I have reached a place in my WIP where a town is about to be attacked by a barbaric race. Its the first time we meet this new threat. It will be observed by my MC, mostly from a hiding place.
I am really looking forward to writing it, but I need some advice:
- Does anyone have any tips on pacing? (I would like it to last for approx. 3,000 to 4,000 words) Should I build and release the tension progressively faster? Keep it head-over-heels fast?
- Who should I read? Which authors have done these scenes well? (I know Robin Hobb has some good settlement attacks)
Any other tips welcome
Hi,
I'll jump in, too, because this is something that I struggle with. Let's just say that I am not a physically active sort of person and I have no direct experience of being in the military or in battle situations. I've come up with a few strategies that help me. I know they help, because I see the difference in the critiques I receive in my writer's group. They comment on other aspects, but rarely does anybody make the comment that they don't understand the choreography of my action scenes or that they don't feel engaged. I guess I've put so much work into this aspect that my "slow" scenes need work!
First, I read all sorts of literature and first-hand accounts that relate to the particular type of scene I am doing. For example, for the scene you've described in the opening question, I would suggest "The Red Badge of Courage" for a MC who is an average guy experiencing the brutality of battle for the first time. Also, one of the later musketeer books in the series by Dumas has a scene where the aging musketeers were in Cromwell's time and trying to save the king from getting executed. There is a fabulous moment (I wish I could quote it) where Athos makes it to the gallows through the rioting mob, etc. He is an observer of the king's beheading and, as a nobleman, he is devastated. His emotions are high because, for all his prowess and experience, he failed to save someone.
Second, I find it's very important to choreograph where things are. It's going to sound silly, but I use dolls and household objects to lay out a difficult scene on my living room floor. Books are boulders. Chairs are trees. Blankets are hills. I do this because it's hard enough to write about things that aren't really happening, and it helps me to have a clear visual image. Also, by working in 3-D I am able to walk around and see the scene from every angle. When your MC peeks around the tree trunk, what exactly is in view? You can get tension as much from what you don't see, or can't see, or feel frustration because you need to see but can't get any closer.
Finally, for the emotion, I suggest digging down into that dark place and remember times when you have been in a life or death situation. For me, it's a couple of minor automobile accidents. In both cases, someone else was driving and I was the helpless passenger watching the events unfold. If I encapsulate that moment in my head and expand it over the course of an action scene, I am able to inject the right amount of adrenaline.