If you’re writing epic fantasy, it’s likely you’re also going to write a battle scene at some point. But that’s no easy feat. It’s difficult to keep track of who’s doing what while getting the feel for the death and destruction you want to dish out.
So, how do you write battle scenes without making them anticlimactic or scattered? Read the tips below to find out!
Focus on One POV (and How Quickly the POV Perceives Events)
First of all, when you start writing a battle scene, you need to focus less on the entire battle and more on how one character perceives that battle. Trying to focus on multiple people’s perspectives and how different characters experience the battle all at once makes the battle anticlimactic. Why? Because without one specific character living through these events, readers can’t truly feel like they’re experiencing the battle for themselves.
When you only focus on one POV, you get all the mechanics of the scene and all the nitty-gritty imagery that makes the battle exciting. You also get all the important action that the readers need to experience right away. (Don’t worry, I’ll talk about both of these things later). So be sure to:
1. Get only into one character’s head by showing only their thought process
2. Express their emotions quickly so readers can feel what they feel
R. A. Salvatore also has good advice on a scene like this. He writes: “Mostly, a good fight scene has to start with characters the reader cares about; without a sense of danger, what’s the point? Other than that, writing a fight scene is about mechanics … about emotion (anyone who’s ever been in a fight, sporting or for real, knows that you go to a different place in such a situation); and mostly, a good fight scene is about the pacing. I notice that my sentences get shorter, paragraphs become single sentences or even sentence fragments, and characters are too involved in staying alive to muse about the meaning of life.”
Remember Sensory Details
Details that readers feel with their senses (also known as imagery) are pivotal for a battle scene. When you pick your POV and stick with it, this POV needs to express to the reader these details so your reader feels them too. The senses include:
1. Sight
2. Hearing
3. Taste
4. Touch
5. Smell
Writers invoke all of them to draw the reader into the story. They also use them to express the emotions happening in the scene. For example, say your epic fantasy includes a climactic battle with dragons. Maybe you want your POV to feel terrified of them. To convey this emotion and to make your reader terrified as well, use imagery to convey this.
You might want to include details like:
1. The searing heat of the dragon’s breath as it scorches the grass (touch)
2. The taste of sulfur on your character’s tongue from the air (taste)
3. The way the dragon glistens blood-red in the sun (sight)
And anything else you might think of. When you focus on these details, your battle scene comes to life.
Keep the Action Short and to the Point
Lastly, you need to focus on the action, but you also need to keep the action attainable. For one, your readers can’t get overwhelmed with too many details. For another, letting your POV’s mind wander only means that you don’t focus on the scene at hand. Getting the mechanics accurate and exciting is crucial to a battle or any fight, for that matter.
Be sure to avoid:
1. Flashbacks or any kind of exposition given by the character’s POV you use
2. Any kind of philosophical tangents that detract from the story (see Salvatore’s quote above)
3. Wandering over the entire battle like a disemodied spirit (with one POV, you need to stay with that POV)
So focus on the ACTION! To do so, make your sentences short and to the point, and give your character a sense of urgency. Here’s an example from the end of Frank Herbert’s Dune:
“Jamis called out in ritual challenge: “May thy knife chip and shatter!”
This knife will break then, Paul thought.
He cautioned himself that Jamis also was without shield, but the man wasn’t trained to its use, had no shield-fighter inhibitions.
Paul stared across the ring at Jamis. The man’s body looked like knotted whipcord on a dried skeleton. His crysknife shone milky yellow in the light of the glowglobes.
Fear coursed through Paul. He felt suddenly alone and naked standing in dull yellow light within this ring of people. Prescience had fed his knowledge with countless experiences, hinted at the strongest currents of the future and the strings of decision that guided them, but this was the real-now. This was death hanging on an infinite number of miniscule mischances.
Anything could tip the future here, he realized. Someone coughing in the troop of watchers, a distraction. A variation in a glowglobe’s brilliance, a deceptive shadow.
I’m afraid, Paul told himself.
And he circled warily opposite Jamis, repeating silently to himself the Bene Gesserit litany against fear. “Fear is the mind-killer …” It was a cool bath washing over him. He felt muscles untie themselves, become poised and ready.
“I’ll sheath my knife in your blood,” Jamis snarled. And in the middle of the last word he pounced.”
This section not only focuses on Paul’s inner thoughts but also on the mechanics of how the fight is about to go down. It builds up the impending fight with pieces of action before everything breaks loose. This not only gets the reader immersed, but it also allows the reader to get into one POV.
When you focus on these three things, your scene will come to life. You’ll create the mechanics, the emotion, and the imagery you need to get your readers invested. Happy writing!
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