Fight!

“You come here to read the blog post or are you startin’ something?”

We love tension in our thriller and action novels, and sometimes in the story, words spill over into actions.

And depending on the type of novel you’re writing, there’s a chance your readers love a good fight. The climax of the tension that’s built up, or something unexpected and explosive, that warns them more could be around the corner at any moment.

But what makes a good fight scene in a novel? There’s no rules to this, but Here’s some suggestions that might help:

• Location: All of your scenes take place SOMEWHERE, and your fight scenes are no exception. The location can be a great way of spurring creativity in terms of finding out HOW the fight will go? Is the fight in a bar? Glass bottles, as hand-to-hand weapons? A penthouse apartment on the top of a very tall building? The window ledge might add extra jeopardy?

• Prior information: Does a character have a talent or ability you established earlier? How can it be deployed to creative effect in the fight scene?

• Taking the time: Yeah, this is important too. Allow yourself the time to describe what’s happening in a fight, or what the fighter you’re following closely is thinking. But remember the pace of a story. Fights are fast, so try and resist overly verbose language. You don’t want a fast-paced moment to be forcibly slowed down for no good reason.

Just a few thoughts of the top of my head anyway!