Superhero action

I wanted to talk about how hard (or easy) it might be to write superhero stories and cover the action scenes in it. And as a heads up, in my view it's hard!

You will all have seen movies like (say) The Avengers, or Spiderman. The heroes swing, leap, run, jump, walk, duck, dodge, punch, hit, slam, etc. etc. etc.

The same with tv shows like the old Batman 1960's show, in which Batman and Robin hit their opponents with a big KAPOW. Great viewing but it doesn't easily translate into writing the scene on the page, for reader entertainment.

In fact, this sort of action based scene works well visually, including in comics, but is harder to write, if the scene wants to remain fresh. If every fight scene is a case of:

He lashed out, smashing his fist into the monster. Then he punched it hard, zapped it with a laser, fired freeze rays at it, before getting slammed down by a fast roundhouse kick.... then I would contend it gets tedious in no time time, let alone ten or twenty times.

Really successful films like those of the current Spiderman franchise, have a lot of character development involving their personal lives and loves. The actual action sequences may be amazing (just like Spiderman himself) but they are kept reasonably balanced with Peter Parker's home life, love life and emotional struggles to cope.

If that is a good template to use, then most Superhero stories should actually have a large non-action content in them.

What? Not continuous battles? Won't that make them boring?

I think not. But I consider that the best superhero stories are about the individuals and their struggles, not just about their powers. Then, ZAP, BANG, KAZAM, some action needs to appear.

But how to write that action and avoid repetition?

My approach is as follows:

• To use the actual battle scenes relatively sparingly, seeking to develop the plot and emotional arcs of the characters as a major part of any book.

  
  

• Action should be fast, furious and most of all, short. Too many swings of the sword gets boring. Too many pulse beam weapons gets dull.

  
  

• Don't make every fight scene a list of blows and counter blows. Boring.

  
  

• The descriptions should be relevant to the type of superpower being used, but not repetitively the same. the old 'he punched, then punched again, then hit him, before delivering a punch' just doesn't cut it.

  
  

• Vary the words used to describe the scene. Hit, pummel, clout, clip, slug, smack, chop, slice, sever, smash, crush, crunch, wallop, jab, poke, cleave. There are so many words tha can be used to help - if in doubt, consult a thesaurus.

  
  

• Use sight, sound, feel, hearing, smell and even taste to shake up the scene. The thud of the blow. The tang of blood in his nostril as it sprays out in an arc. The pool of grey goo where a man once stood. The sudden agony of a wound. There are so many ways to aid the descriptions, all of which contribute to the reader envisaging the scene, without getting boring.

  
  

• Have the hero lose at least once. Or perhaps just almost lose. It certainly shouldn't be easy.

And keep the action moving. Not every fight should go the hero's way. Running away IS an option.

In fact, most superhero stories have a setback where the hero loses and the comic ends on a cliffhanger, for the next comic to resolve the story in their favour. Or think films like the Avengers Infinity War and Endgame as examples of this.

After all of the above, writing an action scene is still incredibly hard. Having a vision of how more than one character reacts and how they stand, their position, movement and speed and behaviours, let alone talking and visual body clues (the sneer on her face, the taut back as he readied himself....) all form part of the key elements in writing a fight scene.

In your writing vision, yu really need to consider (once you have written it) whether someone else can tell what is happening. It may be you don't need all the different cues in the scene, but reading it back, does it make sense. Read it out loud; does it still make sense. Think what is depicted, can you tell where the protagonists are and how they both react?

Then ask yourself, does it actually matter if the descriptors are not detailed. Not every fight has to be a detailed blow by blow account. In fact as I said in my rules for writing the fight scene, they shouldn't be in many cases.

Variety is the spice of life; especially the spice of superfolk lives.

Until next time...