A long long time ago, I entered in a giveaway and won several books. One of those books was Fight Write by Carla Hoch, a "trained fighter with experience in nearly one dozen martial arts and fighting styles". It was a great book and I took bucketloads of notes - which obviously means I'm gonna share my top 5 takeaways from those with you. Consider it a review of the book + some fight scene tips. You're welcome. :)
That being said, this post is not sugar coated. Some of the words used and things described are not exactly PG. So if you don't like violence, think your parents would not be ok with you reading this, or need to stop for some other reason, definitely do that. This post is not for everyone.
(P.S. Fight Write is seriously amazing and I would highly recommend it. For more fighting information, you can also check out Carla's blog here, which is also highly recommended.)
1. Adrenaline Isn't All Good
Every fighter is afraid. True fighters learn how to harness that fear, treating it like fire: fuel, warmth, light; but also terror, burning and destroying. The way to conquer fear isn't to conquer it at all! Instead, put something greater beside it to diminish it. Fear forces you to think about what you're doing, which is actually excellent in a fighting situation. Fear also gives you adrenaline, which is used as a kind of superpower in writing. But something writers often forget is that adrenaline has a fair amount of cons as well as pros, and the aftermath is rough.
Pros of adrenaline:
Increased strength and speed
Diminished pain response (seriously - I once fractured and sprained my ankle and when it wouldn't hold weight it wasn't because of pain. It just wouldn't work. I didn't have pain until half an hour later.)
Heightened senses
Pupil dilation
Time distortion (seeing things in slow motion - also I think personality typing has something to do with this, but that's another rant for another time)
Emotional detachment
Better blood clotting
Cons of adrenaline:
Fine motor skill decay
Bladder/bowel evacuation
Diminished critical thinking skills
Change in attention regulation
After adrenaline:
Memory loss
Shaking
Exhaustion
Fainting
Nausea
Emotional outbursts
Hypersexual urges
Muscle soreness
2. The Female Fighter
Are bigger or smaller people better in a fight? Larger people hit harder, take a longer amount of time to bleed to death, have a greater range, a greater/longer stride but smaller explosion, and are less likely to die from wounds, since they've got more room in their body/between their organs to be "safely" hit and survive. On the other hand, smaller people have the potential to be more agile/quick, are better able to hide their vital targets, and have an easier time escaping holds. But they must rely on technique more than their physical prowess. Generally a large person holds the advantage, but training is the key difference.
One of my favorite chapters in Fight Write was on female aggression and how female warriors differ from males. It was eye-opening on so many levels. XD Here are some basic takeaways:
Women are less likely to show physical aggression.
On the battlefield, they'll rely on training. All the same, in a war, a warrior is a warrior.
Women are 7x more likely to use poison than men.
When women murder, their targets tend to be those they know.
Tend & Befriend - a woman's primary goal is to keep her offspring and others safe, even if it means not fighting. They default to defense. Females also tend to form connections with one another in dangerous situations, though that doesn't necessarily mean they're friends. It's more like banding together to survive.
Women in areas of poverty where the family construct is weak are more likely to be aggressive over things that could improve their circumstances.
3. Pre-Incident Indicators That Someone Is About to Attack
Testing boundaries. The more rigid, the less vulnerable the victim. So the attacker tries to get them to relax, usually by physical touch.
Charm and niceness. A person willing to engage in positive conversation with a stranger may have less emotional bounds.
Unsolicited conversation. A villain closes the distance to "help each other hear the other better". Their whole goal is to get close and keep you off guard.
Too many details. Used as a form of distraction from the motives/moving closer.
Invading personal space. This is perceived as a threat, so your brain goes into "fight or flight" mode, which means it loses some of its thinking skills.
Unsolicited touch. This releases oxytocin, which enhances feelings of connection and trust. On a darker level, it's also an expression of ownership.
Imposed "we". During conversation, always linking the two of you together ."How about we go here?" "We think this is such-and-such." This instills a feeling of partnership.
Treating "no" as "yes". Villain won't take "no" as an answer. Will try to frustrate victim in order to gain control. The best thing for the victim to do is stay calm and eventually remove him/herself from the situation.
Typecasting. Villain maintains the interaction at all costs, even typecasting, which are veiled (or not-so-veiled) insults.
Unsolicited promises. Pledging something unasked for, which reveals their true intentions.
4. Fights Can Be Psychological As Well
The will to use that weapon begins in the mind. -Carla Hoch (Fight Write)
Gaslighting is a form of manipulation used by abusers, cult leaders, narcissists, and dictators. I also very much enjoy using it in my stories for my villains. 😏
Gaslighting tactics:
They tell flagrant lies
They deny having said something even when there is proof
They use what is important to the target as ammunition
They wear the target down over time
They throw in positive reinforcement to keep the target confused
They thrive on confusion
They project a false image
They amass troops, real or not
They tell the target that the target is crazy
They say everyone else is lying
They fight gaslighting accusations
How the Target Responds:
They constantly second-guess themselves
They often ask themselves if they are just being too sensitive
They feel confused or even crazy
They constantly apologize to the gaslighter
They can't understand why they aren't happier
They keep info from those close to them so they don't have to justify the actions of the gaslighter or themselves
They know something is wrong but they can't express what
They lie to avoid put-downs
They have trouble making simple decisions
They feel they're not their normal self. They used to be more confident, fun, and laid-back.
They feel hopeless and joy-less
They feel as though they can't do anything right
They wonder if they are good enough
They feel physically tired after interacting with the gaslighter
(For a marvelous and PG example of this, check out Mother Gothel from Disney's Tangled.)
5. Injuries & Death
The deadliest person is the one willing to pull the trigger. -Carla Hoch
When planning out an action scene, plot it around your end goal. What needs to happen in this scene? Does someone need to be injured? Killed? Get that done and keep it simple.
Some basic injury info for you...
Broken bones tend to have bruising, swelling, deformity, and are unable to bear weight or function properly.
Bruises: Days 0-2, they show up pink and red; Days 2-5, they show up blue, purple, dark purple, and black; Days 5-8, they show up pale green; and Day 8 they tend to be yellow or brown.
Sprains/strains are very painful, swell, bruise, take a long time to heal, and may require surgery.
Don't blow your nose if you have a black eye.
Broken noses are also painful, and tend to swell, bleed, have blocked nasal passages, be deformed, and have bruising on nose or around the eyes. Also you likely hear a cracking sound when it breaks. (Fun fact: if you have had a broken nose, you are likely to snore.)
Concussions/knock-outs: the fall may be more damaging than the actual knockout. You'll have a headache or feel pressure in the head, and deal with temporary unconsciousness, confusion, foggy feelings, amnesia about the event, dizziness or "seeing stars", ringing ears, vomiting, and exhaustion/fatigue. Others watching will notice that you have large or unequally sized pupils, your speech is slurred, and you appear faint. Some delayed symptoms include concentration and memory fails, irritability, personality changes, sleep disturbances, psychological adjustment problems, depression, and disorder of taste and smell.
Getting your eye poked in a fight is actually pretty serious. Consequences can include deep eyelid laceration (you can even get your eyelid torn away), subconjunctival hemorrhage, conjunctival laceration, corneal abrasion, acute corneal damage, lens damage, retinal detachment, and ruptured eyes (which are very bloody).
Head/face lacerations bleed a lot.
Broken/dislocated ribs are painful, swell, bruise, and can take longer to heal. Sometimes you'll hear a pop when it happens. If it's broken it also may puncture internal organs, which could easily kill you.
Liver punch: extremely painful, takes a second or two to react, and you go into fetal position.
Knife wounds don't feel especially terrible - sometimes you don't even notice a stab wound until later. They can feel hot, like lightning; or cold, like wind through the body; or like being punched. Lacerations are more likely to scar. Most knife wounds won't put you out of a fight.
As for death, did you know that the average person bleeds out after 4 minutes? Larger people take longer to bleed out and smaller people die faster, but in general, if you cut a major artery, they're gone super fast.
Symptoms of coming death:
The body becomes increasingly cool
There's an increase in sleeping
Incontinence
Congestion and gurgling sounds
Confusion, inability to recognize those around them, and/or know the day or time
Decrease in food/fluid intake
Changes in breathing
Fever
Restlessness due to decreased oxygen
Clinical death (cessation of the heartbeat)
Biological death (brain tissue degeneration)
Sensation Moments After Death:
Sense of peace and safety
Feelings of weightlessness or falling
Less pain the closer to death
Gradual darkness
Seeing colors and light
Seeing people who aren't there, deceased loved ones, and/or God
Bursts of consciousness/hyperactivity
Loss of individual senses, one by one
Feeling that you're not alone
Something most people don't think about is that fighters need psychological training every bit as much as physical training. You can know how to kill and yet not be able to do it because of the psychological end - or maybe you do do it and then are driven insane.
It's psychologically harder to kill in close quarters, especially if you see the face. Killing is traumatic, and no amount of psychological training can get rid of that. A lot of people deal with PTSD from killing someone, especially if they saw their face or used their hands or something close-range instead of guns or something like that. PTSD symptoms include anxiety, depression, headaches, insomnia, dizziness, chest pain, hallucinations, flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts, guilt, avoiding traumatic reminders, avoiding the thoughts/feelings of the traumatic event, being easily startled, and angry outbursts. Remember as you write trauma that PTSD isn't necessarily expressed.
That was an awful lot of information for one post, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more about writing realistic fight scenes, definitely check out Fight Write and Carla Hoch's blog and all that jazz and get some blood on your pages. ;)
Have you ever read Fight Write? Do you write fight scenes? What was something you learned from this post? Something you already knew? Do you know any martial arts?What's one of your favorite fight scenes from books/movies?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue Christ, and smile while you still have teeth!! :D
Wow, this is a wealth of information and I am so going to be referring to this!! (And I totally need to get "Fight Write"!) Thank you so much for sharing this, girl!
The "smile while you still have teeth" line hits harder when you're talking about injuries from fights :P