forum How do you do the action in your writing?
Started by shurikenwolfbadass_13
tune

people_alt 2 followers

@Masterkey

I really want the action to feel fast. Because of that, I make all the little details about what the scenery looks like and such fade away. I also try to streamline every movement the characters make. There's no "He raised his arm over his head, bending his elbow so that his forearm reached behind him to retrieve the tenth arrow. His fingers curled around the knock, feeling the groove that he would soon attach to his bow's string. Then he drew the arrow over his head in one fluid arc and knocked it into his bow, turning his body and drawing the arrow back to his ear. He closed one eye, aimed, and fired. This all took place in a matter of two second." Like heck no. Change that to "Before MC knew it, his foe had fired an arrow. Arrow after arrow hurtled toward him, and it was all MC could do to block or dodge them, not being able to spare a second to keep his eye on the enemy. The enemy continued to stand there nonchalantly, firing arrows like he would sip tea on a Thursday afternoon, never once giving away his next move."

The only time I'll mention a detail like that is if it's good for the fight. More specifically, if the MC is starting to experience things in slow mo. Say my character just got picked up and thrown, their face hurtling toward a brick wall. I'd probably put in a little detail about the bricks, to convey that THEIR FACE WAS HEADING FOR A BRICK WALL AND OH CRAP THEY CAN SEE EVERY DETAIL OF THIS WALL WHICH WILL BE THE END OF THEIR FACE.

I'm also currently using a style that really limits the perspective to just the main character, so lots of the time the reader won't really know exactly what my main character's opponent is doing. Sometimes they'll disappear out of view and then suddenly APPEAR over the MC's head. You won't ever know how they did it, you'll just know that MC is now freaking out.

What's your style like?

shurikenwolfbadass_13

I myself like a balance of fast pacing, detail, and tone to convey a scene, but I don't believe people make their combat as epic as it could be… For instance…
*****
The two of them stood, backs to the wall, pinned under cover, enduring the volley of white-hot lead. Bit by bit, the cover was being obliterated.
"Jesus Christ, with the way these punks dhoot, you'd think we were in a Star Wars movie." MC#1 shouted over the gunfire. He paused , and when he found an opening, he jabbed his gun out, and flung bullets before drawing back in.
"Hey, MC#1, cover me, yeah?", MC#2 said, he found an opening in the desolate bullet-hell that was this pit, and tore off, narrowly risking one to the ribs, for more strategic cover.
"You're a damn idiot, y'know that?" MC#1 responded, turning, and flinging lead back, before receeding as quickly and gracefully as the tide. Bullets whizzed past both of their covers, before the fodder they were facing, finally went to reload.
"Gotcha!" MC#1 said, now that enemy gunfire was a minimum, he figured it was worth the risk to try something. He released a grenade, feeling the pin click off, and lobbed it under the cover of a group of troops. The hell that came next had apparently started a mild panic, which MC#2 took advantage of from his better cover. He used this strategically, to ice the few remaining stragglers.
Silence.
Then mechanical wailing in the distance.
"You'd think these idiots would know not to fire all at once…"
"No, they wouldn't… Dog of the battlefield."
"Good thing we've got well trained eyes to see through it."
"Let's get to work."
(That's a metaphor, if you didn't get it.)

@Masterkey

The only thing I couldn't wrap my imagination around was all the different verbs you used to describe shooting a bullet. Might just be me, though.

shurikenwolfbadass_13

Whst, flinging lead? I'm a huge fan of the "Bullet-Hell" genre… So, to me, it's not fun unless your opponent is sending a tsunami of searing metal directly at my face.