Having a problem create an exciting fight scene

GreyJackass

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So lately I've been reading a manhwa called Weak Hero (there's also a live-action series from Korea, but it's not as good as the manhwa).

Story-wise, it was pretty standard (teenage arguments, bullying, and silly conflicts between groups of thugs). But, it was the fight scenes that drew me in.

It was so intense, brutal, and real. Not real 'real', but it was something that made you think, "Why hasn't anyone done this before?"

The MC is the kind of person who doesn't hesitate to use dirty means to win. For example, when fighting three guys who ambushed him after school, he beat them with a belt; a pencil; and a tie. He only stopped when his enemies were almost dead or battered.

I tried to recreate the fight in writing, but it always felt like it was missing something and seemed contrived.

Is there a way to effectively create an intense fight scene?
 
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J_Chemist

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Edit: Watch those videos! They have more information than my post that is significantly more useful!

Through the careful use of descriptive words and powerful, weighty sentences. You want to be able to capture the impact of the movements, the blows, and the fight itself. If someone gets hit in the face, what happens? Their brain shakes. They spit. Their jaw cracks or jerks. They probably wince, flinch, or get angrier.

Describe not just the action itself, but what it causes. When someone gets stabbed, skin is split, muscles are severed, blood is splattered. When a sword strikes a shield, if the shield is metal, sparks fly and the impact causes a clang. Both parties recoil in some fashion and their bodies move. The defender will likely brace and may stagger. The attacker might have their sword bounce off and have to catch themselves.

Envision what happens and use those descriptors to paint the picture in the mind of your reader. You want enough information to where the reader can see the movie in their heads, but don't go too deep that you're describing muscle fibers. Just enough to get the picture and then move on.

Also- pacing is important. A lot happens in 5 seconds during a fight. Even 30 seconds is a long time. When one attack hits, you better be lining up the next or your opponent is going to capitalize. It's a barrage of movement and very, very fast. They say hesitation in battle gets you killed, and that's real life. If you flinch, hiccup, twitch, or pause for just a fraction too long, a veteran is going to take your soul and you have no one to complain to but yourself. Make sure that speed also reflects in your writing.

In Light Novels, Movies, and other media, we see plenty of times where people stop and talk. Mages can cast spells that take several seconds. All of that spacing is non-sense. In a real head on battle, you ain't talking. You're trying to get oxygen and while you're fighting, you're shouting over the chaos at any allies with you. If they're listening, they might answer. Otherwise, everyone is tunnel visioned which means you're probably fucked as a leader and good luck getting any orders out.

In a one-on-one fight, you're stopping only if you're in control and make time to talk through a certain move or you're getting your ass whipped and your brain is firing on all cylinders trying to get yo stoopid self out of the mess you made.

Kind of rambled. Lots of random details together. Hope it helps. I have a few fight scenes in my novel if you want to see how I do them. Let me know and I can find the chapters with examples. I don't consider myself a pro, but it's something.
 
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Temple

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So lately I've been reading a manhwa called Weak Hero
You already received writing advice up there, I'm going to add what's missing and the central key piece of Weak Hero. He's a "weak hero." Think about it. If he's Dwayne the Rock Johnson in high school beating up others, it would give a different feeling. But because he's short and kind of effeminate looking, his fighting style makes sense and also feels more brutal than if a buff dude did it. So there's the underdog ingredient there, accented by his way of fighting.

If he's a wimpy-looking back guy but a secret martial arts master, that would remove the feeling. No, he's a weak guy who uses underhanded tactics to win and is extremely brutal, because he shouldn't give his much stronger opponents a chance to beat him up. I believe this is what gives you the different feeling to Weak Hero, because there are so many OP MCs around. Weak Hero is not OP at all but very cunning, resourceful, and fierce.

Lastly, there's the ingredient of revenge/sense of justice. Revenge goes very well with the underdog trope. This is why in chinese novels there are just so many assholes along the way that the MC meets. It's a cheap way of evoking the sense of revenge/justice. If the MC was the one in the wrong, would the fights evoke the same feeling? No. He's weak. He's the underdog. He fights dirty. His asshole enemies get what they deserve. The thrill and excitement is there during the fight, culminating when he wins a fight that he should've lost.

Essentially, by talking about Weak Hero, what you're looking for is not "how to write" a fight scene, but "how to set up" a fight scene.
 

ACertainPassingUser

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Have you ever read "exciting" fight on the "source material" of the Film/Anime/Manga/Manhwa ?

Try to read the Novel source material of those exciting Manga/Anime you've interested in.
 

NitroxDarks

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Be descriptive, make sure those words can impact. But for that, you can only experiment, you may want to trial and error, erasing all the things you've done, but that is just one way I wouldn't do it. After like 200-300 chapters, in a fighting scene that was semi-long (3-4 chapters, 3k words each), I felt so frustrated by the end of writing it all, but when I published it, my number 1 reader commented that he basically liked it a damn lot. I was glad, and knew of what my own efforts could do.

I haven't yet read Sanderson, but heard so much about him, especially from my daddy bear (joke, okay?) streamer which has book/reading clubs with his chat every now and then, but even if you do like what most incredible writers do, even if you mimic them (which is more than fine), you will always just have to try it yourself and not be afraid of them not being good enough. That's how you learn, unless your an 'AI' that wasn't cheaply introduced to an app or something.

*Oh right, it all has to make sense, if you nerf either you enemies or your 'MCs' or the ones that are good to the reader's point of view even if they are gray; it must all make sense, it must all feel like you would really be able to watch that in a video or animation. So things like 'jenny thrust her spear at tomas, tomas blocked her leg and attacked her with his fist, when his kick kicked in, jenny threw her sword into her pussy'. You know what I mean.
 
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