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CHAPTER 1

WHY

There are three things a fight writer should consider before writing any fight scene. Why, where, and who, in that order. Did you think it was going to be something flashier? Yeah, I get that a lot. But, fight writing, just like fighting, actually comes down to just a few basic things. Once you master those, everything else will come naturally.

The order of the three is important. Quite often we construct a brawl by first choosing the combatants and, without question, they are important. Without them, there is no story, no scene, and certainly no fight.

But, a character alone does not make a fight scene. Who a character is and the fact that they are fighting are not as important as why they are fighting. The why changes the fight. Here is what I mean. Put yourself in the following scenarios:

SCENARIO ONE

• You are at a company picnic. If you win the fifty-yard dash you get a free travel mug, complete with company logo.

• You are at a company picnic. If you win the fifty-yard dash you get $5 million.

SCENARIO TWO

• You are at the grocery store. It's quiet; there are few customers. Suddenly, someone runs by and steals one of the ten bottles of water you have in your cart.

• You are at the grocery store. It's quiet except for the muffled din of zombies trapped in the stockroom. Suddenly, someone runs by and steals the only bottle of water left in the store from your cart.

SCENARIO THREE

• You are walking through a parking lot with your toddler on your hip. A small, elderly man approaches and asks if you can help him find his car.

• You are walking through a parking lot with your toddler on your hip. A large, young man wearing sunglasses and a ball cap, holding one hand behind his back, approaches and asks if you can help him find his car.

In each set of scenarios, your response to the first situation was different from the second. I won't even say likely different because I know they were. Why? Because even though at their core each scenario was the same, even though you, the main character, remained the same, the stakes didn't. Why you were fighting changed and that why changed you.

The whys surrounding a fight are the most important considerations in crafting a fight scene. They make the reader aware of what's at stake — how much there is to lose or gain — which determines and explains the intensity. The whys can also affect the speed and style of the combat. But, wait, there's more! The whys can even impart advantage and negate a disparity of size and skill.

INTENSITY

Look back at the scenarios. Your intensity in the second example was greater than in the first because the stakes were greater. In the first scenario, if you won the race you could be financially set for life. In the second, you were chasing a thief to retrieve something essential to life. In the last, you were facing a possibly dangerous stranger and considering the life of your child.

SPEED

Your speed was also affected. In scenario one you ran like the Road Runner. In two, you made chase like Wile E. Coyote. In the third scenario, you may not have moved at all.

ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE

It's sometimes difficult to see how a why can impart advantage and negate a size and/or skill disparity. I think that is because a combatant's lofty motivations, desperate desires, or pure old hunger to survive don't always secure a victory. When a fighter's reason for fighting doesn't leave them the winner, some might assume their reason for being in the fray didn't have an effect. After all, if the fighter had wanted to win bad enough, wanted it more than their opponent, losing wouldn't have been an option. Right?

Wrong. Losing is always an option. Because although one's reason for fighting may give them the advantage of being willing to do whatever it takes to win, having an advantage is not the same as having the advantage. And leveling the playing field doesn't necessarily create a favorable gradient. In all cases, changing the why absolutely can make the underdog the top dog. But, not necessarily. The only absolute in fighting is that there are no absolutes.

In the first scenario you may have an advantage if you are the only one who knows about the money. But, if you are up against an Olympic athlete, how much you want to win will not close the gap between the differing abilities unless ...

In the second scenario you are automatically at a disadvantage because you are the pursuer. The one leading the chase will always have the edge because they are deciding the route and have a better vantage. Your why will not change that. It's just a fact. You will not have the upper hand unless ...

Finally, confronted by a threat with a child on your hip is an awful scenario. However, you will have an advantage especially if you are a woman. In Round Three: Fighting Styles, I will explain why that is. For now, know that when faced with danger, a woman with a child on her hip can remain very calm, which is key. That same filial presence may also make that woman more willing to do whatever it takes to protect that child — and the more willing, the more dangerous. However, whether male or female, having a small human on one's hip is extra weight on the body and upsets its balance. The child will impede movement and tie up the use of at least one hand. You are at a disadvantage unless ...

Okay, here's the unless in every case: unless the why of the other person imparts advantage to you.

SCENARIO ONE: if the Olympian knows about the prize money and wants you to win.

SCENARIO TWO: if the thief drops the water because he already has several bottles and just thought one extra would be nice.

SCENARIO THREE: if the man has no intention to harm you.

There are two whys in every fight. Don't focus solely on the hero of the story in the struggle. Consider their combatant as well. You need not explain every motive of everyone in the scene or delve deeply into any backstory. But, you as a writer must remember that everyone, good, bad, liked, disliked, has reasons to fight and to survive or perhaps fight and not survive. Once you consider the whys of all sides, you are likely to find that many are the same. Because, really, the only difference between a hero and villain is the one who is telling the story.

The why can change everything. Be sure your reader understands the why in a fight. You need not spell it out; in fact, don't. Show the why by how your combatant reacts. The why doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be deeply enmeshed in the plot or the hero's journey. The simple desire to walk away from the battle is why enough.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu writes, "To a surrounded enemy you must leave a way of escape." At first glance, that makes no sense. Why on earth, when you can completely surround an army, would you give them a way out? The reason is that when hemmed in, combatants no longer fight to win. They fight to survive, to go home to their families. The latter creates a far more frenzied and daring opponent. By surrounding them, you've changed why they are fighting and that new why changes them. Because ... say it with me ... the why changes the fight.

WHERE

Where a fight takes place can be more important than who is fighting. Think about it, which is the more formidable opponent, a great white shark or a lion? Well, it all depends on where the confrontation takes place.

The environment in which a battle takes place can change the entire battle. It can immediately impart advantage or impose disadvantage. It determines the weaponry, the battle strategy, the vehicles of war, the style of fighting, and can render each and every one of those ineffective. It can make numbers irrelevant, physical strength inconsequential, and training inapplicable.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy gives us a great example of how a site affects a fight. In the second book of the series, The Two Towers, two thousand warriors of Rohan defend the stronghold of Hornburg against more than ten thousand troops of Saruman. Both the construction of the fortress and the landscape on which it is constructed beautifully determine almost every aspect of this battle scene.

TERRAIN & BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

In the world of Tolkien there is a valley known as Helm's Deep. In one portion of the valley there is a stone fortress known as Hornburg, which is also sometimes referred to as "the Hornburg." To its front, the Hornburg has a massive, horseshoe-shaped wall with a walkway on top. This wall connects to mountains that border the fortress from behind. On the east side of the fortress, another wall juts out from the main wall. It too has a walkway at the top. That wall extends across a stream to mountains as well. All of that is important. If you can't picture it, make a U shape with your left hand, put the ends of your fingers against your stomach and stick out your pointer finger. That is the outer wall construction of the stronghold at Helm's Deep. By the way, your tummy is the mountains behind the fortress. So, for this one moment, you absolutely have rock hard abs!

From beyond the walls, there is only one entrance into the stronghold. A long walkway leads from the valley up to the doors of that entrance. From the top of the walkway it's a long fall to the ground and a long walk back to the start.

Before we examine how the site affects the fight, let's review. We have about two thousand warriors, known as Rohirrim, from Rohan, defending the Hornburg stronghold in the valley of Helm's Deep. They are assailed by more than ten thousand aggressors, a good portion of whom are strong humanoids. It is a highly unideal situation for the Rohirrim good guys.

On the ground, the Rohirrim have no chance of defeating Saruman's forces without supernatural intervention. However, with the Hornburg as their site for the fight, the playing field is leveled a bit. The construction of the fortress walkway, the entrance doors at its top, and the wall, all mitigate the assailing forces.

The width of the walkway as well as the width of the doors to the fortress create a bottleneck. Despite the mass trying to push forward, only as many as can fit on the walkway or through the entrance can attack at once. If the attacking troops attempt to crowd the walkway, they will fall over its edge. As well, the fact that the walkway is long gives those inside the castle a few moments to fortify the entrance before it can be reached and breached.

When Saruman's forces finally overwhelm the Rohirrim inside the main entrance, the fighters of Rohan are able to ride out onto the middle walkway on horseback. This knocks Saruman's troops off its edge. And since it is an elevated walkway, it is a long fall. The assailants are killed by the fall or are too compromised to be a threat.

The walls surrounding the castle also prohibit a mass siege. To get over the wall, Saruman's forces must use ladders. This creates another sort of bottleneck. Only one person can crest the ladder at a time, each behind another. The defenders at the top of the wall are able to pick off Saruman's forces in like fashion: one by one. The Rohirrim are able to attack those climbing forces because they have a place on which to stand. The walkway built on top of the wall not only provides stable ground for defense, but it gives them a great vantage.

Let's get back to those ladders. There's a whole heap of ways Saruman's forces could attack that wall. Why do you suppose they simply use ladders? Far more aggressive siege weaponry is definitely in order, and yes, ladders are considered siege weaponry. A mangonel, a sort of catapult, can be employed to attack the wall. Or, Saruman could simply bypass the wall altogether by hurling over flaming pots of oil with a trebuchet, another type of catapult that provides great loft. Both of those tactics would protect troop numbers. Instead, Saruman's forces use a hand-carried battering ram, explosives, pole arms, and "bunk bed battle bars," a.k.a. ladders.

Although I can't sit down with Tolkien and ask him about his creative choices (my time machine is on the fritz), I can tell you that the siege weaponry he chose for Saruman's army makes the most sense for the landscape. Remember, the valley of Helm's Deep contains mountains on the inside, and the book tells us that beyond the mountains are hills. Rolling large equipment through that landscape would have been difficult even for the strong orc contingency of Saruman's forces.

I love that Tolkien gave the aggressors only as much as they could carry. I also love that he made sure what they could carry was sufficient. Just as the fighters of Rohan used the fortress construction to their advantage, well, so did Saruman.

Because a wall surrounded the stronghold, it had to include a culvert. Remember, one of the walls went over a stream. But, even if it hadn't, a culvert would have been necessary to avoid flooding from within. Without a drain to let out rainwater, the Hornburg would have been in a big tub of mud soup. The Rohirrim wouldn't have just been looking out over Helm's Deep. They would have been looking around and saying, "Hell, this is deep!"

Saruman's troops exploded the culvert. Destroying it took down a portion of the wall; and the thing about a wall is that it only works if it's up. Through the breach, they invaded.

CLIMATE

Terrain and building construct aren't the only ways a site can affect a fight. The climate of the location can as well. Wooden rifle stocks are affected by all weather extremes, especially humidity. Arrows aren't as precise in mountain winds. Cold can alter the viscosity in machinery lubrication. Heat can warp equipment. Any severe weather condition can ruin even the best-laid plans.

Above all, climate can affect a soldier. It can be mortally wounding at worst. But, even if it simply causes physical discomfort, that can directly influence physical stamina, the ability to use one's skills, as well as morale. In Sun Tzu's The Art of War, more than half of the chapter dedicated to terrain isn't even about terrain. The greater portion addresses six calamitous scenarios within a troop: flight, insubordination, collapse, ruin, disorganization, and rout (disorderly retreat). Those situations are discussed along with terrain because terrain can have that great an effect on an army.

SIZE

The size of an area can change the confrontation as well. A narrow corridor does a great disservice to weapons that require horizontal or diagonal momentum. A thickly wooded area with low branches isn't the best for a fighter of great size. And a clearing isn't optimal for a small fighter who could use a buffer.

When crafting your fight scene, consider the physical space and environment in which it happens.

• How much of the physical space in your scene is usable? What are its limitations? Is there anything in it that would impede movement? Do not assume a larger area contains the most usable space. A furniture store may be much larger than a skating rink. But it has far less usable space, what with the furniture and all. Ask yourself, can my character run unencumbered from one side of the location to the other? If they can't, how can they use any impediments to their advantage? How can their opponent?

• What is the terrain? Is it rocky, steep, iced over? Can a horse traverse it? Can a human? How can your character use it, and how can it be used against your character? Later in the book we will look at weapons of opportunity also known as WOOs. The terrain of a locale is rife with WOOs: rocks, sticks, chunks of ice, discarded camp gear, pinecones, sand. They can all be used to attack and defend. Here a WOO, there a WOO, everywhere a WOO WOO! Stand in the scene and look around for things that can be picked up. If it can be picked up, it can probably be used as a weapon. (By the way, you throw pinecones and sand at people's faces. When they flinch, guard their face, or turn away, you run.)

• What about the climate? Does it affect weaponry or morale? Morale is huge. If you have two characters in a harsh environment and one of them is native to that environment, which character will have greater mental and physical endurance? What clothing is best suited for the climate of that environment? How will that clothing affect your character's ability to move? We will look at clothing a bit more later. But, for now, think about the amount of clothing one must wear in frozen tundra. How effectively will your character be able to punch when they are fat as a tick in their puffy jacket?

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Excerpted from "Fight Write"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Carla Ho.
Excerpted by permission of F+W Media, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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