Why does is suck so much to write a battle scene?.

[CarburetorThompson]

I blame the fact that battle scenes need to be written immersively to avoid it being a list of actions. It is a difficult skill to learn.

I first write it as a list of actions then go over and edit it into something that’s readable

edit things like varied sentence length, and make sure every paragraph doesn’t start with the same word (usually I or a character name)

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

Oh, I love writing action scenes. It's where I can show cool stuff! Gore mostly gore. You have to balance the description of what the blow does and the reaction of everyone around you. Don't forget the terrain too, as it changes with each step a soldier does. Also, the way a character feels when being struck or having lost.

A good battle scene is like a good love scene. The action must be described and must flow naturally with as little dialog as possible. At least that's what I like!

The sounds of metal clinking and bashing from movement surrounded the air. It was followed by a loud screech from their foe, running to the base of the mountain. Finally, the dark drake forces were diminished, and he was cornered. The hero shifted his stand against the giant lizard in front of him. The victory he sought was so close he could taste it.

"We must not falter! He's coming down!" He screamed, rushing towards his foe.

"Follow him! Victory is at hand!" His faithful friends cheered from behind.

However, in battle, a slight slip means the ends of others. In the haste for victory, the hero didn't spot a change in the air. The drake before him had called for help with that screech. In an instant, the battle shifted when an enormous shadow covered everything. The next thing they knew, a large winged creature covered their view.

They could barely make out what it was when...

"Oh! What the--" Before the hero could finish that thought, crimson flames rained down on them.

Just as fast as the battle started, it was over. All that was left from the hero's party was scorched corpses and ash. The victory they sought was taken in mere moments. Among the devastation, there was my sole survivor. The hero fell onto his knees, unable to understand he had lost everything.

Just got inspired to write this. Usually, I write in the first-person view, but I think I did okay.

 

[RiaCorvidiva]

I have to admit, I'm definitely not great at action sequences either. Just have to keep writing them and hopefully eventually I'll write one that people enjoy.

I think it's because I tend to write very flowing, strewn-out prose, which doesn't mesh well with a gritty, punchy fight sequence.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

The problem is mostly people don't understand combat.

Combat isn't a thing. It's a QUESTION. What is the question? Now THAT is the point of combat.

For example, is the question: Who is going to die? Often not. If the MC is involved, you know he ain't dying. So What is the QUESTION?

How is he going to win? What is he trying to save? Who is he protecting? WHY is he fighting? What will is COST HIM?

These are the REAL questions. THEN, you write the scene to answer the question in a fashion that has maximum tension.

 

[Story_Marc]

What exactly are you struggling with? I'd say the reason so many suck at it is just, frankly, skill issues.

What do so many I encounter lack? An understanding of combat mechanics or how to balance it well with theatre. Or to actually tell a story with the theatre. Then there's the fact so many write instead of having any knowledge of technical skills, so they suck at pacing and clarity and sentence variance and descriptive precision. Then, some people overemphasize that one side and don't know how to balance the psychological or emotional side.

Fight scenes are artistically demanding. I've found many just don't want to raise themselves to the challenge.

I only started feeling I could write it in a way I found artistically satisfying last year after I put myself through some research and practice. For a small excerpt of where I'm at with writing them now (as this isn't the full fight)...

Wynn stepped into the center of the room, where the lounge chairs would’ve been positioned if not already moved. Then he spread his legs, raised his arms, and balled his hands into fists. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“Heh.” Crow lifted a bottle on the counter, angling it just so a stream of ruby liquid flowed into a shot glass. “Let’s do this.”

He clutched the shot glass and gulped down the shot in one smooth motion. His throat visibly worked to swallow the liquid.

With that, his gaze hardened. His shoulders squared. Dropping into a fighter’s crouch, he edged forward into the cleared space.

Crow will get an early boost, Wynn calculated. He was going to feel like he could take on the world for a few minutes. He wouldn’t feel much pain either.

However, that kind of power came at a cost.

Alcohol was a depressant, not a booster. It was going to sap his speed, dull his movements. And the more he downed, the less he’d stand.

Wynn just had to outlast him – which was the plan to begin with. After all, Crow had smoke in his lungs on top of the booze in his veins. Stamina was not going to be his friend.

The world simplified as it narrowed to what little space remained. Wynn stood rooted, yet not immobile. Inside, a storm brewed – adrenaline sharpened his senses to a razor’s edge.

Crow halted just beyond reach and an electric current of tension buzzed through the air.

Then, as if triggered by an unseen signal, he exhaled a mist.

What the— Wynn began to think as he dodged back, but then Crow darted through the dissipating cloud and launched a jab at his face. Instinctively, he raised his forearm, deflecting the blow aside.

Without a breath's pause, Crow dipped and shot a side punch at Wynn’s ribs. Wynn tightened and shielded himself with his elbow. The impact jolted through him, more annoyance than pain.

Crow, relentless, pivoted on his heel, launching a hook towards Wynn's temple. Wynn ducked, slipping under the sweeping blow, and narrowed his eyes.

Here was his opening.

Wynn thrust his hand forward – not for a punch, but for the sash. His fingers seized the rough fabric, but as he clutched victory, Crow’s momentum turned into a whirlwind. Pulled by Crow transforming his missed hook into a spin, Wynn stumbled forward as the belt ripped from his grasp.

Damn it all! Wynn cursed as his hand hit the floor, steadying himself just in time.

As he pushed up, Crow – now fully turned – snapped a sharp, straight kick.

Wynn flung himself to the side, avoiding the blow, and his back briefly met the ground. Then, with a swift thrust of his hands and legs, he sprang to his feet and raised his guard.

Crow rotated to face Wynn with steady, raised arms. “I’m mildly im—”

Wynn fired his own straight kick, but Crow swiftly stepped back, and the kick whistled past his abdomen.

Can’t stop now, Wynn thought as he went for another straight kick, only for Alban to retreat again.

Undeterred, Wynn persisted, executing another straight kick which Crow dodged.

“Seriously?” Alban said. “Same—”

Wynn fired a fourth straight kick and Crow withdrew further, closer to the wall.

“Try that one more time,” Crow gritted, “see what happens!”

As Wynn’s leg lifted for yet another kick, Crow blitzed in.

Think again! Wynn gloated as he aborted the kick and unleashed an open palm strike. He cracked against Crow’s jaw with the precision of a master sculptor chiseling his final touch.

Crow’s head whipped back as he fought to keep balance, his backward stumbling a desperate scramble for stability.

Wynn fired his fifth straight kick, but this time, his attack found its mark. His foot slammed into Crow’s abdomen and wrenched a sharp cry out of his mouth.

As Crow folded forward from the impact, Wynn snaked his arm around Alban’s neck and cinched in a chokehold.

 

[MasFaqih]

What exactly are you struggling with? I'd say the reason so many suck at it is just, frankly, skill issues.

What do so many I encounter lack? An understanding of combat mechanics or how to balance it well with theatre. Or to actually tell a story with the theatre. Then there's the fact so many write instead of having any knowledge of technical skills, so they suck at pacing and clarity and sentence variance and descriptive precision. Then some people overemphasize that one side and don't know how to balance the psychological or emotional side.

Fight scenes are artistically demanding. I've found many just don't actually want to raise themselves to the challenge.

It's more in action sequence actually,but it work for me somehow.

 

[Haku45]

Tell me why.

If you've established the rules of the world that make battles interesting, then sometimes they're fun to write. But battle scenes where there are more than two characters are a pain in the ass, to be honest.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Thank you, this is the most useful advice j can find.

Because of this guy,Iam able to write battle scene more beautifully.

Thank @OokamiKasumi , her guides are very helpful and you can find them here on the forum.

 

[quagma]

bc battles have like a billion things going on at once, then you ALSO gotta make it so it's properly emotional or dramatic. we hear some people draw it all up before writing em down.

 

[wresch]

I struggle every time I have a large number of characters. How do I account for them all? Do they all talk? Where are each of them? My solution - fewer characters. There are just so many I can manage. Classic solution? The Illiad. Best battle scenes ever - but all of it is in character-on-character fights. Seemed to work a couple millennia ago.

 

[Sylver]

Practice until you get better, that's the trick of it. Also be open minded, some scenes just aren't for the right person. Not everyone can write romance or action that well and that's okay.

If action isn't your best work then do it sparingly. That way you can practice how you write it so that overtime you can improve and build up more confidence.

Took me a few years before I felt confident about my action scenes.

 

[seahorsepink1]

normally, I just have a go at it and revise until I feel content. if you want a Naruto-type arc battle.... like they said, think about terrain, emotions, cause & effect, etc. but if it's a quick battle, think about the main point of why they're fighting. think about what their powers are, how are they going to use them, how the characters are going to react, what is the character's personality and how will that affect the actions of the character? you have to ask everything and answer everything. also think about the outcome of the battle.

 

[CrimsonGenius]

How will the MC win? Sometimes you can’t use fists to do the talking. The key is how can you use the environment to give you the win. Woops that rock wasn’t there when it hit your face.

 

[Tsuru]

Tell me why.

Because

"Humans are visual animals."




(from a CN 5years ago)

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Choose a formula and copy it. Just add flavour to make it a bit more unique. Because real fights are messy incoherent messes.

 

[Thraben]

For me at least:

The more 'realistic' you make combat (I am solely within the realm of medieval), the less your readers will believe it is realistic.

Combat is brutal, lightning fast, confusing, and complicated.

The layman's perception of combat is epic duels and shaky cameras, 'conservation of ninjutsu' and plot armor on blatant display, physics and logic are afterthoughts to what looks and sounds cool, even if the entire scene falls apart under scrutiny.

The reality...

An entire 35 page scientific paper's worth of information goes into determining the outcome of two dudes in leather armor going at it with swords on a windy day in the woods for 9 seconds total, but the layman doesn't know that, the layman knows anime swordfights and fighting games.

Writing combat that feels satisfying to the layman with no knowledge of combat is half the difficulty, and writing combat that isn't as technically awful as the layman believes combat to be is the other half.

 

[Beta_Krogoth]

I love writing a good action scene. I wrote a lengthy one where one of my protags fights against a bunch of space cannibals called the "Vora Barons" where she's using an oversized shotgun that fires 6kg tungsten shells. It was gorey, brutal and a hell of a lot of fun to write. I've always been good at picturing fights in my head, its just a case of getting them down into writing in a way that conveys the intensity of it. Different fighting styles and levels of strength also make scenes interesting in my work.

I have a nearly 10ft tall alien girl who isn't very skillful, but is overwhelmingly strong versus most people and tends up either tearing them to pieces or slamming them against walls and floors until they're nothing but paste.

Some advice from me, make your characters fight different. Have some skillful, some strong, some fast, different weapons and techniques. Makes the scenes more interesting for sure.

 

[Bartun]

I love writing battle scenes. I think I'm getting good at it.

To be fair, it's easier to write realistic fight scenes with real-world rules, at least for me, because I don't have to adjust to a 'system' constantly. My MC is a teenage girl who can barely fight and other characters are doing the fighting, so I can always play with who lives and who dies since is not the MC's life that is at stake. Of course that creates other issues but I think I'm making it work just fine.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

I think one of the reasons is because we are used to films/cartoons/anime but writing a novel is very different from directing these. Fims/cartoons/anime relay information in the form of pictures and sound, so battle scenes in these tend to be very dynamic and eye-catching. However, novels don't have that. You could never explain the beauty of a firework with just words, and neither will you be able to write a battle scene the same way you might depict it in a film/cartoon/anime. Books aren't good at giving precise visual details. Imagine taking some incredible fight scene from an anime and then writing every pose, punch, move and reaction in that scene. It would be very long and probably not a very pleasant read, despite the fact it works really well in a more visual format.

In other words, I think the reason people find battle scenes hard to do is because they try and write it like in an anime, forgetting that they're writing a book.

 

[SirDogeTheFirst]

For myself: Because I don't have the skills to turn the scene in my mind into good writing. I can imagine a giant robot punching a kaiju, I can see the impact, the slow but devastating blow, the surrounding area being affected, sidewalks and asphalt road collapsing, making sewer and city connect, glass, concrete, and scraps from furnitures scattering around as the giant monster, uncontrollably smashes through a skyscraper, but fail to put it on words.