How to create impactful fights?

[ScarletWeeb]

I don't mean how to write fighting scenes; no I am asking how to make them flow.
I am at a point in my story where two people, lets say A and B who hate each other, meet. A killed B's family two decades back. Now both of them will start fighting obviously. But how do I make this fight impactful?
A starts winning, B does some Asspull nonsense and then starts winnings, then A does the same and so on and so forth?
How do you guys create Impact in your fights? I have only written fights where the main character uses a new ability, or does some gimmick using the environment around him. This is the first time that a full on battle is happening to drive the story forward, it's not placed to explain a battle mechanic. It doesn't contain the Main Character, but two very powerful entities in this world. I want to showcase the scale of that thing.

 

[StarvingWriter]

I have also struggled with writing fight scenes. I think it is useful to think about what makes each participant unique and focus on those aspects. This can include physical characteristics (using horns, size, etc), temperament (silent, screaming, etc), fighting strategy (aggressive, defensive, unusual), and particular skills (ramming, Silent Sword Light, or whatever the killing method is). Also, consider the environment and how it impacts the fighters and is impacted by the fight. Hopefully this helps!

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Impact is another word for "effect".

Your fight is impactful meaning that your fight affected the plot fo the story.

Its like when a great fight have been anticipated from several chapters ago, or even several arcs ago.

And the you finally Shows the fight in which both character finally met and clash, and were can see how their fightkng skills interact with one another, maybe even use the secret moves that author haven't showed yet.

You must define the problem first.

I reccomend Fate:Zero for fighting scene references. They're simple yet quite impactful.

You can compare the anime with the novel for showing how the writing has been translated into animated life action.

 

[Bartun]

I've written a few fight scenes. Some people say they are really good. Other people say they are the only thing good about my book.

If learned something, is not about how the fight goes, or what X character does to defeat Y character, but how much the reader is invested in those characters. I think you shouldn't prolong the fight just to make it impactful. Make it short. You have one character who desires revenge and he shouldn't pull his punches, on the contrary, he should go for the kill as quickly as possible.

The other character, the one who wronged A, should realize immediately that A means business, and then both fight at their 100%. I would say forget about 'pulling something out of their asses' This is a battle of wills, and the one with the strongest will wins. In my opinion, this is the perfect opportunity for 'the power of revenge', A character remembering his family and they give him the strength to win.

At least, that's what I figure.

 

[NineHeadHeavenDevouringSerpent]

I want to showcase the scale of that thing.

Why do you feel awesome seeing jets fly by?

Why is watching something explode so thrilling?

For the first, it's cause of the novelty of watching an object move so quickly in the sky.... it's uncommon to everyone's daily life.

And, those who experienced it know how the air and ground thumps and vibrates whenever they do the fly by....It effects the surrounding far from its point of impact. I could be a mile away and still feel my windows shaking to their movements.


Second, it's the destruction of something that kicks in our endorphins and adrenaline. Especially when it's a spectacular explosion with fire.

Destruction is the key here.


Also, long lasting devastations and repercussions of the clash will heighten the impact and feel of their power. A dense forest turned into desert so loss of many magic herbs, animals and trade routes which ruined surrounding countries economy and they went into anarchy.

Or there's a rip in space that's slowly eating away at the world after their fight, they both went missing in it and their status is unknown....keeps the mystery and curiosity of who won and who's stronger.

 

[LilRora]

Okay, first of all, I hate when various stories and especially anime pull that shit off. Fights do not have to be long to be impactful. Realistically,
most fights are going to end within minutes, if not seconds. This may change if both fighters are almost evenly matched or if they are particularly resistant to each other's attacks, but that's rare.

If you want to show their power, I recommend to show how rapid the fight is and how it affects the surroundings. Beings of immense power can generally do outrageous things compared to fights at smaller scale, but it is even more effective when it is contrasted against regular power.

There's many ways to go about this and you're free to choose, but two things I would focus on are speed and precision, because, more than raw power output, those things show actual ability and mastery, which mean far more than just a power difference.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Story_Marc has a video on this subject in the Writing Tips area. May have to drill in a page or two to find it.

 

[KeeperAbra]

More emotion = more impact. I wrote a demo:

The concept is that A killed B's family, so now B's attacks are filled with contempt, and A's 'attacks' may either be indifferent or filled with remorse. As long as you can talk about these emotions in the most visceral way possible, even "B stabs A" can have impact and drive the story forward.


First, here's an example scene close in style to my favorite trash novels, vaguely based on your description (POV: B, assuming she is a she):

I fly above him, casting hotter and hotter spells, but he doesn't die. In that case, I'll just aim for his core.

I fly down and take out my knife. While I wait for his physical form, I can't help but remember everything that happened before ... but that was before.

His body's back, and the core's right there. There's no turning back. I push off and catch him in the chest, and with a twist of the knife, he screams, melts, and disappears. Good riddance.

The same scene, but I beefed it up:

Even while I'm flying above him, I don't see a single reaction in those eyes. He once said he cared about me: 'bye-bye,' 'I love you,' and all that shit that's just smoke and mirrors...and he is all just smoke and mirrors, that damn Shadow.

I cast a blaze to smoke him out, but he reforms a little tired. I cast a fire tornado to torment him, but it irks me that he doesn't care. I try more spells and furnace blowers; the hotter the spell I use, the faster I kill him, but no matter how many times I kill him, he just. Doesn't. Die.

Giving me no choice like always, are you? Hah, he's just a Shadow. He'll die when I take out his core. It's tricky, though, and I have to stab him in a tricky way to get to it. Well, it's nice my knife's hook-shaped in that case.

My toes touch the charred ground at the same time as he begins to reform. The knife feels colder in my hand now, but I need it to be hot. I don't care what he's done for me. Everything's a lie. He needs to die.

The moment he's got four limbs and a body, I push off, point forwards, throwing my weight behind the point of the knife. In the blink of an eye, I can feel flesh parting and bones cracking, and when I push down on the knife like a lockpick, I hear the mixed gasp of death and surprise. Bye-bye; I don't love you; enjoy your trip to hell-- I'm sure my family will give you a good beating on the other side.

... something like that? Anyway, most of it doesn't even contain fighting (only the first and last paragraphs contain attacks). More importantly, it's a pattern of "emotion + action + emotion", and when it comes to emotion, indirect expressions are pretty nifty: even the shape of the knife communicates how she wants to kill him in a way she wouldn't kill anyone else.

The last thing is that there's always a buildup. Every single action and decision is separated by moments of feelings or deliberation. If you want to make your scene flow like you said, that's the thing you should be looking for.

Good luck!