This chapter was requested by JSNoel

Okay, I'll be blunt. Writing Action scenes is hard, no matter the genre of your story. Actually, the more action scenes you have, the easier it gets to write them because you need to add less and less detail as you go along, but if the story is centered around action, you need to work really hard on the first ones.

I'm by no means an expert in writing action, but I have written my fair share of beat ups, shoot outs, and sword fights (Yes, I wrote sword fights).

So, with all my experience, I'm going to give you the following eye opening advice: there's no sure-fire way to write perfect action. So I can only give you a few tips.

Why writing action scenes is hard

One word: pacing. The pacing in action scenes is ridiculously hard to get right. If you describe too much, it slows the pace, if you do it too little, it's bland and choppy. Long sentences kill the pace, short ones make the prose choppy.

So you basically either go for boring or for telegraphic. And going between them is very hard.

Tips and Tricks

First tip: there is no such thing as a perfect action scene. Everyone's pacing is different so there will always be people who tell you it's either too fast or too slow or both.

Right, now that's out of the way, let's get down to some business:

💥 Action and sentence structure:

You'll get a lot of advice saying you should use short choppy sentences for action scenes. Yes and no.

Yes, because short sentences create a tense, urgent atmosphere.

No, because overusing short sentences makes the scene look like a telegram.

You shouldn't ever give up on variation and moderation. The only difference in action scenes is you can switch the balance of short vs long and use more of the short ones. Though you should really try to not use more than two consecutive short sentences.

💥 Action and description:

Yes, you need description during action scenes. But these descriptions should be mostly of the action. To make a scene come to life, you must:

💣Know your character: surprising, right? But it actually makes perfect sense. The amount of description of surroundings, reactions, blood and gore, depend entirely on your character's personality.

Are they an overthinker? Are they cold and calculated? Over emotional?

This is a mistake a lot of action scene writers tend to do. When they write a fight or explosion or whatever, they get so sucked up into the technical aspects that they forget to stay in character.

You can't have a whiny teen plunged into a fight and have them owning it like a boss with no fear, no regret, no horror. Just like you can't have a seasoned fighter suddenly break down because they missed their target.

💣Know how basic human beings work:

Action brings out the visceral in people. This goes beyond the character you've built. This is basic survival instinct. So no reader will tolerate a brief intermission to describe the room the scene takes place in or the color of the curtains. Environment description should be kept to a minimum.

Character description depends on your characters and how perceptive they are of the other's feelings. If you have a seasoned fighter, they'll most likely pick up on their opponent's facial expression and use it to plan their next move.

If you're in scared teen territory, it's unlikely that they'd see beyond evil smirk.

💣Describe your action:

You need to focus on showing the elements of your action. The smell of gunpowder, the clanking of meeting swords, the heatwave in the wake of an explosion...

Here's a short example:

She took out her knife and threw it at her enemy. It went through his neck.

Vs

She took the blade of the dagger between her thumb and index finger and, with a short wrist movement, propelled it towards her attacker. The blade shone briefly in the street light before it sunk into flesh. The man let out a strangled gurgling sound and clasped his neck. There was no use. Blood pumped out like a fountain from his severed artery.

Nothing makes an action scene duller than telling it instead of showing it. Focus on sensory detail, touch on how it makes the character feel, on minor details that bring the scene to life.

💥Action and progression:

If you have an action filled book, you need to gradually slip from the technical aspects of fighting to focusing on character during those scenes. Reading multiple fighting scenes is... well, boring.

Yikes! I used the B word. Well, it is, because the more the story progresses, readers are looking for more than just a thrill. So you should focus on the purpose of the action scene and what the character wants to achieve through it rather than describing punches.

So yes, describing the action per se gets easier and you can actually even sink in dialogue and get away with telling what the character is doing instead of showing.

💥Action and dialogue:

Despite what you might have heard, this works. Because depending on the circumstances, people will talk during tense moments. But... And you knew there would be a but:

- keep it to a minimum during your first scenes

- take into account how likely your characters are to talk during such a time. If at least one of them has done this before, they will be willing to talk. Someone in their first car chase might not be, unless it's scared word vomit

- heartfelt conversation only works in the case of people who take part in action all the time and it's just another (crappier) day at the office

- please please please don't make it cliche and cheesy because it's so easy to fall into the trap.

💥Action and consequences:

This is what a lot of writers gets wrong. Action scenes always have consequences on the characters, even if it's just an adrenaline rush. Address it. Resolve it. Do your research on cause and effect. Read on how shooting works, how many bullets a gun can hold, how cars don't explode when they crash, how burns feel and heal after an explosion.

If there was one thing I appreciated about the Hunger Games (Even if I found it pretty meh in general) was that Katniss actually had bleeding eardrums after an explosion and went almost deaf. It was realistic (of course she had plot armor and healed but you get my point).

Hurt your characters, but also give them time to heal. Don't give them plot armor. Make the action scene realistic.

💥Action and POV

Ah yes... let me tell you one thing you're going to be tempted to do during action scenes: go omniscient. DON'T.

When you're so focused on writing that perfect action scene, you'll get description happy, pacing happy, describe what your POV character is unlikely to see. Like what's happening behind him, or the hidden intention of his opponent.

Let me tell you something that might surprise you. Keeping to POV actually helps make the action scene easier to write. Why? Because instead of focusing on the entire event, you only get a slice of it. And in tough times, you'll get to know your character better.

This is both for third person and first. They work the same way regarding everything: sensory perception, description, or inner thought.

So rejoice in your limited perception and do it right.

A few notes before we go

Here are a few basic things you should never forget while writing action:

- stay in character - you are after all describing the action scene through your character's eyes

-limited POV is your friend. Use it wisely

- moderation when it comes to sentence structure. Choppy is not good. Neither is long winded

- have a puropse. You can probably get away with one action scene for the sake of coolness, but everything must move your plot forward

- refocus the aim of your description as the story progresses

- DO YOUR RESEARCH (I can't stress this enough)

- address the consequences of your scene and have a proper cool down for your characters.

✒✒✒

These are my tips and tricks. I'm by no means an action expert, so if you have your own tips, leave them in the comments.

~Written by Wimbug