I'm curious as to how you write compelling action. And this isn't limited to just fights, but rather very imagery and movement heavy scenes. I would like to know what techniques other people use. I personally put a lot of emphasise on the action and reaction verbs, such as sprinted instead of ran, or retaliated instead of countered. Not to mention using words such as ramming, crashing, launching, which give very powerful... descriptions? Feeling? Er, anyway, what about you?
I try and use powerful words or use simplistic words link together to make something more understandable but in depth.
I would say imagine you were there doing those acts and right exactly what happens if you did it, it helps to imagine things because you get an idea of what to write at the same time, words start to flow and you just get the feeling of which words to see whether it's simplistic or with great emotion drive. Sometimes it's isn't a good idea, hope this helps you, I do it like this for my stories
When I write action scenes, I try to remain as realistic as possible. During heavy scenes, typically there's an adrenaline rush, yeah? The average "adrenaline rush" in a fight or flight situation is about 3-5 minutes, and it leaves the body quite exhausted, and it takes awhile to return to a 'normal' state. So, I try not to make my heavy action/fight scenes too lengthy so that they appear realistic. Overall, I find writing heavy action scenes a little tough!! I'm always worried I will never find the balance between inner dialogue and the actual scene :S
When I am writing act scenes, I find myself some seriously action music (with no Lyrics) that seems to fit with the scene I am writing. Then I let my mind go and write the scene. The music helps me picture what will happen next and my mind naturally thinks about what's realistic and what isn't without me even thinking about it. I don't use the same piece of music twice since I imprint memories of the writing with the song. Don't want action too similar to the precious one. I always found writing action to be fun more than anything else. I get to listen to great tunes and write whatever comes to mind.
I try to think of how I would want it to look if it were a movie, and then try to describe it as close to that as I can. I write more simple and short sentences. I'm really self-conscious about my action scenes since I historically have been really bad at them, so I always reread them a few times just to make sure they're not awful
Well, when I write action scenes, I get somewhat descriptive what my character is feeling, and what's going on in her head. Because my character has some mental issues, she actively tries to end a fight quickly because she fears losing her control. This means that she uses what she has to figure out how to end it as quick as possible. It also helps that I imagine the action in my head.
I also try to focus more on what's going on inside the head, instead of outside. I feel it makes for a better, more emotional scene. #MissingNo
I LOVE writing action scenes most of my fanfiction is 90% action hahaha. I usually have her thoughts intertwined with her movements, so she can feel every muscle in her body responding to her commands. I also have it so she understands and feels the pain when someone hits back, if you want your reader to be entertained by your fight scene, you have to make sure its clear and they know what your character is doing and why they feel like fighting is the best answer.
I do the same. I have serious trouble writing action scenes, but trying to envision the scene in my head makes it a little easier to write it.
If the fight is dramatic, I'll focus more on the character's thoughts and how they force themselves through pain to reach victory. If the action is intended more to enrapture my reader though, I use staccato sentences with powerful words to represent the pace of the action.
Action scenes are pretty much the bane of my existence, since I know that I write passages based on scenery or atmosphere best. So I try to avoid them as often as possible. This doesn't always work, since longer works will tend to have some sort of conflict near the end, physical or otherwise. However, if it can't be helped, I'll either make the fights quick or scenery-based. That is, I will minimise attention on the actions of the combatants themselves, but rather describe more what's going on about them, or even other facets such as what they feel when dealing a blow (or taking one), the state of the environment as it relates to the fight (for example, someone feeling the presence of light or rain), or just anything that makes the scene experiential, rather than just watching two people duke it out. As for word choice my brain is a living dictionary/thesaurus, so I'll usually have a lot of word opportunities in the repertoire, or if I can't find the exact word I'm looking for, I will dig out my physical dictionary (or thesaurus) and go hunting for the word I want to use - but that's me with all writing, not just specific scenes.