Fiction Notes

Tag: action

  • Fight, Chase, Shoot, Battle! Action Scene Checklist

    Darcy’s Note: In my quest to understand action scenes better, I came across Ian’s book and was blown away by how practical it is. To make it even more practical I created an Action Scenes Checklist. To understand it and fully exploit it, you should buy his book and read it cover to cover. Yes,…

  • Tea Party or Fist Fights? Why Action Scenes are Hard to Write!

    In my current WIP, I want to up the action and make this a physically exciting story. So, I bought a great ebook, Action! Writing Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques by Ian Thomas Healy. It’s great, as I said, and breaks down the actions into easy components that can be easily mastered. Even for me,…

  • Off-Stage Scenes Rarely Work – Unless You Are Scarlett

    Here’s a common problem that I see in first drafts: the main action has happened off-stage. Think about Scarlett O’Hara and the other southern women sitting at home waiting; in an attempt to avenge his wife, Frank and the Ku Klux Klan raid the shanty town whereupon Frank is shot dead. But the raid takes…

  • Scene: Fast or Fast-Paced?

    Is your scene fast or fast-paced? There’s a difference, an important difference. A fast paced scene has lots of small changes happening, which keeps the reader on the edge of his/her seat. Think of it as the last few minutes of a basketball game where the ball changes hands often, and the score bounces back…

  • Scenes: Think Like a Writer

    Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day to better Think Like a Writer. Read more here. To think like a writer, you must learn to write in scenes as one of the basic creative writing prompts. A scene is a set of contained actions and…

  • Revise Grand Entrance Scene to Set up Character Relationship

    Working on a novel revision, I realize that I need to refocus the relationship between two characters. The question is where to start. Grand Entrance for Your Character I once heard the late Sid Fleischman talk about the importance of giving a character a Grand Entrance. Think about a stage play, where a character sweeps…