Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

Can you write a great action scene? Most writers leave these discussions to comic-books, thrillers and action movies.

But think about it... How would your protagonist look when running, jumping or catching a flying body? If you can’t answer these simple questions about the physics of your characters, then you don't understand your characters very well.

Today, journalist Kate Torgovnick is our special guest, talking about how she wrote the cheerleading scenes in her non-fiction book, Cheer!--delivering some action scene wisdom in the process.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.

Jason Boog:
My favorite parts of your book were the cheer scenes. You have mastered the art of turning a seemingly chaotic (and fleeting) visual experience into engaging prose. On a practical level, how in the heck did you capture and then write these difficult cheering scenes? Which writers/styles influenced your dynamic writing style in your action scenes?

Kate Torgovnick:
Well, first of all, thank you for saying that. Trying to explain some of these movements—which happen in a split-second and have zero relationship to how a body would normally move—was a serious challenge. Continue reading...

From day one, I knew that my descriptions of the routines sucked—they were long, boring, way too technical, and relied heavily on the words toss, spin, and grab. I knew I had to figure out a better way to do it.

The writer who I think helped me the most was Marisha Pessl. I read Special Topics in Calamity Physics about mid-way through my year following the teams, and her figurative language is just wild. She really inspired me to loosen up and not be so literal.

When I’d watch the routines, I’d just sort of let me mind go blank (coincidentally, I’ve heard this works for gambling, too) and I’d jot down whatever came to me—be it an animal that moves in a similar way, or a object in my apartment that has the same shape, or a situation where someone would have a similar expression.

I tried to give an image that would help people picture things rather than get too far into the physics of what was happening. Cause I still don’t get the physics.