Writing about Fighting: Hand to Hand combat #5.

A couple more quick tips for writing action, specifically hand to hand combat.

1. Use strong verbs.

Being hit hurts, let your choice of words reflect that. Use verbs with impact, like 'slammed,' 'crashed,' 'smashed,' etc. Also, fights are visceral. There are 'slaps,' 'cracks,' and 'squelches' when fighting.

2. Know what you're writing about.

This can't be stressed enough. If you don't know about fighting, it WILL show in your work whether you like it or not. Familiarize yourself with fighting, at least enough so you can fake it.

3. Be specific, but broad.

Most people either choose one or the other, and both lead to slow boring scenes that are easily forgettable, whether by not giving the imagination enough to work with or by giving it so much it doesn't need to work. Avoid both of these. Rather use general terms to describe specific movements.

4. Action has consequences.

Did one of the blows hurt your character? Then make that impact the rest of the fight. If your character gets a cut above the eye, that's going to blur their vision and they WILL get hit in that blind-spot. If they get punched in the gut, they will struggle to breath and want to end the fight quicker.

5. Action tells a story.

In good action, even if there are no words, we should be learning something about the character or the world that the fight is happening in. Each fight should reveal something about the fighter. Is the fighter honorable? Then they won't eyegauge, etc. Is he ruthless? You reveal that by showing him pounding the person even after they've fallen to their blows, etc.

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Alright folks. That's all for this entry. As always, if you want to know more, just ask and keep an eye out for new blog posts in this series.