I'm Convinced That Mo Guan Shan Apologizes The Way Many Mothers Do: He Brings A Plate Of Sliced Fruit

Writing fight scenes

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1. Pacing

A fight scene should be fast-paced and intense. Unless it's a final battle with numerous parties, a fight scene that's too long tends to take away suspense. To speed up your pacing, use active voice to describe movement and don't overdescribe your characters' thoughts. Excessive inner monologue will be unrealistic, as people usually have no room to think during intense combats.

2. Character mannerisms

Here's a point that people often overlook, but is actually super important. Through fight scenes, you should be able to reveal your characters' contrasting mannerisms and personality. A cunning character would play dirty - fighting less and making use of their opponent's weakness more. A violent character would aim to kill. A softer one would only target to disarm their enemies, using weakened attacks. A short-minded character would only rely on force and attack without thinking. This will help readers understand your characters more and decide who to root for.

3. Making use of surroundings

Not only the characters, you also need to consider the setting of your fight scene and use it to your advantage. Is it suitable for fighting, or are there dangerous slopes that make it risky? Are there scattered items that can help your characters fight (e.g. nails, shards of glass, ropes, wooden boards, or cutlery)? Is it a public place where people can easily spot the fight and call the authorities, or is it a private spot where they can fight to the death?

4. Description

The main things that you need to describe in a fight scene are :

• Characters involved in the fight

• How they initiate and dodge attacks

• Fighting styles and any weapons used

• The injuries caused

Be careful to not drag out the description for too long, because it slows down the pace.

5. Raise the stakes

By raising the stakes of the fight, your readers will be more invested in it. Just when they think it's over, introduce another worse conflict that will keep the scene going. Think of your characters' goals and motivations as well. Maybe if the MC didn't win, the world would end! Or maybe, one person in the fight is going all-out, while the other is going easy because they used to be close :"D

6. Injuries

Fights are bound to be dirty and resulting in injuries, so don't let your character walk away unscathed - show the effect of their injuries. For example, someone who had been punched in the jaw has a good chance of passing out, and someone who had been stabbed won't just remove the knife and walk away without any problem. To portray realistic injuries, research well.

7. Drive the plot forward

You don't write fight scenes only to make your characters look cool - every fight needs to have a purpose and drive the plot forward. Maybe they have to fight to improve their fighting skills or escape from somewhere alive. Maybe they need to defeat the enemy in order to obtain an object or retrieve someone who had been kidnapped. The point is, every single fight scene should bring the characters one step closer (or further :D) to the climax.

8. Words to use

• Hand to hand combat :

Crush, smash, lunge, beat, punch, leap, slap, scratch, batter, pummel, whack, slam, dodge, clobber, box, shove, bruise, knock, flick, push, choke, charge, impact

• With weapon :

Swing, slice, brandish, stab, shoot, whip, parry, cut, bump, poke, drive, shock, strap, pelt, plunge, impale, lash, bleed, sting, penetrate

19 Days Summary: Chapter 1-397

I've been keeping a running summary for myself (I've been reading this for years!), but I think it's probably useful for anyone who's wondering, "What chapter is it where..." So here it is!

Colors only show chapters that make up a day: a series of green entries, for example, shows a single day, and then there's a change of color for the next day. Flash forwards (adult-ish scenes) are in white.

he tian: little mo, you look sick. you might be lacking vitamin me~

mo guan shan: and you might be lacking brains.

he tian: do you have two tongues in your mouth? mo guan shan: no. he tian: do you want to?

*texting*

zhan zheng xi: you're cute.

jian yi: aww tysm

zhan zheng xi: i don't have autism.

like father like son

he tian: i need to lose some weight. you've spoiled me, redhead.

mo guan shan: fuck no *cooks 10 times more*

40-year-old he tian has a little tummy. he's still fit and in good shape, it's just that mo's cooking is too delicious to resist. and mo guan shan absolutely loves it, because tian's finally eating (and sleeping) normally.

we all know that little mo has a praise kink, right?? he tian knows for sure, because apparently he also has a kink on mo's praise kink.

Tian: [kisses Mo's forehead]

Mo: You missed.

Tian: ...?

Mo:[Brings Tian down and kisses him on the lips]

Tian *pass away*

He Tian would buy kitchen fornitures based on how Mo would look like bent on them. Like even the height of the table, the material, the roughness of it's shape. I feel like it would be the only help he could give to house shopping. Mo's having a tough time getting railed on a too high counter? He must change that. Mo's getting stung and scratches on the top of his tighs because of the sharpness of that table? He must throw that away and buy a soft edged one. It will be like that sometimes. (I hope it's understandable, English's not my first XO)