiving the second blow to his torso, Sakuma crashed in a tree, he was all bloodied up, and he slowly started reverting to his original form. The monster then went ahead to kick Sakuma who was a meter away from it.


Is something like this good?

Still a bit heavy on exposition for my taste, though. From what I can see Sakuma seems to be a battle junkie in this form, so you could capitalize on that for a bit more. And maybe a bit more about the monster depending on if you just want it to humilate him, utterly crush him or maybe even teach him something. Without further knownledge my take on this particular scene would be something like that:

"Crimson Rush" Sakuma howled as his body grew and took on a more feral form. His crimson hair had turned into a mane and his wolfish grin had turned even more savage as he had grown fangs.

He gave in to his instincts and a crimson aura engulfed his hands, turning them into claws he knew could tear through anything in his path.

With a joyful scream he rushed at the purple monster in front of him, his claws eager to tear through its flesh.

But they didn't tear. The monster didn't even flinch.

"Not bad" the purple monster said, taking the full brunt of his claws. "But now it's my turn"

The first blow sent Sakuma flying but it didn't stop there and followed up with a second strike powered up even more by a blackish-red aura.
His flight took a miserable end as he cashed into a tree, completely beaten up and his powers waning, turning him back into his original form. All he could see was the monster that slowly walked up to him without a care in the world.

I personally think the Why and How is more important in fights than the What. There's a good video on writing fighting scenes by Hello Future Me that might help.

 

[ScarletWeeb]

Still a bit heavy on exposition for my taste, though. From what I can see Sakuma seems to be a battle junkie in this form, so you could capitalize on that for a bit more. And maybe a bit more about the monster depending on if you just want it to humilate him, utterly crush him or maybe even teach him something. Without further knownledge my take on this particular scene would be something like that:



I personally think the Why and How is more important in fights than the What. There's a good video on writing fighting scenes by Hello Future Me that might help.

Thanks, I will check it out

Still a bit heavy on exposition for my taste, though. From what I can see Sakuma seems to be a battle junkie in this form, so you could capitalize on that for a bit more. And maybe a bit more about the monster depending on if you just want it to humilate him, utterly crush him or maybe even teach him something. Without further knownledge my take on this particular scene would be something like that:



I personally think the Why and How is more important in fights than the What. There's a good video on writing fighting scenes by Hello Future Me that might help.

Yes Sakuma is a battle junkie, and I am trying to make the monster humiliate him.

 

[Derin_Edala]

Depends. What's the point of the scene? And what are you best at writing?