Know Your Enemy…and Beat the Crap Out of It

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Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Writing fight scenes between two human characters is difficult enough. We’ve all marveled at the way action movie protagonists can take massive amounts of punishment, including bullet wounds, and come back for more. But what happens when you add fictitious beings to the mix? On the plus side, no one can tell you that your hero’s tactics couldn’t possibly have overcome an entirely imaginary monster. On the other, it’s easier to cheat.

In a post for Writer’s Digest, Carla Hoch examines the principles of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and how they apply to writing fight scenes with monsters. Hoch also offers advice on combatting specific types of enemies: large, small, fast, flying, swimming, and Cthulhu.