"Success in a fight depends on three factors: Strength,
Strategy, Skill. To win a fight, your protagonist needs at least one of them. Otherwise,
a good outcome is implausible."
Writing
Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall is an encyclopedia of
writing tips, tricks, and knowledge about the writing fight scenes regardless
of the genre you have in mind. It's truly a gem and an excellent reference.
Hall
even provides a scene from her medieval-set dark epic fantasy novel Storm Dancer
and challenges the reader of Writing Fight Scenes to pick out what they
have learnt from reading the book in the sample.
Before
Writing Fight Scenes begins, Hall notes that she alternates the hero
between male and female in order to give examples for both. The book is also
filled with story ideas and prompts, making it a writing resource at all
levels.
"If your heroine defends herself with a garden hose, a
toilet brush or a curling iron, the readers will root for her and enjoy the
fight. This works especially well in 'entertaining' fight scenes."
Comprised
of 34 chapters on anything and everything you can think of, the book handles
topics from male and female fighting techniques to nautical and animal warfare
(each has a separate chapter).
Hall
begins from the beginning, what type of scene is the author interested in
writing? "Gritty or Entertaining" marks the first chapter, followed by the
selection of "Setting", "Structure"
then moves on to weapons with chapter dedicated to "Swords", "Knives and Daggers", "Staffs,
Spears and Polearms" to "Improvised Weapons" and more on the
topic.
"If the thought of brutal violence makes you sick, and if
you can't stand the sight of blood, don't attempt to write a gritty
scene."
One
of the things I truly enjoyed is Hall's "Blunders
to Avoid" at the end of each chapter which as the name says are
items to be avoided while writing and which act as a summary to the chapter.
Chapters
in Writing Fight Scenes are fairly short, making the leaning process easy
and enjoyable. While the book handles quite a massive amount of content and
information, Hall ensures that you get the gist of the trade without getting
bored.
"To create additional suspense immediately before the
fight, describe some of the noises of the location: the croaking of a bird, the
slamming of a door, the roar of a lorry on the nearby road."
Two
of the most important chapters – for me – in the book were "Make the Reader Care" and "The Final Showdown". An important aspect
I personally might have overlooked when writing. Another is the "Genres"
chapter in which Hall mentions almost every popular genre and how fight
scenes are handled in them.
Other
important chapters were those on "Pacing"
and "Euphonics";
the latter involves creating a sense of foreboding, fear, victory or defeat in
your writing.
Hall
also provides YouTube links to videos to help writers navigate what she's
saying and see some 'live' samples.
Overall,
Writing Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall is a highly recommended read. For me,
it will remain an important reference to go back to whenever I want to write a
fight scene or whenever I need inspiration for such a scene.
"If a novel contains several fight scenes, then the last
one (the climactic showdown between hero and villain) is probably the
longest."
Writing Fight Scenes is also the first book in the Writer's Craft series by Rayne Hall.
Overall
rating: 10 stars
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