Arts & Entertainment, Writing

Writing Action

Lesson time 11:36 min

Action in your story can reveal information about a location, someone’s motivation, and someone’s special skills. David explains how you can use choreography and pacing to maximize the impact of your story’s action.

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Topics include: Use Action to Convey Information • Slow the Pace, Heighten the Impact • Choreograph Action Scenes • Ground Action in Reality • Revealing Character Through Action: The Innocent

David Baldacci

Teaches Mystery and Thriller Writing

In his MasterClass, bestselling thriller author David Baldacci teaches you how he fuses mystery and suspense to create pulse-pounding action.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - Action can be just for action's sake. You want a jolt of adrenaline and get the reader kind of juiced again if maybe the story had flagged a little bit, so all of a sudden you throw, you know, a strike right down the middle and see if they can hit it. But action can also convey information about a location, about someone's motivation, about someone's special skills. Will Robie is an assassin, you know, so obviously in those books, there's a lot of action taking place, but action conveyed through Will Robie shows his sense of professionalism, the special skills that he has, the way he goes about his work. As any of us would with our job, he has certain tools, he has a plan laid out, and he has to execute on that plan under pressure and then exit cleanly. So when I do an action scene where he goes and does a hit, and, you know, he sets it up, and I show you the setup, and I show you the execution, then I show you that egress, getting out safely-- because that's all part of it. You know, it's not a success if he gets killed, you know, in the middle of it. All that shows is really a character study in Will Robie. Even though people might say, "Oh, that's pure action." No. What did you learn about Will Robie in that scene? Well, he's incredibly professional. He knows exactly what he's doing. He puts a lot of prep work in this. It's almost like as you prep is stage, you know, as you all-- as we're doing right now, you prep a stage, everything has to be right down to the last detail, and that enhances your chances of success or not. Same could be said for writing a novel. No detail is too small for this guy because he knows that it's really in the small details where you get tripped up. And it's not does he would lose his job if he makes a mistake and means he's going to lose his life. So action, for me, particularly with a Will Robie series, is a way to really flesh out and deepen his character. [MUSIC PLAYING] You know, and for putting together realistic fight scenes, I think you, again, have to draw a perimeter around what's believable and plausible and what's not. And, for me, I want to have a visceral feel about the effect. When somebody's in a fight, both people are probably going to get some consequence to it. They're going to get hurt. Somebody is going to get gut shot, or knifed, or hit, or bruised, or wounded in some way. So it shouldn't-- the totality shouldn't be on one side or the other. And I like it where-- I like to slow down action scenes. I don't want them to take place too fast. You know, this is not a Bruce Lee movie. So everybody gets to really feel, at the emotional level, of what's going on in this scene. These are human beings. These are not robots going at each other. So what does it feel like to be hit in the gut, or have a kidney punch, or somebody smash you in the throat so you can't breathe, or being slashed with a knife, or shot even in the oblique? So those things have conseque...

About the Instructor

David Baldacci has captivated readers across the world with gripping, suspense-fueled thrillers. Now the New York Times–bestselling author of 38 novels shares his techniques for crafting authentic characters, developing research-based plots, and navigating the world of publishing. Learn how to write a novel with red herrings, clues, and plot twists that will keep your readers turning the pages.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

David Baldacci

In his MasterClass, bestselling thriller author David Baldacci teaches you how he fuses mystery and suspense to create pulse-pounding action.

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