Do you choreograph your action scenes???

Nancyleeny

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Hi all,
I am finished my book, editing now, and looking at the final scene, the action scene. The MC and her partner are near a stoop (the steps that lead to a front door, for those who don't live in a city!) and they have the block cleared as they wait for the killer to come down the street. She shows up, is tailed by one of the other cops pushing a stroller with a fake baby in it, and then...the action really starts. But I am not sure where to put killer and hostage, and how to keep the killer from being taken out by SWAT guys on the roof across the street?

Any ideas, greatly appreciated. I have gone and reread and watched some of my favorite actions scenes, but not sure how to keep it clear and moving along in a novel.

Thanks,
Nancy
 

Ian Nathaniel Cohen

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I definitely do, regardless of how much of the choreography I come up with ends up getting translated into prose. (I don't detail every single punch thrown, every blow taken.) I'm fascinated by fight choreography and the process of how choreographers come up with how they decide what the fight will look like.
 

Myrealana

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I have been known to pull out the D&D minis and go through the logistics of big fight scenes. I don't want to write a blow-by-blow, but I do want to make sure I don't teleport someone to the opposite side of a field, forget about a character, or accidentally insert someone who isn't present.

I've also been known to act out the hand-to-hand fights in my backyard or at the karate studio.

It helps me understand what's important from the character's POV, and what they may or may not notice.
 

thedark

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I see the scenes in my head as well, in as much detail as I need to drive the main character's point of view. What would they see/feel/do?

Perhaps the police sniper doesn't take out the bad guy because the bad guy appears from the wrong/unanticipated side of the street and is out of their viewpoint? Bad planning on their part? Perhaps they need something from the bad guy and can't just kill them outright (or isn't the hostage enough?)? Perhaps the snipers couldn't get there in time? Perhaps they're not trained enough to take a shot with a hostage while the killer is on the move?

Justification. And would your POV character know any of those reasons?

Try drawing it out on paper too, like drawing the streets and buildings and using bottlecaps or some such for the people, so you can see the angles and the movement as the scene progresses. It might give you some good ideas, especially if you can't see 360 angles in your head. :)
 

Bufty

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The reader will try and imagine the scene from what I have written, so yes, I must be able to visualise what is happening before I can convey it.
 

KTC

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I have a friend, the Canadian author Wayson Choy, who has one reader go through his manuscript just to read choreographically. That reader figures out that all characters are moving the right way, not being described as doing something physically impossible, etc. If something doesn't sound right, she will try to act it out. Wayson said that she has discovered great impossibilities in his manuscripts...and that she sometimes flounders around her living room like a pretzel trying to see if he's written his characters into impossibilities.

This isn't help for BEFORE you write it...but it serves as a good reminder that we should try to manipulate our characters into the movements we make them take...to see if it's an accurate depiction of the movement. (-:
 

Nancyleeny

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I have been known to pull out the D&D minis and go through the logistics of big fight scenes. I don't want to write a blow-by-blow, but I do want to make sure I don't teleport someone to the opposite side of a field, forget about a character, or accidentally insert someone who isn't present.

I've also been known to act out the hand-to-hand fights in my backyard or at the karate studio.

It helps me understand what's important from the character's POV, and what they may or may not notice.

Hi,
What are D&D minis??? :)
Thanks,
Nancy
 

Nancyleeny

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Thank you, all! I had actually thought about acting it out, like I imagine they do in rehearsals in movies or television. I appreciate your experiences,
Nancy
 

dda27101

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They would all be in radio contact. SWAT are cleared to take the shot at first opening, or they are directed by an officer who assesses the situation. Your MC could sense that something’s not right (the hostage’s covering the killer…or killer’s got gun in hand and even if shot may pull the trigger). So, your MC tells the snipers to stand down.
 

Jamesaritchie

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I see the scenes in my head as well, in as much detail as I need to drive the main character's point of view. What would they see/feel/do?

Perhaps the police sniper doesn't take out the bad guy because the bad guy appears from the wrong/unanticipated side of the street and is out of their viewpoint? Bad planning on their part? Perhaps they need something from the bad guy and can't just kill them outright (or isn't the hostage enough?)? Perhaps the snipers couldn't get there in time? Perhaps they're not trained enough to take a shot with a hostage while the killer is on the move?
. :)

Not likely. Snipers will have every angle covered, and no sniper without expert training is going to be allowed near SWAT. Want a fly shot off a quarter at three hundred yards without scratching George Washington's nose? Fine, a SWAT sniper is your guy.

The bad guy could have a sawed off shotgun taped to his wrist, and a wire looped from it to around the hostages neck. This has actually been done, and the sniper can't take the shot because if the bad guy falls, the hostage loses his head.

But if you don't want the bad guy dead, it's best not to have SWAT there.
 

Myrealana

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Hi,
What are D&D minis??? :)
Thanks,
Nancy
They're little lead or plastic figurines that you paint and use for Dungeons and Dragons (and other table-top role playing games) so the party and the game master know where characters are and how they're moving.

I have approximately a gazillion of them in boxes in my basement.

Seriously. I could stage the entire Battle of Helm's Deep and still have some understudies waiting.
 
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Los Pollos Hermanos

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I've never written a fight scene, but there's a Very Important Car Crash scene in my story which needed to be correct. I printed out a map of the intersection, marked on traffic lights and lampposts, then used Jelly Babies (edible props = yum!) to represent the vehicles involved. Worked a treat!
 

Thomas Pluck

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I've choreographed a few fights at the dojo, mostly to see if a certain move made sense. Gun fights, no. But doodling it out or story boarding it might help visualize it. What if the killer takes the back way in? Ducks between buildings? Not sure if rooftop SWAT snipers use hides or shielded scopes, but she might see the reflection or see the "wind tag" that a sniper might tie to something on the street level so he knows the wind direction (if it's a longer shot).