Random writing question

[Meg]

When you write fight scenes is it better to describe each action the characters are doing "He swung his sword and she jumped back in the nick of time" or the emotions involved, "Time seemed to slow as the roar of the battle sounded above him." or both? @.@

I suck at writing fight scenes and I got one coming up soon in my story DMC: Reloaded. Help? @.@

 

[Chaos Raiden]

Personally, I prefer describing each actions of the characters in fighting scenes, simple because it is easier for me to write it. Writing in 'emotions involved' view is simply too... poetic for me, which I am not good of.

Either way, you should write the action scenes for your latest story with the way you like it.

 

[Daring Dylan]

My suggestion is to use both.

It's the same with action scenes as it is with erotic scenes. If you just describe the actions, it's boring and feels mechincal. If you just describe the emotions, some readers may find it too poetic and/or get lost.

 

[Angel]

At the same time, it needs to fit with your overall writing style too - otherwise it can come across as a badly-written collaboration between two people who've obviously not discussed anything prior to writing.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Unless critical to outcome of the fight, you do not need to describe every sword swing, piece of furniture broken, etc.
Start out with those details but after that, leave it implied and go into whichever the character being followed is. Break out of thought when something happens that could influence the outcome (getting thrown out of a window for instance). Between those moments, focus on the thought process of whoever the story is following presently. How they are looking for an opening, what they notice in their opponents defense, etc. Weave back and forth until you're ready for the brutal conclusion.

Try to make the internal stuff more 'in the now' and less thinking about the plot and whatnot- it's easy to make them come off as distracted even if you don't intend them to be if they're in a fight to the death and they're wondering about so many unrelated things.

 

[Richtofen]

Like Dylan and cheez said if you just focus on just fighting it would appear too simple unless your character is just fighting some no good demons or something. Get too much into emotions your readers would get lost because they wouldn't know where you're going with the story when you're supposed to be fighting. It would just get messy and would get into unnecessary details.

I find that if the characters are rather close (as friends or even as enemies) their emotions would be stronger and their fighting would be more intense and heated. You want to find an equalibrium for both. Every action has a reaction so on and so forth. You have to find what works with your writing style.

I haven't done a lot of fighting scenes but I hope this helps a bit.

 

[Dante's Stalker]

Cheez said it way better than I could.

All else I can contribute - practise makes it easy. Take a scene from FF where Lightning is kicking some booty. Write down the whole scene as it happens, then read it and see if you can follow the fight in your head as it occurred in the cutscene. If you can pull that off, then you'll have a fair idea of what to put into a fight scene and what to leave out.
That's what I do, anyway. With DMC, though. I've written some decent DMC fight scenes, it's just a pity I can't take credit for the actual fight :S But it's a good way to exercise your hand at fight scenes.

You can also have a squiz through here Meg:
http://forums.nathanbransford.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3757
Some verrrrrry handy tips mentioned by writers there.

 

[Meg]

Cheez said it way better than I could.

All else I can contribute - practise makes it easy. Take a scene from FF where Lightning is kicking some booty. Write down the whole scene as it happens, then read it and see if you can follow the fight in your head as it occurred in the cutscene. If you can pull that off, then you'll have a fair idea of what to put into a fight scene and what to leave out.
That's what I do, anyway. With DMC, though. I've written some decent DMC fight scenes, it's just a pity I can't take credit for the actual fight :S But it's a good way to exercise your hand at fight scenes.

You can also have a squiz through here Meg:
http://forums.nathanbransford.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3757
Some verrrrrry handy tips mentioned by writers there.

Can I just watch Lightning kicking some booty regardless?

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU guys! I've got a much better idea of how I'm going to write this next scene. Which means you can expect an update within the next couple of days. >:3