Jedi Council Forums - T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes

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Author	Topic: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
Darth_Tim Registered: Feb '02	Date Posted: 5/9/02 7:32am Subject: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes - Date Edited: 2/6/08 5:57pm (2 edits total) Edited By: The_Face
	Okay, so mush writers have SMOOCH, but what about the times when you want to make war, not love? In my observation/experience chatting with other writers, many find combat/action scenes difficult to write, but enjoyable to read when done well. So, I thought, maybe I should make a thread dedicated to action/combat scenes, where writers could offer sample pieces (either to illustrate a point or for critique) questions, advice, articles, etc. Maybe it will cut down on thread quantity as well, as the questions about ranks, how to take down a walker, etc could go here instead of into dedicated threads which get a couple replies and then dissappear. I would hope to have both those with a strong background in writing action scenes or a knowledge of combat, either academic or practical, and those who are deathly afraid of writing combat scenes, and everyone in between. I think sometimes writers forget that to follow the true spirit of Star Wars, you should have at least some combat/action between the angst and the mush. So, to kick this off: Do you guys think this is a good idea? And secondly, what do you think are the most important qualities of a good combat/action scene? I guess I'll go first...if I didn't think the thread was a good idea, why did I create it? LOL. As for Question 2: REALISM!! Very important. What I mean by that is, for example, a Jedi should be able to block blaster shots, but if a heavy blaster cannon from a walker is firing at him, he had best be VERY good or the impact is likely to knock him off his feet... -Tim Unlocking and upping per request. -----signature----- http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/12765057/p1 New, improved DOTF - "Yeah, it's got a Hemi" August 13...The Action Guy gets hitched... aka Darth Lothi's Unrelated Younger Opposite Twin
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Mar17swgirl Registered: Dec '00	Date Posted: 5/9/02 7:46am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Great thread, Tim, I love the title. I've recently read the first book in the X-wing series (Rogue Squadron). I loved it, but sometimes the dogfight scenes were a bit confusing for me. It's partially because English is a foreign language to me and my vocabulary is limited. Writing action is one of my weaknesses, and I know it. It's great that there (finally) is a thread like this where I could improve my action scenes writing. -----signature----- "He was caught in Alicante with a sheep." "Flagrante, Chris, in flagrante." "Yeah... flagrante."
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MariahJade2 Title: Former Fan Fiction Archive Editor Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 8:32am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Great thread idea Tim. I know that those are hard scenes for me to do. I'm in the middle of one right now on this Luke/Vader fic I am working on. I am doing a Vader/droid battle at the moment. Any fencing/fighting suggestions would be welcome. -----signature----- Have a question or suggestion for the Archive? Ask the NEWBS! Thank you Phillies! World Series Champs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7CI39brXvw "Why can't us" Best line of 2008
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Herman Snerd Registered: Oct '99	Date Posted: 5/9/02 8:46am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Ugh, I almost hate writing action scenes. Too little description and there's no intensity. Too much and you'll bore the reader by describing every little move, step, and thought. After trial and error I've reached the point where I just mention the big stuff and let the reader use his/her imagination to fill in the blanks. -----signature----- Voted Dork Magazine's "Sexiest Nerd Alive" for 2008 http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb237/Snerdmania/DSCF0113.jpg
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Mar17swgirl Registered: Dec '00	Date Posted: 5/9/02 9:27am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Tell me about it, Herman. When I rewrote the Battle of Yavin for TFMD, I almost went nuts (and I even had the script for reference). I could definitely use some help in this area... -----signature----- "He was caught in Alicante with a sheep." "Flagrante, Chris, in flagrante." "Yeah... flagrante."
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Darth_Tim Registered: Feb '02	Date Posted: 5/9/02 9:36am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	I'll admit it's a very narrow boundary between too little detail and "Tom Clancified" in the words of one of my betas. I think the trick is being descriptive on the important stuff but not explaining EVERYTHING. -Tim -----signature----- http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/12765057/p1 New, improved DOTF - "Yeah, it's got a Hemi" August 13...The Action Guy gets hitched... aka Darth Lothi's Unrelated Younger Opposite Twin
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Jedi-Jae Registered: Feb '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 9:59am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Great idea, Tim! I love a well-written action stories. Combat/fight scenes can be difficult to write, but not any more so than anything else. I think the key is to use good, strong action verbs. -----signature----- "Aggressive negotiations are....negotiations with a lightsaber." Insurrectum Discipilus - "Just call me Id" New and improved IPTH - http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=8081757&start=8092862
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Melyanna Registered: Jul '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 10:10am Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Great idea, Tim! I've got a lot of action impending in Into the Unknown, so you may be seeing quite a bit of me over the next few weeks. I'll try to get something up here for critique sometime soon. Mel -----signature----- Darth_Fruitcake: "LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!! TORTURE! HAHAHAH" http://valimar.warofthering.net/ Fan fiction and art of Middle-earth Up now: group reading of The Silmarillion
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Mcily_Nochi Registered: Sep '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 1:22pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	I am going to need so much help here . . . settles in and starts to feel at home I've never been able to write a good action scene, but in my current fic there's a war going on that is going to have space battles, and the climax is a lightsaber duel . . . cringes at the thought -----signature----- Back after three years of writer's block!
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Marawannabe Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 1:41pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	drags in a couch with lots of cushions I stink at combat, might as well be comfortable while I learn from the masters. -----signature----- Everyone loves an Irish Girl!
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padawan lunetta Registered: May '99	Date Posted: 5/9/02 2:17pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	joins Mara I need a lot of help too! -----signature----- Moldy Oldbie in search of a gimer stick. "Whoa, is my hair out?" Jacen\Jysella Forever!!!
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Fluke_Groundwalker Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 3:45pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Nice thread. I think several resources on how to write good action scenes in SW would be Michael A. Stackpole's books, and The Black Fleet Crisis. -----signature----- Good gosh almighty, thank God for Fluke! Look who's back, baby! JC Mod Squad: Shooting down opinions since 1998 --- I am a full supporter of war with Iraq.
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MariahJade2 Title: Former Fan Fiction Archive Editor Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 4:21pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	What I have noticed when reading Action/combat sections is, I am more involved and can picture it better, if the author brings it down to a personal level. Showing you the action from the eyes of a character rather than just describing what is going on. Inserting, reactions, thoughts and good dialogue helps a lot. Emotion makes it real and keeps it from getting boring. -----signature----- Have a question or suggestion for the Archive? Ask the NEWBS! Thank you Phillies! World Series Champs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7CI39brXvw "Why can't us" Best line of 2008
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Mistress_Renata Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 5/9/02 4:37pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	I also run it across my "inner movie screen." I also try to bear in mind that lightsaber battles between 2 characters aren't as likely to happen as often as "fighting off blast bolts..." (my personal feeling is that "Dark Jedi" are getting to be a SW cliche, so I try to avoid them). Yes, this is a good thread! Any fighter pilots on here? I am always looking for help on ship battle description. Me, I've been studying Korean-style (Jedi-style!) sword fighting (melee), so I can help a little with lightsaber scenes... -----signature----- "For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the Guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times." Denizen of the Crotchety Old Mods' Home... approach with caution...
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Lisse Registered: Jan '01	Date Posted: 5/9/02 4:43pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	Excellent idea. And very groovy name. I prefer action scenes that don't describe every single move and the technical details of every single ship. As a result, I tend to write the scenes from a very emotion-oriented point of view. If it's a chaotic scene with people fighting everywhere, I write my current POV character as disoriented by the pandemonium. If it's a one on one battle, I tend to have two simultaneous narratives going -- one that describes the big events and a few details, and one that details exactly what's going through the POV character's mind. Obviously action scenes are my weak point. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that. -----signature----- Mal: Do you want to be captain? Jayne: Yeah, I do. Mal: Oh. ... Mal: Well, you can't!
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JediGaladriel Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Sep '99	Date Posted: 5/9/02 4:57pm Subject: RE: T.A.C.T.I.C.S.=Thread for Advice and Criticism Towards Improving Combat Scenes
	I'm utterly terrified of action scenes, and put off writing them as long as I can, but since I almost always write stories with some action in them, I can't put it off forever. And so far, not too many complaints, though I would much appreciate any help. My basic approaches: The heavy point-of-view. Great for character-based stories with action scenes in them: Just pick a character and use the action to do characterization. This is more a mental trick for the writer than an actual fictional technique, I think. I can psyche myself into writing action by telling myself that I'm just seeing how Anakin (or any other character) would react if such-and-such happened to him. Variation on this would be the distracted narrator -- she's thinking about something else, and occasionally notices that, yes, there's action going on, and maybe she ought to get out of the way of that careening Star Destroyer, ya know? Bite the bullet: Or, as the Nike ads say, Just Do It. Watch the movie in your head and write down what you see. For me, what I write is never as action-packed and interesting as what I've been watching. Short scenes: This is my favorite -- action writing for people who hate action writing -- but you have to be careful not to overuse it. Basically, it's a montage of several little incidents, usually only a few paragraphs (I use dividers between the "scenelets" to avoid point-of-view confusion). Here's something happening on an Imperial ship, and something else happening on a Rebel ship, and there's a riot on Coruscant, and the Gungans are invading the Imperial Palace... The advantage in writing is that you lose the temptation to overdescribe, and since you're usually doing this with "strangers," you lose the temptation to bury action in characterization. Each scenelet is short, so it's not as scary to approach. From the finished-product point of view, the rapid switching -- if it's part of a story that has generally had long scenes -- provides for an increased pace, like speeding up the backbeat on a soundtrack. It also gives an opportunity to do a real panoramic shot of the galaxy. There's an example of this kind of thing in Jedi, in the scene where one Ewok is killed and the other tries to "wake" him.
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