Fight Like A Writer – Part 1 🥊🔪🏆

When I started writing fight scenes, I did it by feel. I knew how the fight should go, where the fight should go, and where it should end up. So, as a writer, fight scenes weren’t that different from other scenes. But getting them to sound and feel right? That’s another level.

I had an advantage: I’m a dancer! I know choreography, movement, contact, lifts, and more.

I had a big disadvantage, too: I’m not a fighter. I spent my time in pointe shoes and tap shoes. When I started, I don’t think I’d ever set foot in a dojo, and I’ve never been in a good brawl.

I did have one more advantage though: I love small textured details in books. So I often found myself on my roof—if that’s where my character was. Or taking notes on a long drive, like my character did. So, when it came time to write a fight scene, I did what my character did.

Clearly, there are caveats. Please don’t murder anyone or beat anyone up for the sake of the book, but do stab a watermelon with a big kitchen knife. Hit a punching bag. Break a full beer bottle on a cement step—it’s probably harder than you think. When you hit like that, you get a reverberation up your arm. When you stab the watermelon, there’s a moment when you break through and suddenly you’re slicing with ease. The beer bottle almost explodes in a blast of foam and glass shards. That’s exactly the kind of detail that brings a fight to blazing life.

So when I get reviews like this one: “I love this author she puts you right in the middle of the fight!” I feel a little like I earned it. 

(Read the books that review came from!)

HAPPY READING!