I complained to Matt, my husband, that I’m not confident about writing the big action sequences. I can do them, I’m not saying I can’t, but they’re not my comfort zone.
He said, “You’re going to have to get used to them. You’ll probably be writing a lot of them. If only there was a macro you could use as a template and just fill it in.”
I said, “Like Pokemon? ‘$name attacks $name2 using $skill. It’s $adjective effective!’ except not like that?”
He said, “No. Exactly like that. Block it out like that, and then embellish around it until it’s a scene.”
Blocking is a theater term for staging out where characters go and when.
I did it. Just the bare bones at first. I made the decisions, keeping it simple.
A shoots B.
C taunts B.
B attacks C.
D, unnoticed, moves to get a clear shot at C.
Then I turned those bones into a fleshed-out sequence, which was much less intimidating once I knew the mechanics and could see it in my head.
It works. I was self-conscious about complaining, but it spawned conversation and a good, do-able solution.
Also, my husband is smart. 🙂
Gabrielle Harbowy 