How to write a fight scene

Science fiction and fantasy are often action-packed genres. From ancient battlegrounds to space-station scuffles, fight scenes can add conflict and stakes to your stories. But they're more than just choreographed violence, they're storytelling tools. Here are some important things to consider.

Fight scenes are complicated to write, especially if you aren't much of a martial artist or fighter. They require at least a layman's understanding of how bodies move in combat: a little stagecraft blocking, a little kinesiology, and a whole lot of ways characters can inflict damage on each other.

Those physical elements are subjects best left for expert research. But as a writer, you have concerns that learning the ins-and-outs of fighting technique won't cover. So let's get into it!

Decide WHY you need a fight scene

First, maybe you don't need to write it. As a writer you can skip time and summarize. So why does this fight need scene need to be there? 

All scenes should support at least one of the following: character showcase or development, plot progression, or setting exposition (check out our video on setting exposition for more!) Preferably, each scene should support more than one! So figuring out what you're trying to show. The character moment, plot beat, or setting information you're trying to share is critical to writing a fight scene that's compelling and interesting for your audience.

Without that, it is empty sensationalism at best, and frankly boring at worst.

Lean into sensory detail 

Whether it’s the tense cut and thrust of a rapier duel, or the overwhelm of a chaotic battlefield, what makes fight scenes dramatic is the sensory details. The drip of sweat as you wait for your opponent to lunge, the sting of a cut on your cheek, the burning heat of your muscles as you flee. These details add a visceral quality to your writing which is perfect for fight scenes. 

Try/fail cycles are your friend

Nothing makes a character feel more active than try/fail cycles! If your character always succeeds, that doesn’t feel very exciting. So set them up to try—and fail. Give their opponents strengths, too. 

The real world is chaotic, and so a battlefield is no less so. Things can go wrong; environmental conditions might take a turn. Weapons might jam or break. Horses can (and do) panic. The enemy can try something expected. How does your character respond? Did they plan for this?

Will they solve the problem by being brave, altruistic, strong, or inspirational? Will they prevail by being good at teamwork, or by being smart or knowledgeable? How your character solves problems says a lot about them, so this is a great way to infuse character into your fight scene.

[[Add an example or 2?]]

Show us the personal stakes (as well as the large-scale ones) for an emotional punch

Remember to show your audience what happens if they lose the fight. That might be death, but it might be so much worse.

And take a tip from war movies. Sure they focus on big tactics and big stakes sometimes. But they also give soldiers personal stakes through bonds and relationships. For example, the girlfriend they’ll never see again, the kids they won’t watch grow up, or the father figure they let down. 

Don’t show every hit – but work it out for yourself! 

A lot of beginners fall fowl because they give a blow-by-blow description—literally! But if you’ve followed the previous tips and painted a picture through sensory detail, created personal stakes, and presented try/fail cycles with active protagonists, then we already have a great sense of the place, character, and mood. 

Giving us a literal punch-by-punch account will dilute your fight scene. But without YOU having the knowledge of the scene choreography, it’s easy to make continuity mistakes, and end up with characters in two places at once. So figure out for yourself (possibly in draft 2) roughly where your important characters and forces are.

A World Anvil interactive map can be helpful for this, because you can use draggable pins for each character or platoon. 

Then, work out which are the most dramatic or important moments you want to show—refer back to your scene goals in tip 1—and add those moments on the page. 

And finally! Don’t forget the reaction scene!

What happens after the fight? And I don’t just mean who survives, but what wounds do they have—physical and emotional? Because fight scenes can be exciting, visceral, and amazing ways to tell part of your story. But if you don’t add a reaction, you’re cheating yourself out of the real emotional impact in your work. 

So make sure you give your characters time to process their victories and defeats, and the costs they paid for them. Because that’s what makes a fight scene have real impact in your story, and in your audience’s hearts.