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Alan Baxter

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Write The Fight Right Kindle Edition

by Alan Baxter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 66 ratings

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A fiction writer's resource for creating realistic, convincing fight scenes.

Author and martial arts instructor, Alan Baxter, presents a short, ~12,000 word, ebook describing all the things a writer needs to consider when writing fight scenes. Baxter's experience from decades as a career martial artist make this book a valuable resource for writers who want to understand what fighting is all about - what it really feels like and what does and doesn't work - and how to factor those things into their writing to make their fight scenes visceral, realistic page turners. Baxter won't tell you how to write, but he will tell you what makes a great fight scene.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004V9HL7G
Publisher ‏ : ‎ (April 4, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 4, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 132 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 43 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,015 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #420 in One-Hour Education & Reference Short Reads
- #1,394 in Writing Skill Reference (Kindle Store)
- #3,336 in Writing Skill Reference (Books)

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4.5 66 ratings

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Alan Baxter

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Alan Baxter is a multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers and dark fantasy liberally mixed with crime, mystery and noir. This Is Horror podcast calls him “Australia’s master of literary darkness” and the Talking Scared podcast dubbed him “The Lord of Weird Australia.” He’s also a martial artist, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, where he lives with his family and other animals.

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K.M. Weiland, Author of Historical and Speculative Fiction

Necessary Reading for Any Author

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2012

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Sooner or later, most authors are faced with the necessity of having a character throw a few punches. A streetwise cop taking on thugs or a hunky gentleman saving his damsel--whatever your cuppa, the nature of conflict demanded by good fiction means characters often end up getting physical with each other. This is a good thing, since no conflict means no story. But what isn't so good is the fact that many of us are uninitiated in the cold hard facts of fighting. We take our cues from Hollywood's overblown, highly unrealistic action--and, as a result, we fail to present the necessary telling details to convince our readers that our fight scenes are the real deal.

Fortunately, we have Alan Baxter on our side. In this fast read (12,000 words) professional fighter and author Baxter shares his expertise in the friendly manner of two friends taking a morning coffee break. His down-to-earth voice and self-effacing wisdom is so darn likable, you might almost forget this guy is lethal--except for the fact that he's packed this book with an insane amount of useful details about how to recognize, initiate, survive, and win a fight.

He explains up front that no book, especially one of this size, is capable of teaching you how to fight or even how to nail all the details of your characters' fights. But this is the perfect place to start. He explains the basics of physical confrontations, the psychology behind the action, and the all-important "what not to dos." When I started the book, I wasn't sure what kind of information I was going to find; I was half-expecting a relatively un-useful list of kicks and punches. But Baxter goes far beyond that. Not only will your characters be better fighters by the time you've finished reading this book, but you'll have picked up a few good self-defense tips for yourself. In short, I highly recommend this book. Five out of five stars.

Helpful

J. A. Newbery

Great writer's resource!

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2011

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You're making great progress in writing your novel and then you come to the climactic fight scene. You know how it's supposed to go. You can see the whole thing in your head, blow for blow, until the bad guy is down on the ground, bruised, bloody and unconscious with the hero standing over him, fists clenched, barely breathing hard, not a hair out of place. The girl runs into the hero's arms, they kiss, end of story.

So you write it, and somehow, on paper, it's not as good as it was in your head. Or your critiquers put voice to your fear: "Sorry, it's just not realistic." So you rewrite and rewrite and you just can't get it. You need experience, you figure, but you've never been in a fight in your life. You've only watched them on television and in movies. How can you write what you don't know? Short of starting a barroom brawl, what do you do?

Start by reading this book.

Alan Baxter is a writer and martial arts instructor. He knows how to write and knows how to fight. He wrote this book to help you and me, the non-fighter, write our fight scenes with confidence and accuracy so no one can tell us, "Sorry, it's just not realistic."

The book is broken out into small chapters that cover the various techniques of fighting as well as reactions and outcomes. It also includes a cheat sheet checklist and a sample fight scene.

"This book won't teach you how to fight, but it will teach you some of the things you need to know to write convincingly about fighting."

As you read this how-to-write book, keep paper and pen handy because you will want to take notes. Some of the information seems obvious, like "nothing is more important in fighting that footwork," and "it's hard to hit a moving target." We know those things already (right?). But how about "when you fight, you will get hit." We may not want a single hair on our hero's head to be disturbed, but in a real fight, his opponent will land blows and he will get hit. He has to, if you want to keep it real. And getting hit hurts. It hurts everyone, even the most intrepid of heroes. He may even feel like crying after being hit, which is a natural reaction. Add these facts into your story, and the realism starts to come. Readers will start to believe your fight scenes.

(But of course, we'd never allow our hero to cry. Let the bad guy be the blubbering baby after the hero delivers a crushing right cross.)

"When two tigers fight, one limps away, terribly wounded. The other is dead." - old Chinese proverb.

You can't learn fighting from a book, but with this book and your fertile writer's imagination, you can factor in elements you may not ever have considered and make your fight scenes realistic, so readers will think you know what you're talking about. And they'll want to read more. That's the hallmark of a good story.

6 people found this helpful

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J.F.Penn

Must read if you want to write fight scenes

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2011

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I love fight scenes in books and movies. Now I want to write them effectively in my own novels. Alan's book basically takes you through what you need to be aware of in order to write a decent fight scene, things that you would never even consider as a "normal" person who has never thrown a punch outside Body Combat gym classes.
Important aspects such as :
* the importance of footwork and range
* being aware of surroundings and setting so you are prepared - and of course as a writer, we can set up the physical environment to make a fight scene more effective
* throwing and grappling as important techniques - it's not all punching and kicking
... and so much more.

There's also the psychology of fighting which is fascinating to me - Alan writes "Fighting is constantly responding to chaos" which in itself is a beautiful phrase. He also talks about sizing up everyone you walk past, assessing their strengths - these are amazing insights into someone trained in techniques that can give our characters rich detail.
Basically, you need to invest in this book if you want to write a fight scene that thrills your readers and also helps reveal your character.

Helpful

R. A. Williams

Concise and Informative

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2019

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This is a short book, but it tells you all you need to know without unnecessary wordiness. The author cuts to the chase and gives his professional insight into the mind of a fighter and the realism of a real fight. I swear, after finishing this book I could almost taste the blood in my mouth, smell the blood clogging my nostrils. It gave me several ideas as to how my fight scene would progress. It’s well worth the three bucks.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Heather Shannon

Excellent Resource for Writing a Fight Scene

Reviewed in Canada on November 21, 2019

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As a writer, it is important to keep each scene flowing, especially so in a fight. Baxter provides clear insight into the action required for creating a great scene. Knowing the moves is one thing, but describing the emotion and adding just the right nuances at the same time makes this a great resource. There is just enough information here to help a writer describe something they might not know as well as if they had hands on experience in a fight. I highly recommend for anyone writing action and fighting scenes.

Jenise

easy to follow

Reviewed in Australia on June 4, 2021

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I'm writing a fight scene but never been in a fight! super difficult. the emotions and fall out described will give me that small edge to make it more believable.

Eagle Reader

Tell them Alan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2014

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Want to know how fighting works and how to help your characters do it right, Alan has it all here. Found it extremely helpful for writing action sequences.

angbane

Clear, concise advice

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2020

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A good reference for writers needing to polish their fight scenes.
Interesting insights into physical techniques & mental aspects of combat. The working examples helped understanding how to apply advice to writing. Includes a useful cheat sheet too.

Sprocket

Solid Material

Reviewed in Australia on November 8, 2014

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Solid Material. I did about 8 years of Judo - not this particular form of Martial Arts, but I wish I had had a teacher of this calibre. Mine was a 4th Dan black belt and he knew his stuff and we copied him and partnered him and hit the deck like a sack of bricks time and again - hard - very hard - but this author can also teach - a very special gift indeed. His ability to communicate the feeling and speed of a fight in simple english is exceptional. Well worth the price if you have fight scenes in your story. Just reading it conveys some of the 'special stuff to do with balance and flow and anticipation and reflexes and core mobility' that only a trained martial artist is aware of at a deep level. So there is some quite special almost secret stuff set out here in plain accessible english.

Excellent.

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