weaponry - FightWrite

Carrying the Sword on the Back

FightWrite — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:47:38 +0000

In the last post, we looked at writing characters who wield two swords. At the end of the post, I wrote that if your character carries a sword on their back like Deadpool or Michonne from The Walking Dead, you should stop writing. In this post, we will look at wear to carry any weapon, considerations for carrying a sword on the back, and what Deadpool and Michonne are doing wrong. Lastly, will look at why in movies we see so many characters with swords on their backs. I have written about this previously on the blog. This is just …

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Using Two Swords

FightWrite — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:36:05 +0000

I’ve just returned from the Writer’s Digest Conference and what a conference it was. There were great speakers, informative sessions and more food than you could shake a stick at. For my part, I had two successful classes with students who asked great questions. I will talk about one of those questions today. For this month’s FightWrite post on the WD blog, we will be looking at the two-sword fighting style. I have written on this previously but from a fighting perspective more than writing perspective. Is the Two-Sword Style a Thing? I am asked about the two-sword style at …

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Jousting for Writers

FightWrite — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 18:57:18 +0000

If a joust is in your work, this post is for you. Your jousting character will learn to dress the part, follow the rules and hit their mark. You will have all the basics you need for your character to joust their way to victory or vanquishment…or death. Medieval Tournaments and Jousting First, a special thanks to Dakotah Gumm for this question. She reached out to me via social media and asked for a primer. I was happy to oblige. Jousting was a common part of tournaments which were a significant part of medieval culture. Tournaments were held …

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Writing Scenes With Sparring

FightWrite — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 15:47:54 +0000

Sparring scenes matter. To write great scenes with sparring, we first need to understand what sparring is, isn’t, and what makes them great. If you look up “the best fighting movies of all time,” you will see a great deal of overlap in the top ten. I have seen many of those films and they all have something in common beyond fighting sequences. They all have scenes with sparring. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love those scenes. They are far more than action sequences. In this post, we will look at writing scenes with sparring. We will …

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Injuries by Magic: Four Things to Consider

FightWrite — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 19:23:00 +0000

Injuries by magic! If you are a fantasy writer, this is a subject near and dear to your heart. And, at conferences for fantasy writers, it’s a common conversation. On such conference is Realm Makers. This past weekend I had the privilege of attending and mentoring writers at the Realm Makers Writers Conference. If you are a writer of speculative fiction, I cannot suggest this conference highly enough. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for works with elements outside the bounds of the natural world. So, it’s sci fi, fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, dystopian, supernatural, paranormal, alternate history… Basically, if your …

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Bullwhips Use & Bullwhip Injuries

FightWrite — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 15:36:01 +0000

I was recently asked about bullwhip injuries via an IG story posted by @rachelschadeauthor which, I LOVED!!!!! Buy FightWrite the book How to Use a Bullwhip First, if there is a whip in your story, be sure you are referring to the right type of whip. There are five or six types and all have a purpose. The bullwhip is generally the longest and is the kind that Indiana Jones used. All the things Indy did with a whip are legit uses. I took one bullwhip lesson and the concept of use is pretty easy. The whip goes where the …

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Threatening with a Weapon – Why John Wick Doesn’t

FightWrite — Wed, 05 May 2021 19:43:38 +0000

I have a regular post on the Writer’s Digest Blog writing fight scenes! (Imagine that!) In my most recent post, I made a statement about threatening with a weapon which caused a wee bit of a stir on the social media: Our characters should never use a knife simply to intimidate because the presence of a blade immediately ups the stakes. What might have been a fistfight, where a few punches are thrown then everyone goes home, would become a fight to spare one’s life. That’s a very different “why” for fighting. And, if you’ve read my previous posts, you …

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Would You Kill A Robot?

FightWrite — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 21:46:00 +0000

In the post Fighting Robots we looked at ways to best a robot. The goal, of course, being either to thwart the thing or kill it. I got a lot of great feedback on that post and have mentored plenty of authors in ways to kill various and sundry robots. But then I listened to a podcast that made me realize something. How to kill a robot is only part of the problem. The greater issue might be, would we? If you don’t listen to Hidden Brain, you should. It’s an amazing podcast. This particular episode discussed what we learn …

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Blade Damage – What Will Kill

FightWrite — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 16:23:00 +0000

Happy New Year, all! I took a little time off for the holidays and to enjoy a little steaming cup of flu. Ah, good times. Ok, where were we… Oh yeah, your character has been stabbed. You’ve given physical cues, used the correct sort of blade, chosen a great vital target, choreographed a scene and have described the wound down to the last strand of tissue. All that’s left is the aftermath. First and foremost, let’s see if they will survive. Remember, in historical settings, most anything can kill a character. All of these stats I’m listing are from within …

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Predicting Assault W/ and W/O Weapons

FightWrite — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 17:55:00 +0000

We’ve been in a series regarding blades and the damage they cause. For today’s installment, we’re going to hit the rewind button and look at what leads up to blade damage. We’re going to examine precursors to attack. Not fight. Attack. In order for a fight scene to be realistic, everything leading up to it has to be true to life as well. If your character means to do harm, they will give predicative cues. Even if they remain silent, their body will communicate what their mind intends. And, yes, the body will also communicate if a weapon is forthcoming. …

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