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How to Write Battle Scenes

Last Updated: April 28, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising . Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 11,872 times.

A memorable battle scene can add a lot of action and tension to your story, but it can feel intimidating to write since there are so many elements to keep track of. No matter what genre you’re writing, your battle should feel exciting and keep your story’s plot moving forward to keep your readers engaged. While it may take time to plan out and work on multiple revisions of the scene, you can easily include epic battles in your writing!

Outlining the Battle Sequence

Step 1 Sketch a map to help visualize the battlegrounds.

You don’t need to draw a map if you don’t want to, but it can be very helpful for you to understand the layout.
If you’re basing your story in a real location, look online for a map so you can use it as a reference.

Step 2 Define your character’s goals and what they expect from the battle.

Your battle should always affect the protagonist’s progress toward their long-term goals, or else it won’t feel like there were any real conflict or consequences from it.
Make the battle feel more dramatic by giving the character personal stakes in the battle, such as rescuing a loved one or breaking free from an oppressive ruler.

Step 3 Determine what equipment and forces each side of the battle uses.

Even if you give both sides different weapons or equipment, try to keep them evenly matched to make the scene more dramatic.

Tip: Try making the enemy forces slightly stronger or larger than the protagonist since it can add more tension and drama to your writing. It will also help readers empathize and root for your main character. [4] X Research source

Step 4 Design strategies for each side of the battle.

For example, if your protagonist is a noble fighter, they may try to attack the enemy head-on. However, the enemy forces may try to surprise your protagonist by striking from the flanks.
Avoid making it too easy for your protagonist to win the battle since it won’t feel as dramatic or satisfying to the reader.
Opposing forces will rarely have the same battle plans since they are trying to defeat each other and they’ll be viewing the battlefield from different perspectives.

Step 5 Plan out the major events of the battle.

Many battles only last for a few minutes or hours, so keep in mind how long the events last while you’re outlining.

Step 6 Make a change in the story world with the outcome of the battle.

For example, if an evil king wins a battle in a city, they may try taking over the land and imposing their own laws.
As another example, if your protagonist’s long-term goal is to gain power, they may gain the respect from their peers if they win the fight.

Writing Your First Draft

Step 1 Describe the terrain before the battle starts to set the mood.

For example, you could write, “The red sun peeked over the mountains on the east, breaking through the fog covering the plains. Finally, I was able to see the wide river to the west preventing any surprise attacks. As the fog lifted, I could barely make out the silhouettes of infantry quickly approaching.”

Step 2 Write the experiences of a single character to add more emotion and tension.

It’s okay to switch between characters during the scene, but consider how each one views the battle differently and what stakes they’re fighting for. For example, infantry in the front lines will have a more difficult experience in the battle than a general who’s watching it from a distance.

Step 3 Use short and actionable sentences to add a sense of urgency.

For example, instead of writing, “From his scabbard, he pulled out his longsword before defending himself against the knight,” you could say, “He drew his sword and blocked the knight’s strike.”
Long sentences can make the action seem slow so the battle won’t seem as dramatic or hectic.

Tip: Look for more actionable versions of verbs for your writing. For example, rather than using “run,” you could instead write, “bolt,” “charge,” or “dart.”

Step 4 Add sensory details to the scene to make it seem more realistic.

For example, you may write, “The rain mixed with the blood on the battlefield, filling his nose with the scent of earth and iron. He licked the salty sweat from his lips and continued marching forward. He could barely hear his boots squish through the mud over the shouting and screaming of the infantrymen around him.”
Avoid overly descriptive paragraphs that don’t contain any action since it will make your writing feel like it’s dragging on.

Revising the Scene

Step 1 Take a break from your writing after you finish the scene.

Try working on a different scene while taking your break. That way, you’re still writing and getting work done.

Step 2 Read over the scene and highlight any awkward or confusing parts.

Avoid focusing on spelling or grammar errors during your first revision since they’re minor compared to how well you comprehend the writing.
Print out your scene if you’re able to since it can be easier to write directly on the paper while you’re editing.

Step 3 Ask other people to read your scene to get their opinions.

You may also reach out to writing teachers or professors you have if you’re in school for additional feedback.

Step 4 Continue making revisions until you’re happy with the final draft.

It may take multiple revisions to make the scene concise and easy to follow.

Expert Q&A

Use real-life battles and military strategy to help you get ideas of how to structure the fight in your writing. [16] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Try to avoid editing or revising as you write your first draft since you won’t get as much work done. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Avoid directly plagiarizing other writers because you can get into legal trouble. [17] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Be careful not to over-describe the fight scenes or use confusing language since it could make the battle seem like it’s slow. [18] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

↑ https://mythicscribes.com/writing-techniques/how-to-write-battle-scenes/
↑ https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/writing-epic-battle-scenes/
↑ https://pcwrede.com/planning-battle-scenes/
↑ https://www.freelancewriting.com/creative-writing/how-to-write-great-battle-scenes/
↑ https://library.defiance.edu/writingprocess/revisingetc
↑ http://www.michaelkennethsmith.com/the-writers-dig-with-novel-writing-advice-how-to-write-battle-scenes/
↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/books/dan-mallory-woman-window-denzil.html
↑ https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/5-quick-tips-writing-thrilling-fight-scenes/

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How to explain a war scene?

In my novel, I have a part where there is a war scene, and I need to explain it precisely from the king's point of view. How can I explain the war graphics vividly?

4 Answers 4

For starters, avoid getting into details.

This is true generally, and even more so during battle. People are moving quickly! It is no time for details.

I've read a battle-scene where the author described specific attacks, and the impression I had was that the fighting was happening in slow motion. With classical music in the background. Really slow music.

The best battle-scene I remember reading included almost no descriptions of the actual battle, but of colors, emotions and cries. Needless to say, this scene left a powerful impression, and I actually felt like I was there.

Of course, since you're writing this from the king's perspective - and the king is normally in the back lines - you'll have to get into overall detail of what's happening on the field. After all, the king needs to know what's going on!

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Writing Nestling

How To Describe Fight Scenes In Writing (14 Best Tips)

Describing fight scenes in writing is an art form that transcends the mere clash of swords or fists; it is the alchemical fusion of words that can electrify the imagination and captivate the reader’s senses.

Whether it’s the heart-pounding duel of warriors, the gritty back-alley brawl, or a high-octane showdown in the midst of an epic battle, the task of painting vivid, immersive fight scenes on the canvas of a reader’s mind is a craft that requires both skill and finesse.

In the world of storytelling, these sequences serve as crucibles for character development, pivotal plot moments, and, at their best, the breathtaking choreography of conflict.

In this exploration, we delve into the multifaceted elements of describing fight scenes, from understanding their purpose to mastering the intricacies of pacing, emotion, and realism.

Join us on this literary adventure, and let us embark on a journey to become maestros of action-packed narratives.

Table of Contents

How To Describe Fight Scenes In Writing

To describe fight scenes in writing, follow these steps:

Set the Scene

Begin by providing context for the fight. Describe the location, time of day, and any relevant details that will help readers visualize the setting.

Character Introduction

Introduce the characters involved in the fight. Mention their names, physical descriptions, and their motivations for being in the fight.

Action Verbs

Use strong action verbs to convey the movements and actions of the characters. Avoid passive voice and opt for active, dynamic language.

Sensory Details

Engage the reader’s senses by describing sounds, sights, smells, and sensations. Convey the tension and adrenaline of the moment.

Point of View

Choose a consistent point of view for the scene, whether it’s first-person, third-person limited, or omniscient. Stick to this perspective throughout the fight.

Choreography

Plan the sequence of events in the fight. Describe the order of actions, reactions, and consequences. Make it clear who is doing what to whom.

Emotional Impact

Explore the emotional aspects of the fight. Describe the characters’ feelings, thoughts, and motivations. Show their fear, determination, anger, or any other emotions relevant to the scene.

Use dialogue to add depth to the characters and provide context for the fight. Keep the dialogue concise and impactful, reflecting the tension and urgency of the situation.

Vary the pacing of the fight scene. Include moments of intense action, as well as brief pauses for reflection or strategic thinking. This creates a dynamic and engaging scene.

Show, Don’t Tell

Instead of telling the reader what’s happening, show it through vivid descriptions and character actions. Let the reader experience the fight alongside the characters.

Consequences

Highlight the consequences of the fight. Show how it affects the characters, the environment, and the overall plot. This adds depth to the scene.

Bring the fight to a conclusion. Describe how it ends and the aftermath. Resolve any loose ends and clarify the outcome.

Edit and Revise

After writing the initial scene , revise it for clarity, coherence, and pacing. Remove any unnecessary details and ensure that the scene flows smoothly.

Seek Feedback

Share your fight scene with others and gather feedback. This can help you refine your description and make it more engaging.

Remember that the key to a compelling fight scene is balance. You want to strike a chord between vivid descriptions, engaging action, and emotional depth to keep your readers immersed in the conflict.

Understanding the Purpose

Understanding the purpose of a fight scene in your narrative is akin to holding the key to a secret chamber filled with literary treasures.

It’s not just about unleashing epic clashes or showcasing your characters’ combat prowess; it’s about breathing life into your story’s beating heart .

Is the fight scene a crucible for character growth, pushing your protagonist to confront their deepest fears? Or perhaps it’s the climax of a bitter rivalry, where fists and blades become the instruments of fate?

By delving into the why behind your action, you unlock a portal to emotional resonance, plot progression, and reader engagement that will leave them clamoring for more. So, pick up that narrative chisel and carve your purpose with precision, for every fight is a brushstroke in the masterpiece of your storytelling.

Why does the fight scene exist in the story?

The fight scene’s existence in a story is a strategic choice, a narrative heartbeat, and a pivotal moment of revelation.

It serves as a crucible where characters’ mettle is tested, their true natures laid bare, and their growth catalyzed.

Whether it’s the climactic showdown in an epic battle or a gritty alleyway scuffle, these confrontations propel the plot forward, leaving an indelible mark on both the characters and the reader.

The purpose might be to unravel hidden motives, resolve longstanding conflicts, or establish the hero’s valor. Through this clash of steel, fists, or wills, a story’s underlying tensions find their release, and the characters evolve, emerging from the crucible transformed.

Each fight scene is a pivotal crossroads where the narrative stakes are at their zenith, ensuring the reader’s investment in the story remains unwavering.

Research and Preparation

Research and preparation in the realm of storytelling are akin to donning the armor of a literary knight. They are your passport to uncharted territories, your sword in the battle of authenticity, and the mystical key to the treasure chest of imagination.

Whether delving into the intricate tapestry of historical facts, plumbing the depths of human psychology, or mastering the nuances of specialized combat techniques, your diligence as a writer is your sacred quest.

With this armor of knowledge, you forge a connection between the real and the fantastical, breathing life into your narrative with the weight of reality and the gleam of vivid detail.

Like an alchemist turning base metal into gold, research and preparation transmute your words into a rich tapestry of worlds unknown, leaving your readers spellbound and yearning for more.

So, embark on your quest, dear writer, and let the journey of research and preparation lead you to the literary Holy Grail.

Study different fighting styles

Studying different fighting styles is like immersing oneself in a mesmerizing library of human movement, where each page reveals the artistry of combat.

It’s a journey through the rhythm of fists and feet, the poetry of parries, and the philosophy of martial discipline.

From the fluid grace of Tai Chi to the raw power of Muay Thai, the elegance of fencing to the strategic mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, these styles offer a glimpse into the diversity of human expression through battle.

As a writer, delving into these disciplines allows you to paint vivid, authentic fight scenes with strokes of knowledge and authenticity, ensuring that your characters move through their confrontations with a dance of realism that captivates readers and leaves them in awe of the intricate choreography that is the martial arts.

Character Development

Character development is the soul’s metamorphosis, the narrative’s heartbeat, and the cosmic shift within the universe of a story.

It’s the art of crafting souls from clay, giving them breath and imperfections, and guiding them through the tempestuous waters of change.

Like stars that burst into supernovas, characters evolve in the crucible of their experiences, casting off old identities and donning new ones.

As a writer, you are both deity and puppeteer, weaving the threads of backstory, conflict, and growth into a tapestry of emotions.

Whether your characters rise from the ashes of their own failures or descend from the heights of arrogance, their transformation is the constellation that guides your narrative’s course.

Dive deep into their psyches, turn flaws into strengths, and let the crucible of their evolution blaze across the pages, for in their transformation, readers find reflections of their own humanity and a reason to journey further into the realms of your imagination.

Showcasing each character’s motivation and personality

Showcasing each character’s motivation and personality is akin to revealing the vibrant colors of a complex tapestry. Every character, like a brushstroke, adds depth and richness to the narrative canvas.

Their motivations are the fuel that propels them through the story’s labyrinth, while their personalities dictate the hue of their interactions and choices.

Some may be driven by honor and duty, while others by the allure of power or the quest for redemption. Each character’s unique personality quirks and traits give life to the narrative, creating a symphony of voices and emotions that resonate with readers.

Whether a character exudes charisma or is shrouded in enigmatic mystery, their presence should be a vivid stroke that defines the narrative landscape, making it all the more immersive and unforgettable.

Setting the Scene

Setting the scene in your writing is like the overture to a grand symphony. It’s your brush on the canvas of imagination, conjuring landscapes that dance to the rhythm of your narrative.

The stage upon which your characters perform, it’s the world-building that can transform a story from mundane to mesmerizing.

The setting is not merely a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing entity, with its own character and soul.

Whether it’s the eerie, fog-drenched alleyways of a Victorian London or the sun-drenched, dystopian wastelands of a future Earth, it sets the emotional tone, shapes the plot’s contours, and imbues the tale with a palpable atmosphere.

As a writer, you wield the power to transport readers to realms they’ve never dreamed of, painting landscapes that are more than words on paper – they’re portals to adventure and emotion.

The setting is your stage; now, let the show begin, and let your readers become enraptured in the worlds you’ve masterfully crafted.

Creating a vivid and immersive environment

Creating a vivid and immersive environment in your writing is akin to weaving a magical spell that transports readers to a realm of your invention.

It’s about tantalizing the senses, making the air come alive with scents, the scenery pulse with color, and the sounds resonate in the reader’s ears.

Whether it’s a bustling, ancient marketplace with the aroma of spices wafting through the air, or a desolate, windswept wasteland where every gust of wind stings with dust and desolation, the environment is your storyteller’s wand.

Through rich description and sensory details, you conjure a world that beckons readers to step into its embrace, where they can not only see and hear but taste, smell, and touch the very essence of your creation.

As a writer, your words are the portal, and your readers, the adventurers, ready to embark on a journey that is not just a story but an experience, where they can lose themselves in the immersive tapestry of your imagination.

Utilizing Point of View

Utilizing point of view in your writing is akin to playing with the strings of perception, weaving intricate patterns of narrative that guide the reader’s gaze.

It’s your brushstroke on the canvas of storytelling, the lens through which the reader views the world you’ve crafted.

Whether you’re slipping into a character’s skin with first-person, offering a limited glimpse into their thoughts with third-person limited, or unveiling all secrets with the omniscient view, your choice of perspective is the magician’s wand that shapes the entire storytelling experience.

Each point of view is a different door to the story, unlocking varying depths of emotion, empathy, and intrigue.

As a writer, you’re the puppeteer, controlling the reader’s connection with characters, unfolding the plot’s secrets, and casting the spotlight on different facets of your narrative world.

The point of view isn’t just a lens; it’s a key, opening doors to literary wonderlands, inviting readers to explore and lose themselves in your artful tale.

First-person, third-person limited, or omniscient narration

First-person, third-person limited, and omniscient narration are the brushstrokes on the canvas of storytelling, each offering a distinct palette of perspectives.

First-person narration immerses readers in the protagonist’s psyche, revealing their innermost thoughts and emotions.

It’s a journey through the intimate chambers of a character’s mind, allowing readers to forge a deep, personal connection.

On the other hand, third-person limited grants a close-up view of one character’s thoughts and feelings while maintaining an external observer’s perspective.

It provides a balance between emotional proximity and narrative objectivity. Omniscient narration, in contrast, is the literary eagle soaring high, possessing knowledge of all characters’ inner worlds and the broader narrative landscape.

It’s a narrative god, weaving a tapestry of interconnected stories and perspectives. The choice among these styles is an artistic decision, impacting how the story unfolds, how characters are revealed, and how readers engage with the narrative.

Each style carries its own unique allure, promising a different journey through the labyrinth of storytelling.

Action Verbs and Sentence Structure

Action verbs and sentence structure are the conductor’s baton in the symphony of storytelling, orchestrating the rhythm and intensity of each narrative crescendo.

They are the heartbeat of every well-crafted sentence, driving the plot forward and imbuing the prose with vitality.

Just like a martial artist’s precise strike or a dancer’s elegant pirouette, the choice of action verbs infuses your writing with power and finesse.

By manipulating sentence structure, you can quicken the reader’s pulse with short, staccato bursts of action or lull them into a dreamlike state with graceful, flowing prose.

This delicate balance is your secret weapon as a writer, painting vibrant word-pictures that evoke emotions, create tension, and propel readers through the narrative like a rollercoaster ride, ensuring they are forever caught in the grip of your literary spell.

Choosing powerful and descriptive action verbs

Choosing powerful and descriptive action verbs is akin to wielding a writer’s arsenal of magic wands. With every word you select, you summon the thunder of emotions and ignite the fireworks of imagination.

It’s not merely about a character “walking” when they can “stride” purposefully, or an object “moving” when it can “glide” or “lurch.”

The precision and potency of action verbs inject dynamism into your narrative, painting vivid scenes that resonate with readers.

As a writer, your words are your brushstrokes, and each action verb is a hue that colors the canvas of your storytelling.

Whether it’s “whispering,” “plunging,” or “sprinting,” your choices make the narrative dance, evoking sensations, conjuring images, and breathing life into your characters and their world.

So, in the realm of action verbs, be a sorcerer, and let your prose wield the enchantment that lures readers deeper into your literary realm.

Emotions and Inner Thoughts

Emotions and inner thoughts are the secret chambers of a character’s soul, and as a writer, you hold the key to unlock them.

It’s not merely about what characters do, but why they do it, the echoes of their past, and the storms of their desires. This is where the ink on the page transforms into the poetry of the human experience.

Like a surgeon of the heart, you delve into the depths of their psyche, laying bare the raw, pulsating truths that drive their actions and define their essence.

It’s in these moments of vulnerability that your characters cease to be words on a page and become living, breathing souls whose struggles and triumphs resonate with readers.

You are not just a writer; you’re a soul weaver, crafting the tapestry of humanity, one emotion and inner thought at a time, inviting readers to gaze into the very essence of your characters and, perhaps, even into themselves.

Revealing character emotions during combat

Revealing character emotions during combat is akin to shining a spotlight on the innermost sanctums of their souls.

It’s in the heat of battle, amidst clashing steel and pounding hearts, that emotions are magnified, and characters are stripped bare.

Whether it’s the quiver of fear in a warrior’s clenched jaw, the fiery determination that fuels an underdog’s comeback, or the chilling coldness of a seasoned fighter’s resolve, these emotions are the undercurrents of conflict.

It’s not just about the physical blows but the emotional ones, too. A character’s vulnerability, courage, or desperation seep through the fissures of their armor, allowing readers to connect with their struggles on a visceral level.

As a writer, you’re the puppeteer, manipulating these emotional threads, crafting a symphony of sensations that adds depth, authenticity, and relatability to your combat scenes.

In doing so, you breathe life into the battlefield, making it more than just a backdrop but a stage where the human condition is tested and revealed, leaving readers breathless and emotionally invested in every clash and conquest.

Dialogue in Fight Scenes

Dialogue in fight scenes is the verbal swordplay that complements the physical ballet of combat. It’s not just about the clanging of weapons but the clash of words, the repartee that mirrors the duel.

Like a carefully choreographed dance, it adds layers of tension, emotion, and character development to the fray.

The dialogue can be a sharp quip, an unyielding taunt, or a whispered plea that showcases the depth of a character’s personality or the intricacies of their relationships.

In the midst of chaos, it’s the verbal thrust and parry that can define the stakes, unmask hidden agendas, and unveil the unspoken bonds between characters.

As a writer, you are the playwright and your words the script; with dialogue, you orchestrate the symphony of conflict, allowing your characters to not just battle physically but verbally, creating a multidimensional, enthralling narrative that resonates with readers and keeps them spellbound until the final word.

Making dialogue relevant and impactful

Making dialogue relevant and impactful in your narrative is akin to crafting jewels that shine in the tapestry of your story.

Every word uttered by your characters should carry weight, revealing their intentions, emotions, and driving the plot forward. It’s not just about what they say, but when, why, and how they say it.

Meaningful dialogue isn’t just a vehicle for communication; it’s a tool for characterization, conflict, and revelation.

Each spoken word should be a catalyst, advancing the narrative’s rhythm and forging connections between characters and readers.

Impactful dialogue is the pulse of your story, resonating with authenticity and urgency, ensuring that the reader remains entranced, hanging on every word as it weaves the intricate threads of your narrative, leaving them captivated and craving more.

Pacing and Tension

Pacing and tension in storytelling are the twin engines of suspense, the invisible hands that orchestrate the narrative’s heartbeat.

It’s not just about what happens but when and how it unfolds. Like a skilled conductor, you hold the baton that guides readers through the symphony of your tale, quickening their pulse with relentless crescendos of action, or lulling them into a false sense of security with gentle interludes.

The dance between pacing and tension is the art of balance, ensuring that your readers are both enthralled and tortured, unable to escape the gripping suspense that keeps them turning the pages.

With pacing, you control the tempo, and with tension, you pull the strings of anticipation, crafting a narrative experience that is as addictive as it is unforgettable.

In this delicate waltz, you are the maestro, and your readers are the captive audience, enraptured by the irresistible pull of your storytelling sorcery.

Controlling the ebb and flow of the fight

Controlling the ebb and flow of a fight scene in your narrative is like orchestrating a fierce tango between combatants, where momentum and anticipation become your dance partners.

It’s not merely about a chaotic clash of fists and blades, but the dynamic shifts that keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Just as in a well-choreographed performance, you control the rhythm, the rise and fall, the crescendos and lulls, crafting a symphony of action that intensifies and releases like a beautifully choreographed ballet.

The ebb and flow breathe life into the battle, offering brief respites for character introspection or strategic maneuvering before plunging back into the relentless fray.

This control is your artistic brushstroke, making the fight scene an emotional rollercoaster where readers are swept up in the whirlwind, experiencing the rush and release of tension, and ultimately ensuring that your narrative remains an electrifying page-turner.

Choreography and Realism

Choreography and realism in fight scenes are the symphony of authenticity, where each move is a note in a melody of action. It’s not just about the flurry of blows but the precision and logic behind every strike.

Like a masterful dance, the choreography should be both thrilling and believable, making readers not just witness the fight but feel it in their bones.

It’s the fine art of translating martial prowess or combat finesse onto the page, ensuring that the battle unfolds with the grace of a dancer and the ferocity of a warrior.

The realism you infuse into your fight scenes, from the physical consequences of actions to the psychological impact on the characters, is what separates fiction from mere fantasy.

As a writer, you’re a conductor, orchestrating a balance between the art of combat and the realism that grounds it, creating an exhilarating, visceral experience that keeps your readers in the grip of your storytelling magic, and they can practically hear the clash of steel and feel the rush of adrenaline with each word.

Mapping out the choreography of the fight

Mapping out the choreography of a fight scene is akin to composing a ballet, where every move, every strike, is a meticulously placed step in an intricate dance of conflict.

It’s not just about the punches and kicks; it’s the rhythm, the pacing, and the flow that must be artfully orchestrated. Each movement should be a brushstroke, vividly painting the visceral experience for the reader.

Just as a choreographer designs a dance with intention, a writer must plan each action and reaction to create a seamless, believable, and captivating combat sequence.

The choreography breathes life into the fight, ensuring that it’s not just chaos but a carefully structured performance that engages the reader’s senses and emotions.

As a writer, you’re both choreographer and director, crafting a narrative spectacle that becomes a stage for characters to shine, and through your meticulous planning, you allow readers to step into the heart of the action, experiencing every twist and turn, making it an unforgettable and dynamic part of your storytelling.

Revision and Feedback

Revision and feedback in the world of writing are like the sculptor’s chisel and the art critic’s discerning eye. They are the dynamic duo that turns a mere manuscript into a literary masterpiece. Just as a gem needs polishing to shine, your work requires revision to reach its full brilliance.

Feedback is your compass, guiding you through the labyrinth of your own creation, offering insights you might have missed. It’s not a sign of weakness but a testament to your commitment to craft.

With every revision, your words gain weight, your characters become more vivid, and your plot’s complexity deepens. It’s the crucible where ideas are refined and stories are honed to perfection.

Embrace the dance of revision and feedback, and your writing will evolve, becoming a symphony of words that resonates with readers, leaving them awestruck and clamoring for more.

The value of peer and professional feedback

The value of peer and professional feedback is akin to having a compass and a map on the uncharted journey of writing.

It’s an invaluable gift, a mirror that reflects your work from angles you might never have considered. Peers offer a fresh perspective, often free from the tunnel vision that can accompany solitary writing.

Their insights are like a breath of fresh air, revealing areas of improvement and reinforcing what’s already strong.

Professional feedback, on the other hand, is like having a master navigator on board, someone who can steer you through the treacherous waters of storytelling with experience and expertise.

Their constructive criticism can be tough, but it’s precisely what forges your manuscript into a polished gem.

Whether from a peer or a pro, feedback is a treasure trove of insights, an opportunity for growth, and a chance to refine your craft, ensuring that your writing reaches its full potential and resonates with readers on a profound level.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about How To Describe Fight Scenes In writing

What is the importance of describing fight scenes in writing.

Describing fight scenes is essential for engaging readers, creating vivid imagery, and conveying the intensity and emotions of a conflict. It helps immerse readers in the story.

How do I make my fight scenes unique and memorable?

To make your fight scenes unique, focus on character development, use creative settings, and incorporate unexpected elements or twists that differentiate your scene from others.

What are some action verbs to use in fight scenes?

Use action verbs like “lunged,” “parried,” “clashed,” “pounded,” “charged,” “dodged,” and “sprinted” to convey dynamic movement and intensity.

Should I always describe every detail of a fight scene?

No, it’s essential to strike a balance. Include enough details to engage the reader but avoid overwhelming them with excessive descriptions. Highlight key actions and emotions.

How can I create realistic fight scenes if I’m not experienced in combat or martial arts?

Research is key. Watch videos, read books, or consult experts in the field to understand the mechanics and emotions of combat. Realism enhances the scene.

What role does point of view play in describing fight scenes?

Point of view affects how you describe the scene. First-person provides a personal perspective, while third-person can offer a broader view of the fight. Choose what suits your story.

Can I incorporate dialogue into a fight scene, and if so, how?

Yes, dialogue can add depth. Keep it concise and impactful. Use it for character development, strategy, or to reveal emotions and motivations during the fight.

How do I maintain reader engagement throughout a long fight scene?

Vary the pacing. Include moments of intense action, brief pauses, character thoughts, and strategic elements to keep the scene dynamic and engaging.

What common mistakes should I avoid when describing fight scenes?

Avoid overly long or convoluted descriptions, excessive cliche phrases, and neglecting emotional depth. Balance action with character development.

How do I know when to end a fight scene?

Conclude the scene when the conflict’s purpose is fulfilled, or when there’s a decisive outcome. Ensure you address the aftermath and consequences of the fight.

What’s the role of sensory details in fight scene descriptions?

Sensory details create a more immersive experience. Describe sounds, sights, smells, and sensations to evoke the atmosphere and emotions of the scene.

How can I receive feedback on my fight scenes to improve them?

Share your writing with peers, beta readers, or writing communities. Seek constructive feedback to refine your descriptions and make them more engaging.

Can I break traditional conventions when describing fight scenes to be more creative?

Absolutely. Experiment with different styles, perspectives, and narrative techniques to make your fight scenes stand out and align with your unique storytelling voice.

What’s the difference between writing a one-on-one fight scene and a larger battle or war scene?

One-on-one fights emphasize personal stakes and emotions, while larger battles focus on strategy, scale, and the impact on a broader narrative. Tailor your descriptions accordingly.

Remember that writing fight scenes is an art, and there’s room for creativity and individual style. The key is to engage readers, convey the story’s emotions, and keep the narrative coherent and compelling.

In the intricate tapestry of storytelling, the ability to describe fight scenes with finesse is the hallmark of a master wordsmith.

As we conclude our exploration into this art, we’ve unraveled the secrets behind making these sequences pulse with authenticity and resonance.

From understanding the purpose of combat to crafting vivid settings, revealing character emotions, and meticulously choreographing the action, we’ve dissected the anatomy of a compelling fight scene.

But the journey doesn’t end here; it continues with practice, refinement, and the eternal pursuit of mastery.

The power of well-described fight scenes is not just in the clashing of steel or the exchange of blows; it lies in the connection forged between the writer and the reader, in the heart-pounding anticipation and the rush of adrenaline.

So, continue to hone your skills, craft your action with precision, and let your words become the battleground where characters’ destinies are sealed, and readers are spellbound.

With the art of describing fight scenes, you possess the key to unlocking the full potential of your storytelling, ensuring that your narratives resonate long after the final blow is struck.

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5 Keys to Writing Epic Battle Scenes

If epic battle scenes make such exciting climaxes, then a whole book full of them would be like the most exciting story ever, right?! … Right?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve skimmed pages of pointless fighting in order to get back to the plot.

Writing a book about a war promises excitement, but like any aspect of writing, you need to be writing epic battle scenes carefully in order to see them at their full potential. Let’s look at five essential guidelines for writing epic battle scenes.

1. Define the Character’s Goals

For a battle to be interesting, you need more than fast-paced clobbering . Action sequences must advance the character’s journey. Do this by establishing clear long-term, short-term, and medium-term goals .

The long-term goal is your protagonist’s overall story goal. Why is he fighting in the first place? Motives make a story gripping. The overall war needs to be rooted in a primal cause: life, hunger, sex.

The medium-term goal is the goal of the battle. Escape imprisonment. Commandeer that ship. Kill the spiky mechanical-armed slug thing (seriously can someone explain Grievers to me? Like are they just goopy slugs with robot arms?) Take note: this goal must be unique. If your protagonist’s goal in this battle is the same as the last battle, there’s a good chance this battle is redundant.

Short-term goals mean every sentence offers clear intention. Crawl over to that dropped mace so she can club the enemy. Climb the tower so she can enter the castle. Escape the grip of the spiky slug’s deadly robot … arm … thing. (Seriously what?)

Maze Runner (2014), 20th Century Fox.

2. Follow the Rules of a Scene

Every battle is a scene, so follow the rules of scene writing to ensure each battle achieves its purpose.

For instance, the battle must change something in the overall plot. In Save the Cat , Bkake Snyder advises that every scene needs a polarity. What state is the world in when the battle starts? When the battle ends? Something about that state needs to flip: freedom to imprisonment, vengeance to regret, doubt to certainty.

Further, the battle must depend on what events preceded it and what will follow. Can your battle be placed anywhere in the story? If it can, it doesn’t advance the plot properly.

Scenes must include a goal , conflict , and disaster , and must be followed by scene sequels . The breathe-and-reflect moment offered by a sequel, however brief, is vital when a book is stuffed to its papery gills with action.

3. Make the Battle Personal for Your Character

Readers must care about the characters who are walloping each other. This is why opening with a long-winded battle often doesn’t work : we don’t care enough about the characters yet to care how the battle ends.

Use battles to show character. Show how they act and respond, especially in comparison to others who are fighting the same war. Does your character act according to his intentions? Does he shoot the enemy in the heart, or does his Ghost make him hesitate to pull the trigger?

Every battle must advance the protagonist’s arc. How are his inner and outer conflicts affected by the events of this battle? In the midst of the slaughter, show the protagonist’s evolving thoughts and relationships. Interlace the blood and guts with other subplots . How great is the opening of Kill Bill , when the girls halt the violence to greet Vernita’s daughter? “Hey baby! How was school?”

Kill Bill (2003), Miramax Films.

4. Simplify Your Grammar

It’s a basic rule, but it’s important. Action scenes need shorter sentences and paragraphs. Write choppily to convey urgency.

Structure your words in the order of action .

Convoluted: “From the knight’s scabbard, he grabbed the sword after dashing through the opening.”

Smooth: “He dashed through the opening and grabbed the sword from the knight’s scabbard.”

Keep your word choices simple so they’re quick to read. Don’t make readers pause for that fraction of a second to read “he circumvented the razor-sharp blade” when you could have said “he dodged the blade.” A battle scene is not the time to show off your talent for poetry.

5. Think Like a Screenwriter

Because of their visual nature, battle scenes tend to work better in movies than in books. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t write an awesome battle. Just borrow some techniques from screenwriters.

For instance, dialogue is as important here as anywhere else. Verbalize the conflict through interactions.

Get as visual as possible. You might want to act out what you’re describing or draw it on paper to ensure everything makes physical sense.

Use the setting to your full advantage. The writers of Pirates of the Caribbean understand this tip well. Give your characters cool things to stab with, jump on, swing from, throw at the enemy, or wrap around the enemy’s neck.

Pirates of the Caribbean Elizabeth Swann Captain Jack Sparrow Keira Knightley Johnny Depp

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Walt Disney Pictures.

When writing epic battle scenes, you must be carefully craft them from the top down—from their overall place in the story to the decision to use the word “bleed” instead of “phlebotomize.” Do it right, and you’ll end up with a book readers can’t let go of.

Tell me your opinion: What other strategies do you use when writing epic battle scenes?

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Check out Tiana Warner’s novel Ice Massacre for the sort of fast-paced clobbering you won't be able to put down. Tiana was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada. She enjoys riding her horse Bailey and collecting tea cups. Find her on Twitter: @tianawarner .

I would love to explain Grievers to you, but despite numerous attempts, I found the Maze Runner too painful to read. The writing was so bad and the whole idea so contrived that I could not suspend my disbelief long enough to get even half way through.

An even worse crime against humanity is that the book was made into a movie. Why, when there are so much better stories available, would you adapt this book of all you could choose from? Has no one ever heard of Eoin Colfer who writes his prose as if he is writing screenplays? With only a minimum of editing, has Artemis Fowl books would make direct adaptations to movie without losing a single ounce of the book’s charm.

“Why, when there are so much better stories available, would you adapt this book of all you could choose from?” > Don’t even get me started! So many talented screenwriters out there, yet they choose to create movies like “From Justin to Kelly”.

Life’s great mysteries…

Thanks for your comment Rick 🙂

I think sometimes it’s a case of who you know …………………………

Rick, Ahhh, the great mystery of YA is: if it’s on the bestsellers list, make it into a movie! I also had a hard time with this book, but the friend who recommended it loved it! He writes epic fantasy stories, but always fizzles out when it comes to the battle scenes. He just can’t get the words to correctly describe the images he sees in his head. This article would be excellent for him! I think he views these epic battles as ways to show off the cool weapons he created for his story, with no actual thought as to how the battles move the story forward.

Great post, thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks, Janelle. I actually didn’t realize James Dashner had other books. I’ll have to check them out, because I did love the overall premise of the Maze Runner!

You’re so right: battle scenes should NOT just be an excuse to show off the cool weapons the author created!

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Tiana!

That was very interesting and thought provoking. Thank you for sharing it. I don’t know if this counts but the closest I’ve come to writing a battle scene is in my last book where the protagonist carries out his objective of shooting up his school and inflicting massive casualties on those who made his life so miserable. At the end of his spree, the playground is strewn with bodies and the able are all cowering on their classroom floors. He then achieves his ultimate objective of self termination. Would you call this a battle?

Wow, heavy stuff! Yes it sounds like it does count as a battle, provided the protagonist is met with opposing forces during this scene. Having a character rush through and shoot a bunch of people has shock value, but a truly good story will come from ensuring the character is met with both inner and outer conflict along the way.

Thanks and I feel confident I do ensure the protagonist has lots for inner and outer conflict before the bloody climax. Unlike other books, I’ve read about school shootings (We Need to Talk About Kevin, 19 Minutes, Endgame) I don’t start with the shooting and I have been told that I do a great job building sympathy for the protagonist that by the time he does the deed, the reader is saying “I don’t blame this kid.”

Nice! That does sound like a good story. I think that’s so powerful when the writer makes you sympathize with someone who’s supposed to be a “bad guy”.

Thank you. I know this is shameless self promotion but if you’re interested, the book is called “He Was Weird,” by Michael D LeFevre

The Representative isn’t about war, though much of how it’s been written is informed by the general narrative principle that you espoused Tiana:

Reason. According to the overall narrative arc, when best it’ll fit in.

This is why knowing the full narrative trajectory in general is an essential – you can’t otherwise know when it’s best to insert something in, as well as the best way to narrate it.

Thanks for your comment, Thomas. I agree, and that’s why an outline is so important (or the willingness to cut/move/modify scenes that don’t fit, if you’re a pantser).

I wanted to contribute, whatever the adjustment to be relevant. (The post you wrote deserved something.)

This is great advice. Every suggestion you provided would be useful for any writer, thanks for sharing.

Thanks! I’m glad you found it helpful.

That is what I’ve been told is becoming the ‘normal’, and if I don’t write this style I can forget about ever being published.

I was told that by published authors in my genre. Well, they can eat their own books if they want.

This is great! I’ve always wondered about writing battle scenes. I don’t remember ever reading any memorable battle scenes (probably, cuz like you said, they tend to be boring that I end up just skimming through them).

“Simplify your Grammar” is an especially helpful bit of advice, since I sometimes feel that complicating the writing of these scenes makes for better reading. Apparently not. Thanks Tiana!

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for your comment.

Try reading the Saxon sagas by Bernard Cornwell if you want to experience gripping battle scenes that are thoroughly enjoyable! I’ve never read anything that comes close to this level of quality! Truly impressive!

I would recommend Higher Ground by McKendree Long, which has an excellent description of the 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn, told from the perspective of both the soldiers as well as the Indians and shows the chaos, of a battle in true realism. It shows each character’s motivations and courage. It is FANTASTIC but brutal. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.

I loved what you said in number two because it fits my philosophy of : if it’s not needed, throw it out. Like you said, the battle must somehow change the overall plot in some way. What would be the point if it didn’t? I also like the input on simplifying grammar. I am all about word economy 🙂

This post really helps me for my self-quarrels over pacing as I attempt to distinguish, in my outline, which battles to show and which to tell.

Thank you very much.

That’s great to hear! I’m glad you found it helpful. Thanks for your comment.

I really like the concept of Long Term Goals, Medium Term Goals, and Short Term Goals. Though I will likely employ them in a different way.

Long Term goals could measure the whole book itself, but could also be a reflection of the series itself. So with Long Term goals, we should divide them up to be Long-Term (Book) and Long-Term (Series).

Medium Term goals would be trying to get to the next event (or the one after that) in the story. They are in the situation they are in now, but needing to get out of it so they can go to the next event, whether major or minor.

Short Term goals is dealing with the event at hand. How do they resolve their current situation.

Thanks for your comment, Christopher. I like your take on the long term goals for a series. It’s worth thinking in a “fourth dimension” like that when planning more than one book.

Great advice!

One thing I’ve always loved about book battle scenes versus movie battle scenes is the ability to be in the character’s head, seeing what he sees, feeling what he feels. I think this is one really major advantage books have over movies, because while movies can make a really cool looking fight, we authors get to dig deep into what its like to actually be in that fight, and feel the emotions of the combatants, their pain, fear, triumph, whatever. This is especially true when the battle holds huge emotional stakes for the character.

Some of my all time favorite battle scenes come from the naval fiction of C.S. Forester (the writer of the Horatio Hornblower novels); he is brilliant at this. You get to feel the tension of chasing down an enemy ship, of sending off a volley of cannon balls only to have your view obliterated by the smoke so that you are left in a fever of uncertainty till it clears and you can take stock of what is going on and what damage its done to the enemy. Best of all, you get to be right there with the captain as he tries to out-think and out-sail his opponent, and see all the inner turmoil that comes with such a job. Its marvelous.

I also recently read a short story whose name and author escapes me, but was featured in “The Big Book of Hearts of Oak” anthology, that did a grand job at showing a battle from the perspective of a seaman assigned to a gun crew (yes, another example from naval fiction. What can I say, it thrives on battles ;p). I was really interested to see how the author would keep things interesting, since the protag was stuck behind a cannon on a lower gun deck, where he could see nothing. I was a little afraid it would get boring, with them just repeating the loading and firing of the gun. Boy was I wrong. The author thoroughly explored the realities of what it would have been to be working a cannon during a battle at sea: the smoke and soot, the noise, the shaking of the deck as the guns were discharged in unison, the skill it took to aim and fire the cannon so that it hit its target, the danger from enemy cannon balls (which are extremely good at shattering wooden hulls, as it turns out), and the fear and tension of it all. He was really good at getting us inside the protag’s head. He also showed how well sailors down there could guess at what was going on above decks by the sounds they caught, feel of the ship when the enemy’s fire hit home, etc. I was surprised at how well the author kept the reader informed on how the battle was going, even though we never actually saw any of it.

That’s the biggest advantage books have over movies when it comes to fight scenes, I think. The ability to see and feel the fight right along with the main character; the ability to experience it, instead of just watch it.

Yes, I love the way in which “Pirates of the Caribbean” use the settings, ahah!

Hi there, my name’s Tristan and I’m currently 15 years old. I am a big fan of fantasy books (Tolkien, Lenahan, Martin,…) and I decided to become a writer. I created my own world, my own countries, species, towns, I made two languages (a new elvish language and a language that tribesmen use). I’m glad I read you post and wanted to know if yourself or anybody else is interested in what I’m doing. I have a facebook page where I post my chapters and maps. Tales of Mhirael, google it. Thanks for letting me know, Tristan

i cant find it anywhere

Hi, my name’s Esther and am 18. I have always been interested in novels both writing and reading them but all have done is unfinished projects so this month i decided to pick one up and see if i can finish it up. So have been stuck on a battle scene and being sincere i had no idea how to start and the battle was meant to go in the 5th chapter but after reading this am thinking the scene is coming in too early. Anyway thanks for the tip

I’m struggling to end the battle I’ve started to write. It’s past its due to end, but I can’t seem to write a finish to it. help!

hi! I’m lizzie and I’m I love with my work. writing makes me so happy and id love to share it! I currently writing a series in hopes of publishing soon about a girl who can time travel through books and is part of something bigger. reply to this if you’d like to hear more!

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7 Ways To Write A Damn Good Fight Scene

by Bronwyn Hemus
January 21, 2014
79 Comments

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Fight scenes are the single hardest character interaction to write. Many authors who know their craft in every other respect can’t write a fight scene to save their (or their hero’s) life. But don’t despair. There are a few strategies you can use to ensure you write the kind of fight scene that grips a reader from start to finish. Let’s take a look at seven of them…

1. Detail is a dirty word

It’s a general rule in writing that you should leave as much to the reader’s imagination as you can, and this is doubly true for action scenes. The choreography of the fight may be exact in your head, but you can’t force readers to see the same thing.

While describing a fight scene is a great way to paint an accurate picture, it’s not a great way to communicate a compelling experience. A lot of poorly written fight scenes read like this:

I stepped back, balancing my weight on my left foot, and threw my right fist out in a curved punch at his temple. Turning ninety degrees to the side, he brought his right forearm up to counter the blow, formed a fist with his left, and threw it at my outstretched jaw. I was in trouble.

This might be exactly what you imagine happening, but the excessive stage direction stretches the moment out, turning a frenzied series of blows into a dissection of body language and intent. This fight feels slow, and that feeling is paramount – if your reader is instinctively bored by a fight, you can’t convince them it was exciting by describing more of it.

Instead, let them know the outline of the fight and they’ll imagine the rest. Counter as it is to a writer’s instincts, ‘they struggled’ paints a far more vivid picture than describing the exact position of each combatant’s arms.

So, if you’re not describing what your characters are doing, how do you communicate the action?

2. Pace is everything

Intensifying the pace of your writing can communicate the immediacy and suddenness of conflict. Short, simple sentences keep the reader on their toes. Fights happen quickly and your description needs to match that. In The Princess Bride , William Goldman writes a brilliant sword fight, and perhaps the most enjoyable fight scene ever put to paper:

The cliffs were very close behind him now. Inigo continued to retreat; the man in black continued advancing. Then Inigo countered with the Thibault. And the man in black blocked it.

Each sentence is short, the written equivalent of a sudden move. Every time a new person takes an action in this passage, Goldman starts a new line, making the reader encounter each attack as a sudden, vital event.

This ‘new line’ technique is pretty cheesy – it works for Goldman because his story is a deliberate homage to adventure yarns – but short, to-the-point sentences are a must for any fight scene. Clarity is important in many areas of writing, and it’s not something to wish away in a fight, but the energy of a fight scene is more important than its details, and that comes from pace.

Of course, pacing works best when it’s combined with perspective.

3. Perspective defines experience

It’s difficult to communicate excitement when you describe something objectively. This is another reason that hovering around the fight describing the actions of both characters limits how gripping the experience can be. The key is to thrust the reader into the thick of the action, and to do that they need to experience the fight through a character.

That’s not to say that you have to suddenly adopt the first person. In Gregory Mcdonald’s Carioca Fletch , the protagonist attempts to get his bearings as he is set upon by unseen assailants. Mcdonald mimics this experience for the reader by having longer passages between the single sentences of violence:

Instead of looking who had pushed him, Fletch tried to save himself from falling. The edge of the parade route’s pavement shot out from under him. Someone pushed him again. He fell to the right, into the parade. A foot came up from the pavement and kicked him in the face.

The writing, and thus the reader’s experience of events, conforms to Fletch’s experience: the attempt to right himself interrupted by sudden acts of violence. You can also write to match the perspective of the attacker: there’s something especially brutal about a villain methodically taking an opponent apart.

The opposite can also be true

Of course, as with all the advice in this article, there are reasons to do the exact opposite. Mimicking perspective leads to a more energetic, visceral experience, which tends to make a fight more compelling, but perhaps you want the opposite. A detached, distanced perspective saps the energy and involvement from a fight, but if you’re trying to horrify the reader rather than energize or entertain, this is a valid technique.

For instance, a ‘cool’ fight would benefit from a close perspective, whereas an upsetting beating would likely benefit from distance. In this way, there are few ‘bad’ writing techniques – just different effects that either work with or against your intent for a scene. Keep in mind that your actual first step to improving your fight scene is understanding how you want your reader to feel about it.

4. Verbs not adverbs (and avoid passive voice)

Energetic fight scenes demand brevity, and adverbs are the opposite of that . Instead of ‘Adam hit him hard in the chest, again and again’ use ‘Adam pounded at his chest’.

The occasional adverb might have its place, but you want the punch of the sentence to come with the character’s action, not lagging after it.

There are a few exceptions. Variations on ‘She hit him. Hard’ have currency because they’re purposefully simplistic. They embrace guttural simplicity to communicate that same quality in the action, but this trick only works once before you start sounding like a caveman.

Why the passive voice won’t work

A similar technique to avoid is the use of passive voice. This is where the person or object performing an action is absent from the sentence in which it happens, as in ‘he was kicked in the face,’ where the person doing the kicking isn’t mentioned.

This is a technique you’ll see in a lot of news coverage, since it deliberately saps energy from an otherwise startling event. In a story, however, it’s the most roundabout way to communicate an action, and it’s best avoided. Even when the attacker is unseen (and therefore can’t be named), Mcdonald goes for ‘A foot came up from the pavement and kicked him in the face’ as opposed to ‘he was kicked in the face.’

Try to err on the side of ‘person, action, effect,’ since this most closely recreates the experience of watching things in real time. Agency – a person’s ability to effect the world around them – is a huge part of compelling fight scenes, and the passive voice is all about ignoring agency.

5. Sensory information is relatable

Another reason description doesn’t work in fight scenes is that immediate, physical situations aren’t characterized by a heightened degree of analytical thought. In contrast, physical situations do tend to come with a lot of sensory information. The taste of blood, the ringing in their ears, the ache of their injuries.

Evan Hunter wrote fantastically brutal fight scenes by stating a simple, physical act and then following it up with evocative sensory information:

He pulled him to his feet, almost tearing the collar… He heard the slight rasp of material ripping.

That description, from his short story collection Barking at Butterflies , adds more physicality to the encounter than any physical description could.

Sensory information is also more relatable to readers. Not everyone has been held up by the collar, but everyone has heard fabric tear and tasted their own blood. You can summon incredibly detailed information through these minor descriptions: the pull needed to tear a collar is something most people can appreciate, so they understand the violence of the grip without ever consciously considering it.

6. Make the result clear

The opposite of writing a fight scene, but something worth considering in many cases, is to skip the violence entirely. It depends whether you’re trying to provide action or communicate violence, but for the latter this can be incredibly effective.

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club isn’t about fight scenes or action, but communicates physical violence fantastically:

I asked Tyler what he wanted me to do. Tyler said, “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”

At this point a new chapter begins:

Two screens into my demo to Microsoft, I taste blood… My boss doesn’t know the material, but he won’t let me run the demo with a black eye and half my face swollen from the stitches in my cheek.

Here, we don’t get any details of the fight, don’t even have it confirmed that a fight took place, and yet the visceral nature of the missing scene is more powerful because of it.

You don’t have to skip the fight completely, but remember that you can create a powerful sense of what’s happening by referencing the results. While the reader can’t call to mind the exact experience of the fight on the page, fear of injury is something everyone understands.

7. Context is key

The written word is capable of many feats other types of media can’t match, but one thing it isn’t is visual. This matters because a lot of writers take their fight-scene cues from visual media, attempting to mimic the visual bombast of movie shootouts or martial arts.

In a movie, it’s easy for a fight to be impressive all on its own. We can see the people taking part, appreciate their emotions, witness their speed and flexibility, even wince at their pain. In books, fights don’t bring so much of their own context, and if a reader doesn’t understand who is fighting, why, and what the consequences will be, they’re far less likely to be thrilled.

Your fight scene as an action scene

It’s useful, in this sense, to understand your fight scene as just one type of action scene, similar to chase scenes , arguments , and even sex scenes . These scenes are interesting because they’re interactions with consequences, and those consequences are usually what makes the action exciting.

If Character A is chasing Character B, the scene is fine enough. If we know the stakes of Character B escaping, the scene is much better. If we care about Character A and Character B, and have a preferred outcome to the chase, now the scene matters.

Without context, the most an action scene can hope to be is titillating, and it’s unlikely to achieve even that. Many first-time authors begin their stories with a fight scene because it’s the most exciting thing they can think of, but without characters or stakes, it’s hard to be excited by this non-visual style of action.

If you want to write a fight scene, make the stakes clear to your reader and make sure they care about at least one person in the fight. Otherwise, you’re just trying to ‘show’ them something they can’t see, which is what drives a lot of authors to fall back on all the harmful techniques we’ve already covered.

Fight for your write

So, those are our seven tips for writing great fight scenes. Choose pace over detail, don’t get bogged down by adverbs and passive voice, draw on sensory details and results as needed, and give the reader the context and perspective they need to get invested.

What other tips do you think writers should know when dealing with fight scenes? And what is the best fight scene you’ve ever read? Let me know in the comments below.

If you want to work at a larger scale, check out How To Write An Epic Battle Scene , and I also recommend Everything You Need To Know About Writing Fantasy Weapons and What You Need To Know About Writing Injuries for more insight on this topic.

Bronwyn Hemus

79 thoughts on “7 ways to write a damn good fight scene”.

I find that writing from my own experiences help the flow. I got beat up a lot in elementary school. when I write a fight scene, I focus on the emotional aspects ad well. the rushing flow of my blood as rage sweeps through me. the nauseous wave that cramps my stomach as pain ripples from my jaw from rock hard hit. It helps me to place myself in the heroes shoes and try to feel, physically and emotionally, what the hero would.

I’m sorry to hear you had that kind of experience but it’s great that you’ve taken ownership of it and used it positively in your art.

I think you’re completely right about linking the sounds and physical experiences of injury to the emotional experience of it. When you have a personal experience of this kind it can be applied to many different stories; no matter how outlandish the conflict the resulting physical and emotional reactions remain the same.

Best wishes, Rob

Yes, less is more, exactly: even in fight scenes. I especially enjoy your examples, like Palahniuk’s one. Very interesting article, fight scenes fit with fantasy novels, which are my favourite. Thanks

Hi boostwriter,

Thanks very much. Fight scenes do seem particularly at home in fantasy novels, often as part of a larger ‘battle’ scene. Battles are incredibly difficult to write, and often done best through smaller fight scenes that represent the battle as a whole.

ha ha that part about cavemen x) i read a start to a book whose cover was very interesting, but it was written in caveman the whole first paragraph and it aggravated me so much that i didn’t give a unicorn about the story, i just closed the book and looked for a new one. Indeed, all of your points are spot-on and very helpful. Thank you, please keep posting =) Best wishes!

Thanks so much for your feedback and kind words. Yes, caveman style gets old very quickly. There’s also the fact that, generally, starting a book with that kind of action tends not to work. People are keen on it because it’s common (and works) in movies and television, but that’s because action is visceral and thrilling to WATCH. When we read action scenes more of our reaction comes from the context – we worry about a character we like getting hurt – than the action itself. Consequently if a book begins with action that might grip us if we cared about the characters, the gap between how we feel and how the author wants us to feel becomes very apparent.

I am writing a screenplay and led beautifully into a fight scene, but I came to a dead end when it came to the writing the scene itself. So, I didn’t write it at all 🙂 Here’s what I ended with: note: Ben was kicked out of a fictional high school gang called The Boys. Most names are standing names, not finalized.

The Boys arrive at an open field, the gang The Saints are waiting. Ben, in bandages and on a crutch, limps past The Boys. The Boys freeze in shock at his arrival.

BEN (to the Saints): Your two best against me decides the fight.

SAINT ALEX: The Saints don’t make deals with The Boys.

Ben cracks his neck and throws down his crutch.

BEN: Good thing I’m not one of them.

Two Saints sprint toward Ben, one two steps ahead of the other. Ben engages. A single blow. First one down. Impact. The second tackles Ben with brute force. They land with an audible thud.

CUT TO BLACK, FADE TO:

Ben wakes up in a hospital bed. His breath is shallow, his face swollen. Ben wares more bandages than clothing. Ben rolls his head and looks at the table next to him. A note on the table beside him reads: “You saved our asses. Thanks -The Boys” Ben smiles.

Leaving room for the actors and the director to choreograph a fight scene is a great idea when writing a screenplay, and even translates to novels – the reader is a fantastic director, you just need to give them enough information to play out their own idea of how it happened.

A warmth filled johns belly. It trickeled down his leg. “Have I pissed myself again?” Johns legs went numb as he sat down in the grass. His sword became heavy so he let it slip his grasp. “No one can know I’ve pissed myself again.” A shriek rang down from above.John stared into the cloudless sky. He knew that sound. The cry of an emperial falcon.He had seen many of them during his training at the battle camps. He promised his mom, a lover of winged creatures, he would buy one for her. The bird faded from his vision, but he continued searching for it in the greysky which he could have sworn was blue moments ago. A faint sound crept up from behind the young boy. “amazing, I can hear the flaping of your wings great bird.” A shadow slowly grew in front of john. A grin surfaced beneath the dried blood on John’s face. “ve never had a bird fly so close.” A thumping sound filled johns ears as theshadow began moving. Johns vision began to blur. “are you flying away great bird? Please take me with you.” Cried the boy as the ground raced towards his face. He felt a strange peace as his vision blackened. John smiled as he envisioned flying away towards his mother’s cottage. Slowly his eyelids lowered and he flew away from the nightmare of war.

Can u tell me what you think this scene is about. I try to evoke the readers emotion without being direct. I’m practicing lol. Want to be a writer, one who makes people cry, cheer, throw my book at the wall in anger and pick it back up again in curiosity.:)

it’s about a boy who dies after fighting in a war?

Would you say these same tips apply for fights that are rather supernatural? Eg. One with a trident vs someone weaponless that doesn’t stay down

Hi Rebekah,

In a word, yes. The style of writing is meant to evoke the threat and pace of the situation, so it would be applicable to the kind of fight you describe.

Hi Antonio,

I read it as a death on the battlefield scene, a soldier reflecting on his life before the conflict.

i am looking forward to writing one… https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/36246660-mayday

All my books include at least on fist fight between two people who know little about fighting (or at least one knows little.) One or both characters are afraid of fighting and generally will do just about anything to avoid getting in a fight. You tips are very helpful. I failed at the less is more rule in the beginning, but caught on and I think those scenes are not only strengthened, but easier on the reader. I find spending a bit more on the characters experience with the unexpected adrenaline rush, emotions, fears and anger is better. I actually received some feed back from readers who felt for the characters who were more or less trapped into a fist & wrestling fight. That my characters are mostly not skilled in fighting helped win reader sympathy. I managed to stay out of fights, though as human nature goes, I was very close to not being able to get out of close encounters as a teen and young adult. That experience of fear, trepidation, excitement along with some degree of wanting to hit the other person I wanted to bring out in my characters.

You’re right, those visceral feelings are really compelling and the reader is far more likely to back a character who’s been forced into a fight. I think one of the best ‘trying to avoid a fight’ scenes is Romeo and Juliet, act 1 scene 1. The whole idea of bravado versus the reality of injury is really strong, especially in the hands of directors like Baz Luhrmann. If you haven’t seen the opening scene of Romeo + Juliet (by which I mean the 1996 movie) I’d recommend it as great research.

Well Im writing a mystery novel with a touches of paranormal themes. My books always have an immense focus on fights because of the violent nature of one of my characters. I am having trouble with these because I personally have never been very descriptive in my writing. But this Article really helped me understand more of what to do and how to write them. Thanks

I’m really glad this article has been useful to you. Don’t give up on trying to nail your fight scenes – it’s a genuinely difficult subject to get right.

So i have attempted to use this guide to write my first battle scene i will actually use in a story if its ok i would love abit of feedback.

[This scene has been removed by a moderator. Please don’t post entire scenes into comments. For extensive feedback on your writing please refer to our editing services .]

Thanks in advance

It’s really gratifying that you’ve got such immediate use out of the article, so thanks for sharing this part of your story! You’ve completely understood what I was writing about, and all the techniques described are used to great effect in your writing.

If I was going to suggest anything it would be more sensory information in the final section – the more you can put the reader in the cramped, deafening midst of battle the better. Also a proofread would be necessary before including this in a larger work, to catch any errant spelling or grammar issues.

If you want feedback on any more of your work, or to talk more about your story, please feel free to contact me via //www.standoutbooks.com/contact/ .

Hi, I’m writing a fantasy novel and I’m trying to give my character a specific fighting technique. Basically I’m in love with Japanese style Niten Ichi-Ryu, a style that uses both the katana and the smaller wazitashi and I want my character to use this technique. But since it’s set in a fantasy world that knows nothing about Japan or another other country, how would you incorporate it? Or should I just leave it out altogether? The fighting style that is?

Hi Bexter08,

There are a few options for how to handle the fighting style you’ve mentioned. First of all, you could have the character use the style, but not refer to it as Niten Ichi-Ryu – either not naming the style or else inventing an in-world name for it. Second of all, you could simply use the correct name and brazen it out – fantasy worlds are full of terms that can’t realistically, linguistically have developed there (‘katana’ is one of these), and with confidence and skill it’s possible to win the reader over to accepting them. This option would be made easier if the narrator refers to the style by name, but it’s not used in dialogue. Thirdly, you could use the English translation (which I believe is along the lines of ‘the school of the strategy of two heavens as one’), or some variation of it. Finally, you could lose the style altogether, but that would be a shame over what’s a tricky but minor issue.

My advice would be to keep the style and give it an in-world name. This could be a variant of its translated name (‘the school of two heavens’, for example), or a new term that works in your world. The only drawback to the latter option is that those familiar with the style may feel irritated, as if you’re trying to pretend you’ve made it up. This could be solved with a note in the foreword – ‘the style used by _________ and referred to as _________ is Niten Ichi-Ryu’ – or by somehow referencing its actual name – perhaps the person who taught it to the character/the place where they learned it has a name that’s phonetically similar to the style. ‘Nyten’/’Niton’, for example.

I hope that’s useful.

Dear Robert.

I am in amidst of writing a story, and a lot of fight scenes are potentially involved. In regards to leaving much of it to Reader imagination and keeping pace … What if the fight was written like boxing commentary? Think that would work due to short and fast paced that is in real life?

Trying to find that balance between what I would like the reader to see versus what they will conjure up. Got some intricate stuff in mind and I do not want to lose all of it. Thanks for writing this article! It has come in handy. We need more like it.

That sounds like an interesting device – would the narrator be the ‘commentator’, or would one of the actual characters be describing what took place?

It would be the narrator. That way not all the choreography would be lost if done right.

Thanks again.

Sounds like a smart device. My only recommendation would be to ensure you lay the groundwork for that device before jumping into it, so it doesn’t feel forced in execution.

Hello Robert.

I must say, that I find your advice spot on. In my writing I have used all of these techniques – but I wish I had read your advice first – it would have saved me a bloody lot of time. Instead of hammering it out for myself, I could’ve relied on your expertise.

The think there maybe one exception to you words of wisdom: space battles (yes, I know. I am one of those). The quiet majesty of space I believe requires more description rather than less. The vivid scenes of destruction with lasers and missiles and plasma beams play well against the void of space. That being said, I have also finished off ships and their entire crews in a short paragraph.

I am most curious. Although this is a bit outside the parameters of your well-written article, what are your thoughts on fights between vessels, (sailing vessels, modern warships, tanks, starships) both terrestrial and non?

I would like your

Thanks for commenting – I take your point about space battles. Description can lead to detachment in fight scenes, but as you say, sometimes that works well with the sterility and isolation of space. An odd example, perhaps, but the videogame ‘FTL’ is about minutely managed space battles, and the bare-bones story really works with that approach – you’re on the run from a much larger force, adrift in hostile space, so knowing every little thing that can go wrong heightens that narrative tension.

As far as battles between machines of war go, I think the key is to focus on individual experience. You can, of course, write about tank vs. tank and armada vs. armada (you can write about anything, with enough skill and drafting), but it’s usually more effective to communicate that battle via the experiences of a single crew member. A huge indent being punched into a tank’s wall, or someone burning their hand on a gun that’s been rattling off rounds, can convey the experience of this type of fight without getting lost in technical details.

It’s not a perfect example because there are visual aspects to the medium, but Garth Ennis’ ‘War Stories’ comic book series does this really well. For him, it’s all about the individuals, but he also uses their relationship to their vehicles to anthropomorphize tanks and planes. There’s one story where a huge tank takes on a sort of ‘monster’ role in the story, emerging from the undergrowth just when the protagonists think they’re safe. Certainly a good place to start if looking for examples.

Okay, so my story is about superheroes and villains. Also, I don’t really like short fights but I understand I shouldn’t have 5 pages of fighting. How could I make the fight seem longer but use less pages?

Also, grammar question, can the whole fight be in one paragraph or no?

Thanks for your questions. You can make fights feel longer in a variety of ways. One really effective device is to cut away for a while – perhaps to a character witnessing the action from afar, or someone elsewhere. This lets the fight keep going while the reader is ‘away’, allowing you to extend it for however long suits your needs. In a similar vein, showing the consequences of the fight – the collateral damage – can add to the perceived duration, as the reader has to justify how so much damage has been done.

You can also sidetrack the reader with a few details. If your characters topple a building then let them fly away for a moment, but stay with the building, describing how people escape and how it eventually falls down completely. This is a combination of the devices above, and works as a kind of illusion for the reader – if such a passage is presented between when the fight starts and when it ends, the reader will include it in the duration of the fight afterwards, even if it was really more of an aside.

You could also break the fight up over time – having the fight begin, flashing back to its cause, and then rejoining it – again, this stretches out the reader’s perception of how long the fight has been going on.

In terms of directly witnessing the fight, there are fewer options. As tempting as it can be to show the reader a huge, prolonged fight scene, they rarely translate to the less visual medium of writing. Really, the only thing that justifies a huge fight scene is making the reader really, really want to see the outcome – having built up the animosity between the characters, or the desire to see one of them bite the dust. That kind of build-up takes time, so it’s probably only going to be possible to ‘earn’ two such fight scenes in a story.

Whether the whole fight is in one paragraph or not depends on your writing style and the way you’ve treated paragraphs elsewhere. That said, it would be unusual to turn such an action-heavy scene into a single block of text. We’ve got an article on paragraphs coming up soon, including when it’s best to break them, so that should answer your question in more detail.

hi my names alexis im wriitng a 30,00 word novel for nation novel writing weak im in 8th grade and this is what i got so far————————. The loudness of the room was getting louder and louder until everyone knew that there was gonna be a big huge staring contest that was going to happen during lunch. But when Michaela arrives with Elizabeth they sit down in the chairs that were blue, clean,shiny,and had a new smell to it but those blue shiny chairs where by the cafeteria table that they were sitting. All the sudden they see that Maddie was already there with her boyfriend and her friends,which they didn’t care. but when Michaela and Elizabeth discovers that Maddie, her boyfriend, and her friends are staring at them, and they immediately get mad at maddie so Michala and Elizabeth start staring at them and maddie saw that they were staring back so maddie gave michaela and elizabeth weird looks. And everyone out of nowhere was just staring at Michaela,Elizabeth,Maddie,her boyfriend,and her friends. But as soon as they left the cafeteria it was really quiet but when everyone left the cafeteria, they said there was staring contest, but no fight.

Thanks very much for sharing your NaNoWriMo writing. I’m afraid it’s had to be cut down, as we can only accomodate so much text in the comments. Beginning writing so young is a sure path to future brilliance, so congratulations on your work and be sure to keep at it.

Hello Mr. Wood I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I had a question. I’m now writing a fantasy book where the characters can influence gravity around them and practically fly/jump great distances at great speeds. I’m now struggling in a scene where one of the characters is chasing a bad-guy (who also has those powers). How can I write a chase scene that doesn’t actually get boring? Would really help if you’d share some advice on this matter. Thanks

Thanks for the great question. I think the key thing to keep in mind is that a chase isn’t inherently interesting. Almost no physical competition is – it’s the potential outcomes that interest the reader, and then the chase (or fight, or race, or argument) becomes interesting for how likely a specific outcome seems at any given moment.

To that end, the key to a great chase scene is how worried the reader is that someone will be caught/will get away. Every stumble or shortcut makes one of those outcomes more likely, and that’s something to keep in mind when writing them. This should guide what you focus on – is someone feeling tired, is there an obstacle coming up, is there a point the character can reach where they’ll be impossible to catch?

All the tips above apply – keep it basic, let the reader choreograph the scene, and keep your focus as the author on potential outcomes. As the reader, all the excitement and intrigue of a chase scene comes from who’s going to win. Strip away incidental dialogue, set-dressing, and anything that isn’t about that. Also, try to vary which outcome seems more likely. If it feels like a character is about to be caught and they escape, or it looks like they’re about to get away and then they stumble, that’s the moment where the reader’s heart really starts beating.

Hope that’s what you were looking for.

Hello Mr. Wood

I need advice how to write an aerial, ground and naval battles. When I’m writing a fight scene it look simple and doesn’t excite the readers. This caused me to lose motivation on writing a decent story if I can’t excite the readers.

I’m currently writing two story. The first one is where a large military base was transport to a messed-up fantasy world where magic exists. They trained the peasants to fight against their tyrannical rulers and the corrupted nobles. The second one is a massive denizens went to the another world but find out that the world is controlled by a corrupted Empires so they decided to start a bloody world revolution.

I have a wild imagination so I want to write a good fight scene.

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your comments. In terms of writing huge battles, I’d suggest utilizing some of my advice to Edward (above), and also keeping your eyes peeled, as we have an article on writing battle scenes in the pipeline that should provide more comprehensive information.

In your particular case, though, I’d suggest caution. You say that your scenes fail to excite readers, and I wanted to check that this conclusion is a result of consulting with beta readers. The reason I ask is that there’s a definite tendency to overwrite fight and battle scenes for authors, specifically because it’s impossible to get down on paper the complexity and scale that’s in their heads. Feeling that a scene doesn’t live up to the vision can lead authors to scrap something that’s working.

The key is not to try and chase the vision – to write in such a way that the reader is brought in as a partner, filling in details and choreographing their own most exciting scene. I think in most cases I’d argue there’s no way to write an objectively great battle scene (by which I mean a battle scene that, in and of itself, grabs and excites the reader regardless of everything else about it). Instead, it’s about building up the context of the battle beforehand, communicating it as a web of individual experiences, and leaving space for the reader. As with any action scene, it’s also advisable to focus on the potential outcomes. For example:

A scene where 127 men are blown up = boring. A scene where 127 men are blown up, but where the reader knows that 400 men will be needed to storm a fortress, and there are only 568 left = tense and exciting.

Really, it’s about making the reader do math on the fly. They need to know the ‘win’ and ‘lose’ conditions and then understand every event as a new variable. That way, they’re constantly thinking ‘oh no, now they’re more likely to lose’ or ‘that means they COULD still win’. Once you’ve got that, then it’s time to dress it up a little so the whole process seems a little more natural and less like an equation – battle estimates provided through a commander figure via dialogue rather than narration, taking enough time over a moment that it doesn’t feel perfunctory, that kind of thing.

I hope that’s useful, and please let us know what you think of the battle article once it’s up.

Hello and thank you. I’m writing a story that I most say is writing itself. But two of my characters have been snipping at each other for so long and the testosterone has finally hit its boiling point and there is no alternative, they have to duke it out. I have never written a fight scene. Your blog was the first one to catch my eye in google search. Thanks to you I now know how to proceed. I love the idea of putting the five senses in instead of description. Show don’t tell 😉 I’m very excited.

Fantastic, I’m really glad the article was so useful. I’ve also written specifically on sense writing, and have included a link to that article below:

//www.standoutbooks.com/sense-writing/

I dread battles… I hate them. For some of my earlier attempts I relied on character emotion but seeing as how I’m writing the last book of my series right now though, I am under alot of pressure to offer a lot of action especially since the whole series is leading up to this final fray. I’ve been building the action/tension through small skirmishes for the last while but I will admit it is wearing me down. My fear now is that my reserves will run dry and spoil what I hope to be an awesome climax. One thing I do find to my benifit is that, over the course of seven books, I was able to introduce a wide variety of characters slow enough for the readers to form a strong relationship with them all. Whenever I do tackle the final battle, having so many characters (I don’t know if it’s a good practice) it allows me to write several mini battles in the war, jumping between the characters I use that as my primary tool to offer more action/longer battles. Keep in mind though, this whole jumping between characters style I subtly introduced in book one and by book two I was using it constantly so my readers are used to that style. I find it helps keep the action up so if a character is doing something boring like learning or traveling etc I usually always have another engaged in more entertaining tasks. Just offering a tool that helps me… I wish I could say the same with battles though. I’m hopeless when it comes to them. 🙁

Hi Breanna,

Thanks very much for your thoughts, and a method that will help other writers with their stories. I’m happy to say we also have some advice specific to battles – I’ve included the link below.

//www.standoutbooks.com/write-epic-battle-scene/

Thanks Rob that made my day, it’s nice to know that I was able to offer something of use thay may help someone. I did check out the resource you offered, it is certainly informative. I find I need reprieves between the action both for my creative juices to recover and rest from the high points but also it is in these breaks that I bring back purpose of these fights, whether it is the character navigating the dungeon, redefining what he was looking for or regrouping after an ambush I need these lulls, they are my pillars of grounding, a chance to remind myself and readers what we’re there for. I’ll offer a quick example specific to my plot. Like with Harry Potter, my main character is the Chosen One destined to fulfill a prophecy. They are right now camping near the dark city assembling siege weapons preparing for the fight. The Bad Guy, so to speak, gets this bright idea that if he is able to kill the Chosen One this battle won’t happen and the lands will remain shadowed so he sends an ambush, waits for the main character to be seperate from the main army gathering wood for instance and then attacks. (High action scene) though the catch is that the ambush is made up of undead to increase the chances of the ambush being successful (it was only called off because the leader of the ambush was human and died properly telling his men to retreat). So now, in a lull the main character realises that there are undead he must face in the battle and is talking with any one he can trying to find a way to defeat them else every good folk will be killed by them. I am sorry it’s a bit long but again the ambush had purpose, it created further conflict forcing the Chosen One to adapt. I see no reason to add action with no purpose. One of my first writing lessons was that character and plot are so intertwined remove one and the other falls apart. For a good story they must alter each other in some way. On the flip side I remember reading this novel (which wasn’t very memorable) and in it there was one quote I recal rather vividly as it offers a perfect example of what not to do; Character One: “…we are battling, do you love battles?” Main Character: “Sure I love battles, who are we battling exactly?” Hope I helped.

Thanks for the great examples. I promise not to reply to everything you post with another article, but you reminded me of something we posted on ‘eulogizing’ characters prior to their deaths (though it works just as well for places or even states of being, like innocence or love). It works exactly as you say – in the lull – and lends the forthcoming battle meaning and poignancy.

//www.standoutbooks.com/how-to-kill-character/

Heres one im proud of about a barbarian sort of character winning a duel

The axe came downward and cut through the man’s right shoulder stopping at the first , second , third rib. The man inhales , no air comes back out. The bull puts his foot under the blade and with a single motions pulls it out , dragging a gore of dark flesh and pale organs out with it

Hi MadBull,

Thanks for sharing! There’s definitely some excellent stuff in there – ‘first, second, third rib’ is compelling writing. One thing I would suggest is that ‘came’ isn’t doing enough work for you, at the moment. A more descriptive verb such as ‘sliced’ or even ‘swept’ would tighten this up, and maybe even do enough work to take the place of the whole ‘came downward and cut’.

I’m working on writing with elements that I haven’t read about in a book before, attacks that haven’t existed before (at least in what I’ve been exposed to). Is it harmful to provide a lot of information about the way a person attacks if it is cerebral or indirect. I don’t want my audience to see the play by play, but I want to give them the resources, so when they inhabit the flesh-suit of my characters, they experience combat the way my characters are designed to.

The rule of thumb is that the form of action writing should match its content – if the fighting is meant to be fast-paced and violent, the writing should be staccato. It’s therefore fine to write detailed, cerebral action, but that’s likely to then be the way the reader experiences it. This can work for balletic, graceful action, but it means the reader is unlikely to worry about the character in the same way that brisk writing encourages.

One technique that might work is to write some early, cerebral stuff, to cover the key ideas for the reader, and then move towards more intense fight scenes later.

I’m revising my chapters, I write in deep pov, (or at least I try hard too,!) so yes “the man” is actually needed as she doesn’t know who he is. xD anyway, this has some action to it.

How is this?

The man walked down the darkened hallway, the candles on the wall reflected off of the blade of a thin long handled battle axe that he welded in hand like one would a wand. Maybe Olnenus would grant some luck for a change and he’d miss… that thing surely was flimsy. His features were hidden in the deep hood as he came up to the cell door. She quivered with the pressure struggling to keep from lunging, sweat wet her palms. This had to be a joke right? He’s so tall and skinny, honestly, Kar should’ve sent down someone with more oomph! Still all the better to get out fast. Thank you, Olnenus!

He unlocked the cell door it creaked as he pushed it open, a shining stand of curly red hair fell out from the hood, a hawk like nose jutted out before those hateful green eyes.

The pot clattered as it dropped, she backed away everything was sour again, must have displeased Olenus again. “Damn you Kar.”

He grinned, rolling the axe in his hand, it shrunk and thinned back into a wand. “Good morning pet, not amused hum?” He giggled that freaky giggle again.

A cold streak ran up her neck, she suppressed a shiver. “I won’t be mocked!” She lunged at him, her arm pulled back into a sweaty fist, aiming for his adam’s apple. That’ll shut him up.

Hum.. dialogue still needs work, well, never mind I think the action stuff is better so thanks. ^-^

One more time.. He grinned, rolling the axe in his hand, it shrunk and thinned back into a wand. “Good morning pet, want some kibble?” He giggled that freaky giggle again.

(To lame? or funny? I think it’s hella funny, though my humor is a little odd and might not work for others. Sigh.)

Thanks for sharing – there’s some great, engaging narration in there. If you’d like detailed feedback on a project, you can click the blue button in the top right of the page to contact us directly.

Thank you, you’re kind to say that! I’ll check it out. 🙂 Though, it’s probably too early to have it evaluated yet.

Hello, Mr. Wood? I am a 14 year old aspiring author. So far, my only means of writing my stories is by school-provided computers and/or smart device. Anyways, I am currently writing a story about a group of aliens that crash-land on Earth. These aliens have supernatural abilities, such as cryomamcy and reality warping. There is about to be a fight scene between two aliens. (It should be noted that these aliens have horns that are extremely sensitive to any contact.) One of these aliens has the ability of electrokinesis, while the other has the ability to possess others. Also, their height is very uneven, one being 5’10, the other being 5’2. What do you suggest for this type of scene? I apologize if there was too much to read! I can get a bit wordy at times.

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for commenting. It really depends how you want the scene to play out – for example, is either of these characters the protagonist, or are nearby civilians how the reader sees things unfold?

The articles below should be useful; the first is about writing battles, which might be useful when one character can be multiple people, and the second is about the characteristics that readers expect from certain fictional weapons, including types of magic and supernatural powers.

//www.standoutbooks.com/write-epic-battle-scene/ //www.standoutbooks.com/writing-fantasy-weapons/

Sir, I want a little bit help in writing a fight scene between my characters who have powers in fire and water.

Hi Adyasha,

I think the article below should be useful in thinking of ways to characterize and write supernatural powers:

//www.standoutbooks.com/writing-fantasy-weapons/

I’ve looked everywhere for an example of a good old fashioned bar/pub shootout. I’m writing a screenplay and originally I planned on just showing the aftermath of said shootout, but I thought why not show it? However, I’ve never written one. You wouldn’t write it like a fist fight or a cage match… so, what’s out there that would be a good model? My mind is blank!

Great question – thanks for commenting. I think a lot of the bare bones logic of a fight scene remains – there are still ‘moves’, ‘reactions’, and a need to contextualize consequence – but shootouts are often more about tension than one constant ‘fight’. The articles below should help with that, and for inspiration, I’d suggest most anything Tarantino.

//www.standoutbooks.com/10-facts-tell-how-use-tension-your-story/ //www.standoutbooks.com/george-orwell-writing-advice/

I do not completely agree. Sometimes the use of detail is helpful because you want to lengthen a particular part of a scene rather than shorten it. You want your readers to get stuck on a certain, and realize how important it is. Rather than have it pass quickly with not as much thought. Right?

Obviously, with art, there are barely any absolute rules. Most advice is more along the lines of what is likely to create a certain effect than what absolutely has to/can’t be in a certain scene. So, yes, there are lots of occasions where you’d want to use detail to lengthen a moment, but that technique is still likely to sap momentum, and therefore to make the fight less visceral and compelling.

It’s like saying ‘don’t stick your hand in a lion’s mouth’ – it’s USUALLY true, but if you WANTED to get your hand bitten off for some reason, it would no longer apply, even though the actual logic (that it’s an action that will get your hand bitten off) doesn’t change in itself. A more applicable version might be ‘try to use speech identifiers or it will be unclear who is saying what’. Good advice usually, but applied differently if you’re in the rare situation of actually wanting the reader to be confused about who is speaking.

Of course, creating art creates such ‘rare’ situations with surprising frequency. The shorter version: absolutely, there can be a benefit to deliberate use of detail, but that benefit should still be weighed against the drag it imposes on the surrounding action.

I am not very good at writing the actual fight part of it, I use a lot of detail and I have been told I am good at arguments. I am not sure where to go with my battle though. I am at the climax of my story and the antagonist is supposed to die. Both of my characters in the fight have magical powers. The Protagonist can use shadows to give her energy to fight things and can shape the shadows to do certain tasks like lift her up into the air or burn out torches. My antagonist uses light for energy and counters the shadows but I am not sure how to write it. This is what I have so far:

[Comment shortened by moderator]

From there I am not sure where to go. The father is supposed to die, I am thinking that somehow he needs to be absorbed by the orb of light so that the protagonist’s town doesn’t crumble, but I do not know how to get there does anybody have any suggestions?

I apologize; I’ve had to cut down your comment to keep our comments section manageable. If you’d like detailed feedback from an editor, I recommend our manuscript critique or editorial consultation services.

As for general advice, I’d suggest the article below, which discusses using the assumed ‘character’ of weapons to write them consistently. It’s something easily applied to types of magic.

Hello! This article really helped me with a part of the book I am writing, and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it! If I could add one thing, it would be (if the fight is written through first person, or an omniscient) Is the characters thoughts, what has helped me a lot is to not just making it a physical battle, but emotional as well, ie, “He is saying something to me, but I cannot hear it over all the angry voices in my own head. Suddenly, I forgot my own pain, and lunged forward. I slammed into him vehemently, he tumbles back and crashes into the wall. I begin pummeling his chest and neck with my fists, screaming and ranting. My hatred for him, and what he did, is powering each blow…” (A recent segment from what I’m writing) I guess this really wouldn’t apply to everyone though, and would really depend on what your writing. Again I really enjoyed reading this, and your article has helped my writing improve so much! Thank you!

Hi Equinøx,

Great point – a character’s mental state should definitely be part of a great fight scene. A lot of authors leave emotion at the door when the action starts, but it can prompt a lot of decisions that are otherwise hard to justify (plus, it’s interesting in its own right.)

What a useful resource! I’ll be checking out more articles. 🙂

I was wondering if you have any advice on scene cuts or changes mid fight. I could see how breaking away could add tension, lose it, or just be annoying.

I’m towards the end of a long, involved fight scene in my sci-fi/fantasy novel. Currently, my main character is being hunted by a 60ft long, alien snake, and I kinda love the idea of punctuating the last line by ending the chapter on it. But would that be superfluous if the next chapter dives right back into the action? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

“Wren didn’t see it. He was distracted by the four golden eyes now focused on him. Drawn by his noise and movement, the snake rose like a pillar of shadow and let forth a bassy growl that thrummed through Wren’s bones.

Wren didn’t wait for further commentary. His hand whipped forward. His knife flew like an angry wasp into the face of the lunging snake as he rolled to the side and dashed along the beam. He leapt for a low hanging limb, swinging up into a tree just as the beam behind him was encased in tentacles. He scampered along branches and ducked into cover, chancing a glance downward at Rory and Whispering Cloud as the beast disentangled itself to strike again.

He needed Cloud to get the cable back up to him. Once he had it, Wren could free Rory, trap the snake, and get them all to safety – but he was out of tricks, and he could hear the purr of the snake’s breathing as it searched for him, smell its musk as surely as he knew it could smell the blood soaking the bandage on his hand and dripping down the cuts of his arms.

He hoped Cloud had used his distraction to get the cable into position, but all he’d seen was the monk rifling through his backpack. He hoped Rory was still alive. He hoped Cantis was still waiting for them, even though he doubted they’d make it back. It occurred to him that the tree he was pressed against was immense and was something he had never, and would never see again on White Cloud. All these things played through his mind as he waited, silent and breathless for the “collection of problems” that would be his death.

The snake’s golden eyes came into view, and its face unfurled like a velvet flower. Wren had enough dignity not to scream. “

Sorry. Also wanted to mention, as a side note, that setting always makes a huge impression on me. Not stuffing the scene with details, but making sure your characters aren’t just fighting in a vacuum.

A fight being on top of a train, or the deck of a storm tossed pirate ship, or next to the Cliffs of Insanity sure does ratchet up the tension. Even something common place, like a fight next to a swimming pool or in a muddy parking lot can be full of sensory information that add extra grit to the scene.

Hi Caroline,

Thanks for commenting. Your point about setting is a great one – such an easy way to provide oneself with a host of options.

As for ending a chapter mid-action, pretty much anything can be forgiven if it works for the reader. So long as you don’t end up with two noticeably shorter chapters, this is likely to add enough tension to justify any sense that a technical rule has been broken.

Thank you! 🙂

I found this article so helpful, considering I’m bad at fight scenes. Though, I do ask for more advice. How would you write a scene where one character is far more crazy than the other? The stereotypical insane character infatuated with the other losing, a sadistic villain hellbent on destroying the stubborn hero who won’t give up. Yes, the advice above helps, but do you have any examples of these types of fights? How do you write a fight between characters that are on different sides of the mental stability chain?

Thanks very much for the kind words. There are a lot of ways to approach what you describe, but the one I’d suggest playing with first is contrasting experiences. For instance, if the more stable character is hurt and recoils but the less stable character is injured later in a similar way and it doesn’t even slow them down, the reader can see (even without being told) how differently these two people experience the world. It’s the gulf between their experiences that does the work, here, so you can use one character to make the other look unusual just by comparison, and this can work with pain, fear, reluctance to hurt someone else, etc.

There are more straightforward examples you could check out, but I’d actually suggest trying ‘A Clockwork Orange’ to really dig into this idea. The book is full of people with very different approaches to different types of violence, and those people grow and change (or don’t) as the book progresses. In terms of density, you’ll get to witness a lot of interactions predicated on drastically different attitudes to a bit of the old ultraviolence.

This article was honestly one of the most helpful I’ve come across. I’m writing a novel based around pirates and some supernatural elements, and I’d written so much until it led to a fight scene. Action is a giant obstacle for me because I’m terrible at writing it without feeling like it’s choppy and repetitive. Especially since, when it comes to pirates, it’s a lot at once. You have the ships firing their cannons and causing damage while the actual pirates have guns, swords, and fists. I find it very difficult to start writing a fight, let alone finish one successfully.

My sympathies – big battles can be incredibly hard to write well. I’m glad this article helped, and I’ve suggested a couple below that should also be useful.

What Authors Need To Know About Ships And Spaceships How To Write An Epic Battle Scene

How about writing space battles that take place around planets? I feel stuck trying to narrate in third-person limited.

I wanted to zoom in and out of the battle to show what the weapons do, but my editor said my story isn’t working in third-person omniscient.

There are a few ways to do this. The easiest is to add some way for the characters to see more of the battle – a camera drone, some kind of remote-viewing power, or just a weapons/tactics expert telling them what’s happening. This way, the reader is still just seeing what your characters are seeing.

That said, the deeper issue is that leaving the characters behind to go exposit on weaponry is unlikely to be compelling. The characters are what the reader cares about, so this type of exploration is best done through their experiences. I’d therefore suggest writing the scene such that we see the weaponry as it affects the characters. A certain weapon is locked onto them, but they’re buffeted to safety as a nearby ship is blown up by another weapon. Dazed, they’re contacted by another ship with an enemy on its tail, but before they can take action, it’s downed by something else, etc. Not only does this let you explore everything going on, but it makes everything relevant, and the weapons are more interesting because the reader encounters them as threats to the thing they care about. Obviously, you can blur the lines a little, and throw in things they see in the distance or are contacted about so it doesn’t feel like they’ve been personally attacked in every possible way. Finally, be sure to remember that books aren’t movies – spectacle isn’t as inherently impressive in this medium.

I hope that’s useful, and I’d also suggest the articles below for more insight: How To Write An Epic Battle Scene What Authors Need To Know About Ships And Spaceships

Of all the articles I’ve read about the topic, this is the one that I’ve found the most useful, with very good examples to illustrate very clear and sensible advice. I just wanted to thank you for it.

hello. I am writing a training scene. My protagonist learns how to fight. The problem is that I don’t know how to bite that… help!

Robert can you give me tips on how to write a fight against monsters that can’t talk back. Do I just do the perspective of the character during the fight scene or should it change to a 3rd point of view in between the fight. This article has also been very helpful

I find it hard in constructing fight scenes some times. its easy to think about a scenario but to describe it to the readers, I always end up stuck and my last resort is to sleep. This article has been really helpful ! . Thanks to it, I know I’d improve.

War Describing Words – Examples & Adjectives

War is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has shaped human history for centuries. As a writer, I find myself constantly searching for the right words to capture the essence of this intense and often devastating experience. In this article, I will delve into the world of adjectives for war, exploring the various ways we can describe the tumultuous nature of conflict. From words that evoke power and destruction to those that convey resilience and heroism, I will provide a comprehensive list of descriptive words and examples to help paint a vivid picture of the battlefield. So, join me as we embark on a linguistic journey through the trenches of war.

Table of Contents

How to Describe war? – Different Scenarios

When it comes to describing war, there are countless scenarios we can explore. Each scenario presents a unique perspective on the intensity and devastation of conflict. Let’s dive into a few different scenarios and the adjectives that best capture their essence.

Each scenario presents a different facet of the complex nature of war. Describing these scenarios allows us to capture the emotions, impacts, and consequences of conflict. It is through our words that we can shine a light on the realities of war and perhaps inspire a collective determination to pursue peace.

Describing Words for war in English

When it comes to describing the intensity and impact of war, using the right adjectives is crucial. These words help us paint a vivid picture of the emotions, actions, and consequences associated with armed conflict. In this section, I’ll provide you with a variety of adjectives that can be used to describe war. Let’s dive in:

Adjectives for war

When it comes to describing war, finding the right words can be a challenge. As an expert blogger with years of experience, I understand the importance of using descriptive adjectives to paint a vivid picture of the intensity and impact of armed conflict. In this section, I will provide you with a range of adjectives that can be used to describe war, both positive and negative. Let’s explore!

Positive Adjectives for War

While war is often associated with destruction and suffering, there are occasions when it is important to highlight positive aspects of wartime experiences. Here are some examples of positive adjectives that can be used to describe war, along with example sentences:

Adjective	Example Sentence
Courageous	The soldiers showed determination.
Triumphant	The nation celebrated a victory.
Resilient	Despite challenges, the war effort remained .
United	The community came together in support.
Noble	Many acts of sacrifice were witnessed during the war.

Negative Adjectives for War

Adjective	Example Sentence
Brutal	The war resulted in loss of life.
Devastating	The impact of the war was for the country.
Chaotic	The battlefield was and unpredictable.
Terrifying	The sounds of explosions were .
Relentless	The war’s advance left no refuge.

As you can see, war is a complex and multifaceted subject. Using the right adjectives can help to convey the range of emotions, actions, and consequences associated with armed conflict. Whether highlighting the bravery of soldiers or the devastation caused by war, it is crucial to choose words that accurately capture the essence of the experience.

Synonyms and Antonyms with Example Sentences

Synonyms for war.

When it comes to describing war, there are various synonyms that can paint a vivid picture of the experience. Here are some synonyms to help you accurately convey the emotions, actions, and consequences associated with armed conflict:

Antonyms for war

In contrast to the synonyms, antonyms provide the opposite meaning, giving us a perspective on peace and the absence of war. Here are some antonyms for war:

Importantly, these synonyms and antonyms provide a comprehensive range of words to describe war and its contrasting counterpart, peace. Using the right words allows us to capture the essence of these experiences accurately.

Remember, words have the power to shape perceptions and influence understanding. So, the next time you find yourself writing about war, choose your adjectives wisely to accurately convey the multifaceted nature of this human experience.

Describing blood: adjectives with examples, adjectives for age: describing words & examples, adjectives for fight: examples and describing words.

When it comes to describing a fight, finding the right… Read More » Adjectives for Fight: Examples and Describing Words

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International History, 1945-1991

Creative Writing - War.

Creative Writing - War

We all heard the disquieting crunch, off in the far distance. For a few seconds, we remained still, sinking deeper into the mud, anticipating another sound to calm our nerves. Instead, a fraudulent silence followed. General Loft's reaction was delayed; his hand shot up immediately as he remembered his position. Hurriedly, he waved us down. For a second he starred hard into the dense green jungle, trying to pierce through it with his eyes. Ours were focused on his right hand, awaiting further instructions. His eyes widened, with fear and urgency he turned to face us. His mouth opened, but all we could hear was a neat and tidy screech, travelling through the sharp leaves. Blood exploded out of Loft's neck as the bullet made impact. His fall to the ground was slow; it seemed to suck out all the sound around us. As the general's body splattered into the swamp, the monstrous crackle of machine gun fire roared around us. Chests began bursting around me, blood and dirt spitting everywhere. A few men tried to run, but they were consumed by a grenade's unleashed inferno. The medic seemed to be dodging bullets for a while, until a mass of them, entered his right cheek. There were shouts of 'run', 'take cover', each with a sense of unease and terror. The bullets were not moving through the air, they were simply atmospheric. I decided it would be hopeless to try and escape, it was equally foolish to attempt to fight. I slid down onto my back, and closed my eyes. As the thunderous noise raged on, I prayed to God to spare my life.

I had joined the British Army in late 1941, without much enthusiasm. My father encouraged me to sign up after our home in Coventry, was flattened during the Blitz in 1940. He had fought in the First World War, but was sent back from the Western Front after a shell landed in his trench, blowing his leg off and killing his First Sergeant;

This is a preview of the whole essay

'At least one Atherton should be apart of a Great British victory' he would say. Two years my senior, my brother Michael was not seen by my father to be 'that' Atherton. He complained he was too much like my mother, who was German born. When the bombing raids began, the local community disowned my family because of this. In the eyes of my father, by helping my nation defeat the enemy, it would put things right. So I put my dreams of becoming a doctor aside, and decided to join the war effort. My mother was too frightened to come to the door, so the only goodbye I received were a few obtuse words, from my father as I walked away;

'Give the Geris a good bullocking, for your old man'. Much to my father's dismay, I would not be joining my fellow countrymen in Europe, but instead joining the war in the Far East. I was placed in 'Quick Arrow', a ground troop regiment of the British army. Our group had earned its name because of the speed and accuracy we had shown on training operations. On the 21 st December, after three months of training in Southampton, we were sent to a large British base in Singapore. The war had begun for me, against the Japanese Empire.

One day prior to our ambush in the jungle, we had been marching along the Bepong River, in the south of Malaya. Quick Arrow had been assigned there to resist Japanese forces, attempting a ground offences against the large base in Singapore, via Malaya. The allies were confident that if the Japanese were to attack the base, it would be by sea, not by land. Therefore, only a few other British Regiments were located in Malaya. We had been marching along the very same river for the last month. Back and forth, with no sign of the enemy. By now, even the most frightened of men wanted to fight. Troops would fire a few rounds into the air, to let out their frustration. Many suffered severe foot cramp and blisters. Our faces became dominated with mosquito bites. We had even come to the point, that we were sick and tired of the beautiful surroundings. We passed the rice farming community, as we did every day. We looked at them with baffled faces that day. They offered us their usual greetings, nodding and smiling at us. But their gestures were more anxious then usual. They seemed to have increased in number too. The eyes of four Malayan men, wearing sarongs, followed us as we walked. Staring at us with suspicious expressions. We thought nothing of it and carried on with our walk. After all, there were bound to be a few Malayans that were unhappy with our presence.

We arrived back at our base later than usual that night. Our 'base' was simply a few huts that we had occupied in a local village. That particular night was cool. Silent too. Two local children sat beside me at the fire. I showed them the music box my mother gave me. A fairy would rotated on a yellow base, as the music plucked out. The children's laughs showed me how special the toy was. They scampered off as General Loft came out of his quarter's to address us;

'I just received a call from the Singapore. We'll be moving into the jungle tomorrow, so get some sleep and I'll see you boys in the morning'. There wasn't a guarantee of coming into combat with the enemy, but at least it was a change of scenery. I couldn't wait to go into the jungle.

I had been lying in the muddy ditch for two hours. The shock and fear to what had just happened had kept me there.

My eyes rolled around, the pure smell of the jungle had been contaminated by the smell of death. A leather boot stomped directly in front of my eyes. It belonged to a short man. He pulled me up roughly and starred directly into my eyes. Another man stood next to him, two others in searching for useful artillery. All were wearing Malayan sarongs. They looked looking at me in disgust. I remember thinking to myself, 'Oh my God, these Nips are going to kill me!' I was thrown onto a truck, carrying four other British troops who had been captured. It was on its way to a Japanese base. The jungle provided an excellent division between us; a marvellous camouflage for them. I wasn't naïve in thinking that these Japs pitied me. They hadn't killed me, because they desired to execute all of us, one by one at their headquarters. As the truck staggered along the bumpy road, the Japanese officer guarding us spoke.

'You coward, you no fight'. Our heads remained faced down, we didn't know whom he was addressing, and we didn't want to know. He swiftly got up from his crouched position, ran over to me and struck my shoulder with the side of his hand;

'You no fight, you like baby'. His words were fierce as he continued to mock me. After spitting on my shoes, he returned to his position on the truck, and with a dry throat he laughed as he watched over us. His laughter was dry, it echoed throughout the jungle. I gazed up at him, and then busted out into tears. They had blindfolded us for the last few miles of the journey. With my hands tied firmly behind my back, I was flung against a tough wall. They removed my blindfold, but left my hands as they were. The room was dark, but the walls appeared to be metallic. It was a cell. This base had been here for sometime. A crack in the wall, which allowed a small amount of light in. I was able to count the days because I this. On the third day I was fed. A plate of lentils and rice was dropped four feet away from me, much of it spilling on the floor. My hands were not untied.

The first few months in captivity I spent sobbing and shouting. I hurled myself against the door on occasions. Nobody came to shut me up, only to take me to the toilet. Then, left me in silence, alone;

'You bastard Nips, come and fight me.' I would curse like this for a while, with no response. This reduced me to tears. I cried myself to sleep most nights, pleading for someone to come, until I fell asleep. Then, they would come;

'You Brits, you all fucking babies' they screamed as they beat me. I always had trouble falling asleep those first few months. The unbearable moans of other prisoners rang throughout the night. cogd gdr segdgdw orgd gdk ingd fogd gd.

'Mummy, I want my Mummy!' One morning, I crawled over to the crack in the wall and looked out for the first time. I could see four men on the ground, dead. Their bodies were rotting; the circling flies said they had been dead for some time. They were placed outside my cell for a reason. If the Japs were going to kill me, they would have done it by now. I realised I wouldn't be executed; I would just be in this cell, for a very long time.

After the first few months, I got over my troubles. The beating still occurred, but not as often. I still had to crawl for my food. But I was used to it; after all, I had forgotten how to walk. It must have been after few years, that I experience my most pleasant moment as a prisoner. It was a sunny day; the light beamed through the crack and painted my face gold. I watched the dust particles dance on the yellow ray, it was bliss. I smiled. Weber oppressed dazzle's rationalisation hypothesis.

I remained a prisoner of the Japanese army for the next four years. American soldiers freed me, and 34 other prisoners in 1946. The Japanese took the base the British Base at Singapore in February 1941. They took 80,000 prisoners of war. They had succeeded, through a ground offensive.

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35 Tips for Writing Fight Scenes (Ultimate Guide + Examples)

Writing fights scenes can be as thrilling as they are challenging.

Creating intense action sequences, engaging characters, and vivid settings requires meticulous planning and execution.

Here are my best tips for writing fight scenes:

Write fight scenes by starting with a dramatic hook and establishing stakes. Balance fast action with detailed moments. For realism, do thorough research and consider emotional aspects. In fantasy or superhero settings, define power limitations and emphasize emotional stakes.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe fight scenes in writing.

35 Best Tips for Writing Fight Scenes (That Readers Love )

Digital image of two warriors with axes - Tips for writing fight scenes

Table of Contents

Whether you’re penning a historical war or an epic fantasy, the following 35 tips will help elevate your fight scenes to unforgettable experiences.

Get ready to unleash the warrior in your words.

1. Clash of Titans: The Importance of Scale

Sometimes, size does matter.

Understanding the scale of your fight is vital for delivering an engaging experience.

If it’s a skirmish between two rival gang leaders, the intimacy and grit will be the focus.

On the other hand, an epic clash between galactic empires will have monumental stakes and grandiose displays of power.

Example : In Lord of the Rings , the Battle of Helm’s Deep feels incredibly intense because of the scale.

A small number of defenders are trying to hold off an overwhelming force, making every moment suspenseful. It’s not just about clashing swords but the survival of a way of life.

2. Architects of War: Build the Battlefield

Your battlefield (or fight zone) is more than just a backdrop – it’s a character in its own right.

Whether it’s the muddy fields of medieval Europe or an asteroid in outer space, the setting affects tactics, emotions, and outcomes.

Don’t just mention it—describe it in a way that adds another layer to your fight scenes.

Example : In George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones , the Battle of the Bastards takes place in an open field but it’s the mud, the trenches, and the wall of bodies that make it memorable and affect the combat.

These features become tactical elements that characters use to gain an advantage or suffer setbacks.

3. The Echo Chamber: Sensory Storytelling

Fight scenes are a sensory overload.

The smell of gunpowder or the clang of steel, the touch of rain or the sight of blood – these details pull readers into the action.

Incorporate as many senses as you can to provide a full, immersive experience.

Example : In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games , the arena is described not just visually but through the smells, the feeling of the ground underfoot, and the ambient sounds around.

When arrows fly or traps are sprung, all senses are engaged, making readers feel like they’re right there in the battle.

4. Quicksilver Moments: Pacing

Pacing is the heartbeat of your fight scene.

Too slow, and it becomes a slog. Too fast, and you lose emotional impact.

Break up long, descriptive passages with short, punchy sentences to maintain a rhythmic flow.

Use cliffhangers at the end of chapters to keep your reader turning pages.

Example : In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the Battle of Hogwarts varies in pacing.

It has breathless moments where spells are flying quickly but slows down for emotional depth when characters we love are in peril or make sacrifices.

5. Choreographed Chaos: Balancing Actions

Balancing the action means knowing when to detail a sword swing and when to pull back for a panoramic view.

You don’t need to describe every parry and thrust, but focusing on key actions can accentuate the drama and tension.

Alternate between zooming in for small but significant actions and zooming out to give a broader picture of the battlefield.

Example : In the film adaptation of The Matrix , Neo’s showdown with Agent Smith is a perfect blend of detailed close-ups and wide shots that capture both the intricacy of their fight and the scale of the destruction around them.

6. Masters of Deception: Misdirection and Strategy

Good battle scenes aren’t just a showcase of brute strength.

They involve strategy, deception, and sometimes even a bit of luck.

Plant seeds for surprises or turns of events that will shock the reader and heighten the stakes. When a battle looks like it’s going in one direction, a clever tactical move can flip it on its head.

Think of the fight scenes in the John Wick , Bourne Identity , or Fast and the Furious franchises.

Example : In Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Ender wins a simulated battle by doing the unexpected—attacking the planet directly instead of its surrounding forces.

It’s a shocking move that surprises both the characters and the readers.

7. Dive into the POV: Perspective and Focus

The point of view (POV) you choose can greatly affect the reader’s emotional engagement.

Close third-person or first-person perspectives can offer intimate, ground-level experiences, while an omniscient POV can provide a grand, sweeping overview of the fight.

You can even switch between multiple POVs to show different facets of the conflict.

Example : Bernard Cornwell often uses a tight third-person perspective in his historical novels, making you feel every sword clash and see every drop of sweat, grounding you in the intense emotions and physicality of the characters involved.

8. Orchestra of War: Crafting a Soundscape

Fight scenes are noisy affairs, filled with shouts, clangs, and roars.

But what sounds dominate your particular scene? The cadence of marching boots? The pop-pop-pop of gunfire? The rustling of arrows?

Identifying and incorporating a specific “soundtrack” into your scene can deeply influence the reader’s experience.

Example : In Dunkirk , Christopher Nolan uses the ticking of a watch and a gradually intensifying soundtrack to create a sense of urgency and tension.

Similarly, you can use the sounds in your battle to heighten the emotional stakes and keep readers on the edge of their seat.

9. The Dance of Death: Choreographing Duels

Individual fights or duels are often highlights in a story.

These moments need to be choreographed carefully.

Every move, block, and strike should reveal something about the characters involved, whether it’s their skill level, emotional state, or underlying motivations.

Example : In Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers , the duels aren’t just fights – they are conversations in combat, revealing character traits, alliances, and enmities.

Each clash of swords is a statement, each parry a counter-argument.

10. Bravery and Blunders: Showcasing Character Flaws

Nobody is perfect, and fight scenes are the perfect place to let those imperfections shine.

Maybe your hero misjudges a swing or the villain gets overconfident.

These mistakes make the characters relatable and the outcome unpredictable.

Example: In the Star Wars saga, Anakin Skywalker’s overconfidence becomes his downfall in his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

His flaw doesn’t just make for an exciting fight. It also serves as a pivotal character moment.

11. The Fog of War: Creating Confusion and Uncertainty

In real battles, confusion and lack of information are often as dangerous as the enemy.

Apply the “fog of war” to your scenes by obscuring certain facts or presenting misleading information, creating suspense and uncertainty for both the characters and the readers.

Example : In Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls , the protagonist, Robert Jordan, has to make decisions based on incomplete or conflicting information, adding a layer of tension and uncertainty to the already chaotic battlefield.

12. Emotional Highs and Lows: The Rollercoaster Ride

Battle scenes can be physically exhausting to read if they’re not broken up by changes in emotional intensity.

Moments of hope, despair, love, and loss can provide much-needed respite and deepen the reader’s emotional investment in the outcome.

Example : In the Battle of Helm’s Deep in Lord of the Rings , the emotional low point occurs when all hope seems lost.

But then Gandalf arrives with reinforcements, providing an emotional high that changes the tide of battle.

13. Art of the Underdog: Flip the Odds

Everyone loves a good underdog story.

There’s something inherently satisfying about a small or ill-equipped group overcoming overwhelming odds

If you’re writing such a scenario, focus on resourcefulness, bravery, and a bit of good luck to make the victory believable.

Example : In 300 by Frank Miller, a small force of Spartans fights against overwhelming Persian forces.

Despite their eventual defeat, their bravery and tactics inspire future generations, turning the battle itself into a legend.

14. Fleeting Moments: Capture Small Victories and Defeats

In any fight scene, there are minor victories and setbacks that occur before the final outcome.

These give depth to your fight scene and keep your readers engaged by creating a dynamic ebb and flow of action.

Example : In Saving Private Ryan , each secured building or cleared trench gives the soldiers a momentary win, but each casualty they take is a minor defeat.

These ups and downs keep the audience invested in the unfolding battle.

15. Cosmic Consequences: The Bigger Picture

Sometimes a fight is about more than just the combatants involved.

It has broader implications for a community, a nation, or even a world.

Remind your readers what’s at stake on a grand scale to elevate the emotional intensity.

Example : In Avengers: Endgame , the final battle is about the fate of the entire universe.

This broadens the scope and stakes of the conflict, making every punch and kick feel significant.

16. Stakes and Sacrifices: What’s to Lose and Gain

Physical conflict is only part of the fight.

Internal conflict can also ratchet up the tension.

Make it clear what your characters stand to gain or lose emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically, adding another layer to the physical stakes.

Example : In Les Misérables , the barricade scenes become a crucible for the characters’ beliefs, hopes, and relationships.

This adds emotional weight to the physical conflict.

17. The Aftermath: Consequences of Battle

A fight changes a landscape, both physically and emotionally.

Don’t cut away as soon as the action stops. Show the aftermath.

Whether it’s the jubilant victors, the wounded, or the dead, the way you describe what remains can be as impactful as the fight itself.

Example: In War and Peace , Tolstoy doesn’t shy away from detailing the grim aftermath of battle, describing the wounded, the dead, and the psychological toll on the survivors.

This adds a poignant, humanizing touch to the grand tapestry of war he describes.

18. Rhythm of the Fight: Sentence Structure Matters

The way you construct your sentences can directly affect the reader’s experience of the battle.

Short, choppy sentences can increase the tempo and create a sense of urgency.

Meanwhile, longer, more complex sentences can be used to describe grand strategies or intricate maneuvers.

Example : In Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian , the violence is often rendered in short, brutal sentences that mimic the abrupt nature of combat.

This contrasts sharply with longer, more poetic descriptions that capture the setting or the characters’ internal thoughts.

19. Gods of War: The Role of Divine Intervention

In certain settings, especially those influenced by mythology or fantasy elements, divine intervention can play a crucial role.

Perhaps a god favors one of the warriors, or an ancient prophecy is being fulfilled on the battlefield.

These elements can add another layer of complexity to your scenes.

Example : In Homer’s Iliad , the gods not only watch the battle but actively participate, supporting their chosen champions and even rescuing them from mortal danger.

This injects an entirely different set of tactics and considerations to the human conflict below.

20. Nature’s Wrath: Environmental Challenges

Don’t forget that Mother Nature can be as much a part of a fight as any soldier or weapon.

Elements like rain, snow, and fog can add complications that make your fight scenes richer and more unpredictable.

Example : In the Battle of Agincourt as described in Shakespeare’s Henry V , the muddy field plays a significant role in hampering the French knights, giving the English longbowmen an advantage.

The weather becomes as much an enemy as the opposing army.

21. Tragic Turns: Unexpected Casualties

Sometimes, a well-loved character’s death can serve as a dramatic turning point in the fight.

Unexpected casualties can shock the reader and characters alike, raising the stakes and adding emotional depth to the conflict.

Example: In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Sirius Black’s sudden death in the middle of battle comes as a shock, fundamentally changing Harry’s experience and emotional state for the remainder of the fight.

22. Micro-Moments: Zooming into Emotional Beats

Even in the midst of chaos, small, intimate moments can be impactful.

A soldier’s reaction to an order, a shared glance between comrades, or even a quick flashback can offer a reprieve from the action and add emotional richness.

Example : In Band of Brothers , during the intense battles, there are moments where the camera zooms in on individual soldiers reacting to events around them.

Fear, a quick decision, or a moment of relief – these micro-moments make the larger battle more personal.

23. Symbols and Metaphors: Layered Meanings

Symbols, such as flags, sacred relics, or significant locations, can add deeper meaning to your fight scenes.

They can serve as rallying points, sources of inspiration, or even elements of division and conflict within your ranks.

Example : In The Lord of the Rings , the banner of the White Tree serves as a powerful symbol for Gondor’s fighters.

Its appearance on the battlefield lifts the spirits of the allies and provides a focus that transcends the immediate physical conflict.

24. The Fog Clears: Moments of Clarity

In the midst of chaos, a moment of clarity for your characters can be a powerful narrative device.

This can be a sudden realization of love, the clarity of their cause, or even a flash of brilliant strategy that could turn the tide of battle.

Example : In The Matrix Revolutions , Neo reaches a moment of clarity during his final battle with Agent Smith.

His realization about the interconnectedness of their existences allows him to make a crucial decision that ultimately ends the war.

25. Words as Weapons: The Power of Dialogue

Even in fight scenes, dialogue is crucial.

From rallying cries to verbal sparring between enemies, the words your characters choose can be as impactful as any physical weapon.

Example : In Braveheart , William Wallace’s pre-battle speech does more than just rally his troops.

It serves to crystallize the stakes of the battle and provides a focal point for the reader, establishing the emotional weight of what’s to come.

26. Unlikely Heroes: Spotlight on Minor Characters

Sometimes, minor characters can steal the spotlight in a fight.

They might save the day, make the ultimate sacrifice, or simply provide comic relief.

Giving minor characters moments to shine can add unexpected twists and emotional richness to your action scenes.

Example : In Game of Thrones , Podrick Payne, a minor character, has his moments of bravery and competence in battle.

Such moments provide depth to the larger conflict and contrast to the more established warriors.

27. Women Warriors and Mighty Maidens: Diversity in Combat Roles

Representation matters, even on the battlefield.

Including a diverse array of fighters—be it gender, ethnicity, or even species in fantasy settings—can make your battle scenes more inclusive and relatable to a wider audience.

Example : In Mulan , the titular character disguises herself as a man to fight for China.

Her presence on the battlefield challenges traditional gender roles, and her eventual triumph comes from leveraging her unique skills, rather than conforming to expected norms.

This attaches social commentary to the action.

28. The Morale Mechanism: Group Dynamics and Psychology

In a fight, the emotional and psychological state of a group can be as crucial as their physical prowess.

Describing shifts in morale, moments of collective doubt, or a sudden surge of courage can layer complexity on your scene.

Example : In Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series, the British soldiers often sing or use humor to boost morale.

The mood among the troops can shift rapidly depending on their situation, adding another element of tension and potential for reversal in the story.

29. Musical Mayhem: Incorporate Songs and Chants

In many cultures, music, chants, or hymns play a role in warfare.

From war drums to bugle calls to soldiers singing together, these can be powerful tools for setting the mood and deepening cultural context.

Example : In the historical film Zulu , British soldiers sing “Men of Harlech” to boost morale during the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.

This use of music blends cultural depth and an emotional layer to the already intense situation.

30. Tipping Point: The Moment Everything Changes

Every fight has a “tipping point”—a moment when the outcome swings clearly in one direction.

Identifying and amplifying this moment can provide a satisfying climax to the action.

Example : In the Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , the moment Harry reveals he’s alive is a significant tipping point.

It reignites the will to fight among his allies, making the ultimate victory possible.

31. Unseen Hands: The Role of Non-Combatants

Not everyone on the battlefield is a warrior.

From medics to messengers to spectators, non-combatants can play important roles in your fight scenes, providing new perspectives and opportunities for heroism or tragedy.

Example : In Gone with the Wind , Scarlett O’Hara is not a soldier.

But her experiences during the Battle of Atlanta provide a different, harrowing view of the conflict.

Her actions and observations add depth to our understanding of the battle’s impact.

32. A Spoonful of Humor: Light Moments in Dark Times

Even in the direst circumstances, a bit of humor can provide relief and humanize your characters.

A sarcastic quip, a ridiculous mishap, or just a moment of irony, humor can make your fight scenes more engaging and relatable.

Example : In Marvel’s The Avengers , Tony Stark’s quips during intense fight scenes serve to lighten the mood and endear his character to the audience.

His humor doesn’t downplay the stakes.

Instead, it adds another dimension to the action.

33. The David Strategy: Use of Ingenious Tactics

Sometimes, the underdog wins by using unconventional or surprising tactics.

Describing such ingenious strategies can not only make the battle more interesting but also showcase the cleverness of your characters.

Example : In Ender’s Game , Ender uses unconventional tactics to win battles in the Battle Room and, ultimately, against the alien Formics.

His innovative strategies make each confrontation intriguing and intellectually satisfying.

34. Echoes of History: Reference Real Battles

Drawing parallels to real historical battles can lend authenticity and depth to your fictional confrontations.

You can recreate a specific historical battle or just borrow elements from one.

Example : George R.R. Martin has stated that the Red Wedding in A Song of Ice and Fir e was inspired by real events like the Black Dinner and the Massacre of Glencoe in Scottish history.

These historical echoes bring a chilling layer of realism to the shocking turn of events.

35. The Final Blow: Ending with a Bang (or a Whimper)

How your fight ends can be just as important as how it unfolds.

Will it end with a dramatic final showdown or an anti-climactic whimper?

The conclusion should serve the broader narrative and character arcs.

Example: In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , the battle ends with Aslan’s dramatic return and victory over the White Witch, serving both the plot and the underlying allegorical elements of the story.

Here is a great video about how to write fight scenes:

How Do You Write a Superpower Fight Scene?

Fights between superheroes, spellcasters, or other supernatural entities require special care and consideration.

The Spectacle: Making the Impossible Possible

Superpower fights are where you can really let your imagination run wild.

Whether it’s magic, advanced technology, or otherworldly abilities, the sky’s the limit.

However, remember that every power should have limitations or a cost to keep the fight tense and engaging.

Example : In a superhero script, you might describe a character flying at supersonic speed to intercept a falling satellite, but then struggling with the immense heat and pressure.

Create visually stunning moves or tactics.
Define limitations or costs for each superpower.

Emotional Underpinning: More than Just a Showdown

Even a fight with the most dazzling superpowers can fall flat without an emotional core.

Why are these characters fighting? Is it just to save the day, or is there a deeper, personal reason?

By grounding the spectacle in emotion, you give your audience more reasons to care about the outcome.

Example : In Marvel’s Civil War , the fight between Captain America and Iron Man is impactful not just because of their superpowers but because of their fractured friendship.

Insert emotional stakes or backstory to the fight.
Use dialogue or flashbacks to add emotional depth.

By paying attention to these factors, from the initial setup to the emotional undertones, you can create battle scenes that are not just thrilling, but also emotionally resonant and memorable.

The key lies in balancing spectacle with substance.

30 Best Words for Describing a Battle Scene

Devastating
Cataclysmic

30 Best Phrases for Describing a Battle Scene

“A cacophony of clashing steel.”
“Thundering hooves and battle cries.”
“A dance of death and valor.”
“Waves of arrows darkening the sky.”
“Swords drawn and spirits unyielding.”
“Grim faces set in determination.”
“A torrent of blood and sorrow.”
“A symphony of chaos and courage.”
“Where valor meets its ultimate test.”
“The ground slick with the blood of the fallen.”
“Cannons roar, shaking heaven and earth.”
“A storm of lead and fire.”
“A whirlwind of slashes and parries.”
“In a hailstorm of bullets.”
“The sky ablaze with falling embers.”
“Deafening blasts and piercing screams.”
“The battlefield strewn with the fallen.”
“A solemn dance on the edge of oblivion.”
“The air thick with smoke and dread.”
“A merciless rain of fire and fury.”
“Eyes ablaze with unquenchable resolve.”
“Soldiers advancing like a relentless tide.”
“The thunderous clash of war drums.”
“A wall of shields, unbreakable and resolute.”
“The final charge, do or die.”
“A desperate struggle, tooth and nail.”
“Each strike fueled by adrenaline and fear.”
“The silence before the storm of violence.”
“Cutting through enemy lines like a hot knife through butter.”
“The solemn tolling of the death knell.”

Final Thoughts: Tips for Writing Fight Scenes

Sometimes fight scenes explode into all out war or battle scenes.

Other times, they end with death, loss, and funerals. Whereover your story takes you, we have a guide to help you write it.

Check out some of our other articles below.

How to Write Battle Scenes: The Ultimate Guide
How to Describe Nervousness in Writing (23 Tips + Examples)
How to Describe a Brave Person in Writing (21 Tips + Examples)
How to Describe Pain in Writing: 45 Best Tips with Examples

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Meteor Active Member

Creating and describing settings for a battle scene.

Discussion in ' Setting Development ' started by Meteor , Nov 12, 2013 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); Hello and thank you for taking the time to view this thread. Today I'm here asking about settings for a battle field centered around duels since my story follows mainly just two person engagements. How can I make these types of settings more interesting in themselves and how descriptive should I be about the "arena" before hand? I was never exactly good with this aspect of my stories and usually just give a very brief description of a charred landscape or something. Thank you again for taking the time to view this and any advice is much more than appreciated. I apologize in advance if I've posted this in the wrong place and please direct me to the right threads if I have. Thank you again.

Dazen Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); There isn't really any set standard for whether you should describe the surroundings in a battle, although it can obviously add to the tension in some cases, and sometimes plays an important part in the battle (someone could trip, be forced against the wall, trip into a pit of snakes Lol) and that's just something to ponder. Also, I feel it is good to use description in some cases, where they actually add to the scene itself rather than just adding to the word count, where it can build up tension, (eg. Describing the cheering of the crowds in the arena stands, etc) or creates an emotion in the reader; maybe anxiety from a character's train of thought after seeing something of the arena, or landscape. Anyway, to conclude, I like to vary, and use the description in one fight, and then in the next, maybe use just brief sentences here and there, but have the majority as actual action. If you don't agree, please feel free to reply. Nothing stated above is being claimed to be true, it is purely my personal opinion regarding the subject

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); I gotta say thanks for the advice Dazen. It was pretty helpful and I'm actually a lot happier with the way the scene is playing out as opposed to before now. Thanks again

TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); First, Meteor, it depends on the POV you're using. If it's first person POV, it's going to be limited to what the POV character sees, hears, smells, etc. If he/she receives information before hand, that could be added. With personal combat, really, not much else that's going on will be recognized or remarked upon by the POV character as their life at the moment, depends upon the duel they're engaged in--unless it in some way intrudes or interferes. If it's third person limited, there is of course a little more leeway in description and what's going on nearby. Omniscient, POV, the sky is the limit, but the further away you stray, the less emphasis and importance the duel will take on in the scope of the overall battle--unless in truth everything hinges upon the result of the individual combats. It's difficult to say how much detail and information to provide. I don't think there's a % of words or content that should be 'devoted' to this or that. It's more of a feel, the best way to relay the story and action to the reader. Take a look at some of your favorite authors who have combat/battles similar to what you're trying to accomplish. See what they incorporated and described, how and when they did it--maybe try to determine why. Then apply that knowledge to your writing style and the project you're working on. Good luck as you move forward.

T.Trian Overly Pompous Bastard Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); Not much to add to what others have already said, but just a few thoughts: I tend to focus on the things that help create the mood I want. If I'm going for desolate and depressing, e.g, I'll include a few little details about the surroundings that support that kind of a mood. If I want the scene to be dark, dirty, and gruesome, I'll mention a few details that help create that tone. If I want it to be a happy-go-lucky swashbuckling tussle, I'll throw in something that sets that kind of a mood. Other than that, I usually focus on the fight, how the POV character experiences it, how he/she feels, what they are thinking before SHTF, and, of course, what actually happens in the fight. To me, it's all about creating a certain mood, whatever I want it to be for a given scene, but keep it pretty compact because the surroundings are usually there only to set the tone whereas the "meat" of the scene revolves around what the characters are doing and experiencing. That usually helps make the scene more intense, which is usually my main goal: to drag the reader right into the thick of it, make the reader feel like they are watching a real fight from a few feet away, give the reader that adrenaline rush you get when violence erupts close to you.

TLK Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); What kind of duel are we talking here? Is it two people who happen to come across each other in the midst of a much larger battle? Or two people simply engaged in one on one combat, with no other conflict around them? And again, if it's the latter, what kind of set-up? Is it to the death or not? How many people are watching? Is it for sport, or something else?

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); Thanks again for all the advice guys and for your answer TLK, its a one on one. My MC is seeking out his enemy after accepting a contract to rescue someone who was kidnapped.

Magnatolia Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); If it's fantasy, maybe you could look for the screenplays of tv shows that have something similar, and get some inspiration from that. For example shows like Merlin and the new Atlantis always have people being kidnapped and the MC having to rescue them.

Bryan Romer Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); It also depends on how formalised the dueling is. If it is the swords or pistols at dawn scenario then the environment will not affect or be affected by the combat. If it's the Hollywood style musketeer duel with lots of running around and jumping on barrels, then you need a more colourful and prop filled arena. If the fight can take place anywhere the MC comes across the enemy, then it can be in the middle of uninvolved crowds of innocent bystanders, such as in a marketplace or even in the middle of a religious ceremony. Then you have to decide how much (if any) collateral damage is acceptable and whether hostages can be used as shields. Finally you have the straight forward assassination. Here you will have peaceful scenes shocked by sudden but isolated and brief moments of violence.

JayG Banned Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_fe9aabdfa21d546d6c05e3cf3df969b5'); }); Okay, here's the deal: you're not in the story. You're not on the scene. And every time you open your mouth to talk about anything , there's nothing going on in the story. So you're an annoyance—or at least are at risk of becoming one, because your reader isn't visiting you to be told a story. Storytelling is a performance skill and no matter how hard you try, the reader won't hear the emotion in your voice, see the gestures and expressions, or notice that meaningful pause for breath. And no matter how clearly you see the scene in your mind you can't make the reader see it because even a static picture would take the traditional thousand words. That's four standard manuscript pages and at the end it's a still picture. And of more importance, nothing has happened for four pages, “ To describe something in detail, you have to stop the action. But without the action, the description has no meaning.” ~Jack Bickham There are lots of tricks that can make the reader see that scene, though—to the point where they can feel the afternoon heat tightening the skin on their face as they squint against the sun. You can make the reader hate the one who faces them, yet fear his skill with a knife at the same time. But you really don't think the craft; the understanding of the nuances of POV; the knowledge of how to hook and hold the reader can be boiled down to a few words in a post, I hope. If it was, we'd all be rich and famous. Writing's easy. Writing well is a bitch. Writing fiction for the printed word, like any other profession, takes time, mentoring, study, and sweat to master. As has been said many times, it cannot be taught. It can only be learned. And that's your job. Lots of people have worked hard to place useful information where you can find it and profit by exposure to it. There are classes, workshops, retreats, books, online articles, and more. And, there's lots of misinformation available, too. so you need to be careful that your source is both knowledgeable and reliable. A great place to begin is the public library's fiction writing section. And in that, a good name to look for is Jack Bickham's. After all, if you learn a little bit every day, and write just a little better every day, and live long enough...

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30 Best Adjectives For War

It is helpful to know the different kinds of war and how to describe it if you are writing about war. Here is a list of adjectives for war.

Although it’s not a subject one likes to think about too often, war is a reality in our world and has always been . Whether you like it or not, wars have profoundly shaped our world. Apart from geographical changes, wars have radically influenced ideologies, economies, politics, and societies. Therefore, human development and history cannot be studied without considering the impact of war.

The Ukrainian-Russian war has once again reminded us that we have not been able to eradicate conflict and war as a global society. Therefore, I thought writing an article that lists adjectives for war and other relevant words might be relevant.

Here are the adjectives that will be discussed in this article:

War	Military Operation	Civil War
Cold War	Espionage	Psychological Warfare
Proxy War	Alliance	Limited War
Total War	Ceasefire	Armistice
Guerrilla Warfare	Ambush	Terrorism
Cyber Warfare	Blitz	Endless
Cruel	Horrifying	Grim
Relentless	Fearful	Chaotic
No-win	Senseless	Unprecedented
Murderous	Triumphant	Patriotic

2. Military Operation

3. civil war, 4. cold war, 5. espionage, 6. psychological warfare, 7. proxy war, 8. alliance, 9. limited war, 10. total war, 11. ceasefire, 12. armistice, 13. guerrilla warfare, 15. terrorism, 16. cyber warfare, 18. endless, 20. horrifying, 22. relentless, 23. fearful, 24. chaotic, 26. senseless, 27. unprecedented, 28. murderous, 29. triumphant, 30. patriotic, top 30 adjectives to describe war.

If you are writing an essay, article, or blog post on war, these 30 descriptive adjectives can help you describe the kind of war and its experience.

Example: It would appear that despite all of Putin’s rhetoric, what is happening between Ukraine and Russia right now is a full-scale war.

Example: Putin has refused to call his unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine war, choosing to describe it as a special military operation instead.

Example: The American Civil War, which took place between 1861 and 1865, caused the most significant number of fatalities in the country’s history.

Example: The term Cold War was not used before 1945, when the infamous Cold War between the Western bloc, led by the U.S., and the Soviet bloc, led by the Soviet Union, started.

Example: Espionage was widely used during the Cold War between the Western Allies and the Eastern Bloc to gather information that could be used against each other.

Example: During the Cold War, Russia and the U.S. engaged in psychological warfare by means of espionage and the manipulation of information.

Example: Although the U.S. and other NATO members are not willing to admit it, their support of Ukraine in its current war against Russia through the military aid they provide looks very much like a proxy war.

Example: The two major alliances that formed the warring sides in WWI were the Triple Entente, consisting of Britain, France, and Russia, and the Triple Alliance, formed by Germany, Austria, and Italy.

Example: An example of limited warfare in history includes the Korean War, in which U.S. President Harry S. Truman chose to contain North Korea instead than destroy it.

Example: Apart from the two World Wars, history contains many other examples of total wars. These include the Mongol invasions, the Crusades, and the Third Punic War.

Example: During WWI, pockets of British, Belgian, German, and French troops held impromptu ceasefires on Christmas Eve in 1914. This event has become known as the Christmas Truce.

Example: WWI ended with an armistice in which both sides agreed to lay down their arms and permanently seize all military operations.

Example: The Boer raids against the British during the South African Wars, also known as the Boer Wars, are examples of Guerrilla Warfare.

Example: The Trojan War, during which a dozen armed Greek warriors emerged from a large wooden horse outside the gates of Troy after pretending to give up the battle, is a famous example of an ambush.

Example: The September 11 attacks, commonly referred to as 9/11, are an instance of international terrorism.

Example: In the current war between Ukraine and Russia, the Russians have been accused of various state-level cyber attacks.

Example: During WWII, the Germans executed a new military tactic, named blitzkriegs, to quickly gain control of the enemy’s territory.

Example: The war feels endless; will it ever be over?

Example: War can be cruel; warfare is not kind.

Example: Warfare is horrifying for everyone involved; the deaths and lives lost are horrible.

Example: The fighting was grim to witness, both sides were violent, and the results were gory.

Example: The bombs were relentless and kept coming and didn’t stop until the whole town was rubble.

Example: We are all fearful of the war that rages on; it is a scary reality that we are living through.

Example: The fighting was chaotic, there was no strategy, and we all went in blind.

Example: War is a no-win situation; we all lose; violence and warfare do not solve the problem, it only causes horrifying destruction and loss of lives.

Example: The senseless killing of innocent people is the reality of each war; there are no winners, only senseless death and destruction.

Example: The current war in Ukraine has created an unprecedented crisis of food shortages and a lack of resources for the people of Ukraine.

Example: The war rages on, and the murderous dictator orders his troops forward into the town of civilians.

Example: We emerged triumphant from the war after successfully invading and conquering the country.

Example: It is our patriotic duty to protect our country and nation during war and destruction.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our round-up of 400 descriptive words !

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Writing Techniques

How to Write the Most Epic Fight Scenes: 20+ Creative Tricks

Last Updated: August 24, 2023 Fact Checked

Planning the Fight Scene

Drafting the fight scene, research & writing tips, sample fight scenes.

This article was written by Lucy V. Hay and by wikiHow staff writer, Glenn Carreau . Lucy V. Hay is a Professional Writer based in London, England. With over 20 years of industry experience, Lucy is an author, script editor, and award-winning blogger who helps other writers through writing workshops, courses, and her blog Bang2Write. Lucy is the producer of two British thrillers, and Bang2Write has appeared in the Top 100 round-ups for Writer’s Digest & The Write Life and is a UK Blog Awards Finalist and Feedspot’s #1 Screenwriting blog in the UK. She received a B.A. in Scriptwriting for Film & Television from Bournemouth University. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 466,166 times.

You’re writing a story, you’ve chosen a setting and developed all of your characters, but now it’s time for the first big fight scene of the book. So, what’s the best way to capture all the action? Fight scenes can be tricky territory for writers; they need to be action-packed without slowing down the story's drama, which is why we’re here to help. Read on, and we’ll show you how to plan and write fight scenes, keeping them engaging and filled with just enough detail. After all, good fight scenes make readers feel like they’re right in the action, fighting zombies, bad guys, and the odd lame boyfriend. This article is based on an interview with our script editor and blogger, Lucy V. Hay. Check out the full interview here.

Things You Should Know

Keep your sentences and descriptions brief throughout the scene to make the fight feel fast-paced and exciting.
Include vivid, expressive words that activate the reader's sense of smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight.
Develop your character's personality by writing about their fighting style, their reactions to the villain, and the decisions they make during the fight.
Clarify the stakes of the fight before it begins and during the action. When the fight is over, include a resolution for each of the characters involved.

Step 1 Determine how the fight scene fits into your story.

Several different characters might be in the fight, not just two. Note how many characters will be present and what “side” each character is on.
Consider the time of day and the mindsets of the characters involved in the fight. Will it be a fight to the death or a fight with minor injuries?
For every fight scene you write, try a simple test. Ask yourself, “If I took this scene out of the story, would the story fall apart?” If the answer is “yes,” then your fight scene definitely has a purpose and is worth keeping in the story.

Step 2 Set the fight in a dynamic place and enhance the action with props.

Placing your fight scene at the edge of a deep ravine or on a boat adrift in stormy waters creates immediate tension—your characters could be in grave peril with one wrong move!
Setting your fight in a garage full of tools or an antique store creates many opportunities for the characters to grab various objects, crash into them, or use them as improvised weapons.

Step 3 Figure out your characters’ motivations to fight.

What does this character hope to gain? What does the character stand to lose?
What sort of ability does he or she have?
What type of training does he or she have?
Does this character have cultural beliefs about fighting?
Why does the reader care about the character? How can he or she likely relate to the character?

Step 4 Give each combatant strengths and weaknesses.

For example, you might have one character be so exceptionally strong that they seem to be winning, until your underdog uses their smarts to trick (and defeat) the stronger character.
You could also have one character be a very inexperienced fighter matched up against a master fighter, and their surprise win is also how their special abilities manifest, setting up the rest of your story.

Step 5 Make an outline describing each action characters will take in the fight.

For example: “I fell back, settling into a defensive stance as I took in my foe. There was a pain in my leg and in my side: I was wounded but not out of the fight yet. The creature growled, teeth bared. If I don’t stop it now, there’s no telling what it’ll do. I shook my head, and with a renewed will, launched myself at the beast.”

Step 7 Decide how the battle’s outcome will change the story.

A fight scene may also create a conflict for your protagonist, as a close ally, friend, or family member may end up being collateral damage in the fight, motivating the protagonist to fight back.

For example, if your protagonist loses their fight, they might fail to stop their enemy from doing something horrible, like annihilating an entire town or killing their best friend.
In fights that aren’t as climactic, there can still be stakes. For example, your protagonist might put their honor or skills to the test, and if they lose, they’ll be humiliated or demoted.

Step 9 Treat each fight as a mini-story.

For example, try to begin your fight scene with an inciting indecent, followed by rising action, where your characters are fighting each other.
As your characters fight, create twists and surprises in the narrative. Allow one fighter to start gaining the upper hand.
Then, create a climax for your fight. This could be a particularly powerful move or decision that ultimately decides the outcome of the fight.
Finally, wind down the battle and offer a resolution—whether your protagonist is left licking their wounds and vows to beat their enemy next time, or they vanquish their foe and win the day.

Step 1 Build your character’s personality through the way they think and fight.

You can also use fight scenes to trigger changes in your character’s personality as they respond to the escalating conflict.
For example, maybe your character normally plays by the rules, but after their friend gets hurt, they let loose and fight in a reckless, uncontrollable manner.
On the other hand, maybe your character has spent the better part of your story carving a bloody path to vengeance, and this is the fight scene where they finally learn that it takes even more strength to show an enemy mercy.

Step 2 Include interior character thoughts.

For example, your hero may be facing a challenging adversary and start to feel she is losing the fight. She may have interior character thoughts as she struggles to gain the upper hand.
“She hits me again, and I taste blood. Come on, Buffy, get up. Find the stake. Get up. She grabs my head and lifts me until I’m dangling on the tips of my toes, then slams her hand into my ribs. I wince. Come on, Buffy. Focus. I lock my eyes on the dead, black holes in her head and jab my palm under her chin. She reels back, releasing her grip.”

Step 3 Use descriptive words that activate the reader’s senses.

When using touch, describe how your characters physically interact with each other and any weapons or objects around them.
Use sight to show readers what they should be paying attention to most in the scene, whether it’s a character, an object that character is trying to obtain, and so on.
Use onomatopoeia (a word based on a particular sound) for hearing. For example, if there’s an explosion, you could write, “BOOM! A clap like thunder filled the area.”
Think about what your character might taste. For example, they could describe the taste of the sweat on their lip or the acrid taste of smoke in the air.
Can your character smell the ocean air? Gasoline and motor oil? Cooked food? Consider what smells might be present at the location of the fight.

Step 4 Add character dialogue to create emotion in the fight.

In The Princess Bride fight scene, Inigo Montoya is given snappy lines of dialogue between each swish of his rapier to vary the pace and demonstrate his character in the scene.
For example: “Go now, Buffy! Save the others.” “Are you sure, Giles?” Giles sprayed silver bullets into a wall of vampires. I watched a few slam against the concrete, splattering guts and blood. The rest of the pack moved closer. Giles glanced at me over his shoulder. “Go Buffy, now!” I run.
A parting shot at the end of a fight can be satisfying for readers. For example: “You’ve won for now, but you’ll never escape us.” He coughed, blood running down his chin. “Maybe,” Jane replied, “But I can take you down with me.” With a flash of her dagger, his rattling breath was cut off.

Step 5 Shift the momentum throughout your fight scene to create suspense.

There are a couple of ways to shift the momentum. For example, the enemy might parry a strike from your protagonist and then hit them hard, making them lose their balance.
You can also shift the momentum using thoughts rather than actions. For example, your protagonist might have a moment of worry or fear that they’re going to lose.
Each time the momentum shifts, make it clear which character now has the upper hand.
Don’t be afraid to let your character make mistakes as they fight. Actual fights are messy and chaotic, and mistakes are natural. It’ll make your character feel more real and relatable to readers.

Step 6 Keep up the pace with shorter sentences and descriptions.

Avoid a blow-by-blow description of each character's action, as this will feel too technical. The scene should feel chaotic, much like a real fight. Keep all actions simple, clear, and to the point.
Steer clear of long sentences and avoid using adverbs or too many adjectives in the scene. This may confuse and distract your readers.
Ultimately, the length of a fight scene is up to you, but generally, only a climactic final battle or an epic battle between armies should span many pages or chapters.
For example, short sentences like “I aimed for his nose and connected. Blood splattered on the ground,” are more effective than longer sentences such as: “I curled my hand into a fist and aimed for the front of his nose. My fist hit the bridge of his nose. His blood splattered all over the ground of the warehouse.”

If your character suffers a cut or stab wound, for example, you’ll have to show their recovery (or, if you’re jumping ahead in time, their scar from the wound).
Bruises and cuts on a character’s face might limit their ability to eat or chew. If a character is in a fight for the first time, they may feel shock and anxiety from the fight—or they may feel hardened and ready for more.
For example: “As the dust settled, I stood in the middle of all the carnage, breathing heavily. Though the many bruises and cuts on my body stung, I knew that I was on the right path—and ready for more. I caught my breath, straightened, and strode outside.”

Step 8 Overwrite, and then edit down the scene to cut unnecessary detail.

First draft: “Buffy counted ten vamps in the room, though it was dark, so there could be more than ten. She had two stakes in either hand and two more tucked in her back pocket. And the knife strapped to her ankle, which could do some damage if needed. The vampires locked eyes on her, bloodthirsty, and ready to kill. She sized up the room and her weapons. “Ready?” she said calmly. Not waiting for an answer, she arches her arm back to throw a stake into the heart of the nearest vampire.”
Second draft: “Ten vamps in the sealed-off room. Dark in here, though, so there could be more. Two stakes in either of her hands, two more in her back pocket, and the knife strapped to her ankle, which could do some damage if needed. She feels their eyes on her, bloodthirsty, dead, focused on their kill. “Ready?” she says. She arches her arm back and throws a stake right into the heart of the nearest vampire.”

Step 1 Focus on writing in your own unique style.

The best way to find your unique voice is simply through regular practice. Make time to write as consistently as you can, and your writing style will naturally emerge.
Read more books, as well. The more you read, the more you'll develop your own voice and gain inspiration.

Step 2 Mix up the pacing of different fight scenes, so each one feels different.

Remember, it’s okay to experiment and see what pacing and length work best for the particular fight scene you’re working on. That’s what drafting (and editing) is for!

Step 3 Read examples of fight scenes for inspiration.

The fight between Hector and Achilles in Homer’s The Iliad . The fight between Hector and Achilles has become a classic model for fight scenes in literature. [17] X Research source
The fight between The Man in Black and Inigo Montoya in William Goldman’s The Princess Bride . This is a great example of a sword fight, full of action and dialogue packed with wit and humor. [18] X Research source
The duel between Macbeth and Macduff in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth . This pivotal scene is the play’s final showdown; though it’s originally a sword fight, it’s been reinterpreted as a fistfight and a gunfight in modern productions. [19] X Research source
The battle between Percy Jackson and Kronos in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian . This is another great sword fight; the battle lasts for at least 10 chapters, with lots of detailed action.

Step 4 Take a fight class to understand better what real fights are like.

Ask your instructor about common responses between fighters during physical encounters. If you have no experience being in a fight, you’ll react differently than a seasoned fighter.
Consider how a professional fighter might approach a fight; they’ll likely be relaxed and focused. Good fighters can see a punch or kick coming, have constant training, and can focus on how the body moves in a fight.

Step 5 Learn about various weapons so you can describe them accurately.

For example, a swordfight would likely look very different from hand-to-hand combat in terms of the moves your characters would use and the damage they’d inflict on one another.
In a historical fiction novel, your characters’ weapons and fighting style should match the setting. A samurai in feudal Japan would be taught from an early age to use multiple weapons.
A fight scene in a fantasy book may be filled with fantastical weapons or fighting abilities. For example, the world of "Harry Potter" includes spells and magical objects.
Consider how the weapons and fighting styles of the characters match the tone and setting of the rest of the book.

Community Q&A

↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/5-essential-tips-for-writing-killer-fight-scenes
↑ https://ofmetalandmagicpublishing.wordpress.com/how-to-write-fight-scenes/
↑ https://writetodone.com/how-to-write-fight-scenes/
↑ https://johnaugust.com/2011/writing-fight-scenes
↑ https://thewritepractice.com/freytags-pyramid/
↑ https://theeditorsblog.net/2012/02/28/inner-dialogue-writing-character-thoughts/
↑ https://www.raynehall.com/fight-scenes-tips
↑ http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/09/07/write-fight-scenes-alan-baxter/
↑ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-find-your-writing-voice-2/
↑ https://study.com/learn/lesson/death-hector-the-iliad-homer-achilles.html
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDlZ_SXx5gA
↑ https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/macbeth/act-5-scene-8/
↑ https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-realistic-fight-scenes-2/

About This Article

To write a fight scene, include descriptions of the characters’ actions and movements, as well as their positions during the fight. Describe what the characters feel after each blow and what they are thinking throughout the fight. Include dialogue in the scene to add variety and to change up the pacing, and use the way the characters fight to reveal more about them. Also, be sure to describe the aftermath of the fight, like adrenaline, bruises, cuts, or other injuries. Keep reading for tips on how to pare down the language in your fight scene! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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50 Fight Scene Writing Prompts and Ideas

Hi, friends! It’s been a while since I did a writing prompts post, so I thought I’d do one that could be useful to writers of thrillers, crime novels, fantasy novels, and even romance and science fiction novels with strong action elements.

Since this is a writing prompts post, I’m not going to go into detail about how to write a fight scene—even though I actually love writing them. I will say, though, that it’s similar to writing a love scene in that you don’t need to describe every single move in detail. You want to get the excitement across and convey how it feels for your main character.

Okay, let’s dig in!

50 Fight Scene Writing Prompts and Ideas #how to write a fight scene #action adventure writing prompts #fiction writing prompts for adults

1. Two people fight without waking or disturbing a third person.

2. Someone uses an object that isn’t usually considered to be dangerous as an effective weapon.

3. It’s impossible to tell the real opponents from the ones who are illusions or holograms.

4. People fight in zero gravity.

5. People fight underwater.

6. People fight in a building that’s on fire.

7. Two people fight, and an unlikely bystander saves our main character.

8. Two people fight, but when a third person attacks our main character, his other opponent saves him.

9. Fortunately, his blood is also a weapon.

10. One of the fighters is drugged or drunk.

11. Someone’s trying not to hurt the person who’s attacking him.

12. Someone finds out that she’s fighting the person she meant to join forces with or save.

13. Someone fights while wearing something that makes them appear the opposite of tough or intimidating.

14. They fight naked.

15. They fight in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

16. A protester and counter protester fight.

17. Someone shoves his opponent into a body of water, and then rescues him when it’s apparent he’ll drown.

18. Someone gets help from an animal.

19. A friend, co-worker, or ally suddenly attacks someone.

20. One person dumps a gallon of something over the other person’s head.

21. One person chokes the other with a computer cord.

22. One person chokes the other with a string of Christmas lights.

23. Someone defends herself from an attacker while driving at top speed.

24. They fight in a hospital, which makes it easy for the main character to patch himself up afterward.

25. Bullying the bartender or server was a mistake.

26. She knocks out two men with one move.

27. They fight in a locked closet.

28. He celebrates his victory too early.

29. Someone leaps from a considerable height to land on an opponent.

30. Someone breaks the rules of the duel.

31. She accidentally wounds the person trying to stop the fight.

32. He accidentally wounds a bystander.

33. Someone was only pretending to be knocked out.

34. Her weapon gets stuck.

35. Priceless objects or valuable property gets damaged in the brawl.

36. Someone uses a bed sheet in the struggle.

37. The fight is a ruse to distract people from what’s really going on.

38. Someone repeatedly tries to avoid the fight to no avail.

39. Someone takes refuge in a disgusting place.

40. He finds himself battling a creature he didn’t believe existed.

41. They fight on slick ice.

42. He fights three challengers in succession.

43. Her glasses get destroyed and she can barely see.

44. He steals his opponent’s car, not realizing his allies rigged it with an explosive.

45. Someone’s ridiculous move or antic catches an opponent off guard.

46. Someone loses an opponent in the crowd and then finds her again.

47. A garden tool becomes a deadly weapon.

48. Someone hurls a shopping cart through the air.

49. Someone gets bashed with a crown or tiara.

50. He accidentally kills his opponent.

Photo of a professional boxer with one fist extended.

I hope you enjoyed these! And if you want even more inspiration for your writing, check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More .

5,000 Writing Prompts Bryn Donovan #master plots #ideas for novels

[spacer height=”20px”]If you have thoughts about writing fight scenes, please share them in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

50 High Stakes Plot Ideas for Writers #writing #novels #nanowrimo

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10 Words to Describe the Horrors of War

By Ali Dixon

If you’re writing a military fiction novel and need some words to describe the horrors of war, feel free to use the 10 below.

1. Traumatizing

Having trauma inflicted.

“The war had been a traumatizing experience for all the soldiers, and they needed a lot of help returning to a normal life when they got back home.”

“The experience had been so traumatizing that she often woke up in the middle of the night, feeling as though she were still in the trenches.”

How It Adds Description

War has a lasting impact not only on someone’s body but on their mind as well. Trauma and other mental issues can be difficult to recover from. Demonstrate the mental wounds your character carries with them after the war by using the word traumatizing.

2. Devastating

Causing great or extremely serious harm ; causing emotional pain.

“The after-effects of the war were devastating —many people were left homeless in the ruins of the city.”

“The most devastating part of the war was the way it changed the lives of everyday people forever.”

The word devastating has a lot of emotion behind it. As mentioned earlier, the horrors of war go deeper than just physical injury. To demonstrate everything that war in your story has ruined both physically and emotionally, use this word.

3. Destructive

Causing destruction ; designed or intending to destroy or harm.

“The destructive nature of the war was apparent even after it had ended.”

“Ultimately, the war had been more destructive than it had been helpful, and everyone involved knew that it would take a lot of time end effort to rebuild what they once had.”

War can destroy a lot of things. You can use the word destructive to describe the physical destruction that’s taken place in your story. It’s also a good way to show that the war was not actually beneficial.

4. Catastrophic

Relating to an event that is characterized by extreme misfortune , ruin, or disaster.

“It was only when the soldiers came back home that the truly catastrophic effects of the war became evident.”

“The war had been completely catastrophic and even those watching knew that their lives would never be the same after it.”

A catastrophe is more than just a negative experience. It’s something that has had massively ruinous effects. Wars tend to have these effects, so using this word is a good way to show your readers the extent of what the war in your story has done.

Characterized by tragedy ; being lamentable or deplorable; unpleasant.

“Everyone in town considered the war to be a tragic thing, but no one felt that they could speak openly about it.”

“While the war had been hard to watch from afar, its true tragic nature was even more obvious when the soldiers returned home.”

War brings about things like injury, death, and loss, which have long-lasting emotional impacts. The word tragic will show the extreme feelings behind the war.

6. Lamentable

Marked by mourning or grief ; able to be lamented or regretted.

“The most lamentable part of the war was how difficult it was for the soldiers and their families to deal with the subsequent trauma.”

“As far as she could tell, there were no real benefits to the war, and the entire thing had simply been completely lamentable.”

The horrors that war brings can also bring about a lot of regrets. Since that’s the case, the word lamentable is a good word to use. It implies that the war should never have happened in the first place.

7. Deplorable

Deserving of contempt or censure ; wretched; regrettable.

“Everyone knew that the war was deplorable , and they weren’t afraid to voice their opinions when the meeting came.”

“Even though she knew that the war was deplorable , she also knew that because of the tensions that had arisen over the years, it was inevitable.”

Want to make sure your readers understand the weight of the effects of the war? The word deplorable can help to demonstrate that there were no honorable actions taken during the war in your story.

8. Monstrous

Uniquely vicious or violent ; shockingly wrong; having the qualities or appearance of a monster.

“The soldiers had all committed monstrous acts during the war, and that was something everyone would have to come to terms with later.”

“The most monstrous effects of the war were on the children, who often had to go hungry without truly understanding why.”

Wars are often inhumane. Emphasize exactly how terrible and inhumane the war in your story is by describing it as monstrous. This shows how violent the actions during the war were, as well as how wrong they were.

9. Horrible

Marked by or causing intense fear, aversion, or terror ; extremely unpleasant or bad.

“Everything about the war was horrible— from the injuries inflicted upon both the soldiers and civilians to the propaganda everyone at home had to see.”

“There was no one who didn’t find the war to be completely horrible , and the general consensus was that it should never have happened.”

This may seem like a simple word to use, but it’s an effective one. The word horrible will show your readers how bad or frightening the war has been for your characters.

10. Shocking

Causing shock ; extremely surprising or startling; distressing or offensive.

“Hearing more about what the soldiers had experienced in their time overseas was completely shocking to those who had remained at home.”

“She knew it would be shocking to be part of the war, but it was only when she arrived that she truly realized the extent of what was happening.”

It’s one thing for characters to hear about a war, and another to participate in it. Your characters may find it quite shocking to see the horrors of war firsthand, making this a great word to use.

Describing My Experiences in Afghanistan—in 6 Words

Defined by limitation, urgent in its economy of language, the six-word story is a useful medium for chronicling individual experiences of war.

Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.

The six-word story--legendarily but probably falsely attributed to Hemingway -- has since inspired imitators, creating a new genre of writing. Like a tweet or a haiku, the six-word story is defined by limitation, urgent in its economy of language.

In July of 2010, walking off the bus after returning from Afghanistan, I never imagined being able to describe my war in six neatly packaged words.

It's three years later and I find myself obsessively racking my mind for every horrible moment that I spent overseas, proceeding to cut away the fat until I have six shining words that say all that I want.

The most recent iteration of the six-word story trend is Six Word War , a Kickstarter project started by two West Point graduates, Mike Nemeth and Shaun Wheelwright. "Describe a 15-month combat deployment, all the firefights and anguish and boredom, in just six words," is how the challenge was framed by Stars and Stripes , a newspaper covering the project.

"Dustoff is inbound, keep him awake."

That's my best thus far.

Matt had multiple gunshot wounds in the arm. Dark red blood seeped through his uniform and onto the brass-covered earth.

A dog barked in the distance as the sun dropped from the horizon, the dull thud of rotor blades mixed in with the echoes of a distant firefight.

Matt had received a large amount of morphine and showed clear signs of shock. The medevac helicopter -- call sign "Dustoff" -- was fifteen minutes away.

The corpsman told me to keep him awake until the helicopter arrived.

"Dustoff is inbound, keep him awake." It was my six-word war.

Whether it's sitting across the table from your mother and articulating what combat has done to her son or putting pen to paper, the desire to explain is always there. Our generation has failed to yet write its definitive account and so the six-word war finds its place in the margins somewhere between a Facebook post and a manuscript.

The stories I've read run the gamut between arresting and hilarious. Some themes cling to that residue of combat, that bad taste left in your mouth after the smell of cordite clears and the only evidence of a struggle are a few bloody bandages blowing aimlessly around a landing zone.

Loss, grief, fear, and doubt. Themes Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen monopolized to define the "lost generation" of World War I veterans are instead being chronicled and disseminated in the twenty-first century by the everyman.

The people submitting these stories do not all call themselves writers. They're veterans with folksy descriptions like "regular guy" and "just another American," and like moths to the flame are flocking to Tumblr and Twitter to tell their stories .

"'Merica solution to a Pashtun problem ."

"We came, we saw, we misconquered ."

"Built expensive gym just before withdrawal ."

"Returned. Son didn't recognize me anymore ."

The stories resonate with their fellow combatants and with civilians alike. Journalists like Rajivv Chandrasakaran and Hannah Allam have taken up the hashtag #sixwordwar as well, succinctly chronicling their perspective.

It is the human element so desperately harvested in news clips and documentaries. Here it is, served from the primary source in six digestible words.

They are quickly becoming our own epitaphs. We have no national monuments erected for our war on terror, like those strewn across the battlefields of France. No poet has yet arisen from our generation to pen a " Dulce et Decorum est ." We do not know how history will remember us. For now, all we have are photos on hard drives and steel bracelets venerating the dead.

In the age of Twitter, where 140 characters are redefining how we consume nonfiction, the six-word war matters. Together the stories weave a new perspective of how my generation defines the war and warrior. A generation that is painstakingly aware of its place in the world and the consequences of its actions.

As I crafted stories over the course of a glorious Sunday on Lake Tahoe, my girlfriend, who hadn't spoken since I began muttering to myself, looked at me and said:

"Thousands of Facebook friends, feeling antisocial."

Juxtaposed, our six word stories portray radically different paths of two millenials in their early twenties, but they both accomplished the same thing: Our respective insecurities, issues, and problems were tidied up, trimmed, and dropped neatly under some proverbial Christmas tree.

For those of us who have been through the breach, check out the great things they're doing at Six Word War and submit your own. You can do it anonymously, and I promise you won't be the first who writes: "You can't spell lost without LT."

And for those who haven't been in combat, write yours down anyway. I spent the better half of an afternoon carving away at memories, stripping the layers back, and finding the reasons they were memories in the first place. The six-word story allows you one more way to understand the experiences that make up who you are.

We can't all write novels, and sometimes we can't even say what we mean, but therein lies the merit of finding your six-word war. It's painful and gratifying, but sometimes six words are all you need.

Came home. Moved on. Couldn't forget.

RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR
BECOME A MEMBER

War, Peace, and Politics: Reflections on Writing

Post title post title post title post title.

Editor’s Note: This is the introduction to Volume 7, Issue 3 of the Texas National Security Review .

When I was a young scholar, I was torn between two models of academic writing. I was trained as a historian, but my mentors, research subject, and professional background had exposed me to international relations theory and security studies. These groups displayed different characteristics in their academic scribblings.

For the security studies crowd, academic writing was too often crafted like a terse but bold legal brief, with the key points presented in outline form, the argument simple, sharp, and often combative. “The long-held conventional wisdom about subject X, offered by the leading and misguided school of thought/methodology/paradigm, is embarrassingly wrong. My powerful, parsimonious theory upends what we thought we knew about war/conflict/street cleaning/circus clown management. The article will proceed in three parts. The first will demonstrate why the collective brainpower of the competing paradigm/methodology has been so breathtakingly mistaken for so long. Part two will lay out my all-powerful theory, mention canonical strawman texts that are oft cited but never read, while burying key caveats in long, discursive footnotes. Part three will provide an overly simplistic historical sketch based on a large data set that aggregates a disparate array of events that have little to do with each other but will be fitted neatly into a 2×2 matrix. I will conclude by emphasizing how embracing my one-size-fits-all conceptual lens and powerful, novel methodology/theory will transform the discipline and lead to smarter policy, less stupidity, and brighter teeth and fresher breath.”

The style of writing in scholarly history journals was much different. Articles often started with an obscure, strange story from the past that that would “illuminate a puzzle” and “expose lacunae” by exploring a previously unstudied event, person, or group of people, phenomena, or household commodity that no one had ever bothered to investigate before. “The fact that all the bakers in this small, 17th-century French village were left-handed and subsisted only on salted beet roots may seem curious, even inexplicable to us today, but in truth it revealed something important about the powerful if hidden hegemonic sociocultural, socioeconomic, and neo-colonial structures that formed the foundation of the early modern world.” The article would then highlight a previously undiscovered archive, a “treasure trove” of diaries or municipal records, or uncollected trash that “sheds new light” even as it “problematizes, decenters, and complicates” our understanding of key parts of the world. It would conclude by saying that the history we thought we knew was more complex, more nuanced, and began much earlier than we once thought, while declaring that more research — indeed, a whole subfield — should be devoted to explaining this once-obscure issue or group.

This is, perhaps, an unhelpful caricature. And I certainly wrote my share of articles that mirrored these practices. Over time, however, I became dissatisfied with the stylistic practices of both fields. There were a few reasons for this.

First, I found it disconcerting that the language I used for my scholarship was so much different than how I taught my classes. As I have emphasized on these pages before, smart young people are both eager to learn about the world while possessing finely tuned B.S. detectors, and some of what passed for scholarship in both disciplines is not convincing . Over time, I adjusted my syllabi accordingly. Early in my career, teaching Modern European History, I eschewed journal articles for primary documents and literary works. I found that asking the students to read Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night or Curzio Malaparte’s Kaputt provided a keener sense of the nightmarish brutality of war in Europe; Czesław Miłosz’s Native Realm revealed the contested, complex identities in Central Europe, and his Captive Mind exposed the beguiling, disturbing allure of Stalinism to intellectuals; Milan Kundera’s The Joke highlighted the absurd cruelty of communism; while viewing Leni Riefenstahl’s haunting, troubling film masterpiece, Triumph of the Will , emphasized the horrifying appeal of Adolf Hitler to Germans in the 1930s. I realized that the goal of my pedagogy was not to teach how a particular academic field operated, to help students understand its scholarly methodologies and “literature,” or to identify who were the leaders of the field, but instead to provide young people with the insights to make sense of the actual world, in all its complexity, tragedy, and danger. I wanted to write more like how I taught, which resembled an intense but open conversation, rather than a didactic lecture.

Relatedly, I worried that the scholarly styles of my fields were often inaccessible, limiting the audience. To be clear, I learned an enormous amount from other scholars and their serious, thoughtful research, and I enjoyed the debates, the give and take, that took place in both fields. And many scholars tried to go beyond the stylistic inhibitions to engage the world outside of their narrow disciplinary confines. I was increasingly drawn to broader, bigger discussions. For example, I was swept away by Jill Lepore deploying her extraordinary historical skills in The New Yorker to introduce us to new worlds. Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama were fully versed in disciplinary debates, but instead of engaging in endless fights, they offered expansive , counter-intuitive insights into how the world worked. Their analysis generated scorn from scholars but shaped real-world policy debates.

None of this is to say that I was a self-loathing academic or believed anything I had to say was so interesting that it would be read beyond my narrow field. There was and is great scholarship being produced in security studies and history from which I benefitted enormously and that advanced our understanding of the world. And many of the expansive pieces were, to put it politely, problematic. Huntington and Fukuyama did deserve serious criticism, though perhaps not the jealousy-tinged rage thrown at them by fellow professors. When Lepore wrote a New Yorker piece about something I possessed deep expertise in, the result was, to be polite, not great. Daniel Drezner’s book, The Ideas Industry , highlights the occasionally problematic nature of thinkers seeking bigger, broader audiences, such as Ted Talk–ing “thought leaders” and intellectual endeavors funded by plutocrats. Rigorous academic debate, deep research, an obsession with research design and methodology, peer review — these characteristics of scholarly journal articles had steep costs, no doubt, but it could be argued that they are the price that had to be paid to maintain quality and advance knowledge.

What Are We Trying to Accomplish?

As I reflected upon it more, I realized that my dissatisfaction had less to do with how academic articles were written and more with what they were trying to accomplish. Often, academic researchers were simply trying to decisively win an argument and to lay to rest an important question, or to reveal a history or phenomena we did not know or recognize before, as they were (correctly) trained to do. These are important, laudable goals, and to achieve it, the stylistic norms of each discipline are often appropriate.

Over time, however, I recognized that the questions that most interested me — the ones that kept me up at night — were often immune to final answers. They could not be solved for X; the best one could hope for was wisdom and guidance and perhaps a thoughtful road map. Sometimes the most important questions and answers in the field I cared about — war, statecraft, and strategy — were shaped as much by passions than by reason . Thucydides reminds us that people go to war for three reasons: fear (or appetite), honor, and interest. Social science traditionally focused most on the last, interest, but is far less insightful and convincing on fear and especially honor — factors that are increasingly salient in a world where conflict makes little rational sense . As such, perhaps these crucial subjects required less certainty, and were better served by writing that combined curiosity, playfulness, and humility — qualities rarely rewarded in the academy.

Who would be interested in such musings? It is easy to forget that earlier this century, short of winning the lottery and publishing an opinion piece in the New York Times or Washington Post or ghost writing for a presidential candidate or secretary of state in Foreign Affairs, it was not easy to find platforms that published serious, thoughtful writing about national and international security freed from academic norms and strictures. About 12 years ago, I had the good fortune of meeting Ryan Evans as he launched War on the Rocks . I confess I was a tad skeptical when he told me his vision, but years later, I am grateful. War on the Rocks helped transform and expand the publication landscape in exciting ways. In the years since, writing for War on the Rocks allowed me to pursue what a good friend calls my “epistolary” style : more conversational, open-ended, quizzical, playful, even as the issues I care about are deadly serious. I still occasionally write the sharp, tightly outlined academic jeremiad. But, over time, the gap between how I teach and how I write has narrowed, which has been gratifying.

How does this affect the Texas National Security Review , which is, after all, a refereed academic journal that publishes historians, international relations scholars, and researchers and practitioners from security and strategic studies? We understand that to attract the best work from the most creative thinkers, especially younger scholars in the academy, we can’t completely ignore the incentives and norms of the institutions and disciplines that employ and assess them. Academics need to get jobs, promotions, and tenure — hallmarks that are judged by the often obscure, puzzling standards of their disciplines. As an older, tenured scholar, I have the luxury to lambast the at-times ridiculous ways that higher education rewards and punishes young people. I have sat in numerous faculty meetings, in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary settings, where my colleagues go on about metrics like Google Scholar, H-Index, citation numbers, and “first tier” journals or academic presses while assessing the value of younger colleagues by “how they’ve advanced the field” through the number of articles or books they publish, and the ranking of the journal or press in which they publish. What is rarely mentioned is that most intelligent laypeople would find many of these journals largely unreadable or irrelevant, and the books are too often formulaic and offered at extortionate prices that only well-endowed research libraries can afford.

Regardless of the field or university, my sense is that these faculty conversations all too rarely engage and evaluate the actual quality, importance, and relevance of the scholarship examined to a larger world outside of their discipline; nor do they recognize that one book or article that changes how we understand a complicated world is far more important than a “tenure package” containing ten articles in leading field journals that say little or influence no one outside of a self-defined, enclosed field. To make matters worse, this package is then farmed out to “experts” from the field for supposedly arm’s-length evaluations. Having read scores of them over the years (and written a few myself), the letters are often “gamed.” Instead of providing an honest assessment, people turn down the opportunity to evaluate a candidate unless they can say something nice, save for the two or three cranky professors (inevitably old dudes) who have little good to say about anyone and whose letters are then discounted (indeed, having one of these cranky letters in a file helps the bland, rote, positive evaluations seem more credible). Both writing and evaluating these letters is perhaps the only good use I can think of for Chat-GPT.

This Journal’s Role

If things are so bad, you might wonder, why on earth am I so passionate about an academic journal like Texas National Security Review ? Since its founding almost seven years ago, we’ve strived, in our own small way, to improve the dynamics of academic publishing . The Texas National Security Review is interdisciplinary, demands jargon-free language, is distributed widely to academics and policymakers, and is available for free. While we don’t always succeed, we strive to publish the best, most innovative, accessible work that respects but is not subservient to “inside baseball” academic or disciplinary norms. I have been very pleased to see our pieces placed prominently in “tenure files” that I have been asked to assess. And while I have no idea how well our articles perform on various citation indexes, one thing I am most proud of is how often I see our pieces on course syllabi.

This issue is no exception, as all the pieces are outstanding, providing critical insight on important questions. I want to highlight two pieces in particular, however, since they brilliantly reflect two of the most important qualities of excellent scholarly writing that I’ve come to treasure at the Texas National Security Review : the playful or the precise.

What do I mean? When there is a difficult, contested question that can be answered, precision is the most important quality a scholar can demonstrate. M. Taylor Fravel, George J. Gilboy, and Eric Heginbotham’s penetrating analysis, “ Estimating China’s Defense Spending: How to Get it Wrong (and Right) ,” is an exemplar of this kind of scholarship. Many American policymakers and scholars see China as a dire geopolitical challenge, whose threat to Taiwan and allies in East Asia could lead to a great-power war. American strategies that seek to deter China — and, if a war tragically began, to prevail — focus on, amongst other variables, China’s military capabilities. Assessing a military balance before a conflict is notoriously hard, and history provides countless examples of threat inflation and dangerous underestimation of adversarial capabilities. Perhaps the best measure we have is costing out precisely the resources a state expends on national security — figures that are notoriously difficult to assess, especially in authoritarian systems. Fravel, Gilboy, and Heginbotham meticulously go through the best and worst ways to pursue this analysis, an extraordinarily valuable service to scholars and policymakers alike. Their article will dramatically improve and shape an important academic and policy debate.

As I said, however, some of the most important, interesting questions cannot be answered definitively. All that one can do is to examine and explore, to look at questions from different angles and perspectives, to challenge unspoken assumptions and lazy thinking, and to assess what is right in front of us in a fresh, insightful way. That is precisely what Phil Zelikow does in his brilliant and beautifully written piece, “ Confronting Another Axis: History, Humility, and Wishful Thinking .” Phil is a good friend, and I have had the pleasure of hearing him lay out his argument on several occasions; and, truth be told, I don’t buy much of the argument, either about the coordination between America’s rivals or the historical parallels to previous periods of crises. That is no matter, however, since the questions he superbly takes on are both of fundamental importance and, ex ante, unanswerable. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the excellence of the article does not depend on whether he is right or wrong. The best way to assess an article like Phil’s is to ask whether it forces us to challenge our own views, to see the world differently, and, if we disagree, to make our arguments sharper, better. Few pieces I’ve read in recent years accomplish that task more effectively.

In the end, there are many reasons scholars write — reasons that go far beyond the ones I chronicle here. That is what makes being associated with the Texas National Security Review such an amazing experience. It is an honor and a pleasure to be associated with a journal that publishes such great work, that not only answers important questions, but generates new ones.

Francis J. Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli distinguished professor and the director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the School of Advanced International Studies in Johns Hopkins University. He serves as chair of the editorial board of the Texas National Security Review . He is the author of, most recently, The Taming of Scarcity and the Problems of Plenty: Rethinking International Relations and American Grand Strategy in a New Era published in the Adelphi Series by the International Institute for Strategic Studies/Routledge .

Image: Midjourney

In Brief: What Will Labour’s Victory in the United Kingdom Mean for the World?

Wounded veterans, wounded economy: the personnel costs of russia’s war, mid-afternoon map: four maps for the fourth.

A group of children practicing gymnastics

Russia's war threatens Ukraine's Olympic future, not just the present. A young gymnast offers hope

By hanna arhirova, published july 8, 2024.

CHORNOMORSK, Ukraine

When Oleksandra Paskal first took to the mat as a 4-year-old, her rhythmic gymnastics coach saw nothing but potential in a sport where the Olympics is the ultimate goal. Then a Russian missile crushed her summer house in the southern Odesa region, burying her beneath the debris and severing her left leg.

Oleksandra’s coach, Inga Kovalchuk, prides herself on her ability to spot the future. But it’s increasingly clear that Russia’s war on Ukraine is demolishing the seeds of a sports culture that was a European powerhouse.

Two years after she was injured in May 2022, Oleksandra was among 12 girls diligently following the instructions of their demanding coach in the sunlit room. No one paid attention to her prosthetic leg, but although she has even more of the grit and dedication that first caught Kovalchuk’s eye, she will never be quite the same.

Now 8, the girl who once aimed to compete at the Olympic Games now dreams of the Paralympics. She was back training after just six months of rehab. Radiating confidence, she won her first competition a year after the attack with unflappable grace and fluidity and is inspiring a following well beyond the rhythmic gymnastics community.

“Sometimes I am even fearful: Will I manage? Not her, but me?” Kovalchuk confessed. “And in general, it’s incredibly hard for all of them right now.”

It takes a decade and a national infrastructure of training facilities, feeder schools, equipment, and coaches to nurture an Olympic champion, and a process that begins in early childhood ends up winnowing out most contenders long before they reach the Games.

More than 500 sports facilities were damaged or occupied by Moscow’s troops, depriving young athletes of a place to train, according to the Sports Ministry. Coaches joined the army or fled abroad, and some children who left early in the war haven’t returned. Those who remain find their practices are frequently interrupted by air raid alarms that can last for hours. The destruction of sports schools means some children may never even begin to discover their potential.

Even if the war stopped tomorrow, it could take Ukrainian athletics a decade to recoup the losses, Veerle De Bosscher, a sports policy professor at Vrije University in Brussels, Belgium who researches how countries produce champions, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Seventy of Kovalchuk’s 110 gymnasts from before the war, including some of her best prospects, fled the country and haven’t returned. She has some new students, including internally displaced children, but her class now totals only 60.

“My primary task today is not to achieve high results in sports but to preserve the mental and physical health of our children,” Kovalchuk said.

“JUDGES DON’T CARE WHERE YOU’RE FROM”

According to Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, more than 2 million children have fled the country. The departures have already impacted various sports, as coaches lost trainees in whom they had invested years of work.

At Kyiv’s Liko Diving School, Ukraine’s largest, 50% of the most promising children are gone, said Illia Tseliutin, head coach of Ukraine’s national diving team. Two of the 20 coaches joined the army and three fled the country. Those numbers are almost certainly higher for schools in the frontline east and south, he said.

The legs of a diver seen in a pool during a dive

Tseliutin understands on a personal level. He fled the Luhansk region in 2014 soon after Russian forces first attacked there, and his hometown of Rubizhne has been occupied since 2022. Many Ukrainian divers and swimmers are originally from the occupied east and south and have no home to return to, much less a functioning pool, and so they remain abroad.

That creates a vicious cycle even for those who remain in Ukraine, who have fewer high-level athletes to measure themselves against and who find their own time in the pool interrupted by air raid alarms that go on for hours, he said.

Before, coaches planned the training schedule four years in advance. Now they are simply trying to ensure their sport survives the war.

“Our task is to prepare for competitions,” Tseliutin said. “Judges don’t care where you’re from, they only score your jumps.”

MINES IN THE WATER, MISSILES IN THE AIR

The southern city of Kherson, located on the shores of Dnipro River, was once fertile ground for Ukrainian rowing. The Ukrainian rowing team heading to Paris this year counts several crews from the region, which also boasts past Olympians as well.

But that section of the Dnipro is now the only natural barrier between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the region, with drones, artillery and missiles are flying overhead daily and mines in the water.

Rowers getting into a boat on a river at sunrise with a bridge in the background

All 200 children and 15 coaches involved in rowing in Kherson fled the city, which is under near-constant attack, and only about 20% of the children are still rowing at all, whether in Ukraine or abroad, Ihor Harahulia, president of the non-profit Kherson Rowing Federation. The Kherson School of Higher Sportsmanship, where rowers and other competitive athletes trained, is a pile of rubble after numerous Russian attacks and flooding from the explosion of the Kakhovka dam last June.

Any child in Kherson today is unlikely to discover an untapped talent for rowing, given the danger on the water, and the lack of coaches and facilities. Harahulia is still there, but even he has abandoned the waters. He delivers humanitarian aid by car.

But there’s no point rebuilding sports infrastructure now, said Acting Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi. “Because there will be another strike and we will (lose) the invested money,” said Bidnyi.

This is why people like Hennadii Zuiev, who is among the coaches who fled Ukraine, struggle to imagine a return. The 48-year-old high jump trainer left Kherson in the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion and moved from country to country across Europe with his family.

Before the war he had several young athletes. Now he’s in the Portuguese city of Monte Gordo and focused only on adults, helping Ukrainian athletes Kateryna Tabashnyk and Andriy Protsenko to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

He would like to return to Ukraine, but his city is under constant fire and the school where he once trained is in ruins.

“I just can’t imagine yet how, where, and what I will do,” he says. “Every day I think about it, and every day I can’t find an answer for myself.”

John Leicester contributed from Paris.

IMAGES

War creative writing
First World War Descriptive Writing Y6 Unit
20+ Best Words to Describe a War, Adjectives for War
20+ Best Words to Describe a War, Adjectives for War
P1Q5 Writing to Describe: War
War creative writing

VIDEO

Surviving Russian Bombs with Renowned Ukraine Journalist Nataliya. Gumenyuk
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Writing is a war #filmmaking #filmlover #writing #cinema #director #writer #motivation #filmmaker
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How to Write Battle Scenes

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How To Describe Fight Scenes In Writing (14 Best Tips)

How To Describe Fight Scenes In Writing

Set the Scene

Character Introduction

Action Verbs

Sensory Details

Point of View

Choreography

Emotional Impact

Show, Don’t Tell

Consequences

Edit and Revise

Seek Feedback

Understanding the Purpose

Why does the fight scene exist in the story?

Research and Preparation

Study different fighting styles

Character Development

Showcasing each character’s motivation and personality

Setting the Scene

Creating a vivid and immersive environment

Utilizing Point of View

First-person, third-person limited, or omniscient narration

Action Verbs and Sentence Structure

Choosing powerful and descriptive action verbs

Emotions and Inner Thoughts

Revealing character emotions during combat

Dialogue in Fight Scenes

Making dialogue relevant and impactful

Pacing and Tension

Controlling the ebb and flow of the fight

Choreography and Realism

Mapping out the choreography of the fight

Revision and Feedback

The value of peer and professional feedback

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Helping Writers Become Authors

5 Keys to Writing Epic Battle Scenes

1. Define the Character’s Goals

2. Follow the Rules of a Scene

3. Make the Battle Personal for Your Character

4. Simplify Your Grammar

5. Think Like a Screenwriter

Tell me your opinion: What other strategies do you use when writing epic battle scenes?