Writing the Fight Scene by Rita Karnopp

 

When it came time to write my first fight scene I stared at the screen and panicked.  Me, write a fight scene?  What do I know about fighting?

Fighting scenes … just like in the movies … can get too long and boring. You have to give it just the right about of oomph!  And know when it’s over!

Make sure each action furthers the situation and add more than just blows to the chin or the gut.  There must be significance - consequence – and even worth to the fight.  What are the stakes?  How will the results affect your character and those around him?

Should your story include a fight scene?  Ask yourself a few questions before committing to add a fight scene to your story.

Is the fight necessary?  Is there another way to resolve the conflict?  Will this fight show your character flaws or strengths?  Is the fight a live or die situations?  Is it cultural? 

When a fight scene is necessary – When there is no other way to de-escalate the situation – then ask yourself these questions:

• Where will the fight take place?
• Who will be fighting and is anyone handicapped (such as a broken arm or is there more than one against your character?
• Who do you want your reader rooting for - and who will win?

 Do you need a big fight or a skirmish?  Not all fights are the same.  The more significant a fight is to the story as-a-whole, the more detailed it needs to be.

Sometimes a simple blow to the chin is enough to deter a would-be attacker – and one sentence may be all it takes to take care of the situation.

What if your story revolves around – climaxes – when the fight takes place – the winner rules the world.  You’ll need a more elaborately, detailed planned leading up to – and the fight – and then the aftermath.

To make your fight interesting, remember to include a lot of the emotional baggage that led up to the fight.  Who is affected, and will the fight give them satisfying retribution?  This fight must give the reader a chance to savor each blow.

On the other-hand, will this fight create different emotions, such as disgust and disappointment?

Perhaps you want to write a humorous brawl -  In my book Destiny’s Shadow, Laura realizes she’s pinned to the ground when her long dress becomes heavily saturated by the dung infested, slick mud in the middle of the street. Two drunkin’ cowboy decide to come to her rescue … and it ended up being one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever written.  If you’re laughing while writing – there’s a good chance your booklover will laugh while they are reading.

When writing the big-fight scene – The story has been leading up to this point - it’s the crisis (major turning point) of your story.

Keep in mind that you’ll want to create a sort of roller-coaster ride for your reader – the anticipated win – but several setbacks before the conquest.  But don’t go in there and start slugging away. The reader will quickly get bored with it. The temperament and intensity of the fight should change several times.  Give the reader glimpses of a win – then oh no – he’s going to lose.  It’s the twists and turns in the action that will keep your reader gripped in the scene.

Nearing the finish - show determination and drive but give a twist like perhaps your character has second thoughts – maybe he shouldn’t kill the guy – he could just break him?

There are ways to give more life to a big fight scene.  Change the opponents or even the type of weapons being used.  What is the terrain like – is there a cliff edge nearby?  Are there motorcycles nearby that result in a chase-down?  All can heighten the drama.

It's Not Easy Writing True Stories, by June Gadsby

Visit June's BWL Author page to purchase any of her books

it’s not easy writing true stories – even bits of the truth inserted into the novel you’re working on – as I have found. But sometimes you can’t help it. It can be helpful, sad, happy, cathartic.

When I first started out being published [I had been writing for many years before then] I was persuaded to write romantic ‘shorts’. After a lot of digging in my heels, insisting that I was not a romance writer and preferred suspense, I gave in. Getting inspiration, for me, was the hardest thing to do – no problem with the suspense. Now, of course, I marry the two and am finally succeeding [hopefully] towards writing the out and out suspense. When my late agent told me that I had turned the saga he wanted into a wartime thriller you can guess how thrilled I was. That book, of course, was The Glory Girls [1] which had one of my three great-aunts ‘sort of’ in it.

Long before The Glory Girls, I ploughed on gainfully with my novellas, but, to the surprise of my writer friends who, at that time, only wrote romance, these shorts were accepted and well received. One of my favourites – well, even writers have their own favourites which they have written – was Valley of Brave Hearts [2]. 

This was inspired by my first dog, Bertie [3] a most beautiful cross beagle and collie who came from an animal shelter at the age of 3-4 months.

Bertie was five when we came out to France to live and the local farmers used to stop me on our promenade around the field and admire him. I was always relieved that they went away happy with all fingers intact. Bertie was only friendly once people were inside our house, as long as our guests was ‘doggy’ people.  He was my protector. Despite his ‘issues’ I loved him to bits.

Three weeks after our arrival in France my stepdaughter got married. I was supposed to go and put him into a shelter recommended by the only person we knew here in France at that time. I knew the minute I saw the place and the people running it that there was a chance I would never see Bertie again. I cried all the way home and my husband decided that the best answer was for me not to go to the wedding and stay here with Bertie, which I did – and thank heavens.

He came out of the shelter less than 24 hours later, soaked in stale urine and with a huge haematoma on one of his back feet. I told the vet that it was a tumour, but he refused to believe it and treated it as a cyst. There were numerable operations – I had to spend a whole month dressing the wound on my own with Bertie’s head clamped between my bare feet – I thank goodness that I still have all my fingers. The vet was amazed at how well I had done. Unfortunately, the ‘cycst’ soon turned into cancer and he had to have a total amputation. But he could still chase next door’s cat over a high wall and lived until he was 15. I still cry when I see him on that last day, having suffered a stroke overnight, dragging himself across the kitchen floor, big smile on his face and making sounds like: ‘Oh, Mum’, look what’s happened now!’

So, he was a perfect secondary character for Valley of Brave Hearts. I cried all the time I was writing it.

JUNE [Gadsby]

Author.

www.june-gadsby.fr

Historic & contemporary romantic suspense, set in exotic lands; families at war and wartime thrillers. 

Delightfully Peculiar by Eileen O'Finlan

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I love to read all the blog posts by BWL authors, but I get a special jolt of “yippee!” when I open my email to find a post by Stuart R. West.  Stuart’s sense of humor is just so appealing to me. When I discovered he writes paranormal novels, one of my favorite genres, I had to give Peculiar County a try. I am so glad I did because I have not had such pure fun reading a novel in quite some time.

In Peculiar County, fifteen year old Dibby Caldwell, the daughter of the town’s mortician, is haunted by the ghost of a boy who won’t leave her alone until she discovers and reveals the true cause of his death. Dibby gets some help from James, the outcast, new boy in town. From everyone else, her father included, she finds nothing but hindrance, including some of the supernatural variety.

Every character in this book is unique – peculiar in their own way. Not necessarily in a bad way, though whether or not some are malicious is intentionally questionable. Yet no character is so over-the-top as to be unbelievable. That is, at least as long as the character lives in Peculiar County.

A lot of strange things go on in Peculiar County, but Dibby, a native to the county, takes them in stride. Her new friend, James, has a little trouble adapting so Dibby helps him understand that his new home isn’t quite the same as anywhere else.

What I found so delightful about this book was the author’s voice. West mixes eerie paranormal with a smattering of off-beat humor to perfection.  I don’t remember the last time a silly grin was plastered across my face for the endurance of an entire novel, but I’m pretty sure it was with this one. It’s not the reaction one usually has to a creepy, paranormal story. I must be a bit peculiar.

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