vanax

i have a few battle scenes in my book and i don't know how to write one. They sound fake and uninteresting. i've read books with battle scenes and stuidied how they wrote them but no matter how hard i try i just fall short of what i want. the impact of a great struggle isn't there, not even for my main characters. I'm lost can anyone help??

jk7070436

It's actually not that hard. I think the trick is to not go into too much detail. Don't go and describe every single blow or shot, tell the reader about the battle on a larger scale. Also, don't make it too long. Long battle scenes are rather boring. A little dialogue is all right, but too much can make it seem a bit corny. Plus, don't use cliche-ish types of quotes like: "You'll never get me alive!"

vanax

thanks. i can't even write a small or short one. I've never been in a battle so it's hard to discribe.

Nickie

I think most of us have never been in a battle (luckily for us!). Don't you have any family members who fought in WWII (or even the first)? My granddad was in both World Wars and I was raised with his stories about the war. But what I remember most is not the fighting, but the amusing - human interest bits. Perhaps that's a way of describing a battle?



Nickie

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Derek

I was recommended two films that approach 1940's:

Saving Private Ryan (this one more, check the scene with the corpses on the beach)
Enemy at the Gates

Also, documentaries will help, most of the times they have veterans interviews.

vanax

ok. my dad was in Vietnam but these are fantasy battles. thanks for the films. i like the human interest idea, never thought of that.

Derek

They are only films, but they have better battle depiction than Rambo

Kamisama

Watch a bunch of war movies, fighting movies, sci-fi movies where the good guy is thrown against society (The Matrix), bunches and bunches of movies with fight scenes. Bruce lee, van dame, steven seagul, etc.

Think about how you could describe the fights going on and put yourself in those situations and think how would have dealt with it differently. Try to make yourself a megalomaniac that wants to take over the world. How would you do it? How would you win a single epic fight that determines your fate?

What type of battle is this anyways?
War battle?

Try a few online games that have to do with war. Perhaps go out and by some games for the PS2 and XBOX that have to do with war.

Check out this: http://www.americasarmy.com/downloads/

Check out the movie called: Gangland (rated R)
It's rated badly but shows a somewhat simple fight against people who decided to take advantage of a nuclear holocaust.

Chuck Norris has some good movies with him in Vietnam that are somewhat fictional.

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CZ

You could try studying some actual battles - Battle of Hastings, Agincourt, Waterloo, Battle of the Bulge, Dunkirk, the various battles of D Day, all the way through to the Iraq war.

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vanax

ok thanks guys. the battle is a war among to factions in a kingdom and a battle among humans and elves. two different battles. then a battle in a portal realm between a mage and a small group of elves two of which are versed in magic. man i have my work cut out for me. thanks i hope i can do this.

BauB

If it's fantasy try reading other fantasy battles. I can recommend Tolkein battle scenes and some Dune scenes (like the end of the first book). It's not that difficult if you tell it through the eyes of one character, otherwise it'll be very difficult to find the right balance of information and emotion.

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vanax

sometimes writing sucks!! no i'm just frustrated that i'm having trouble.

Ben

Try to keep your sentences short; it builds tension. Also, describe the battle as a whole. Doing that will make it seem more chaotic.

Something that I've done during a battle scene is describe the battles as a whole, and then focus in on one of the warriors for a moment. After you've done this you can go back to describing it as a whole again. It seemed to work well.

vanax

*sigh* lots and lots of work. but it will be a good book wheni'm done. maybe not great but good. thanks guys!!

Mike C

If you can't write battles, maybe the above conflicts could be settled by diplomacy and negotiation. Then send a copy to Bush.

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