forum Help writing action scenes?

Started June 24, 2019 by @Lupout

tune

if you're decent at writing action scenes//sequences that flow well PLEaSe give me some tips. I'm in desperate need

From what I know, you have to keep the pace fast, so short sentences, less adjectives and adverbs. Use harsher words. Like, instead of saying "he turned quickly", say "he spun". Or make "he punched hard" into "he pummeled". Also, don't be too specific on the movements, like whether it was his left or right hand, because it makes it harder for the reader to follow. Humans get tired, so action scenes come in short spurts. You don't have to lengthen it. Lastly, you gotta keep in mind that any injury your character sustains, unless they're regenerative, it's gonna bother your character, sure as hell. Even a papercut ruins my mood, imagine broken ribs!

That's all I know, and I hope it helped!!

Thank you, this is all really helpful. My action sequences are always so clunky, I probably need to work on better word choice and simplifying sentence structure. I ramble a lot in non-action scenes so… I probably just need to shorten my sentences to make things feel more fast paced

I'm glad I could help! May I ask about the book you're writing? What is it about?

I'm writing a sci-fi book about three royal siblings who were separated (basically kidnapped) after their parents were assassinated who are trying to travel across space to find each other.

That sounds so cool! I love books where siblings are the main characters, they're always so wholesome.

May I ask you for advice in turn? You see, I have this whole story in mind, and I think I have all the important details fleshed out, but I can't ever seem to bring myself to write it. Do you have any tips on getting motivated?

I'd say start with a basic outline. One bullet point for each character whose point of view you're writing from outlining what you know about their character arc. Then one bullet point per chapter. You can expand on each point as you know more.

Then for me, writing is way harder than editing so sometimes you just have to write a really crappy chapter (or a lot of crappy chapters) and know that you can fix it later. The biggest barrier is honestly writing sooooo many words, so sometimes you just gotta let go of it being good and write.

It's also important to get into a flow//writing routine. Last school year I wrote 20,000 words of a different book that I ended up scrapping, just because I told myself that after I finished my math homework I had to spend the rest of my study hall (be it an hour or ten minutes) writing. So set yourself an amount of time every day (an hour, two hours, 30 minutes, whatever you can spare really) and just put words on a page. They'll build up.

My last tip is, don't write a couple of chapters and then edit obsessively. You'll have some amazing chapters eventually, but when its time to start writing new content again you'll be burnt out. Write a chapter and consider it locked. Don't come back to it until you're done with the fricken book. You can note things in the plot that need to be changed, but don't touch the chapter itself.

Don't know if this is helpful, but this is what helped me get past chapter three of my book so :)

and hey if you write anything you wanna share let me know. I'd love to read it

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll try that, especially the character arc thing. One of the reasons I can't properly start is because I have a few characters that I can't get a feel of, and I'm not sure if they're unnecessary just yet. And I am inconsistent with my writing schedule, I'll admit that.

I'll link you some things I've written once I feel sure of it, thanks for offering!! I'd love to read your story too!!!

My story is a big oof rn hopefully someday it'll be in better shape

I can relate to the big oof, but hey at least you have a third chapter xD

tru