Scan barcode
mfh's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
5.0
An absolute must have for any and all writers. This entire book is basically just a compilation of all the things that you need to know for your story with regards to anatomy and action sequences, as well as a variety of weapons and advice about a wide variety of martial arts and their functions. The author has a great deal of experience as both a writer and martial artist and thus you can tell that the advice is based on real world experience and dedication. This book is absolutely phenomenal when it comes to helping the action writer create scenes that are both thrilling and accurate to how they would play out in the real world. It's also an incredibly fast and accessible read that really keeps you fascinated until the end. Cannot recommend highly enough.
sugarbloom's review against another edition
5.0
This lady knows her stuff. I had the pleasure of attending two of her classes at a writer's conference last year, and she brought to life so many aspects of fight scenes that I had never considered before. Owning this book is almost as good as being in the class, although not quite, because you don't get to watch her beat up on the conference faculty members.
FightWrite is short enough that you can skim through it in an afternoon, but you'd have to read it many more times to absorb all the info, and keeping it around for quick reference is a must. There are sections included on guns, knives, swords, poisons, different types of martial arts, weapons of opportunity, punches, kicks, and ground fighting, and much more.
There's something in this book for writers of any genre - true crime, action, thriller, scifi, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, etc. As long as your fight contains physical elements, Fight Write will have something that applies, and you just might learn something for your next story along the way.
FightWrite is short enough that you can skim through it in an afternoon, but you'd have to read it many more times to absorb all the info, and keeping it around for quick reference is a must. There are sections included on guns, knives, swords, poisons, different types of martial arts, weapons of opportunity, punches, kicks, and ground fighting, and much more.
There's something in this book for writers of any genre - true crime, action, thriller, scifi, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, etc. As long as your fight contains physical elements, Fight Write will have something that applies, and you just might learn something for your next story along the way.
polarbearisla's review
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.25
Great book! Funny, informative, and concise
lynwebster's review against another edition
5.0
I was only a quarter of the way through the digital ARC of this book when I went online and ordered a paperback copy for myself. I already knew this was a reference book I wanted on my shelves. I imagine I’ll be dipping into it often.
I know nothing about fighting in real life and up until now I haven’t included many physical fights in my novels. This is partly due to my ignorance and partly because I don’t find long descriptions of battles and fights very interesting to read. But when this book came up on Netgalley, I thought it might be of some use on those occasions when I just couldn’t avoid writing about an aggressive physical encounter. I didn’t really have any expectations beyond that: a few tips to help me avoid looking stupid when I was writing fight scenes. I certainly didn’t expect to be blown away by what Carla Hoch has done here.
She has combined knowledge from the fields of physiology, psychology, sociology, statistics, language, as well as martial arts, battle strategy and even law, into a handbook specifically tailored to the needs and concerns of fiction writers. And if that makes the book sound dry and academic, it isn’t. Hoch writes in an easy-to-understand style, with plenty of examples to illustrate her points. In fact, her tone is so casual, and at times even jokey, that it grated on me occasionally in the beginning. But this is a very minor criticism and doesn’t diminish the usefulness of the book in any way.
And that usefulness goes beyond fight scenes. There is good information here for deepening characterisation in all kinds of situations. For instance, one chapter, entitled Pre-Incident Indicators, details behaviours that can signal predatory intent and lead to an aggressive incident. This was gold. My mind went immediately to the villain of my current novel in progress, a manipulator who does end up perpetrating violence. I was pleased to realise that I had instinctively included some of the behaviours mentioned by Hoch in early appearances of the character. But I noted down a few other gems to sprinkle through relevant scenes. It was at this point that I bought the book.
The remaining three quarters of the volume contains detailed information about Fighting Styles, Weaponry and Injuries. I’ve never felt the desire to know how it sounds/looks/feels to be stabbed, but some day, I may need to know exactly that to write a realistic scene. Carla Hoch has my back.
Hoch doesn’t restrict herself to describing human conflict either. In the section on Fighting Styles, alongside many forms of martial arts, she includes points to consider if your character is fighting a robot, an alien or a mythological creature. There is even a short section on Psychological Warfare.
I unreservedly recommend Fight Write to writers in any genre who want to create vivid, realistic, heart-pounding fight scenes that also add richness both to plot and characterisation.
I know nothing about fighting in real life and up until now I haven’t included many physical fights in my novels. This is partly due to my ignorance and partly because I don’t find long descriptions of battles and fights very interesting to read. But when this book came up on Netgalley, I thought it might be of some use on those occasions when I just couldn’t avoid writing about an aggressive physical encounter. I didn’t really have any expectations beyond that: a few tips to help me avoid looking stupid when I was writing fight scenes. I certainly didn’t expect to be blown away by what Carla Hoch has done here.
She has combined knowledge from the fields of physiology, psychology, sociology, statistics, language, as well as martial arts, battle strategy and even law, into a handbook specifically tailored to the needs and concerns of fiction writers. And if that makes the book sound dry and academic, it isn’t. Hoch writes in an easy-to-understand style, with plenty of examples to illustrate her points. In fact, her tone is so casual, and at times even jokey, that it grated on me occasionally in the beginning. But this is a very minor criticism and doesn’t diminish the usefulness of the book in any way.
And that usefulness goes beyond fight scenes. There is good information here for deepening characterisation in all kinds of situations. For instance, one chapter, entitled Pre-Incident Indicators, details behaviours that can signal predatory intent and lead to an aggressive incident. This was gold. My mind went immediately to the villain of my current novel in progress, a manipulator who does end up perpetrating violence. I was pleased to realise that I had instinctively included some of the behaviours mentioned by Hoch in early appearances of the character. But I noted down a few other gems to sprinkle through relevant scenes. It was at this point that I bought the book.
The remaining three quarters of the volume contains detailed information about Fighting Styles, Weaponry and Injuries. I’ve never felt the desire to know how it sounds/looks/feels to be stabbed, but some day, I may need to know exactly that to write a realistic scene. Carla Hoch has my back.
Hoch doesn’t restrict herself to describing human conflict either. In the section on Fighting Styles, alongside many forms of martial arts, she includes points to consider if your character is fighting a robot, an alien or a mythological creature. There is even a short section on Psychological Warfare.
I unreservedly recommend Fight Write to writers in any genre who want to create vivid, realistic, heart-pounding fight scenes that also add richness both to plot and characterisation.
thomasseifert's review against another edition
4.0
helpful book: Carla Hoch gathers the expertise of martial arts masters, policemen, psychologists and military on fighting styles, weapons and the injuries they inflict (including the psychological ones), how fights start and how they end. Its a very useful book, if you write action/fight scenes - I found it better researched and more suited to me needs than Rayne Halls "Writing Fight Scenes".
kdbooks55's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent book that's been well researched. Highly recommend!!