# Action Scenes



## Gavrill (Jun 16, 2009)

I'm not sure about writing them. Should it be drawn out and detailed (_His heart thumped in unison with the passing of each second. His hand hesitated above the blue wire_) or short and snappy (_He didn't have much time before the bomb would explode. He grabbed the blue wire and ripped it out_). 

I know my examples stink, but how do you write your action scenes?


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## foozzzball (Jun 16, 2009)

Depends entirely on the action, and what kind of attention you want to draw to it.

Often you can use drawn out and detailed when the action itself is something you want to focus on and get the reader to engage with - this could be your detailed violence, with details on bones going snap, your detailed sex, with all kinds of inventive descriptions for repetitive goings on, that one supreme match-winning sports moment where the turf smells like victory.

Generally, I try and avoid doing this unless it's focal to the plot for some reason - it's a piece of erotica, the story is about the lone soldier overcoming armies, it's about some kid discovering he's got talent.

'Short and snappy'... that I don't know about. What I do know about is summarized and inferred. Having it happen off scene, describing it from a distance - 'He hurt himself falling down the stairs. Today couldn't get worse.'

Basically, stuff that isn't quite so focal to the plot.


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## Chanticleer (Jun 16, 2009)

It varies with the scene.

Personally I tend to go for descriptive prose when I want the action to slow down the story and clipped prose when I want to speed it up. For example:

_Iâ€™d never really flown for pleasure. It had always felt like a chore. You know, something
to get me from point A to point B. But right thenâ€¦ I guess I just felt like sliding through the
sky. I beat at the air hard and flung myself forward.

Still, I suppose I really kept up the pace for an entirely different reason. We needed to
move fast if we wanted to get out of there aliveâ€¦ Iâ€™d be lying if I said that didnâ€™t make me
push. Soon enough, the trench came into view.

That was when the first shell went off. The blast rocked the air around me, a thick
black cloud sprung up in front of me. Flack!

We dove. The entire flight swung like a pendulum as we flung ourselves toward the
trench. More blasts, more flack, somewhere a scream in the turmoil. We dove deeper, flying
so low that dust from the mortar shells rolled over us and bounced off our wingsâ€¦

A blast, pain, and then nothing. _

Alternatively I do it like this: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/2393320/


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## M. LeRenard (Jun 17, 2009)

This seems almost more a case-by-case basis kind of question.  You certainly shouldn't stick to one method all the time for action scenes.  Do what's appropriate.  If someone walks into a house and accidentally knocks a vase to the ground, you don't describe in intricate detail the shattering of the vase, just because you decided that you should always be long and drawn-out in your action scenes, right?  Just say that it shattered and move on.
Mostly, as a general rule, I'd say you should ask yourself, "Does anyone care?"  If the answer is yes, draw it out.  If the answer is no, cut it short.  The intricacies of this rule are probably something you have to experiment with the figure out, though (because it obviously shouldn't be so simple).  I usually appreciate other peoples' opinions on this matter, myself, since I don't always trust myself to pace things correctly.
Plot relevance is important, too, like foozzz pointed out, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should draw out and make obvious everything that's relevant to the plot.  Sometimes being vague is important for those kinds of things, at the very least to keep up the tension.  Again, it's case-by-case.
Though I will say that two things I never really like are super long complicated fight scenes or similar sex scenes.  After a certain point, these things just feel gratuitous, no matter how well-written they may or may not be.  Avoid melodrama.


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## ScottyDM (Jun 17, 2009)

As many pointed out, you have choices and those choices depend on the effect you want.

However, there are proper mechanics to writing an action scene. They apply for all scenes, but are critical to action scenes. Randy Ingermanson has an online article about this titled "Writing the Perfect Scene". Jump down to the section "Small Scale Structure of the Scene".

Once you've mastered the mechanics decide on: how much detail, if you want your scene to move along at a rapid clip or in slo-mo, etc.

S-


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## nybx4life (Jun 21, 2009)

Action scenes, to me, should be fast paced. 
The sentences should be short, the details focus only on the basics of what's happening.

When the sentences are long, as in your first example, you place a focus on drama. 

Others seem to have mentioned it already, but let me say it again.
Say two people are in a fight, duking it out in some location. Would you focus more on the movement of the fight or the reaction of the fighters and/or the crowd as the fight goes on?

When you focus on a part, this helps you set your flow. Your action should be something your readers have little time to adjust to, something high speed.


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