5 Tips for Writing Better Fight Scenes

Fight scenes are so fun to write! And really hard to edit! Let's talk about ways you can make your fight scenes dope as heck.
If you use these tips and your story still sucks, check out my critique and workshop services! hannahleekidde...
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[@HannahLeeKidder]

If you want more help with your writing, check out my critique and workshop services! hannahleekidder.com/services/

[@monicaannebooks7741]

Getting a 404 error

[@gloriarussell882]

She's CUTE she's got a KNIFE she's teaching us ACTION SEQUENCES she's UNSTOPPABLe and I LOVE HER

[@HannahLeeKidder]

SHE LOVE YOU

[@vinicius99157]

She holds her knife high, ready to strike. Maniacal smile on her face. She no longer has braces

[@judettelazarre2236]

YAY U DON'T HAVE BRACES !!!

[@micahklassen7151]

She comes back c h o m p i n and with that quality c o n t e n t

[@HannahLeeKidder]

le schomp schomp

[@judettelazarre2236]

Yay I chomp people tomlol

[@L0STinNARNIA]

Chapter TWO HUNDRED SEVENTEEN???

[@donteven8938]

Lmao I was like wtf

[@katiehettinger7857]

How short are these chapters?

[@Melvaius]

Awesome advice, I like how the 1st tip was, ask yourself if you need a fight scene. Nice!

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Important first step!

[@conniefogle5594]

More amazing content. So helpful. 100/10 I'm ready to get in a FIGHT now.

[@HannahLeeKidder]

OOOH WHO U FIGHTIN

[@PartridgeQuill]

"Make sure you need a fight scene to begin with." 🤯 What sorcery is this?

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Whoda thunk!

[@dixontriconderoga8524]

There's a bittersweet kind of violence that comes with a good edit. "Kill your darlings" and all that. You learn a lot about your writing habits from a different perspective, but damn, it does cut deep sometimes. Thanks for another excellent video, your channel is one of my favorites to watch when I'm -procrastinating- researching my projects!

[@HongFeiBai]

I like drawn out and detailed fight scenes, but it depends on the genre. I guess sci-fi battles will have a bit more explanation. Then martial arts genres might require more detail. Being short and concise also works. I switch between large and small perspectives, emotions, gritty details, and work the surroundings in.

[@BrandonNinja]

It's great to actually see you editing work. As soon as I'm finished...whenever that happens... 10 years from now I'll send my manuscript.

[@cultureshock916]

7:05 I also feel like that could be changed to “Voices echoed through the stone passage.”

[@katiehettinger7857]

That was a great suggestion.

[@jenniferacres8182]

That was so helpful to see as you edited these!

[@cityman2312]

You do wonderful work, Hannah! You did amazing jobs with both scenes. My own experience with fight scenes - I'm a strange, living contradiction. I love reading them, both melee and magical, but curiously they're what I struggle with the most when it comes to writing. I mean I really struggle with them, as much as George Lucas struggles with writing romance.

[@Write_Film_Edit]

This was such a helpful video! My WIP has scenarios that share some elements with both of the scenes (injured and exhausted protagonist + magic). It was great to see how you made them more effective. The only edit I would add is changing the three repetitions of the word "slammed" in the latter half of the second scene. The first "slammed" did fit the action well. However, I feel like the second could have been more specific to the strike, such as "he clubbed the hilt into her head..." or something. The third "slammed" is different from the other two -- rather than depicting violence its part of something more positive, significant and triumphant for the protagonist. IDK why that repetition irked me like it did. Anyways, amazing and helpful video!

[@WHATRadioNickSembrat]

Yo!! Congrats on the free teeth! Love the chompers. Thank you for all of the tips! These are my favorite scenes to write

[@vanessasawa7736]

love that you not only give advice but also necessary examples for more complex understanding. thanks!

[@Cavirex]

Discovered your channel a few hours ago and I'm loving it! Really practical advice, zero male bovine manure. It's nice to see that some things I learned over the years aren't just crazy and pointless (although I can definetly keep improving). As for the fight scenes: I 220% agree with your reasoning. It's the problem I had with Orcs by Stan Nichols. The story itself was pretty cool and engaging, but it kept being interrupted by some awful fight scenes which sound like Warhammer match summaries. "X swung his sword. Y parried and stepped to side. X got hit and fell down".

[@marachansi]

oh, thank you so much for this video!!!!! i really needed this. You're doing great

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Glad it's helpful!

[@jonathankey6444]

The most important question when writing a fight scene is why does this matter. I need to feel like this fight should happen, it’s integrated into their character arch and says something about who they are as a person and how they feel about themselves. Do they feel confident in their ability to win? How does it raise the stakes of the plot, even if only slightly? I find it’s easy to make all these things apparent when the reader already knows the skills and styles of those in combat, the location, and the goal of this fight, to some degree (I.e. crossbow guy plans on defeating swordmaster guy at long range to acquire the golden egg inside the fortress the pov character already explored/saw). Oc I just favor these but sometimes a scene requires these to remain unknown. But when studying the greatest fight scenes, small and big, I believe the reason they’re great is because they answered these questions well. Many of the Star Wars duels do this well, as well as giant battles such as Helm’s Deep, and which should be researched by pretty much every writer imo. Battles are made not by the specific actions but by the intangibles influencing the battle. This isn’t to say every battle has to be just as important as the final battle, just that it can’t be insignificant. Action for action’s sake is for casuals

[@isaacmarwell5435]

Sweet incisors

[@HannahLeeKidder]

thank u they r good for chompin

[@christianvchacon]

Dang, a thirty minute video. Nice!

[@lesleybarklay798]

Was procrastinating from writing a fight scene in NaNo and ending up writing a really long an unnecessary dialogue between the protagonist and the antagonist until I could psych myself up to it.

[@simply-sal7290]

lol i love your videos ! "as he laughed... ill let him laugh once..." lol you make editing so enjoyable !

[@Brandon.manga.]

Wow so much great knowledge. Thank you for sharing.

[@downtowords9806]

Amazing content! Thank you! Learnt a lot!

[@stix.ed1tz]

As a murder drones fanfic writer, this was very helpful

[@crownlessheir7088]

The brick! Lmao

[@HannahLeeKidder]

gottem

[@absolutelycitron1580]

All right, hella useful info and to the point. You got my sub

[@christianvchacon]

I think tips 4 and 5 are my biggest flaws at the moment. Thank you for the tips!

[@author.gabrielavrivera]

26:22 this voice caught me so off guard lol. This was super helpful

[@tetsubo57]

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this film before or not. If I have, I apologize. Have you see The Limey with Terence Stamp? Not only is it an incredible film in and of itself but it has some of the most realistic scenes of violence put to film. They have gravitas, weight, finality. They are sparse like haiku. It is a great example of how less is more. The commentary track is also one of the best I have ever encountered. It's like a college course in great film making. This is a must see for any film fan.

[@knoxvillehermitfreemoviesm3625]

very informative thx

[@sandyedwards2681]

Just finding your videos. Your insight is down-to-earth brilliant. I really appreciate your approach. Even though I’m primarily a non-fiction writer, your explanations are helping me create more effective and engaging work. Thank you!

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Thank you so much, Sandy! 💜 I'm so glad it's been useful for you.

[@sandyedwards2681]

@@HannahLeeKidder also I tried to click on the pinned link for your workshop and critique services but it gives an error code. Please advise

[@HannahLeeKidder]

@@sandyedwards2681 I've since closed my service page, unfortunately.

[@brianpeters2254]

Awesome! Can you do a video on writing thesis statements for like a college paper because I kind of am garbage at that lol

[@judettelazarre2236]

U type so fast congrats !!!

[@KassieFox]

You could pull off a solid 14.5.

[@d.g.deadwyler]

Thanks for this video! Fight scenes are my worst area lol. I do have a question though. I noticed in the first edit you change the sentence from her face going red to it flushing with heat because she wouldn’t be able to see her face going red. Is it bad to describe things out of a character’s perspective when writing in third person?

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Good question! Even though it's in third, it's in third limited. Third limited is still only what the POV character can observe. I have a video on it, if you'd like to hear more! ^_^

[@d.g.deadwyler]

Hannah Lee Kidder - Writer Ah! That makes a lot of sense. I’ve seen the video but I guess this mean I get to watch it again 😁

[@absolutelycitron1580]

"I no longer look 14, now I look 15!" Ive never felt so seen and called out at the same time 😅

[@corisandeevans669]

Hit the subscribe button with "She died." So funny.

[@amandaferris5450]

The writers/producers/directors of John Wick could've really used your advice.

[@racyrowdyrocket]

you look like Grimes. it's a compliment

[@crownlessheir7088]

No more braces, that's awesome! What was your first meal?

[@ReinhardvonHolst]

Liked and subbed. Peace

[@AlexiaPrilipceanu]

the first fight scene has the most even sentences i've ever seen. Vary your sentence lenght, people!

[@Reshme77]

Can this also work in scenes where a person is being brutally beat up or assaulted?

[@pkij140]

Chapter two hundred seventeen???

[@daviydviljoen9318]

Drawn out fight scenes get boring: Tolkien: Hold my pipe weed... I mean the Battle between Eowin and the Witch King is like two pages long.

[@stebbigunn7690]

One pointer. Dont allow a bodypart to do anything independently. Have the carecter do the action, not the limb.

[@ManiaMac1613]

"Make sure you need a fight scene to begin with." Uh, Hannah, if you feel like you need a fight scene, than it's absolutely necessary. 100% of the time. Duh.

[@80s_melody-]

She has a knife to destroy the braces full of eviiillllll!👿

[@johanflock_art]

Your videos make me happy but also angry, because you should have so many more subs than this, wtf, at least get some bots and pretend you have as many subs as you deserve!

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Share my vids!

[@johanflock_art]

@@HannahLeeKidder done! :) I'll also introduce my writer-bestfriend

[@HannahLeeKidder]

@@johanflock_art love that for us

[@haddiedoesstuff]

she said çrëvæšē (crevasse)

[@justluc8556]

Darn, well I’ll be 15 in a month. I’ll fight u for that number

[@GaviLazan]

So I actually LITERALLY made the same joke, eh?

[@HannahLeeKidder]

Literally. I was perturbed lmao

[@GaviLazan]

@@HannahLeeKidder 🎶 every breath you take, every move you make... 🎶