HERE ARE THIRTEEN MISTAKES that writers make with fight scenes.

1. Nothing at stake…. as if the characters put their lives at risk without purpose

2. Absence of emotion… as if the fighter didn’t feel fear, fury or despair

3. Generic setting… as if the fight took place in ‘white space’

4. Making it easy for the hero by giving him a superior weapon, superior armour, superior strength and superior skills… as if he couldn’t rise to a genuine challenge

5. Fighters holding a leisurely conversation with long, carefully articulated sentences.. as if they had plenty of breath to spare during the swashbuckling

6. Implausible fight skills… as if the situation instantly granted the Regency damsel a black belt in karate

7. Inventing a fancy weapon for the hero… as if a gimmicky-shaped sword stood a chance against a blade of tried-and-tested standard design

8. Long sentences… as if fighting was a leisurely, slow-paced activity

9. Lots of adverbs… as if any sense of speed created by a verb must be squashed instantly

10. Weapons from the wrong period… as if an ancient Greek would use a medieval greatsword, or a Norman knight a 19th century cavalry sabre

11. Weapons performing tasks they can’t do… as if an epee sword could split skulls or a small pistol stop a running target at a thousand feet

12. The character thinks deep philosophical thoughts… as if fighting off deadly blows were so easy that he could concentrate on something else

13. The fighter observes what his mates are doing at the other side of the battlefield and the sun setting on the horizon… as if the immediate danger didn’t require all his attention

Please click the book cover to read more about author/editor Rayne Hall and her books.