B - Battle

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B - Battle

When The Ankulen was a play and Chris was as real as Jen, I wasn't sure how it was going to end. I thought, perhaps, that they would find someone who would sort the craziness out for them and then they go home happy as clams ...

When I turned it into a book and made Chris one of Jen's imaginary friends ... I added the imagination eater.

And I suddenly knew that the ending would involve a climatic battle scene.

Allow me to let you in on one of my little secrets:

I'm not big on battle scenes.

Really! I'm not! Sure, I love swordplay and archery and other stuff like that ... but in a safe environment where no one can get hurt. Also, I'm more of a conversationalist ... and battle scenes tend to be mostly action. I don't like reading them, I don't like writing them. (I don't like long, drawn-out kissing scenes, either ... but that's another issue)

So I really wasn't sure what I was going to do.

However, as I look over my list of WIP's, I have a lot of them that will probably have some sort of battle scene in them. Why? Because I do enjoy setting them up.

There's a certain thrill that I get out of lining up the villain's men against the good guy's. It's even more fun if I'm setting it up so that it'll be one on one. Yet, actually following through and writing that battle scene ... not so much fun.

So I dreaded the climatic scene, and my dread only grew with each word I typed. When I actually got there, I closed my computer and wanted to cry.

Lots of Pretty Eggs

At the time, I had only ever written one other battle scene, and it had been two years, at least, since then. Sure there was that one part of that scene that I enjoy writing over and over and over again ... (unfortunately, I can't share the nature of that part, since it's the scene where all secrets are revealed ... hence why I like it), but for the most part, I hadn't really written a good, action-packed battle scene.

But you know something? If an author stays in their comfort zone and just writes stuff they're good at ... they'll never grow, and they'll never achieve greatness. After an agonizing night of "Oh what am I going to do???" I went back, opened my computer again, and started writing again.

I wrote the entire chapter in one sitting. I'm quite pleased with it, too. There isn't much conversation beyond some threats that are hurled, and there is quite a bit of action. It ended up being completely not what I expected, but I love how it turned out.

I've since written a battle scene in book three of Bookania, and it's quite likely that one is rapidly approaching in the notebook version of Water Princess, Fire Prince. And you know what? I'm looking forward to writing it. No, I don't put in page after page of sword thrusts and arrow wounds and Riadids coming over the walls to eat you alive ... I keep it short and to the point.

But I'm not going to let a simple battle scene scare me away from writing the book that is asking to be written. (However, as I've stated before, kissing scenes are another issue. Sorry, my romantic friends, a simple "he bent over and stole a kiss, then placed her on her horse" is all the more you're going to get out of me - and that's only if they're married to each other.)