A Fight Scene Worth Reading

In fiction, as in life, conflict between two characters often leads to fisticuffs. It can be an exciting moment in your story where the tension finally erupts and your audience are beside themselves with anticipation of what the outcome will be... Or it can be tedious, pedestrian, predictable and downright boring.

I am thinking particularly of fight scenes in novels, short stories and other forms of written fiction, since fight scenes in film and theatre are (at least to some extent) more a matter of choreography than writing. As a reader, I often find that even in the best books, it is badly written fight scenes that can really ruin my enjoyment of the story, whether it's a quick wrestling match between two minor characters or an epic battle between ten vast armies of elves, dragons, wizards and goblins. It's not that I think fight scenes are unimportant (sometimes they're necessary) or unexciting (well-written ones can be thrilling); they're just difficult to get right.