How to Write Killer Prose (6)

And... Action!

           

Action is people doing things. That's a broad spectrum, and what I want to talk about here is the more extreme, fast-paced stuff. Actions loaded with consequence and emotional blowback. Sex, gunfights, accidents, shock events, gonzo behaviour of all kinds.

            If a character heedlessly runs in front of a car, is thrown violently through the air, and ends up crumpled and unmoving on the road, it's almost always enough simply to state the facts in order. This corresponds with our lived experience, in that shock and surprise usually prevent us from processing and analysing events like that in the moment. Later, maybe. But initially, all we have is the thing that's happened. Raw, unmediated, unspun. So that's how we tell it. Easy, right?

            Wrong. Even the most uncomplicated event has an infinity of moving parts and possible viewpoints. The scene I've detailed above probably takes a couple of seconds to actually happen. So how do you convey its character in words, given that words take much longer to read and digest? Do you go for intense brevity? Forensic exactitude? Splintered subjectivity? How much detail do you include? How much detail is a witness even able to process in those circumstances?

            Here's how I approach fast-paced action: