C is for Combat
Feb. 19th, 2013 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowynight"I jump into the mid-air, launching a kick at the opponent's head, and then when I land, I immediately do a guard position to prepare for a counter attack."
"My palm sweats and I'm afraid any time I won't be able to hold the knife any more. The thought of cutting into human flesh makes me get sick."
Combat fascinates people, judging from the popularity of action and war films. There's something satisfying to see your hero giving a good fight. Blood and sweat makes a scene more powerful and dramatic. A good fighting scene can make or break an action story. However, different stories call for a sliding scale of realism in portraying a fight.
In real life, a true fight is brutal, unpredictable, and rarely lasts longer than a minute. You make sure the other's dead (or at least can't fight back) before walking away. However, not every story calls for this kind of realism. Otherwise we won't have Crouching Dragon, Hiding Tiger or most kinds of mainstream superheroes comics. Too much technical details in your fighting scene will mostly just distract the readers, because the readers' imagination will always do a better work on it. Try to visualize the fight in your brain to make sure they are consistent.
In a more cinematic story, the fighting scene runs on rule of cool, rule of funny or rule of drama. An crazy awesome action girl main character with wire-fu will always defeat a horde of nameless mooks. In a cinematic story you use your imagination to elaborate on the moves a character can make. The readers can excuse a lot of thing if you deliver a dramatic fight. It doesn't mean that you should completely abandon Earth logic, unless your canon calls for it (See: Captain America's shield defies Newton's laws since 1940s)
In a more realistic story though, actions have real consequences. There's always a very real possibility that one can kill or decapitates your opponents, and to most ordinary people, getting into a fight is usually not an easy ride. People try to use every tactics to avoid fighting in an disadvantaged position. It doesn't mean that your story has to be boring. Rather it's a great chance to focus on the visceral details: the dripping of sweat into your eyes, the rapid heart beat, the feel of knocking into human flesh. The psychology of someone's response to combat always reveal a lot about the characters. Are they hardened to violence? Are they combat pragmatists? Do they talk first or thump their fists first? It's always fascinating to go into a character's heart to figure out these things to enrich the characterization. It also pays to think about how the social and cultural background will affect their use of weapons and fighting skills. As a fight can and is often deadly, why its compelling for your character to be in a fight, what they sacrifice for being there, are points of concern. Make the scene worth it. Make your characters pay for it.
Questions: As a reader, how do you like your fighting scene? As a writer, how do you use combat to enhance your story?
"My palm sweats and I'm afraid any time I won't be able to hold the knife any more. The thought of cutting into human flesh makes me get sick."
Combat fascinates people, judging from the popularity of action and war films. There's something satisfying to see your hero giving a good fight. Blood and sweat makes a scene more powerful and dramatic. A good fighting scene can make or break an action story. However, different stories call for a sliding scale of realism in portraying a fight.
In real life, a true fight is brutal, unpredictable, and rarely lasts longer than a minute. You make sure the other's dead (or at least can't fight back) before walking away. However, not every story calls for this kind of realism. Otherwise we won't have Crouching Dragon, Hiding Tiger or most kinds of mainstream superheroes comics. Too much technical details in your fighting scene will mostly just distract the readers, because the readers' imagination will always do a better work on it. Try to visualize the fight in your brain to make sure they are consistent.
In a more cinematic story, the fighting scene runs on rule of cool, rule of funny or rule of drama. An crazy awesome action girl main character with wire-fu will always defeat a horde of nameless mooks. In a cinematic story you use your imagination to elaborate on the moves a character can make. The readers can excuse a lot of thing if you deliver a dramatic fight. It doesn't mean that you should completely abandon Earth logic, unless your canon calls for it (See: Captain America's shield defies Newton's laws since 1940s)
In a more realistic story though, actions have real consequences. There's always a very real possibility that one can kill or decapitates your opponents, and to most ordinary people, getting into a fight is usually not an easy ride. People try to use every tactics to avoid fighting in an disadvantaged position. It doesn't mean that your story has to be boring. Rather it's a great chance to focus on the visceral details: the dripping of sweat into your eyes, the rapid heart beat, the feel of knocking into human flesh. The psychology of someone's response to combat always reveal a lot about the characters. Are they hardened to violence? Are they combat pragmatists? Do they talk first or thump their fists first? It's always fascinating to go into a character's heart to figure out these things to enrich the characterization. It also pays to think about how the social and cultural background will affect their use of weapons and fighting skills. As a fight can and is often deadly, why its compelling for your character to be in a fight, what they sacrifice for being there, are points of concern. Make the scene worth it. Make your characters pay for it.
Questions: As a reader, how do you like your fighting scene? As a writer, how do you use combat to enhance your story?
