Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [action]

For questions about scenes and media jam-packed with fast-paced races, fights, battles and anu other commonly used action sequence.

27 questions
23
votes
10 answers

...and then she held the gun

In the short passage I am writing, the starting point is that one character is being held at gunpoint, and the end point is that she now holds the gun, having disarmed the opponent. The idea is that this sequence happens very rapidly. She is an…
NofP
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16 answers

How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist?

What are the recognizable tropes to a "train heist", or more broadly the action sequences where a protagonist boards a moving train in order to stop it? My protagonist is the unreliable guile heroine who has been playing at hero the entire book.…
wetcircuit
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18
votes
11 answers

How do I write about hacking and hackers?

Now, I don't want to learn hacking (but if I learn some I learn some), but I am writing a cyberpunk story so I need to have some idea what's going on. And, maybe how I can use VR to make it more interesting to the readers. I don't mind complex…
Clair
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12
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7 answers

Can ‘Stupid’ Characters Make Plot Narratives Memorable?

Characters in movies ‘28 Days Later’, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ made terrible impulsive choices that cost other characters their lives, but if it weren’t for any of those choices made in the films, they wouldn’t have had any…
Edmund Frost
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7
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2 answers

Breaking dialogue with actions from another character

This can get... confusing, which is why I tend to avoid it, but sometimes, I really want it there. “What?!” [said Character B.] I laughed, giving her a minute to process my words. “You’re getting married? I never thought I’d see the day!” I want…
spoopydumpling
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7
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2 answers

How to punctuate dialogue tags with action descriptions

Someone told me that it's incorrect or outdated punctuation to put a comma after "said" in dialogue tags such as the following (from an old book we're reprinting): “I shouldn’t wonder if you could come back here tomorrow if you like,” said…
Beckylou
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4
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1 answer

How do I make an action scene based on a musical choreography work in a novel?

I'd like to make one of the action scenes in my planned novel to involve a choreography to a medley of various real world songs, similar to the Ocean's Twelve Laser Dance scene(video below), obviously using a different situation. I'm currently…
Nzall
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3
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2 answers

What could I do to write a fictional story with a lot of action without applying too many character perspective changes?

I'm writing a fictional(science fiction) story. Currently, I'm on a chapter that has a lot perspective changes, and I'm writing in third person, so my readers can experience things near the protagonists or the main antagonist. I want to apply very…
Holy the 4th
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2
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3 answers

Commas or Periods for Actions during Dialogue?

In character dialogue is it correct form to place commas after an action in between their dialogue or full stop periods? For example: "Ouch, you're blinding me!" Jacob jokes, covering his eyes and face. "Hilarious Jacob," Elizabeth rolls her eyes…
J.D. Jenkins
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1 answer

Multiple Character Dialogue & Action Formatting

I’m editing a first person story and I’m a bit stumped on one thing in particular. I’m not sure how to explain this in a non-confusing way. Is it okay or correct to mix the dialogue and actions of one character, with the actions of another? For…
wittywrites
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3 answers

How can I spot if my story is being stalled or interrupted, and how do I arrange my writing so that it continues to move?

I would like for my story to continue moving, but I find that I interrupt action with details or inner thoughts, mood, emotion, etc. Hence, how can I spot an interruption in my writing that could drag the quality of my writing down? Furthermore, I…
Kyra
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2 answers

In an action scene, what is it called when a flying/thrown object changes rotation quickly after hitting something?

I am writing an action scene in which a character is thrown/falls and while they are flying through the air either the top or bottom half of their body hits an immovable object mid air, causing them to continue in the same direction but with their…
FrontEnd
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2 answers

Action-packed opening events: cliché or not?

Not a duplicate of Trying to avoid being cliché as that question asks about the opening line, rather than an opening event. I am trying to avoid the many clichés out there, so I had a question about one: Would an action-packed event happening in…
user11111111111
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4 answers

How to write disorientation with sensory overload?

My character has super-senses, so anything that we feel, see, hear, etc. are heightened for him. So much so that when a flash bomb is set a few meters from him, he is greatly affected by this. Symptoms are loss of balance (b/c it affects the ears),…
Lisa_Yo
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4 answers

Having Trouble Writing An Opening Scene With A Shy Character

I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with the opening scene for a fantasy story I'm writing, about a mousy but passionate girl from a family of entertainers who inherits the entertainer's blood. She is bold, daring, and inspiring when lost in her…
Shikinoyume
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