Category Archives: Action Scenes
Surprising Your Readers in Every Scene
Often we think of surprising audiences with large twists and turns, with thrilling midpoints or shocking losses, but bringing surprise into smaller story pieces, like interactions and beats, can sometimes be equally satisfying in their own way. They also hook … Continue reading
Goal-Oriented Storytelling: Satisfaction
Welcome to the final post in this four-part series on ANTS. As I mentioned in my first post, ANTS is a goal-oriented framework for storytelling. It’s what you’re trying to achieve by making great characters, settings, and plots for your … Continue reading
How Realistic Should Your Action Scenes Be?
At a conference some time ago I was on a panel with some fellow thriller writers. During the Q & A we got this question from the floor: “How can I learn to write a good action scene?” I answered … Continue reading
Get Into The Fight: How to Write Action That Won’t Show You’ve Never Thrown a Punch
Our books are getting so close to being finished! We’re in that weird almost-done stage where you can see the finish line but you still have so much left to do, and there are roughly a million decisions to be made. … Continue reading