StarFall: Need Help

[Tom Russell]

On Sep 10, 1:18Â pm, Scott Eiler <sei... at eilertech.com> wrote:
> On Sep 9, 6:16Â pm, Phantasm <phantom_belc... at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >http://dagwood.sandwich.net/starfall/current/Silver_Arrow_03.txtis
> > what I currently have for it. Â It's not done, but for the most part
> > what it needs is the fight scene and some input on fleshing some other
> > aspects of it out before I post it. Â Can anyone help out?
>
> > This is certainly one of those times I miss my writing partner.
>
> Back in the day, when I wrote more fight scenes, I gamed them out with
> my favorite superhero RPG.

One thing I try to do with action scenes-- with varying degrees of
success-- is to find the "and", as in, "Hero vs. Villain, AND the
floor is giving way underneath them" or "Hero vs. Villain, AND the
hero's gadgets are malfunctioning".  It's that little something extra,
that little wrinkle, that makes the scene memorable and often gives it
some structure.  There should never be "just" a fight scene, or a
"basic" or "ordinary" one-- every scene should have its "and".

Sometimes the "and" is a character thing, like "Hero vs. Villain, AND
hero has something to prove to himself" or "Hero vs. Archnemesis, AND
hero is thinking about all the battles that have led up to this one",
and in those cases, since that emotional business is structuring the
scene, I won't put in some kind of schtick that distracts from that
emotional thorough-line.  But if you're doing light-hearted action-as-
fun action, maybe a more schtick-y "and" would be best.

Just my two cents.

==Tom