Verago

What do you think makes a combat sequence interesting to read? the thoughts going through the combatants' minds? The description of the battle? The description of the blood and gore? Something else?

DawnMorningStar

I had a similar question not too long ago, because my battle scenes are usually a bit lacking. I think the most common response was that readers like to get into the heads of the characters--what they're thinking and feeling in that moment, as well as the physical sensations of being cut, etc.

I think a well-balanced combination of all of the elements is your best bet though. But then again...I'm not the best when it comes to scenes like that (and I have so MANY in my novel...ACK!)

Good luck!

Verago

Cool. Thanks!
I've never been very good a battle scenes...maybe i just need to watch more violent movies.
Thinking about how to describe them always helps me some, but not enough to do really detailed scenes...

Talia_Brie

For me, the main thing is to choreograph the battle in advance. I'll sometimes spend days leading up to writing a battle scene choreographing it in my head running over and over it until I've memorised it.

It then depends on whether you're writing a fight between two or three people, or a full-on battle between thousands.

If it's two people, then the ideas above get split in two. The emotions come first, the anxiety, tension, eagerness etc. But once the actual fighting starts, those things really drop in importance to describing the action.

One of the keys here is identifying the participants. You need to make sure the reader knows who is who at all times. Also, try to keep your sentences short and sharp, keeping the pace up.

Once the battle ends, the emotions come back full force, as if the battle rage were dropping away.

A full-on battle is slightly different, but the best way to describe it is to think of yourself as a roving camera, sweeping over the abttlefield before settling right behind one of the combatants, then sweeping off again. So emotions and action are intertwined.

These are just the things that work for me.

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Verago

Thanks a lot. I'm doing several battle scenes. That really helps. I am the roving camera...

DawnMorningStar

Great advice, Talia_Brie! I will definitely take that into consideration when working on my own battle scenes (I'm in the middle of one right now).

I agree with this...although many of my scenes have a break or breaks in the actual fighting. For instance, most of my action scenes have the emotion, tension, etc, then some fighting, then someone is captured, someone new comes on the scene, or something else happens, and it's back to delving into the characters' heads again and seeing what they're going through in that moment before more fighting ensues. I also tend to put in little snippets of what the characters are thinking or feeling as they're fighting.

I guess it really depends on the type of battle you're depicting.

Those steps are very helpful though...thanks for the advice!

Verago

Yeah, definitely good advice.
Sorry i haven't checked this post in a while, i've been trying to figure out the plot.

Chris

Don't forget to read violent books as well!

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"...Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
Fool! said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write. - Sir Philip Sidney

Verago

Lol
yeah, i'll be cracking out the Steven King tonight!