How do you write action scenes?

Hey authors.

I’ve been writing my WIP for a while now and the one thing that I always get stuck on, sometimes for week, is action scenes.

So you seasoned authors, how do you write an effective fight scene? How do you choreograph a fight, set the fight scene etc.

will literally take any help at this point lol

There’s a decent breakdown on fight scenes (which could be applied to any generic action scene, really) that I was able to find again. The first example is weirdly kind of sort of nearly NSFW but nothing too bad: http://marilynnbyerly.com/page9k.html

I would add to this that the best way to convey action (that I’ve found) is to make the writing punchy. That means do away with conjunctions and then in the very heat of it any descriptors as well. First set it up and then keep the actual action sentences as short as possible.

Here is an example from something I wrote if it helps:


She crawled out of the bathtub and scampered across the floor. Monica peered around the corner. The other girl was gone but the man was still in the bed. He must be dead, she thought, because he hasn’t moved. The bedroom door was open but there was no one else in the room. Maybe the girl had run. Maybe they had chased her.

Monica crawled out into the bedroom and started for the door but the sound of rushed footsteps coming from the hallway caused her to stop short. She looked around. The only other option was the balcony.

The the footsteps grew louder. Monica stood up. She sprinted toward the balcony. Two cracks sounded, ringing in her ears. The railing was a step away.

She flung herself over.

Monica crashed right through the bushes below. She tumbled in the dew-laden grass for a moment and skidded to a stop on her back. She looked up and could see the balcony was empty. They were probably rushing down the stairs now instead of taking the express route over the railing.


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