Tips and Resources for Writing Better Action

For action scenes, you want to place yourself firmly in one character's head at a time. Don't be tempted to do the zoomed out summary if it's a big battle. Relate things as your character experiences them.

And remember that an action scene isn't just about the action. Include occasional thoughts from your POV character. Make sure you're addressing more senses than just sight and sound. Battle has tastes and smells and especially sensations. Part of what makes a great action scene is experiencing these things like you're really there.

Goals are also important. Survival is a decent goal, but you can do even better. What is your character fighting for? Establish the stakes of the battle. Make them clear. Make the reader care.

Don't focus on details. A lot of failed action scenes linger on the details for too long. It seems everyone wants to describe every punch, kick, and bruise. Don't fall into that. Short sentences. Show what your character sees or feels, not much more, because in the craziness of a fight he/she isn't going to notice the button missing from their shirt, or even how the opponent's gold tooth isn't there anymore. They'll feel pain, they'll see blood, and for some action scenes that's enough.

As for recommendations, I Am Legend has a pretty great action sequence early on. I always liked A Game of Thrones for its one-on-one duels, but the larger battles are just as good. What genre are you writing, exactly? Are we talking about sword fights or gun battles? Fists?

Spy_on_the_Inside said:

My one problem is that it is a story with a lot of action in it, and I feel like most of the action scenes are falling flat.

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Hard to say without seeing them, but if they're falling flat it could be because they're more about the "what" and not enough about the "why." It's easy enough to get caught up in describing the action and to leave out what's going on in the character's head and emotions.

I don't have an article or book to recommend, but the best thing you can do is read the action scenes of good writers and study how they do it. And keep in mind that there are any number of ways to write an action scene. There are no "one size fits all" rules.

This is one of those times where I think reading action scenes in other novels really helps. Find one you like, and do your best to imitate the pace, structure, flow, character dialogue, etc.

Someone else asked this question, and I'll give the same answer I did before.

Lord of the Rings. Those books contain everything from the clashing of armies to one-on-one battles. And while your battles may take place in more modern times with more modern weapons, the writing techniques remain the same.

Read some Joe Abercrombie. I love his action scenes.