how do you write action?

[Mira]

So, I met my match this week in Nathan's contest. I really have no idea how to craft an action scene.

and what makes one action scene better than another - I can't tell.

Any education about this topic would be appreciated. I doubt I'll ever be an action writer, but I'd like to have some sense of this skill.

Thanks!

[polymath]

I have a mnemonic for writing modes. D-I-A-N-E-'S S-E-C-R-E-T. The A is for action, dynamic action, not necessarily dramatic static actions like standing, watching, waiting, etc. The first S is for sensation. D for description, I for introspection, N for narration, first E for emotion. Second S for summarization, second E for exposition, C for conversation, dialogue, R for recollection, third E for explanation, T for transition. Diane, the goddess of hunting, is my muse.

Any given phrase, clause, or sentence can comprise multiple writing modes, distinguishable but not necessarily divisible. Action scenes can comprise multiple writing modes. Action, description, emotion, and sensation predominate in dynamic action scenes. Deep introspection, thoughts, can be challenging to depict in action scenes. How much meditation does swinging a sword require? A fist fight? A chase scene? Intiutive leaps, snap judgments, and automatic reactions are common in action scenes. The ideal for action scenes is to depict an adrenaline rush in such a way that readers feel an adrenaline rush. Flight or fight are the principle instinctive reactions to danger and fear causing adrenaline rushes.

Visual sensations play a large role in action scenes, other sensations as well, aural surely (sound). Less so olfactory and gustatory. Tactile somewhere in the middle, part of tactile sensation is proprioception: Conscious awareness of body functions and body part positions, like sweating, hard breathing, knowing where a hand is without having to look for it, feeling injuries, etc.

Any given dynamic scene comprises proportions of narration, conversation, and introspection. Dynamic action scenes favor narration depicting potent sensations, causally related conversation, and surface emotion and introspection. Dialogue heavy scenes, so-called talking heads, Brenda Starr dialogues, don't make very dramatic action scenes.

Take a chase scene, Hollywood says, cut to the chase* already. A hero chases a fleeing villain. The villain has made a first refusal to engage on the field of honor. Assuming some suspense questions have already been artfully asked and answered, like why the hero chases the villain, will the hero catch up with the villain? is posed and pending. What's it gonna take? Leaving the outcome of the chase in doubt until actual confrontation requires obstacles, reversals, setbacks, and letdowns and discoveries to work around them.

The hero is injured maybe. The vilain is whole. The villain's confidence tempts him to taunt the hero. The hero holds back because he knows the villain will delay escape to save face. A parting shot scene where the villain spends precious time to deliver the taunt allows the hero to come closer. The villain realizes he's been fooled and precipitously retreats, second refusal, perhaps toward an obstacle the hero drives him to. Third refusal, the villain feints and the hero is fooled. The villain escapes. The outcome of the immediate chase is completed, but still pending as a suspended suspense question to be resolved later.

* I know "cut to the chase" as a metaphor originating in printing back at the dawn of moveable type. A chase is a removable frame locking a set type galley in place for printing on a press. Cut to the chase means skip proof printing and proofreading and print as set, a rush job.

[Margo]

First, I absolutely stay away from the idea that the scene should run like a movie in my head. Tension and conflict don't translate well in purely visual elements, since neither of these is inherent in situation. This is, IMO, the downfall of most action (and sex) scenes.

For any kind of scene, tension is the page-turner. Tension stems from emotion*, which is character. Action outside the context of the character is flat and boring. Action that stems from or plays on the character's fears, desires, goals, etc, has another level of meaning. Context, context, context.

I recommend Donald Maass's Fire in Fiction for this kind of topic. He suggests for action scenes (and sex scenes) adding snippets of internal information mixed with symbolic details and actions. So, really, it's not a pure action scene anymore. The filler action tends to fall away or at least receive much less page-space.

On a more technical note, I keep sentences short in action scenes, as longer sentences slow the pace. Slow pace and action don't usually mix.

*I also stay away from obvious emotions. Obvious emotions are boring to read.

[BrokenChain]

Writing action is actually what I started writing for ten years ago. I'm mostly self educated because NO ONE seems to know how to write actions scenes...and the strange few who do never write anything on the subject.

Using the barest of bare language is an absolute must, in my humble opinion. And by that I mean no extra words; no fluff. The action needs to flow as fast as possible. Use short sentences, strong verbs and nouns, with the occasional medium sentence here or there to balance it out or raise the drama.

Keep things clear.

Don't describe the surroundings or other irrelevant things during action; it slows the pace.

Generalize large conflicts, and go move by move with small conflicts, such as between two fighters. Use frequent paragraph breaks: when one character makes a move, move to another paragraph to list the reaction of the other character.

Use some dialogue to help cut down narrative explanation--but be veeerryyyy careful with this. Most people can't pull this off without making it feel awkward and unrealistic.

Try not to be too technical or too screen-playish. Although "Gun blast" is a quick, snappy one-liner, it is not a suitable replacement for "the blunt CRACK jarred her" or "Made her ears ring." We are writing prose, and we have to strike a balance between the art of crafting an image and senses in a reader's mind and merely writing down directions to a fight scene. This is a balance I've struggled with myself.

If you're too technical you will lose the reader. As a martial artist of more than ten years, I understand what a pak sao to fan-parry into a phoenix-eye fist strike to the stomach-10 point is, but a layperson does not.

Be consistent. Don't have a guy carrying a colt revolver one second and a glock automatic the other. And count your bullets! Some people will go anal over this stuff.

That's all I can think of right now...

[Quill]

First, I absolutely stay away from the idea that the scene should run like a movie in my head. Tension and conflict don't translate well in purely visual elements, since neither of these is inherent in situation. This is, IMO, the downfall of most action (and sex) scenes.

Funny, I do go for the movie running in my head. I describe the action as film shots. Of course it is a different medium, so there's description of things that aren't visual or aural, but the flow in my scenes is definitely cinematic.

I think it is really important to BE there in one's scene, and all the more so in action scenes. When one can inhabit the space one can become very observant. What is the reaction when a gun goes off? Is there a recoil? Is there smoke? Making the details realistic makes the scene believable. It is wise to consult an expert if needed. For this example, I met with a firearms expert and handled the actual weapons and ammunition I was using in my scene.

Agree with BrokenChain that when the action heats up, the sentences and paragraph shorten, the verbs become more onomatopoeic (whoosh, clang, etc). I don't agree that the setting necessarily recedes. I always like to keep my setting close to the action, especially in an...action scene. But it has to be jabbed in there. There's no room for poetry.

[BrokenChain]

First, I absolutely stay away from the idea that the scene should run like a movie in my head. Tension and conflict don't translate well in purely visual elements, since neither of these is inherent in situation. This is, IMO, the downfall of most action (and sex) scenes.

Funny, I do go for the movie running in my head. I describe the action as film shots. Of course it is a different medium, so there's description of things that aren't visual or aural, but the flow in my scenes is definitely cinematic.

I think it is really important to BE there in one's scene, and all the more so in action scenes. When one can inhabit the space one can become very observant. What is the reaction when a gun goes off? Is there a recoil? Is there smoke? Making the details realistic makes the scene believable. It is wise to consult an expert if needed. For this example, I met with a firearms expert and handled the actual weapons and ammunition I was using in my scene.

Agree with BrokenChain that when the action heats up, the sentences and paragraph shorten, the verbs become more onomatopoeic (whoosh, clang, etc). I don't agree that the setting necessarily recedes. I always like to keep my setting close to the action, especially in an...action scene. But it has to be jabbed in there. There's no room for poetry.

Impressive research!

It's alright you disagree with my ideas on setting during action. Here's what I think in more detail:

I think the setting should be established before the fight scene, and then perhaps after as well (the resulting damage, etc.). This way, small references can be made about the setting so that the reader draws back on earlier description. Without actually establishing the setting within the action, the setting is still present in the reader's mind during the fight.
Also, the setting should be *used* if at all possible during action. An example would be the danger of sliding off a mountain, a character using a body of water to down an enemy, or the character uses a rock from the riverbank to throw.

I don't think the setting should go away, just the indepth detail of how it looks. I think that's for before/after the battle or from a different perspective than one inside the battle.

I'm sure we have a middle ground!

[bcomet]

I really appreciate all the concrete pointers here! I can't go with abstract and get anywhere. I need explicit basic direction and you guys rock!

[HillaryJ]

One suggestion: short sentences.

[Mira]

Oh, this is so helpful! I love everyone's ideas - thank you!

You guys do rock! I'd respond abit more, but I'm in Final's week. Once I come up for more air, I'll be baaack.....

[AceTachyon]

Don't forget: there should be a purpose and a goal for the action scene. Don't drop a gun battle into the middle of the story just to have a gun battle. Better if the gun battle erupts, for example, because the MC is discovered by the villain's henchmen and he has to fight his way out of the warehouse.

Stay in your MC's POV. Hear the fight. See the fight. Feel the fight. Be careful not to go overboard with your MC's thoughts during all this. Leave that until after the fight's done.

And ditto on the short sentences. Make nouns and verbs do the all the work.

[HillaryJ]

ACE,
What are you doing here? I saw your name and thought that AW had changed to format orange.