One way to improve your action writing is by writing a scene with a simple premise: two characters get into a fight. This may sound overly simplistic, but that’s why it works as a perfect tool to practice action scene writing. An engaging action scene in manuscript format can’t be solely about the action taking place because simply reading about punching and kicking doesn’t translate the same way in a book that it does on screen. Instead, the focus should be on what is at stake on a character level.

By writing a scene based on this simple, you’re able to focus on the why behind the fight, rather than making the action exciting as we’re often feeling pressured to do. For example, let’s say we have two characters: Matt and David. Matt and David get into a fight, why? Are they two friends who had a falling out based on some dishonest behavior, only to wind up running into each other at a bar one night and having it out? If that’s the case, what was the lie and what did it cost each of them?

Or are they two strangers out at a club who bump into each other, a few harsh words are exchanged, and suddenly punches are being thrown? If that’s the case, what put them each in a bad mood? Maybe one of them just has anger issues, what has his anger cost him in his life? What could this moment cost him, should it get too out of hand? There is so much going on behind a fight and, in a manuscript format, focusing on these aspects is how you’ll be able to keep readers engaged and excited about the action.

Writing Prompt: Write a scene where two characters get into a fight. You can choose two already-made characters or create two new ones for the purposes of the scene. What is the relationship between the two characters? What caused the fight vs. why are they fighting (sometimes these are two different answers)? What are the stakes of their fight, both internally and externally? Put your dukes up, writers.

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Strange Happenings

One way to hint to your reader that your protagonist is ‘the chosen one’ is to have strange occurrences happening around them. Perhaps someone is after them and they keep narrowly avoiding death. A stray hockey puck is flung toward their head while they’re watching their friend play or a car almost hits them out of nowhere while they’re on the sidewalk. A near-death experience happening once can be life-altering, but when it happens repetitively the reader will start to suspect something more is going on.

There is a wide array of strange external events that can signal to the reader that a character may be ‘the chosen one’. Perhaps a man in a trench coat has been following your character everywhere for the past few weeks. Or maybe it has rained everywhere they go for the past month. Maybe they’re having a string of bad luck from breaking mirrors to seeing black cats, to a series of injuries. Or even the opposite, a string of good luck where they seem to magically be getting everything they wanted out of nowhere.

These strange happenings, ranging from the bizarre to the supernatural, can hint to the reader that something more is happening with a certain character. This will help make sense of the ‘chosen one’ reveal when it happens.

Inner Qualities

Just as there should be external evidence of your character being ‘the chosen one’, there should be internal evidence as well. This could come in the form of strange occurrences happening within your character. Maybe they sit down to have cereal for breakfast and their spoon seems to come to their fingers as if by magic. Perhaps they’re laying in bed at night, thinking of a certain place they’d like to be, and then all of a sudden they find themselves there. Or even that they’re thinking about getting a haircut when suddenly they realize their hair has morphed into exactly what they were thinking.

This could also involve setting up the personal traits that help make this character ‘the chosen one’. Things like empathy, compassion, kindness, bravery, resourcefulness- these are traits that ‘the chosen one’ has, regardless of the story and context. Setting your character up to have these traits, even to have them in nontraditional ways, can allow your reader to anticipate where the story is going and also to gain an appreciation for your character.

For example, let’s say your chosen character isn’t an outwardly sweet and benevolent person, but we get a small scene where they give the last piece of their sandwich to a stray dog. This hints at the idea that they’re more like a chosen one than they may first appear.

Friendships/Relationships

Another way to show rather than tell your readers that your character is ‘the chosen one’ is to utilize that character’s friendships, family, and relationships. One way they can be utilized is to further highlight the character’s ‘chosen one’ traits. For example, your character can have a conversation where they give their friends sage advice and their friend expresses gratitude toward them. This scene, or a similar one, will highlight how your character is benevolent through action, rather than by directly telling the reader.

The friends and relationships of ‘the chosen one’ can also be useful in that they can be used to further highlight some of the strange happenings surrounding the character. Let’s say one character is with your protagonist for multiple strange happenings, they can point out the various linking events through dialogue with your protagonist. On a character level, this will allow your protagonist to have their suspicions confirmed. It will also provide further confirmation of bizarre events for the reader.

Finally, the relationships between ‘the chosen one’ and other characters can be used as a strange event in and of themselves. Perhaps everyone starts treating the protagonist differently all of a sudden, whether in a positive or negative light. They will start to wonder what is wrong with all of their friends or family, which will then prompt their suspicions and make the ‘chosen one’ reveal pay off.

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1) POV

Parent to child relationships are very unique as it involves two lives shaping one another in a lot of ways. Primarily we think of children being shaped by their parents, but the reverse is possible as well where a parent can be affected by something their child says or does. How you portray the relationship and who is being shaped in the scenes you write depends on the point of view of your story.

As with any manuscript, your protagonist should be the one who has an arc and who is continuously changing as the story progresses. Therefore, whoever’s POV the relationship takes place from should be the character that is being shaped by the scene. For example, say you’re doing a flashback to a childhood memory your protagonist has. The memory should be of an event or occurrence where their parent said or did something that affected them, not the other way around.

2) Positive Impact

Events or words exchanged between parents and children in literature can either have a positive or negative impact on the person being affected in the scene. It doesn’t have to be completely black and white, you can create some bittersweet moments between them, but ultimately the reader should be able to see how and why the moment affected your protagonist. In addition, if you’re doing a coming of age story where a large focus is a relationship your protagonist had with their parent, it would be best to balance some positive and negative impact moments so that the whole relationship doesn’t feel one dimensional.

A moment with a positive impact is a moment where the parent teaches their child (or vice versa) something important and positive that they’ll hold onto. This could be done through an actual sit down where they give their child advice, but it can also be more subtle by just having the child observe a virtuous behavior from their parents and learn from their actions.

3) Negative Impact

Just as there are moments where parents impact us positively, there are moments they impact us negatively. As much as every parent wishes to the contrary, not one parent has done every single thing perfectly. If you’re displaying a parent to child relationship that your character views negatively, then you’ll likely flashback to or write out a lot of scenes where they have negative interactions with one another. In addition, if your book largely focuses on a parent to child relationship, it’s important to balance out the positive and negative aspects of their relationship (even if we’re largely meant to view it in a positive light).

Negative impact moments can also come in many forms. When you think of a negative moment, your first thought is likely about a parent yelling at their child. But it could just as easily be a moment of neglect where a child is asking their parent to play with them or talk to them only to be rejected. It could also be a child witnessing a behavior from their parent that they view negatively, which could be anything from a substance abuse problem to a gossiping problem.

4) Familial Mannerisms

The primary manner of showing relationships is through action, mannerisms, body language, dialogue, etc. Obviously a character’s behavior, speech, and mannerisms around their parents or children are going to be very different than how they’d behave around friends or a romantic partner. Perhaps they try not to swear out of politeness or they’re quicker to be annoyed at very little. Maybe a child will lean their head on their parent’s shoulder or kiss their cheek or hold their hand to show affection. Perhaps the parent will lay their child’s head in their lap and pet their hair to help them relax. Think about the types of physical mannerisms that you display around your family or that your friends display around theirs. Think of how you edit your speech, even unconsciously, when you’re around your parents.

5) Attitude toward other family members

Another aspect that can partially shape a parent to child relationship (and show readers how they’re supposed to feel about it) is the parent or child’s relationship with other family members vs. their immediate relationship with one another. Let’s take a mother and daughter relationship as an example. If the mother is pulling aside the daughter and giving her secret gifts or confiding things in her that she says ‘don’t tell your siblings’, your reader will get the sense that they have a closer bond or a unique bond compared to the other kids. If, however, we see the daughter trying to make time with her Mom, but Mom keeps making plans with her son (daughter’s brother) instead, that is new and important detail informing how the reader is meant to feel about their relationship.

6) Attitude toward the world at large

Children will have rare moments every once in a while where they view their parents as just people rather than just their parents (the same applies to how parents view their kids). Giving your protagonist moments where they get to observe how their parent (or child) views the world will allow them to see them in a different light than they do otherwise. For example, perhaps Mom is super loving and sweet at home, but out in the world, she’s tough and no-nonsense. This could tell her child that perhaps this is closer to what her real personality is like, but that she just has a soft spot for her family. On the other hand, it could also tell her child that she’s protective or views the world negatively as though it’s out to get her, so she feels that she has to put her guard up around strangers. Creating moments of observation like this for your readers to witness allows them to watch as your protagonist learns more about their parent/child, but also allows them to see those revelations for themselves.

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