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No time for cleverly written intro!

We need an action opening.

Context?

THERE’S NO TIME to get invested in characters or figure out who the good guys are bad guys

are or… have… any idea…

what’s going on at all.

But hey!

At least its better than an info dump.

Writing an action scene is really easy because - NO TIME FOR A WELL WRITTEN SEGUE!

Let’s charge into the breach of writing action scenes!

After the initial burst of action, let things get quiet enough for the main characters to

form a plan!

Because the best time to make calm objective battle plans is in the middle of an adrenal

rush.

It’s not like the enemy will bother to take advantage of our hero’s distraction while

they are holding still and shouting, giving away their position.

What cunning battle plan will our heroes come up with?

Suppressing fire followed by a flanking maneuver?

A slow careful battle of attrition designed to wear down the enemy’s resources?

Ha!

No.

They will exchange of few lines of witty banter before wading into the middle of crossfire

and beating up minions.

Leaving cover and charging through a hail of bullets is totally possible!

With plot armor.

Don’t worry.

Contrary to popular belief, plot armor does not completely protect the heroes.

Plot armor does not protect the shoulder area from bullets nor does it protect the face

from minor scratches too shallow to mar the good looks of the protagonist.

Otherwise, our protagonist can survive nearly anything.

They can jump from one exploding high speed moving vehicle to another exploding, high

speed moving vehicle without even a sprained ankle.

Take that Newton and your stupid inertia!

And explosions are easy to dramatically walk away from!

Speculative fiction writers have it easy since they can just magic or tech their way out

of their protagonist’s story stopping injuries.

Because otherwise our action story becomes a touching tale of physical therapy and slow

recovery after numerous surgeries.

We can’t have our main characters get beat up because that gets in the way of the power

fantasy!

Pure power fantasy is the best way to approach action scenes.

Our heroes should bulldoze all competition with minimal effort along with that pesky

narrative tension.

Especially if they have super powers.

Be sure to avoid using a character’s magic or superpowers in a clever way or tailor each

character’s combat style to reflect their respective personalities.

Having a character use their abilities unconventionally and in distinctive ways to gain an advantage

undercuts how cool our main character is!

We want the fight to show off our protagonist’s relentless strength, not reflect the dynamic

ebb and flow of combat.

Who would want to read about a struggle fought on the razor edge of death, each combatant

only a single tiny mistake away from their demise.

There is no way the audience could handle that much tension.

Also be careful not to cast the protagonist’s death dealing prowess in a negative light.

The heroes’ opponents should be treated like the soulless disposable fodder they are

just like in video games.

Also just like in video games, neither side should consider withdrawing from the fight

after loosing the advantage nor should anyone panic and run away!

Just keep pointlessly shooting at the superhero or monster.

I’m sure it will work eventually.

Writer's should also make sure to completely neglect terrain.

Terrain has nothing to do with action scenes, combat, strategy, or even chase scenes.

It’s not like accounting for terrain will help set the scene or establish the spacial

location between characters.

Instead, we are better off confusing the reader by not keeping proper track of where characters

are.

We want to keep the reader off kilter that way they will just skim the action scene and

miss just how boring and mechanical the prose is.

No need to immerse the reader with concrete descriptions and evocative images that capture

the fear, violence, and excitement of conflict.

In truth, we are just adding an action scene in the middle of the book just to make sure

the reader doesn’t nod off.

Movie script writers are required to insert an action scene mid movie since it is objective

fact that the average movie audience will not be able to sit through a whole film unless

there is at least one explosion every twenty minutes!

We all know that audiences never get tired of endless, repetitive and loud action scenes.

Does the action scene not fit within the context of the story?

Awesome!

A jarring out of place action scene will in no way cause the plot to come to screeching

halt until the action is resolved.

The exciting nature of action scenes means that they will always help pacing and can

never have the opposite effect.

Having the events of the action scene drive the plot forward is entirely unnecessary when

we can instead watch characters chase each other through expensive sets.

I spent a lot of effort creating that elaborate highway chase scene and by God I am going

show it off no matter how much it sidelines the plot.

Besides, if it’s a movie, we already spent millions on the props and stunt work.

Can’t let that go to waste.

Is the story nearing it’s climax?

Better have the final action scene where we blow all of the budget on one final confrontation.

After building up tension for the enviable final battle between the hero and villain,

it’s time to end this.

This epic fight needs to come to a screeching halt mid way through so the villain can monologue

about either how he is going to defeat the main hero, how the protagonist doesn’t stand

a chance, or how the villain is merely a dark reflection of the hero because the symbolism

is so heavy even the characters are aware of it.

Unless it’s anime, in which case our hero and villain will argue pseudo-philosophy during

their final confrontation.

After arguing, we can finally finish up our epic fight.

Nothing is going to derail the pacing of this final action scene because – oh wait!

The LOVE TRIANGLE!

We have to tie up our romantic loose ends.

I’m sure those nuclear warheads counting down to launch from orbital satellites can

wait long enough for the romantic interest's tearful confession and obligatory kiss.

Okay.

Can we finish off the villain now?

Oh, no wait!

We can’t just kill the villain.

We need a one liner to punctuate the hero’s victory before he punctuates the villain!

You can tell the one liner is effective when the audience collectively groans and rolls

their eyes.

Then the hero finishes off the villain for good, or at least until the sequel and the

day has been saved.

Now quick!

End the story before the collateral damage bill ruins the power fantasy!

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