Action I

This article talks about writing simple action in general. How to write the things that happen, both big and small, in your book.

Next chapter proposes my rules for writing good action sequences (such as an epic battle or fight). Because writing simple actions is easy; writing longer sequences filled with action is very hard and takes practice.

What is action?

An action is simply a sentence in which something happens. Sometimes this is called a “beat”.

• He walked to the fridge.
• She opened the door.
• We jumped off the cliff.

In general, action has very short and clear language. Action is fast and immediate by nature. This does not mean that action should only be really short sentences, as is often advised. That would read like a broken record. No, always vary your sentence length, even in fast action.

It means that every action, every piece of a sentence, should be short and clear. Action is no time to add decoration or description to the language. Notice, in the examples, how the sentence doesn’t add adverbs and doesn’t go on tangents about details.

For that, you use Description, its opposite (discussed in a few chapters). Those sentences are traditionally longer and have a slower pace.

All of this is more related to prose than plot, hence discussed in far more detail in my Prose course!

But below is a summary.

Combine connected actions

Put actions in the same sentence if they are connected. They’re done by the same person, or in the same motion, or steps towards the same goal.

The reverse is also true. Do not combine actions in the same sentence (through a comma, for example) that are not clearly connected. Put those into their own sentence.

But as always, clarity and varying sentence length comes first.

Paragraph Spacing

Instead of making really short sentences all the time, give actions (especially longer sequences) more whitespace.

• Keep the paragraphs shorter.
• If a new or sudden event happens, do so as a new paragraph.
• The most important action should always be the first or last sentence of a paragraph.
• And if something is really important, writers often make it a one-line paragraph standing on its own.

In the example below, see how the most important realization is on its own paragraph.

This is why thrillers usually have very short paragraphs and lots of whitespace around the text.

Sensory Immersion

New writers usually only write what you can see. While this is a fine starting point, written stories have the amazing ability to engage the other senses.

You might not see an attack coming, but you feel the hit in your back.

You may not see the attacker, but you hear their footsteps.

You may get dizzy or off balance when you’re scared. You may feel sick after doing something revolting.

Action is especially about the senses, more so than description. Because how do we register something that happens? We register it through our senses. If none of our senses pick it up, we do not know that something happened. When in “action mode”, our senses become extra sensitive.

And don’t just use the basic ones (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch), but everything we can feel in our body or brain.

Non-Violent Action

This is a common mistake (for beginning writers) of which I am severely guilty.

The word “action” automatically evokes images of fighting. Of guns being shot, people getting wounded, of violent or physical threat. And yes, many stories do have such action, and it’s an easy but very effective method to get tension.

But it’s not the only way.

My early stories constantly had battle scenes or people getting aggressive. I didn’t know any other way to add action. Maybe I knew, in the back of my mind, but just couldn’t produce that on the page.

Instead, I want to remind you that action is anything that happens. It does not need to be a fight, it does not need to be violent. In fact, as I wrote more stories, I’ve stopped using violence for tension almost completely.

Why? Because the violence is usually aimed at the protagonist, whom we know isn’t going to die at page 40. Other consequences of violence are also rarely used (such as getting handicapped permanently). It’s the least interesting type of action, unless it’s setup well and supported by the rest of the story.

As such, I want to challenge you to write some stories with great action scenes that are not about fighting.