Hellooo everybody! A while back, I broke down the 10 best tips for writing fight scenes,
and today I'm hitting you with the worst! Fight scenes are a struggle for writers because it's
really easy to fuck ‘em up. And boy, will these tips help you do just that! Some of these points
are actual pieces of advice that I've seen, horrifyingly enough. Others are just mistakes
people always seem to make. You will probably recognize them because they happen so damn often.
Number Five (5) is the one that I personally find the most ridiculous and hysterical, but let me
know which one's your favorite in the comments below!
(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Before we dive in, I want to give all my love to ProWritingAid who has sponsored today's video!
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you the highlights for each of the key reports so you know where to focus your time and energy. “But
Jenna, I plan to hire a professional editor for my manuscript!” And you absolutely should! But
you should never under any circumstances send a first draft to your editor. You absolutely
need to self edit your work first, multiple times. That's why I love ProWritingAid. It
makes the self editing process so much easier, so I can ship my manuscript off to my editor and feel
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because ProWritingAid is awesome like that! So click the link and save some money! Don't forget
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soon as I upload, ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available
right now! You can get ‘em in ebook, paperback, hardback, and audiobook. They are all over
the place! So if you like dark fantasy, if you like romance, if you like bloodshed and action,
definitely pick these books up! Now let's get into the 10 worst tips regarding writing fight scenes.
Please do not implement any of these tips, unless you wanna piss your readers right off! Number
One (1): The play-by-play. Some of you writers are out here crafting your fight scenes like it's the
Hokey Pokey. “He put his right fist in. He pulled his right fist out. He connected his left foot
with his enemy's left knee and then pushed to the ground using excessive force, causing his enemy's
left knee to crumple to the ground and then his right hand to spring out in order to stabilize
himself, and then he shakes it all about.” Writers are taking ‘show, don't tell’ to the ultimate
extreme! We get every single detail of the fight. Each move the character makes at the exact moment
using the most precise terminology. It's so goddamn specific that it slows the pace to the
point where the fight feels like it's happening in slow motion. (Slow motion sound effects)
And isn't that what we all want? A high stakes fight scene that moves at a glacial pace.
Wonderful! Carry on. Number Two (2): Have you tried world building? You know what makes a
fight scene extra intense? When you stop the action to build the world, because that's what
readers are looking for in that moment. Not blood or impact. Trees! I don't want to hear
about your main character’s mortal injury. I want lengthy descriptions that set the scene,
even though “they fought in a forest,” really tells me all I need to know. I don't want to
hear about the strikes and maneuvers. I need at least a page detailing the villain’s armor,
top to bottom! Trust me, this is what people expect out of a violent, edge of your seat battle.
It won’t destroy the tension at all! The most visceral fight scene is one featuring
pages upon pages of info dumping. Number Three (3): Emotional shift. The enemies just exploded
through the gates! Debris and dead bodies litter the ground as rival soldiers destroy
everything in their path. But your main character locks eyes with one soldier in particular. Nay,
a prince. His eyes are a glistening blue as deep and turbulent as the ocean. His hair is long,
silky strands of jet black tumbling over rippled, muscular shoulders. He's got a jaw line that could
cut glass, an ass you could bounce a quarter off of, and dark bronze skin, even though he's somehow
still Caucasian coded. And your main character is taken aback by how unbelievably handsome he is,
how their loins are burning with heat and desire. In the middle of a fucking ambush! While their
comrades are being murdered beside them, your main character is popping the boner of a lifetime.
Because that's what the emotional focus of your fight scene should be: horniness! You know,
I thought fight scenes were supposed to evoke fear or rage, but clearly arousal was the way to go.
Number Four (4): One against 50. When writing a fight scene, it's really important to stack the
odds against your main character, and the best way to do this is to pit one against 20, or 50,
or 100. What the fuck ever! Your character doesn't have a machine gun, a grenade, or a weapon at all.
Yet somehow they single handedly annihilate an entire fleet of soldiers, minions, werewolves,
or whatever else you throw at ‘em. Three to five makes sense, especially if the character is
trained or has some kind of magical power on their side. But 50?! Sounds legit. I'm sold. I mean,
after all, the bad guys are approaching him one at a time. That's how all bad guys fight;
in a single file line, just waiting their turn. And after he's killed the first 15 without
receiving a single blow, it's not like the rest of the guys would realistically just, you know, leave
to save their asses. We all gotta die someday, am I right? Which brings us to Number Five (5): “This
isn't even my final form!” We all know some characters in some stories gotta have plot armor.
It happens. However, what if instead of plot armor, we give them absolute invincibility? The
biggest of big dick energy. Your character is just the 12 foot schlong of all fighter-ly characters.
A character so overpowered, so impenetrable, it borders on ridiculous. Extra points if the
character has no practice, experience, magical assistance, or superpowers to rationalize their
insane capabilities. Triple points if they never, not once, get injured. Quadruple points if they do
it all in the most impossible circumstances. For example, their leg has been chopped off
in the middle of battle, or they are actively giving birth while fighting. Nothing makes you
root for a character more than knowing that literally nothing can hurt them…whatsoever.
Number Six (6): Technical jargon. All parts of the writing process include a significant
amount of research, and fight scenes are no different. You've likely researched weapons,
fighting styles, injuries, and fatalities to make sure your fights are realistic as possible.
What some writers don't realize is…that's not the entire purpose of their research. You need to take
that research and jerk yourself off with it. Tell everyone all of the jargon, maneuvers, and medical
terminology you learned. Otherwise, how will they know about your smart brain? It doesn't matter
that a lot of the terminology you find will come across as clinical or not era appropriate. And it
certainly doesn't matter that powerful verbs pack a far better punch than specific fighting lingo.
What was the point of doing all that research if people don't know that you're better than them?
Slow down the pace, destroy the immersion, and exhaust those fancy dancy words you've been
dying to use. I support you! Number Seven (7): The bird's eye view. A lot of writers want to
give readers a bird's eye view of a fight, particularly a battle sequence. That way
they can see everything that's going on. I mean, if you think about it, this is the best choice,
because what point of view is the most riveting during a fight scene? A bird flying high above,
not involved in the carnage or danger at all. With an overhead view, we aren't experiencing
the fight through a character, so we are completely cut off emotionally and viscerally.
But that's fantastic because, I mean really, who wants to be invested in a fight scene? Tension,
fear, excitement, and desperation? Pfft! For losers, really. High stakes are nothing compared
to aesthetics. Number Eight (8): Stoicism. It's on trend right now to write a leading man
of action who is straight-faced, hardened, and stoic. He doesn't show any emotion because who
doesn't love blandness? I know I do! But the good thing about being in a character's head is that
no matter how stoic they are, we still experience what they're experiencing, we still feel what they
feel. But none of that applies to this character, because they’re a badass! They shouldn't feel or
experience any pain at all. Emotion may be the key to impactful writing, but this guy's
the exception to the rule. It's way more engaging to read a fight scene that evokes zero reaction,
to read an injury that causes zero pain. Heehee, that tickles! Remember what I said about high
stakes. They’re for suckers. Ditch the emotion, because your character’s too tough for that.
He's a man. Number Nine (9): Blood and guts and explosions. Waaah! Fight scenes are exciting,
because obviously, someone's gonna get hurt. There's gonna be blood. So, with that considered,
how do you take your fight scene to the next level? Buckets of blood! It's not enough for your
character to get stabbed. You need each of their limbs severed and blood geysering from the stumps.
It's not enough to decapitate your enemy. You need their brain to explode! As much
grotesque bodily fluids as you can include. Even if it's not at all medically plausible,
write it in. I want the characters bleeding out of every orifice possible. Their eyes, their ears,
their nose, their butts! If your fight scene’s gore factor doesn't read like a D-list zombie movie,
no one's gonna take it seriously. And Number Ten (10): The never-ending battle sequence.
We all love a good fight that goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and
on and on... If you're writing a 100 year war, it better take readers 100 years to get through it,
am I right? Nothing amps up the excitement quite like endless repetition. You've already written
this exact maneuver multiple times, but 10 more won't hurt. It never gets old reading the word
“parry” a million times on the same page. Thrill a minute! Besides, there's something comforting
about predictability and that's exactly what you want your fight scenes to be:
comfortable! Ramble to your heart's content! If people wanted entertainment, they should’ve
watched a movie, not read a book. So that's all I got for you today! Please keep in mind that these
tips are sarcastic. You should not implement any of them! Please, for the love of God, I'm begging
you. I've read too many bad fight scenes. I can't sleep at night! Thanks again to ProWritingAid for
sponsoring today's video! If you need help during the self-editing process–and let's be real,
we all do–ProWritingAid has got you covered! You can try them out for free,
or get 20% off your Premium membership by clicking the link in the description below.
Do it! Get on it! Save yourself some money! You will be so glad you did. Don't forget to subscribe
to my channel! I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback,
hardback, and audiobook all over the place. So if you wanna check out my number one best
selling dark fantasy romance that's got a heaping dose of action and adventure and fight scenes,
definitely check it out! I got it linked below. And be sure to follow me on social media! I'm on
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Bye!
(Regal, but Distracted Female Voice) Oh, hello there! I'm Leila, and I'm off to…a
meeting with…a…senator. While you're here, why don't you subscribe to Jenna’s channel? And ring
the bell! That way, you'll always know when her videos go live. It's the perfect distraction–
I mean…entertainment. Well, off I go! Ignore the blade, it's just for show. Bye!