Fight Scenes in TSP

I have a fair share of fight scenes throughout my series, and I could not write them for the life of me. So, I turned to the Internet.

I used these videos and took my own notes on them. Every time a fight scene comes up, I use my notes to embellish. Here they are if you want help:

These videos definitely helped me outline my fight scenes, so now they can be more engaging.

Before I get to the scenic structure, however, I need to establish the context. I first determined who all is going to be in the fight scene - who all the key players are, and what abilities do they have in their arsenal. In The Secret Portal, most of my character have powers, which means there are a lot of creative ways I can go about the fight scene. I also determine whose perspective I'm going to write in (or focus on, if it's in third person), and how they would view or act in the fight scene. I determine the scenery, and figure out what resources will be naturally available, including "props" that can be used.

I then consult my notes from the video. I write a one-sentence summary for each of the following components. The structure: Beginning, Escalation, High Stakes Resolution. The activity: Goal, Conflict, Disaster. The reactions of the characters: Reaction, Dilemma, Decision. While not every fight scene needs to be like this, this is how they can actually progress the story, which is extremely helpful. I don't want my fight scenes to be artificially added, so I work on these nine aspects, and then I pretty much have the scene outline down.

I then go through all of the other smaller, more technical aspects of the scene, putting small little annotations that apply to the scene, just so I can give myself a basic idea of what I need to do, but most of the scene comes out when I actually write it. I double check myself with my notes after the scene is drafted.

I'm a "plantser" by nature, meaning I don't need everything planned out, but I do need basic ideas in order to actually do some writing. Fight scenes are difficult for me, but they may not be for you. I found these videos very helpful when it came to writing them, and I hope my time with them paid off.

That's all for today! Don't forget to leave a like, comment, and sign up so you never miss an update!