Review: A Valuable Reference
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2012
You don't realize how hard it is to write fight scenes until you actually have to do it. After all, how much do you know of hand to hand combat or using a sword? Probably not much. That is when Rayne Hall's book, Writing Fight Scenes, can be come in handy.This book is extremely reasonably priced for the Kindle. I figured what can I lose for $4.99 if it would help me with my writing. You see I wrote a scene that ended up being a three sentence paragraph. I tried to expand on it, but nothing worked. I made that paragraph into 630 words just by reading the first two chapters of Hall's book.Hall has thirty-three chapters in this book broken out by topic. I have to admit that I skipped several chapters the first time because none of them applied to my book. Chapter 1 describes the two basic fight scenes: gritty or entertaining. All fight scenes are categorized as these or a combination of. Chapter two was on location and how to describe in the scene. That really helped. Other chapters include weapons (broken out into individual chapters on swords, staffs, club, etc.), magical devices, self-defence, strength and skill, psychological impact, female fighting, male fighting, animals and weres, armor, situations, how to pull at the reader's emotion, battles, siege warfare, nautical fights, genres, pacing, and dialogue within the fight. That is just some of the topics the author covers.Each chapter is broken into subheadings that help you zero in on what you need for your particular fight scene. That helped me tremendously. I don't want to waste time on sections that I don't need right now.At the end of each chapter, the author also points out what blunders to avoid. He mentions what would really throw a reader off or weaken the plot and story. Those bullet points were invaluable as I found I had made a few of them.Another wonderful aspect of this book is the examples he provides. He gives you links to videos so you can see firsthand in movies what he is talking about. This works great for a visual person like me. It makes his words even more powerful.At the end of the book, are resources he directs you to for more information than he provides. He doesn't get too detailed in swords though he mentions the different types and how they are handled. If you want more in depth study of them, he points you in the right direction.I find that I'm using the book over and over. With each new scene, I've got it up on my Kindle and I'm reading it in detail. This is probably one of the best purchases I've made as a writing resource.Note: The author of this review purchased the book with her own funds.