Speaker 1: Are you the star? Are you the star? Thank you. Thank you. Hellooo everybody. Today I'm talking about one of my writing specialties, as well as one of your most requested topics, and that's how to write fight scenes. Are you happy for this topic, too? Did you request it? You don't fight, you just love. Today's topic is requested by one of my patrons over on Patreon, Elizabeth Duvenvoorde. Like many writers, she was a little intimidated to start writing fight scenes and wanted some tips. I covered this topic eons ago. It was the video that taught me that some guys who play video games genuinely think they're fighting experts. Wow. Are you an expert? You're a co-expert. But the years have gone by, and I have loads more tips to add to this topic, so that's what we're doing. Fight scenes can be the most exciting part of a novel, but they can also be the easiest scenes to screw up. A lot of you guys be ruining your fight scenes, but it's okay. I'm here to show you the way. Before we get started, a friendly reminder that my dark fantasy novel, The Savior's Sister, is currently available for pre-order in ebook, paperback, and hardback, and if you like fight scenes, this book's got a ton. Plus, I am hosting a massive pre-order giveaway, and everyone who pre-orders TSS is welcome to enter. Then they will have the chance to win a buttload of prizes. One of those prizes is a signed copy of Dawn Till Dusk by Becky Moynihan and Tiffany Hackett. It's the first book in the Genesis Crystal saga, so if you like young adult urban fantasy, this book might be for you. What about you, Butters? Is this book for you? No, Mom. I can't read. I'll be handing out this prize at the end of today's video, but first, I'm going to break down my ten tips for writing awesome, action-packed fight scenes. If you want more writing tips, be sure to subscribe to my channel and ring that bell. It's down here somewhere, where Buttercup is pointing. She's telling you to ring that bell, and pretty much her word is law, so you should do it. On to the fight scenes. Number One Number one, ditch the technicalities. There is nothing that'll suck the life out of a fight scene quite like clinical jargon. It doesn't matter if readers understand the terminology. It's the fact that these words do not produce emotion. A lot of people know what a roundhouse kick is, but that phrase doesn't evoke as much power as, say, a blow to the gut. If the technical term itself contains visceral language, for example, body slam, then it's fine to use. But ultimately, your focus should be on the reader's emotional experience, not the technicalities of the fight. I know you want readers to imagine the fight exactly how you see it, but fights move really quickly, so there's literally no way for you to accomplish this unless you slow things down to a glacial pace. Ditch the jargon and focus instead on the emotional impact of the scene. Which brings us to Number Two. Powerful verbs. A lot of readers complain about fight scenes because they're often boring to read, and they're boring because the author in question used the dullest verbs possible. You want to convey just how dangerous and painful this fight is, and you do that using powerful verbs. Words like riposte and parry do not convey these feelings at all. If anything, they sound foofy. Riposte. Parry. Dandelion. Cupcake. You know what verbs carry power? Slam. Jab. Barrel. Lunge. Hurdle. Race. Slice. These are the type of verbs you should be using in a fight scene, at least if you want to make it impactful. You want the readers to feel each punch. You want them to be worried for the characters. You want them cringing. Go for powerful verbs rather than explanatory or technical verbs. They're simple, effective, and engaging. Number Three. Onomatopoeias. You wanna be a whatta? Onomatopoeias are sound words. The word itself is a sound. If you're confused, my high school English teacher used to refer to them as Batman words, because back in the day, the Batman TV show would replace fight scenes with pictures of onomatopoeias. Bang. Pow. Whack. Boom. While you should definitely not make ALL of your verbs onomatopoeias, they are really helpful to use in action scenes, violent scenes, and of course, fight scenes, because they create a sense of sound. If someone hits a guy with a wooden staff and it makes a whacking sound, just say they whacked the guy with the wooden staff. Let's pretend that didn't sound sexual and move on. The point is, onomatopoeias are an easy way to get other senses involved in a fight scene, so use them. Number Four. Skip the play-by-play. Don't describe every minute detail. Not only is it boring, it's unrealistic. Nine times out of ten, you're writing from a specific character's perspective, and they're fighting. They're not laser focused on every single detail going down at every single second. They're relying on muscle memory, or they're freaking out and fighting to stay alive. Hyper-specific play-by-plays disconnect readers from the character, which is the opposite of what you want. You want them to feel involved in the fight. He raised his right arm, blocking the villain's left hand with his right forearm. Then he thrust his left fist forward, making contact with the villain's left pectoral muscle. This is boring as shit. Goddamn. You could have easily said he blocked the villain's blow and punched him in the chest. It's quicker, easier to visualize, and a lot more interesting than that crap. Number Five. Pick up the pace. This is another reason why technical jargon and play-by-plays are the kiss of death in fight scenes. Fights are fast-paced. You don't see snails fighting, and there's a reason for that. Another way to increase the pace of a fight scene is to use shorter sentences. Short sentences read as fast-paced, whereas longer sentences draw out the moment. That doesn't mean your fight scenes should exclusively consist of short, choppy sentences. You want to vary the sentence structure. But your fight scenes should consist of a number of short sentences. This will pick up the pace and create a sense of panic, which is exactly what you want. Number Six. Variety. Sometimes people will write the best, most visceral fight scenes, and they're still boring. Why? Because every fight scene is exactly the same. Every fight includes the same characters battling the same obstacle with the same weapon. This is not interesting. Readers have read it a million times before, so they can predict exactly what's coming. Vary your fight scenes by taking into consideration the obstacles or antagonists involved, the strengths and weaknesses of all parties, and of course, the weapons. In The Savior's Champion, Tobias has to fight Kaleo several times. Sometimes it's a fist fight. Sometimes it involves daggers. Sometimes it's with swords. One time, they were fighting underwater. You can also vary the kills. For example, slitting a throat, stabbing a gut, gunshot wound, arrow, whatever. Keep it different and keep the readers guessing. Number Seven. Consider the disadvantages. Fight scenes are not exciting if your main character is always dominating. Whenever you start a new fight scene, ask yourself what puts your character at a disadvantage. If they are physically stronger than their opponent, give them an outside influence as a disadvantage. For example, say their opponent is weaker than them, but they're fighting in the dark. Hard to beat the bad guy when you can't see shit. Maybe the bad guy has a torch and could light your character on fire. Maybe the bad guy is armed, but your character is not. There are plenty of ways to put your character at a disadvantage. This will up the stakes, as well as add variety to your fight scenes, which as we already covered, is always a good thing. Number Eight. Wounds matter. Unless your character has some kind of healing power, you really gotta pay attention to wounds. They hurt, in case you weren't aware. Being in pain is going to be an obstacle in a fight, because it's harder to concentrate and certainly harder to move when you're suffering. If your character has a broken bone, that part of their body should probably be out of commission. If the wound is deep, blood loss is going to be an issue. And above all else, for God's sake, describe the pain. This is the one part of your fight scene where you can pause to give explicit detail. Pain is scary and concerning and, hello, painful. You want your readers acutely aware of this, because it will make the fight scene that much more captivating. Number Nine. Visualize. A lot of writers struggle to visualize the fight scene they're writing, especially if they're not fighters themselves. But there are tons of ways to correct this issue. Some people meditate, others watch action movies or TV shows. I personally listen to music. I will go through my entire writing playlist until I find a song that I feel matches the tone I want to convey in the fight scene. Then I will sit back, sometimes for hours, and listen to that song over and over again until I can visualize the fight scene move by move. I do this for literally all my fight scenes. For example, there's a fight scene in The Savior's Sister that I wrote while listening to Beaten in Lips by Beartooth. Find whatever it is that unlocks the violent side of your brain and let it do its thing. And Number Ten. Get inside your body. I give this advice all the time, and it is never more relevant than fight scenes. You do not want to simply list the moves made in a fight. You want to describe how the character is feeling. I don't mean happy, or sad, or scared, or angry. I mean literal feelings. Are they gasping for air from running for miles? Is their heart pounding in sheer terror? Are their ribs bruised and aching? Is their fat lip throbbing? There should be a hefty dollop of these details in your fight scene, because they humanize the character. Feelings are a stark reminder that shit, this character is not invincible. They in danger. Fight scenes are engaging, because readers don't know if the character is going to get injured, or hell, if they're gonna die. Get inside your character's body, and it'll provide ample room for upping the stakes. So that's all I got for you today, which means it's time to hand out a prize. One lucky winner is walking away with a signed copy of Dawn Till Dusk by Becky Moynihan and Tiffany Hackett, and the winner is...this person. Thank you so much for pre-ordering a copy of TSS, and a huge thank you to Becky and Tiffany for supporting my presale giveaway. It means the absolute world to me. If you want to read an adult dark fantasy novel filled with romance and badass fight scenes, pre-order The Savior's Sister today. It is available in ebook, paperback, and hardback. And be sure to enter my presale giveaway. That way, you can be eligible to win a bunch of amazing prizes. Of course, thank you so much to Elizabeth for requesting today's topic. If you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you, or if you want access to tons of other awards, check me out on Patreon. We have an exclusive writing group, you get early access to videos, there's a monthly live stream, there's signed merch, there's tons of goodies. I have the link listed below. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and of course, you can tweet me at Jenna Marussi. Bye. You've read Tobias's story. Now it's time for Leila's, the Savior's sister, coming soon.