Writing the Fight Scene Part 3 (Understanding The Trained Fighter Part 1)

In the last post on “Writing the Fight Scene,” we entered into the mind, strategy, and fear of the untrained fighter. In these blogs, I admit that I am painting with a wide general brush. There are exceptions to what I am writing. But, generally to the untrained fighter, the fight or battle strategy to them is on the level of tic-tac-toe. The trained fighter has a strategy mentality that is on a higher level. In comparison to tic-tac-toe, the trained fighter’s strategy is much closer to chess or shogi or even three dimensional chess if they are very high trained. Before we can begin to understand the strategy of a character who is a highly trained fighter, we first must understand what their training is.

Trained fighters are trained to fight unarmed against a multitude of weapons from clubs to firearms. Most trained fighters are also trained to use some if not all of these weapons. Behind this training is a philosophy of movement, action, and thought regarding attack and defense. When a fighter is trained, he or she is trained in some kind of martial art. While the term "martial art" usually conjures the picture of Asian combat, my use of this term does not exclude other forms of fighting. By using the term “martial art,” I am also referring to boxing, wrestling, fencing, and everything else that requires the person or character to undergo training in how to fight.

With that said, let us look at who is considered to be a trained fighter, and then how they are trained. A trained fighter is typically:

Someone who is or has severed as a police officer;
Someone who is or has severed in the military; and/or
Someone who spends hours in a fighting gym (this refers to anything from a boxing gym to a dojo or fencing club and so on).

Each style of martial arts has a unique philosophy (or mental process) behind its development. For example, Judo or Jujitsu focuses on throwing, grappling, and holds. Whereas “European” fencing (what you see at the Olympics under the term fencing) is more focused on movement and striking with in a narrowly defined fighting area (the strip). Thus each philosophy has a set of “rules” that govern how the fighter thinks and there is a science of physics behind the fighting style.

In the next entry, I will begin to go into how Police and Armed Forces are trained and what the philosophy is behind their style of training is. Then I will go into martial arts and try to show the various different philosophies there. After that we will go into how fighters fight and then return to the chorography of writing the fight scene and understanding how the setting affects the fight.

Please leave comments with questions on this material. I will be happy to expand on an area in this topic or give everyone an answer to your question in the next entry. Believe me, if you have a question, so do a lot of people who may not voice it.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

First of the Month Book Giveaway: Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis

In case you didn't know, St. Louis, Missouri is a blossoming hub for writers. Have you ever wished that you could sit down and talk to a group of great writers?  How about a chance to interview:

• Eric Pankey: Poet
• Harper Barnes: Novelist
• Tess Gallagher: Poet
• Jean-Claude Baker: Biographer
• Carl Phillips: Poet
• Donald Finkel: Poet
• Ntozake Shange: Poet, Playwright, and Novelist
• Eddy L. Harris: Non-fiction writer
• John N. Morris: Poet
• Gerald Early: Essayist
• Kathleen Finneran: Memoirist
• Qui Xiaolong: Poet and Novelist
• Jane O. Wayne: Poet

All of these great writers interviewed by journalist, poet, writer, and fierce spirit Catherine Rankovic.

From Amazon.com about this book:

In "Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis, author Catherine Rankovic invites us into the intimate space of the personal interview with thirteen well-known writers who were living and working in St. Louis or visiting the city in the service of their art. Included in this collection are interviews with Carl Phillips, Kathleen Finneran, Gerald Early, Don Finkel, and Ntozake Shange, to name a few. Rankovic conducted most of the interviews during the 1990s while working as a journalist. The interviews, thus, form a record of the development of these creative personalities, a snapshot of a moment in their lives against which to measure current and future achievements. Recently Rankovic added interviews with three more acclaimed St. Louis writers, making the book a must-have resource for anyone interested in contemporary American literature. A photograph of each writer, a sample of the writer's work, and a biographical introduction precede each interview."

"Charlie Reilly, Professor of English, Montgomery County Community College, PA, Editor, Conversations with Amiri Baraka: Right from that eye-catching title, you can tell this book is special. Not only does Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis serve up that electricity which has always been part of the St. Louis literary scene, but its broad canvas and incisive comments provide insight after insight about the way literature is written and the way authors worry their materials into print. Want to know why Josephine Baker's adopted and not-quite-adoptedsons said their mother was afraid of love? Why Ntozake Shange, author of the Broadway hit For Colored Girls Who Have Committed Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf insists "I still say I'm from St. Louis and I'm very glad to be claimed by St. Louis"? Why Chinese poet and novelist Qiu Xiaolong worries about being arrested if he everv returns home? Why Jane O. Wayne's poetry has been influenced by her obsession "with not being able to find doors"? It's all here in a rich literary context, framed and focued by Catherine Rankovic's precise questions and enriched by her unfailing background materials. A worthy book and a fine job of it!

Don Marsh, Host, "St. Louis on the Air," KWMU, St. Louis Public Radio: I found Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis to be an interesting insight into many writers who are not household names to the general public. Of special interest is the peek we get into the creative processes during their most productive years. Of course, it was a pleasure to learn that St. Louis was such a positive cultural nurturing ground. It was also enlightening to learn of the people who shaped the writers' lives.

Lisa Ampleman, Associate Editor, River Styx Literary Journal: In Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis, Catherine Rankovic introduces us to thirteen writers whose work and lives intersect with the Gateway City. These lively conversations and profiles show us the active minds behind the poems, stories, and memoirs, and many explore the question: why write in a particular place? The picture of St. Louis that emerges is that of a city struggling, among other things, with its racial inheritance but feeding the creative energy of these writers who often work in more than one genre. A special gem: the interview of the late, reticent John N. Morris, who recognizes writing as a way of "drawing attention to yourself." The attentions Rankovic pays to him and to her other interviewees enlarge our understanding of the literary life in St. Louis.

"About the Author
Catherine Rankovic has a B.A. from Marquette University and an M.F.A. from Washington University. She is the author of Island Universe: Essays and Entertainments (2007), and Fierce Consent and Other Poems (2005). Her work appears in several anthologies including Are We Feeling Better Yet? Women Speak About Health Care in America (2008). Her prizewinning poetry and essays have been published in The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, River Styx, 13th Moon, Margie, Boulevard, Natural Bridge, and many other journals. She has taught creative writing at several universities and in community workshops."

Personally, I have had the honor of know Catherine and the privilege of learning from her. She is a fierce personality and a fantastic poet and writer.

On March 3rd, I will post a Coffee with David interview with Catherine.

How do you win a free signed copy of this novel?  To enter the contest, simply leave a comment or question on the Coffee with David blog between now (March 1st) and midnight March 31, 2012. Please include your email so I can reach you if you win. The more comments you leave, the greater your chance of winning the contest. If you refer others to Coffee with David who mention your name in their comments, I'll enter your name again in our random number generator along with theirs, also increasing your chances at winning! The winner will be chosen after midnight on Saturday March 31, and the announcement made on Sunday, April 1st, when I will post the next contest. Good luck and comment often.

Next week, I will bring the next segment in the series "Writing the Fight Scene" blogs. Emails I have received asking questions have led to future blog posts.  So, keep the comments or emails coming and I will either answer you by email and/or make the question and answer a blog entry in this series.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

Having Coffee with Award Winning Author Rick Skwiot

This week, it is my pleasure to present an interview with award winning author Rick Skwiot.  Rick has won the Hemingway First Novel award, was a Willa Cather Fiction Prize finalist and is an acclaimed memoir writer.   His latest novel, Key West Story (which you have a chance to win a free copy of) was just released.

Please grab a cup of coffee, or drink of your choice, and join me for a Coffee with David author interview.

David Alan Lucas: Your latest novel, Key West Story, has just been released.  While, my readers can learn more about your novel at www.keyweststory.com, what was the idea behind this novel?

Rick Skwiot: Key West is a surreal place that serves as an ark and sanctuary for people escaping various ills: outstanding warrants, crappy weather, dysfunctional families, repressive governments, bad marriages, bad mortgages, etc. It’s the most culturally diverse place I know and the most insane. For those who don’t know the island’s underside, I wanted to show it to them. Think of Key West Story as a guidebook to its emotional life and soul.

DAL: What was the hardest part of writing Key West Story?

RS: The first 15 drafts. The next 15 were lots easier. What made the difference—and made it a lot more fun to write and, I hope, to read—was my conjuring up the ghost of a young Ernest Hemingway to act as a mentor and foil to my protagonist, a rudderless writer washed up in Key West. But actually trying to figure out what should happen in the novel you’re writing is sweet agony—the hardest part.

DAL: You are a veteran journalist. Do you approach your novel writing with a different mindset than you approach a journalistic story?

RS:  My mindset is entirely different. In journalism you strive to keep yourself and your opinions out of the story. In fiction you work to put the deepest parts of yourself into the story in order to arrive at some emotional truth. Journalism is more a matter of researching the facts of a story and then arranging those facts in an entertaining and/or informative way. In a novel, before you can arrange the facts, you have to make them all up, and that usually means digging deep into yourself and your experience. 

DAL: What themes in your fiction writing seem to drive you the most?

RS:  The search for home seems to dominate—which often includes a search for identity. In Key West Story, most of the characters are searching for home—Con, Cat, Eva, Aurora, Ricardo, Rebecca Hemingway, Marta, etc. And because it is a comedy and not a tragedy, most all of them succeed. 

DAL:  How easy was it to take the leap of faith to become a serious writer and chase this career? What did you find that you had to do to take the step?

RS:  “Leap of faith” nails it—but there was a lot of tip-toeing around the precipice trying to build some faith in oneself before making the jump. Coming from a working-class background, I never knew any writers, and working as serious novelist and memoirist wasn’t on my radar. But I built some self-confidence as a journalist and freelance writer (which I still am) that enabled me to entertain the possibility. Finally I was able to flee to Mexico and immerse myself in literature, creative writing craft and the artist’s life—that was the leap. I had to change who I was, to metamorphose from an aimless hedonist into an artist, in order to create art. A frightening step into nothingness, since I wasn’t sure who would emerge on the other side. I have chronicled that period of my life in my book San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: Memoir of a Sensual Quest for Spiritual Healing. I recommend it to anyone contemplating such a leap.

DAL: In your journalistic career, is there any story that stands out as the most interesting or compelling to you that you wrote?

RS: No one story stands out, but my cumulative work as a journalist—much of it interviewing scientists, academic researchers, doctors and other driven, accomplished, and passionate people—has made me more optimistic about the world’s future. If you read the daily news you get the impression that the world’s going to hell. But the reality is that over the long-term things are getting better—the world is becoming safer, healthier, better educated (we’re talking globally, here) and smarter. The big story is the explosion of computer science and technology over the past 30 years, which is changing the ways in which we do most everything and expanding our knowledge exponentially.

DAL: What was your biggest fear when you decided to first be published as a novelist?  Do you still have those fears with each new book or are there other fears that come up?

RS:  My biggest fear is making a public ass of myself, that is, the fear of putting out pretentious, overwritten, dishonest or unintentionally laughable stuff. Thank God for advance readers and editors! Luckily, I have here in Key West good friends who are accomplished novelists or editors and who save me from myself by reading early drafts and making good suggestions for revision. Of course, the only defense when some really inept work slips into print is, “If you think that’s bad, you should have seen the early drafts!” 

DAL: If you could have coffee (or drink of your choice) with four other authors from any time period, who would you choose and why?

RS: First and foremost, Colette—Champagne at her place. See why here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ColetteReveEgypte1907.JPG... But perhaps you mean from a more literary viewpoint. Then number one would be Georges Simenon. His lean, pointillist approach greatly influenced my prose style. Plus he was a great man about town in Paris and loved to carouse…Mark Twain would be a hoot to have a drink with, and he liked to drink. As did H.L. Mencken, perhaps our greatest journalist, critic and man of letters. Henry Miller would be lots of fun as well—a man who had many instructive things to say about the creative process and with whom I share a transcendentalist bent. All three Americans were very funny guys, great writers and seemingly great companions. (And in Key West Story my protagonist Con Martens has such a dream come true: He gets to hang out with Ernest Hemingway sent from Writers Heaven to help him find himself again--fishing, drinking and sailing to Havana.)

DAL: You have been a professor teaching young writers creative writing and you are the co-founder of Key West Writers Lab, which is dedicated to coaching serious writers.  I can only imagine that you have a treasure trove of information that could be shared with other writers.  If there was one piece of advice that you could give to any fellow writer, what would it be?

RS: One boozy Mexican night circa 1988, my late and lamented friend Peter Kosovic—a former director and producer for the Canadian Broadcasting System—told me: “Work to perfect your vision, Rick, grasp it with all your might and shove it up their ass!” (I can picture his accompanying gestures.) Excellent advice: Be true to yourself and follow your heart; work with determination and intensity; and never ever give up.

DAL: How could my readers learn more about you?

RS: Read my books—memoirs and novels alike, but particularly the novels. A writer reveals more about himself or herself in fiction than in autobiography. Which is why it’s so scary publishing it. The deepest parts of you creep into the work—what’s really in your soul—particularly the stuff you’re trying to hide.   

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.