Share The Fight for Compelling Fight Scenes

Copy link

September 24, 2025

The Fight for Compelling Fight Scenes

59 minutes

Stuart J. Tanner and Cullen McHael share hard-earned lessons about getting your fight scenes right.

0:00 Intro

1:34 What are Fight Scenes For?

10:00 The Fun Element

11:00 Problem Solving

14:39 Scaffolding, Worldbuilding, and Playing With Rules

24:22 The Great Challenge: Clarity

28:25 Examples of Compelling Fight Scenes

32:52 4 Things a Fight Scene Can Do

34:56 Establishing Stakes: Costs, Risks, and Invincibility

40:17 Reading: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

45:10 Analysis of Altered Carbon's Effectiveness and Choices

55:18 Final Thoughts

Edited by Cullen McHael

Produced by Cullen McHael

Hosts: Stuart J. Tanner, Cullen McHael

Questions of the Day:

1. Why are fight scenes important in speculative fiction?

2. Examples of compelling fight scenes?

3. What makes a fight scene compelling?

4. Why have fight scenes?

5. Where do authors sometimes go wrong with fight scenes?

Book Recommendations

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

...more

View all episodes

By Stuart J. Tanner & Cullen McHael