The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

Home » The Writing Life » Page 48

The Writing Life

058 How to Write Believable Fight Scenes with Carla Hoch

By
Share
Tweet
10

Often Christian books get a bad rap in the general market. Part of the reason for this is that there are certain aspects of a book where readers expect a certain level of quality, and they don’t find it.

One of those areas is fight scenes.

One of my goals with this podcast is to help elevate the quality of Christian writing. Which is why I am particularly excited about today’s guest.

Our guest, Carla Hoch, is a martial arts practitioner and she literally wrote the book on writing fight scenes for Writers Digest (Affiliate Link).

Questions:

  • Let’s start with the basics, what is a fight scene and what is not a fight scene?
  • Is it a sin to put a fight scene in your book?
  • How are fight scenes different for Christian books?
  • What makes a fight scene a good fight scene?
  • What are the most important elements of a good fight scene?
  • Let’s talk about weapons: What do authors get wrong about swords?
  • What do authors get wrong about bows?
  • What do authors get wrong about guns?
    • A significant number of US readers know about guns. There are more privately held guns in America than there are people.
    • Guns of all kinds are much louder than you realize. Even silenced guns are louder than portrayed on TV.
    • Guns are a lot heavier than you think.
    • You can tell by looking if a modern pistol is empty.
    • No one holds a pistol with one hand if they intend to shoot it.
    • Pistols have a very short distance. Writers who play a lot of video games can get this wrong.
    • Recoil hurts and it messes with your aim.
    • It is terrifying to have a gun pointed at you.
    • The color of the gun doesn’t change its lethality.
  • Now you wrote the book on fight scenes, What compelled you to write about this topic?
  • What mistakes do Christian Authors make when crafting fight scenes?
  • What have you learned about God while writing fight scenes?
  • What is the one common myth about fight scenes that you want to debunk?
  • Softball Question Time: Where can Christian authors go if they want to learn more about writing fight scenes?
  • We are almost out of time, any final tips or encouragement?

Links:

The post 058 How to Write Believable Fight Scenes appeared first on Christian Publishing Show.

Leave a Comment
Category:

The Editorial Process

By
Share
Tweet
23

It is important to understand the process through which a book takes under the umbrella called “The Edit.” I meet many first timers who think it is just a one-time pass over their words and that is all that will ever happen. And many who self-publish think that hiring a high school English teacher to check for grammar is enough of an edit.

There are four major stages to the Editorial Process. …

Read moreThe Editorial Process
Category: , , , , , Tag: , , , ,

A Writer’s Double Portion (A Prayer)

By
Share
Tweet
46

Gracious God, who inspired faulty and feeble people in times past to write for the purpose of changing lives, please let some of that spirit–a double portion, even, as I am faultier and feebler than they were—rest on me as a writer. Grant me the productivity of Moses, who though he lived in an age before paper or press is credited with “the books of Moses,” revered as Torah by …

Read moreA Writer’s Double Portion (A Prayer)
Category: , ,

057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think

By
Share
Tweet
8

The following is the outline I used to record this episode. It is not the episode itself! I encourage you to listen to the episode if you can. Why Publishers Care About Platform: Michael Hyatt popularized the term when he started blogging about it about 10 years ago. He also wrote a book about it (Affiliate Link) in 2012. Platform is seen as an indication that books will sell. Authors without …

Read more057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think
Category:

057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think

By
Share
Tweet
0

The following is the outline I used to record this episode. It is not the episode itself! I encourage you to listen to the episode if you can. Why Publishers Care About Platform: Michael Hyatt popularized the term when he started blogging about it about 10 years ago. He also wrote a book about it (Affiliate Link) in 2012. Platform is seen as an indication that books will sell. Authors without …

Read more057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think
Category:

How to Write Plenty in 2020

By
Share
Tweet
26

We’re a couple weeks in, and it’s still hard to believe: It’s 2020! I’m still writing 2010 on the checks I hope no one cashes. I hope last year held many blessings for you, and I hope the coming year will be even better. Maybe you met your writing goals, hopes, and dreams in 2019. But even if you didn’t, you can still make this coming year a great one. And one way to help that happen will be to …

Read moreHow to Write Plenty in 2020
Category:

056 How to Find Your Hustle

By
Share
Tweet
5

For the next few weeks, we will be releasing some “best of” episodes while I spend time with our new baby Thomas Gregory Umstattd, III. Episode Notes This episode originally aired in 2018. We live in a world that is cursed. Because of our sin, God cursed the soil to have thorns and weeds. That curse is pervasive and continues to this day. If you want to have success in farming, you have to put in …

Read more056 How to Find Your Hustle
Category:

056 How to Find Your Hustle

By
Share
Tweet
0

For the next few weeks, we will be releasing some “best of” episodes while I spend time with our new baby Thomas Gregory Umstattd, III. Episode Notes This episode originally aired in 2018. We live in a world that is cursed. Because of our sin, God cursed the soil to have thorns and weeds. That […]
You can listen to this episode 056 How to Find Your Hustle on Christian Publishing Show.

Read more056 How to Find Your Hustle
Category:

This Agent’s Look Back at 2019

By
Share
Tweet
14

2019 was quite a year for me. I suppose it was a year for nearly everyone who made it from January 1 to December 31. In my case, however, it was a year of much change, stress, and some success. The bulk of the change (and stress) involved a long-planned move for me and my wife from our Ohio home of 24 years. We spent the first five-plus months of 2019 packing and preparing for the sale of our home …

Read moreThis Agent’s Look Back at 2019
Category: , , ,