I try to write a little bit of everything in my stories. I want action, I want thought. Writing a fight scene, however, is completely different from writing dialogue.
Fight!
1. Plan out the Action
Action sequences in film are painstakingly choreographed. So should written fight scenes, minus the painstaking part, of course. It is important to know what you want to happen in the fight and who you want to win, if there is a winner. It is also important to know how hard or easy the fight will be for our characters which brings me to point number 2.
2. Know your Characters
Each person has their own fight style. Their fighting style can reveal what type of character they are. Does your character fight by the book? Does your character fight dirty? Make sure their fight styles and whatever dialogue they have fits the character.
3. Pacing
Pacing is key to fight sequences. The pace needs to be quick as there is a lot of action and a lot going on in a fight. Fight sequences should be set in real time, but at the same time, sentences should be succinct but descriptive.
4. Verbs
With shorter sentences, verbs become more prominent. Verbs should be prominent because there is a lot of action going on. The down side to this is that verbs can be easily over used. This is where breaking out a thesaurus can come in handy. Used a certain verb a few times? Is there another that maybe distinguishes what’s going on better? Use it.
5. Learn from other writers
As always, see what other people are doing. Reading helps improve our writing. Examine fight scenes you like best and try and incorporate their pacing or aspects of their choreography.