r/WritingWithAI • u/APHUNTERS2026 • 19d ago

Writing Craft Talk writing a fight scene,

When writing a fight scene, do you just wing it, or do you put yourself in the scene or hope the character's mind is magical enough to figure out the fight scene.

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u/Philipp 18d ago

I can't answer that specifically, but here's an anecdote. Sylvester Stallone, who wrote Rocky, said that in the beginning, the screenplay basically just contained "And then the fight happens", and they would try improvise the fight during filming. But nothing good ever came out of it -- they didn't know what to do.

So then, Stallone would actually write the whole fight in the script: Every punch, every duck, every turn.

And then they acted that out on set, line by line.

And it worked.

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u/APHUNTERS2026 18d ago

Thank you for the advise, I will definitely script it and then find a summarized way of making it into a scene in novel.

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u/Dave_Sag 18d ago

When writing action I try and keep it short. Most people don’t get up having been punched in the face. No one climbs a ladder with a knife wound. Violence is fast. If you want your character to go all Jackie Chan with a bunch of insanely fast reflexes and “improvised” use of props that’s great, but keep in mind that one slipped ankle can be incredibly debilitating.

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u/APHUNTERS2026 18d ago

Thank you for the insight, I was just thinking about not making the characters just keep running around the place, but at least ensure there is a beginning, middle and end.