I’m going to have to tread carefully with this next part, because I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. I’m also aware that the very idea of what I’m about to propose is going to ruffle some feathers. But, it needs to be said, so here goes. 

Art is subjective. No matter how good or bad I might think a particular work of art may be, that doesn’t give me or anyone else the right to dismiss it as invalid. By definition, art means something to someone, even if that meaning is an expression of meaninglessness. It doesn’t matter how good, bad, transgressive, or even offensive a work of art might be. It’s still art. There’s someone out there to whom it holds value. 

Having said that, the written medium is extremely dependent on the skill of the writer to convey concepts and ideas, more so than most people realize until they try it for themselves. It’s not easy. It takes years of practice to get good at, and if you’re not willing to put in the effort, that lack of effort will show through in the final product.  

Note that I said skill, and not talent. Talent is something that you’re born with. Skill is the result of hard work and experience. If you’re a naturally talented wordsmith, you might have an easier time of it than someone who isn’t, but you still need to work at your craft to build up the necessary skills. In that respect, writing is the same as any other artform. You can spend your whole life dedicated to the mastery of it, and still learn something new with your dying breath.

Writing a fight scene is an advanced skill, and it’s one that nearly no one is good at without trying and failing time and time again. And yes, if you don’t put in the work to improve the quality of your prose when it comes to fights, the lack of effort will show. Art might be subjective, but there are absolutely qualitative standards for things like readability and coherency. 

Now, I want to take a moment here to poke at another misconception that annoys me. 

The quality of your prose matters, but the style? That actually is subjective. 

Some writers prefer to keep things short and simple, using only as many words as it takes to get the point across. Others like to use the full width and breadth of the English language to paint a picture with words. Neither approach is inherently better or worse than the other, though I would argue that both can be fucked up spectacularly. But, so long as you know where your strengths are and play to them, either style can be made to work equally well when it comes to writing fight scenes. Whether or not the reader enjoys your particular style is another matter altogether, and one that’s largely out of your hands. 

With that out of the way, how does one improve their prose when it comes to writing?

The easiest way is to just do it. Sit down, pull up a document, and write. If you’re not sure of what to write, find a fight scene in a movie or TV show you like and try to write it out as you see it. Once you’re finished, put your rendition of the scene in a drawer for a week or two and ignore it. 

When you can come back to it with fresh eyes, pretend it was written by someone else, and rip it to shreds. Note every little thing that can be improved, then try again, keeping your notes in mind. Also, don’t forget to give yourself credit where it’s due. If you see a thing you like, make note of it so you can do the thing again in the future. Once you’ve done all that, do it all over again. You can do the same fight scene if you want, but I recommend keeping a rotation of favorites going so you don’t get bored. 

While this is going on, try to read and see how other people, preferably ones who’ve gotten rich and famous off their writing, do their fight scenes. Take note of the things they do well, and the things they don’t do so well. Once you get a knack for it, you’ll be surprised how many famous authors struggle with writing fight scenes, or how many supposed hacks can churn out epic battles with alarming regularity. 

I wish I could tell you that there's some magical shortcut to making your scenes epic, but there's really not. It really is just a matter of trying and failing and trying again until you don't fail so hard. It's tough. It's discouraging. And it takes forever. It may be months or years before you write something that you think you can be proud of. 

But here's the fun part, and for once I'm not being sarcastic: once you get your prose wrangled and can consistently churn out good fight scenes, you can do basically anything you want. Not only can you recycle the same fundamentals in other areas of writing, you'll have developed the skill and work ethic necessary to master them. It ain't quick, and it sure as hell ain't easy, but the truly worthwhile endeavors rarely are.