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"We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dreamlife."
David Mamet
Drama can be tragedy or comedy, and it can come in the shape of a play, movie, fiction, real life story, and poetry.
Hello, this is Joy , this week's drama editor. In this issue, we will discuss the writing of fights and wars.
"War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"When in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns."
Raymond Chandler
"Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness."
Allen Ginsberg
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
In dramatic writing, fights come up in different forms. They can be emotional fights and physical fights. A cancer survivor’s story can make a very dramatic story. Then, war, outdoor adventures, and sports fiction, too, can be considered fights. In this newsletter, we will focus on physical fights between people, battles, and wars.
The main reason physical fights are hard to write is because they require wide-ranging details for visualizing the action, that need to be fast-paced at the same time. The pacing is where the clash between the writer and the subject shows up. One way to overcome this problem is to be meticulous about what to include in a fight scene.
To start with, do not clutter the fight scenes. The readers will have difficulty following the action if too much description of the action is squeezed in one scene.
In a story, if you are describing a fight scene, write short sentences to speed up the action and long ones to slow it down.
An approach to present a fight scene, especially a street-fight type of a scene, is from your personal point of view; that is from where you are viewing the action. Most of us have not fought physically, let alone hit a person in real life. Unless you interview someone who is an expert in this area and learn from him or her, write the fight scenes by giving weight to emotions rather than to the details of the action. You might pad up the action scenes with the rule of three which is: Every sentence of action can be followed by two of description of emotion or reaction. Example: Jennie’s fingernails screeched across the man’s face. His blood came out in tiny spurts, dripping down on his white shirt. His eyes narrowed in anger as he raised his fists, ready to hit her.
Another way you might enhance a one-on-one fight scene is to blend in the audience or what is going around the fighters into the scene; for example, mentioning the furniture knocked out or broken, the expressions on the onlookers’ faces, or the traffic stopped etc. If appropriate, this will add another dimension to the action .
Fight scene circumstances are endless. When a story contains two or more fights, to define them properly and to point out the differences among the fight scenes, their surroundings and where the fights take place should be varied. The objects of the fight or the arms used by both sides also matter. Make sure you research well what you don’t know. If you make a Roman soldier hold up a chariot with an AK-57, your story will not be credible, unless it is a spoof of some sort.
In writing the war or battle action, the point of view can make all the difference. If you are writing from a single person’s subjective point of view, do not throw him in the thick of fighting, unless you want to wound or kill him. Have him, instead, watch the battle and witness other characters’ actions from a strategic point in the area.
You might also try the method of switching among the third person points of view of two or three people. The added benefit to these multiple points of view is that they make the battle story read like an epic.
In fight scenes, as in love scenes, each motion needs to be well choreographed to become believable. If you make a fallen-down knight stick his lance into a giant’s eye, the reader will not be able to picture that action, but if you make the giant kneel down to look at the knight closer and then the knight sticks the lance into the giant’s eye, the action will be more imaginable.
It is crucial that fight scenes do not depict one violent act after another, and wars, one battle after another. To avoid the boredom from continual action, a mix of story tools and character development can be used. These will add to the drama and move the plot forward. To achieve this objective, weave the fight scenes into the fabric of the entire story, and especially highlight the characters.
In their essence, all stories revolve around characters. Even true-to-life battle stories deal with specific characters, and the greatest battles star individuals; for example, in World War II,, Hitler vs. Churchill or Rommel vs. Montgomery. This logic also applies to supernatural characters, because fiction is intimate, and in all its forms, it represents the truths inside human beings.
One last point. After you’ve written a fight scene, read it aloud to make sure your writing flows as one continual action and blends well with the rest of the story.
I hope all your fight scenes come out as winners. 
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A few dramatic fight stories by our Writing.com authors
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#1461106 by Not Available. |
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| |  | A few minutes (E)
The story of every poor Pakistani who becomes the victim of fight for power.
#1451733 by zaidi  |
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A (very short) story about violence, psychological technology, and emotion.
#1337337 by Turiyayuro |
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#1292778 by Not Available. |
Two items submitted to the Drama Newsletter:
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Folks, thanks for writing to us, to all the newsletter editors. Keep those e-mails and feedback coming, so we can serve you better.
In "Drama Forum" , we sometimes post in or out-of-site drama contests. If interested, take a look, and if you have any suggestions or comments for this newsletter, please post them there or write to this newsletter. Thank you for your interest. 
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kary
LOVE THE QUOTES IN THE NEWSLETTER...(DRAMA)
THANKS
Thank you, too. Most quotes can be inspirational for a writer.
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Coolhand
Great quotes this week!
Coolhand
Thank you, Coolhand.
Reading quotes from a writer is like sneaking into his inner circle. Kind of like a grass roots movement. 
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very thankful 
Thanks for listing my Unique Short Story Contest and listing my short story folder in the ask and answer.
Sister of Mercy
My pleasure, Sister of Mercy. You're welcome.
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Drama: October 08, 2008 Issue [#2606]
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