5 Tips for Better Fight Scenes

Fight scenes are hard to write- in print media, especially so. When I read books, I usually only skim said fight scenes. In fight scenes, there is always so much going. So, it’s hard to keep track of everything. In many stories, the action is something to slog through to get to the rest of the plot.

Partially, this is because books aren’t good at showing spectacle, at least, not without slowing down the pacing to use elaborate wordcraft. So, there can’t be a fight just for the sake of having one. Every fight has to be important and necessary.

1: Include Narrative Purpose

Every fight should have a purpose. If a fight isn’t necessary to advance the plot, then it should be removed. Otherwise, fight scenes grow to be too numerous. After all, violence in and of itself isn’t interesting, especially since books can’t lean on the spectacle used in movies. If the writer does their job correctly, the audience will have an emotional connection with the characters. If a conflict matters to the characters, it will end up mattering to the audience.

Of course, audiences also care about advancing the plot. Each fight should affect the plot. Whether this battle is to secure some precious resource or gather vital intel, each fight affects the plot beyond simple life or death.

2: Keep the Pacing Right

Fight scenes are action-packed. While there are many places where an author can demonstrate their ability to write extensive and beautiful descriptions, fight scenes aren’t one of them. After all, reading takes time. If it takes an entire paragraph to narrate a single punch, then it will feel as if the punch is moving through molasses.

During action sequences, everything should be happening quickly. If it takes forever to read a fight scene, then all of the energy will be sapped out of it. The scene will feel boring and it will feel like a chore to get through as if nothing is happening.

3: Use Emotion and Character

However, fight scenes are useful for getting into a character’s psyche. While having long monologs- even internal ones- would dramatically slow down the pacing, there are other ways to reveal character. 

For example, how does the character act? How skilled are they, and are they mentally prepared? Are they afraid – angry? Think about whether there is something unique to that character that could help them in a fight. If they’re an architect, then they could know which support beams they should loosen to make the whole thing topple down.

Lastly, try and reveal a character’s relationships. Showing that one character is willing to die for another is a quick and easy way to establish a bond between the two.

4: Fights Should Full of Surprises

The reader shouldn’t be able to tell exactly how something will end. Throughout the fight, there should be new developments or hiccups as this helps keep the scene fresh. And it stops readers from skipping past it as they can’t be sure how it will turn out. Even if there is a plan, it shouldn’t go exactly how expected.

Also, no two fights should end the same way. If one fight ends with one person making a heroic sacrifice so that everyone else can get out, then you can’t repeat that. When you repeat a conflict and its solution, the plot begins to feel stale, and the fights start to seem pointless.

5: Use a Tight Focus

During a fight scene, a lot of things will be going on at once. As such, you can’t show everything without ruining the pacing. So, if you have a singular viewpoint character, stick closely to them. Unless it is vital to the plot, only focus on the viewpoint character and whoever they are fighting. This way, the reader doesn’t have too much to keep track of. And, the reader will have a good tether to the scene, keeping them grounded. 

Fight scenes can often be the most memorable parts of a book. They happen at the climax and mark almost every major plot point. But such scenes are hard to write- it being surprisingly easy to make a boring fight scene. Writing a good fight scene is hard but, in the end, worthwhile.