How To Write A Fight Scene

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Summary

In this article we cover how to write a fight scene for various written mediums, be it a script or prose, using expert commentary from a trained martial artist.

how to write a fight scene example with two men fighting

How To Write A Fight Scene

Learning how to write a fight scene in your fictional work – be it a script or prose – is an important tool to have in your arsenal as a writer. There’s been too many times I’ve been getting into a book or a story only for a poorly written fight scene to ruin the experience for me. To that end, as a writer that also studies a martial art, I thought it would be good to share my opinion and my advice.

Let’s learn how to write a good fight scene!

Who I am & My Experience

Before we get into the guide, I want to briefly skim over who I am and my experience – I feel this is relevant for the article. My name is Stewart and I am a writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. I have been writing professionally (in some shape or form) since 2017 and:

  • Have written articles in print magazines.
  • Written online articles.
  • Developed blog strategies for huge companies with turnovers in the millions.
  • Have independently published poetry.
  • Had both my fiction and poems published in various online magazines.
  • Achieved a Dux in my final year media project in University (which was a TV Script).

Aside from my professional and educational experience, in my free time I study Taekwon-do (the ITF variety, not WT variety) and as of writing this article have achieved 1st Kup Grade. My next grading will be to my 1st Dan, or my Black Belt. In addition, I assist instructors with class instruction / junior class training. Below is a photo of me grading up to my Red Belt (2nd Kup).

stewart storrar with his red belt in martial arts ITF taekwon-do

I want to use what I’ve learned in both areas of my life to help you write better fight scenes!

Your Medium Matters

The first thing that will determine how you write your fight scene will be what you are writing. I assume you’ll be writing some kind of prose which is:

However, some of you reading this may be writing a script or a stage play – which are vastly different from a writing perspective when writing a fight scene. I want to briefly touch on scripts and stage plays before diving head-first into prose.

Why Characters Are Fighting in A Fight Scene

Before you begin penning your fight scene, regardless of what medium you have chosen, the why is vital for a believable scene. The motivations of each character need to be made clear at some point in your narrative. In addition, these motivations to fight or the fight itself must progress the narrative forward. There are a few main reasons that physical fights will happen in a narrative. For the attacker or the person that initiates the fight they’ll usually do so because of HKRD:

  • Someone wants to cause physical harm to another; harm.
  • Someone wants to kill another person; kill.
  • Someone has a reputation to maintain; reputation.
  • Someone is defending another person; defend.

Now, of course, there are hundreds of reasons why a fight can happen but most of the scenarios and reasons will be down to these four main reasons. For instance, if your character wants to prove a point by fighting another character, that would come under ‘reputation’ as a reason. If your character is standing up for someone getting bullied, that would come under ‘defend’.

For defenders, or those whom the attack is being initiated against, they’ll usually fight for the same reasons – the only difference being self defence will likely be the main reason with HKRD being secondary reasons.

No matter what medium or characters are fighting, the why needs to be fleshed out for a fight scene – or the fight scene is there for the sake of it (which I’d define as purple prose).

How To Write A Fight Scene In A Script

How To Write A Fight Scene In A Script

As there are small differences between a stage play and a script in terms of how the fight scene is written, we’ll treat them both as the same entity. When writing a scene in which two characters fight it is often best to leave it as vague as possible. The less detail you include, the better.

This may initially seem counter-intuitive but assuming your script will make it to production or your stage play to rehearsals, you need to remember:

  • A script has a director, actors and possibly stunt men.
  • A stage play will be choreographed and this includes fight scenes.

Your job as a writer is to tell the story, not direct the actors and director. Describing how the story unfolds should be kept simple, as the director or choreographer will likely have their own vision for the script you produce – you don’t want to step on any toes!

In your script keep it simple, for example:

Scene One, Act One

Fade In:

1. Int. Castle Battlement – Day

Jerald crept down the corridor and kept his rifle clutched close to his body, bayonet stretched out to his front. Suddenly, he heard a noise to his left as an enemy sprang out from an adjacent room.

Jerald and enemy one fight after enemy one knocks Jerald’s rifle from his hands. It is a close fight in which enemy one has the upper hand for the first half, nearly succeeding in killing Jerald twice. However, Jerald is a bigger and stronger man. After Jerald begins to turn the tide of the fight and win, the fight then develops into a struggle for Jerald’s rifle. Jerald, being stronger, wins this struggle and stabs enemy one through the chest with his bayonet.

While this is a very brief example, it highlights two key things that are important for writing fights in a script:

  • Notice how there are no camera shots or angles. As a writer this is not your job, this is the job of the director/cinematographer.
  • The step-by-step details of the fight are not included. Again, this is not your job, this is the job of the choreographer.

By keeping your role paramount and forefront in your mind as you write, you’ll be writing good fight scenes in no time!

Top Tip: a script is, essentially, a set of instructions that tell the story to the Director (and other creatives). Give them space to make the project their own.

How To Write A Fight Scene In A Story

When it comes to writing a fight scene in a story, you first need to decide what the outcome of the fight will be. The fight needs to serve a purpose in the narrative. Having a fight scene for the sole reason of having one, or to add suspense, without any real narrative reason for it being there is pointless (in my opinion).

You first need to decide:

  • Who is fighting
  • Why each character is fighting
  • Where they are fighting

While these points may seem obvious, in the real world people often resort to name calling / aggressive verbal arguments. It is fairly uncommon for verbal arguments of any kind to get physical and usually when they do get physical, it will have something to do with where the people are and why they’ve chosen to physically fight.

Where The Fight Takes Place

For example, if a heated argument begins outside a Police station it is very unlikely it’ll develop into a physical fight for obvious reasons. The Police would stop it and the person initiating the fight wouldn’t be able to accomplish their goal (to harm the other person). That is assuming, of course, that doing physical harm is their end goal. Fighting to maintain a reputation or a perceived image is also something to consider, but we’ll keep it simple for now.

Now imagine a fight is taking place is an abandoned building. Why the characters ended up there is a story in and of itself, but in this location a physical fight is more likely to develop from a heated verbal argument. Again, it is only more likely due to the lack of other people / characters. In this context, if the goal is to do harm to the other person, the person initiating the fight is very likely going to accomplish their goal in this setting. There’s a low chance that anyone else will intervene in such a location.

Why The Fight Takes Place

As briefly mentioned above, when it comes to stories, the why is important but you’ll have limited space to flesh this out (unlike in novellas or full-length novels). There are instances where a fight scene can be a plot device without the why in short stories, for example:

Sam’s face crumpled under the speed of his peer’s fist. His tooth cracked and his lip burst into a spurt of blood. Before he knew it he was on the ground. That was when he saw it; twinkling in the corner of his eye. The boot of his attacker sunk into his rib cage but his mind was still on it; a gun was lying under the nearby bench.

The fight scene is important to the narrative and opens up the story to be further explored but, as you can see, the why isn’t explicitly stated. While the above examples works, i’d still recommend fleshing out the reason for the fight in the first place, even if its just a sentence or two. Continuing with that example, you could have some dialogue later on that briefly touches on the subject:

“How did you find it?” Perry asked Sam..

“I was fighting Peter after school,” Sam replied.

“You meant you were losing to Peter after school?” Perry chuckled.

“Shut up,” Sam paused and they both looked to the gun lying between them on the bed, “What do we do now?” Sam finished.

Just keep in mind that for flash fiction and short stories, giving too much depth into the why can detract from the narrative! Keep it simple, straight forward, and ensure it keeps the narrative going at the right pace for your reader.

How To Write A Fight Scene In A Book

how to write a fight scene in a book

Learning how to write a fight scene in a book is, in my opinion, much easier than for short stories or flash fiction when writing prose. The simple reason for this is that you aren’t bound by an upper word limit for novels which gives you more word count when writing your fight scene.

Just like with a script, stage play, or short story, these key components need to be considered when writing a fight:

  • Who is fighting
  • Why each character is fighting
  • Where they are fighting

You’ll also need to consider HKRD with more thought and planning, as you’ll have character arcs and an potentially various narrative plot points to consider.

Unlike with short stories where genre and genre conventions don’t play a hugely pivotal role, in books and long-form prose they do. For instance, in a drama about a suburban neighbourhood, a full fledged fist fight is unlikely. Depending on the type of book it is, for instance a romance, you might even be risking breaking genre conventions. Similarly, a book about someone surviving in the wilderness is unlikely to have human-to-human conflict and depending on the narrative premise, it might not be believable that another person would happen to be wandering the wilderness too.

However, with books you’ll generally have a lot more space to run with the fight scene and you can afford to be as descriptive as you like. Usually, writers will fall into two main styles for writing fights:

  • Hyper-descriptive; focusing on the details of every movement. Martial arts films or fighting scenes are a good example of this type of story-telling when it comes to fight scenes.
  • Scene focused; where the fight description isn’t as detailed but more focused on the emotions and environment. Think Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s duel on the Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

Examples of Writing Fight Scenes

Let’s cite some examples from already published books:

  • A lot of the fight scenes or sequences in Lord of the Rings are scene focused, particularly the battle of Helm’s Deep or Ride of the Rohirrim.
  • Iain M. Banks’ culture novels or some of the Halo franchise books are good examples of hyper-descriptive fight scenes.

Here are some excerpts to illustrate the difference. First is an excerpt detailing a fight scene between an alien and the protagonist in a vacuum with no gravity:

‘The Master Chief pushed off the wall and launched himself at the creature. He slammed into the Elite before it had a chance to fire. They tumbled backward and crashed into the bulkhead. The Master Chief saw the alien’s shield filcker and fade – he hammered on the edge of the alien’s gun. The creature howled soundlessly in the vaccuum and dropped the plasma weapon. The Elite kicked him in the midsection; his shield took the brunt of the attack, but the blow sent him spinning end over end.’

Page 314, Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund.

The second is from Lord of the Rings when Aragorn and Eomer attack some foes:

‘Charging from the side, they hurled themselves upon the wild men. Anduril rose and fell, gleaming with white fire. A shout went up from the wall and tower: ‘Anduril! Anduril goes tow war. The blade that was broken shines again!’ Dismayed the rammers let fall the trees and turned to fight; but the wall of their shields was broken as by a lightning-stroke, and they were swept away, hewn down, or cast over the Rock into the stony stream below. The orc-archers shot wildly and then fled.’

Page 521-522, The Lord of the Rights: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.

What you choose will greatly depend on the kind of writer you are and what kind of narrative style you prefer. That, i’m afraid, is something you’ll need to decide on your own. What do you like reading better? Usually, this is the best place to start when writing.

However, as a last note of advice, try to choose one format of writing a fight scene and stick to that format. Switching how you write fight scenes can confuse a reader and can lead to literary inconsistencies with how you write. That’s not to say that you can’t switch styles in a book you’re writing but rather you need to be careful if you do in order to do so seamlessly.

To Conclude

Learning how to write a fight scene can be a difficult challenge for new writers, or even for seasoned writers trying their hand at a different genre. Write a few fight scenes independent of a narrative to practice your skills and hone your style of writing a fight. Choose a hyper-focused style or scene style and try it out with different examples.

The only way to get better is to try!

Learn More With Lore

Enjoyed this article? We have tons more on Lore’s Blog that you can browse with the writing aids category. We also have a selection of free short fiction available to read online!

Aside from those we have:

And more! Happy reading (and writing).

FAQs About How To Write A Fight Scene

How do you write a perfect fight scene?

Perfect is subjective – keep that in mind! However, some great tips to keep in mind when writing any fight scene are to write in short sentences to keep the fight fast paced, don’t change writing styles for your fight mid-way through the scene, and use your reader’s senses. Use descriptive words that provoke the reader into imaging a sound, smell, taste, or feeling.

Why are fight scenes so hard to write?

A lot of writers will find fight scenes difficult to write because of how much is going in in a short period of time in the story’s narrative. Writers can also get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of how a character moves in relation to the environment. Try different styles of writing a fight scene (such as a scene focused style) if you are struggling with the details. It is also important to convey the emotions of your character during the scene – and always tell the fight scene from one character’s POV – this will make writing it infinitely easier. The trick to writing fights is to keep it snappy, to the point, and vivid in your reader’s mind.

How do you come up with a fight scene?

This is a difficult question to answer as it will depend on your narrative and your characters. If the narrative doesn’t put two characters on an intercept course for a fight, then you shouldn’t ‘come up’ with one for the sake of it. Usually fight scenes will evolve naturally from the narrative and the conflict between your antagonist and protagonist. Don’t force it!

How do you structure a fight scene?

There are a few ways to structure a fight scene. You can imagine it movement to movement and then write what your character does to attack or defend themselves. Think of it like a very fast paced game of chess; your character will react to being attacked or to how their attack is being received. It is also good to mix the physical fight with some verbal dialogue to give natural pauses in the scene.