Susanna Rogers – 2nd degree black belt in kickboxing, published romance author. Publishes under the name Nina Blake
- likes to feel powerful
- teaches kickboxing
- can’t run, catch or throw, but can kick and punch
When in stressful situation or danger: fight or flight mechanism kicks in
Physiological changes include:
- heart rate rises
- increased blood flow to muscles
- pupils dilate
- non essential things slow down (digestion stops)
There is a third factor that is rarely mentioned: freeze
When in dangerous situation the key is:
- situational awareness
- trusting instincts
When you are out:
- look around
- be aware of what is around you
- keep an eye out for dangers
- assess level of risk
- trust your gut
Attackers / criminals:
- can easily spot a victim (have trained themselves to do it)
- will go for an easy target
All personal protection is based on the ability to think like the opposition / enemy
Tips & techniques:
- if they want your bag, throw as far as you can in one direction, and run away in the other
- go for soft points: eyes (with thumbs), throat, groin
- yell no, repeatedly
Trust your gut
- nagging feelings
- apprehension
- unease
- if you feel all this, you are probably correct
Don’t rely on anyone else
- they don’t want to get involved
- they don’t know what to do
- a lot of the time will not even call police
- find someone and give instructions
- eg not ‘someone call the police’, instead say ‘you call the police’
Some attackers seem nice, charming
- unwanted assistance
- unwanted information
- loansharking – ‘I have done something for you, you owe me now’
- discounting ‘No’ when you say it
- we expect people to be nice because we are
If you are told to get in a car boot, don’t do it
If you are in a rear boot, kick out the lights and stick your foot through
Stalkers
- say no to them once very clearly
- say ‘I am not interested in a relationship with YOU’
- don’t say I am not interested in anything right now – they will perceive that as in a while
- cease all contact
- friends may feel you are overreacting, but you are not – trust your instincts
Stranger danger:
- it isn’t always a stranger that is the danger
- find someone nice to talk to
- tell children to find a female, with family if possible
Trust your instincts:
- Suzanne had an uncomfortable feeling about a doctor, he was convicted of paedophilia 20 years later
- Aerton Senna didn’t want to race the day he died, he knew there was problems with the car. He did it because he felt pressured – if he had said not, he may have got criticism but would still be alive
- don’t have headphones on and be texting as you walk around – oblivious to surroundings
Writing a fight
- ask yourself why have a fight seen
- should have a purpose
- move a story forward
- link to Goal – Conflict – Motivation
- readers should not think it is unnecessary violence if your story is structured correctly
- just because something is violent does not mean is it gratuitous or unnecessary
beware of numbing effect of too much violence
- too much action becomes ‘another day at the office’ for a protagonist
- will be come routine, boring for reader
Writing a fight seen is a lot like writing a sex scene
- difficult to write
- build up of tension
- build up over time from previous scenes
- if all that happens is a fight, then no point to it, not moving the story forward
Suzanne is a big fan of being in an alley way – think it through
- how does it feel? It will be a different answer depending on geographic location (materials of buildings, the ground, any plants etc)
- what does it smell like?
- who is attacking your heroine? It takes two to fight
- heroine doesn’t fight because she wants to
- she fights because she has to
True character is revealed by the choices a person makes under pressure
- does she crumble?
- does she outwit opponents?
- does she find extra reserves to push on?
- put her in a situation where she has to do what she doesn’t want to do
How we write it
- make it larger than life
- if someone hits with the right it will hit on their left
- think of positioning and flow
- sequence: describe action, show reaction
- eg she punched, he falls back. He stands up and kicks, she dodges
- use lots of action verbs
- watch out for filter words – eg no think, wonder, realise, choose etc
- watch out for ‘could’ and ‘can’ – she does, she takes it
- adverbs – don’t use in fight scenes
- sentences should be short (but do mix it up a bit)
- the fight isn’t over when it is over – there needs to be consequences, show the effect
- physical consequences
- emotional consequences
- could also be police investigation consequences
Then go through scene one more time ‘with feeling’
- senses
- physicality
Make the scene your own, have fun with it, do it your way
Fighting language has made its way into everyday language:
- roll with the punches
- back foot
- backed into a corner
- dropped her guard
So feel free to make up your own terms, find something that has impact outside the ‘everyday’