A Definition of Author Whiplash... Us when authors DON'T kill people: Ugh this is pointless. Us when authors kill people: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??? Us when authors bring back people they killed: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAAAT??????
Different people have different opinions, some people like death in wars and others are to attached to the characters thus not preferring it. It’s not whiplash, certain people like certain things
MrShaiya96 not necessarily. It could also cover characters over coming fears, and fighting through them. On the flip side could see them succumb to their fear too.
@@hayleyb.2648 This is what I was thinking when I thought of this. Quickest example I can think of is Kip from the lightbringer series has alot of fears in book one ranging from bodily insecurities to straight up childhood trauma. See how this fear affects the character and how the character changes to overcome those fears is interesting. Horror side of it would be cool to see as well like what works for an author that instantly brings dread and fear to the reader
Add to killing characters: hurt characters. So many battles end with the MCs bleeding attractively from a small wound they barely notice. Lop off a limb! Poke out an eye! Seriously, wound your MCs!
Like I feel as if the only time characters lose limbs or body parts in battle is in war films/TV shows cause the real person lost an arm or whatever. Let your characters get injured! It’s going to happen it’s not unrealistic to lose a leg in war!
That’s why I loved how to train your dragon because hiccup gets his whole leg taken from him and it’s really sweet moment between him and toothless because they’re both physically disadvantaged in some way making their connection even greater
Tolkien knew how to do this and a lot of modern authors do too. Sanderson gets it right a lot in Mistborn. Sure, they survive without permanent handicaps, but the wounds aren't stylish and they don't heal easy either.
This sounds great! Currently writing a story about the consequences of legacies, familial pressure and just families in general so this would be extremely helpful.
Yes! Like the Luthors, the fire nation, Starks, Targarian and Lanister. How a family name is a responsability, a curse and a burden. How your birth right influence you as a character.
This may have been said before, but: Dear Authors... PTSD or something relating to mental health of characters. This is something I am trying to write in my own book and I would love to see what people have to say about it
YES!!! Ditto that! You can't just ask people with PTSD what it's like because it's rude, but then people with PTSD get riled when fiction doesn't represent their problem properly or gets it too text book. But what else are we supposed to work off of? I need good references from the people who know what it's like, and if they're authors the more the better because they will literally let you inside their mind with the narration.
@@kanashiiookami6537because randomly asking people to tell what its like to have any attribute is rude. it's all in how you ask. "What's it like having ptsd?" vs. "I'm interested in learning more about ptsd from someone who experiences it. Is that something you're comfortable talking about?"
@@07dki I get what you're saying, that how you phrase something matters. But even if you put it in the best way possible, there are people who get offended just being asked because they think its a private matter that should never be spoken about. This goes for the family or friends of said person as well, and not just talking in terms of mental issues. There are just so many people who get offended by nearly anything that simply asking can set people off. Or, if you're one to try and talk about your problem, people around you may be offended that you're being open about it. (Speaking from experience. I know people who think disabilities and mental issues should be kept schtum and will give you a "look" if you break their ideal of presumed perfection.) That all being said, this is why I wish i could find material for authors to use about these issues. Like I found a book detailing weapons usage and injury in reality vs fiction that was geared toward authors for better writing. So why isn't there anything on the subjects that matter? Why can't we be inclusive? Anyway, hope your day (whatever is left of it by the time you read this) is good. Stay safe. ☺
Kanashii Ookami Maybe you’re just not looking in the right places. Many “question forum” websites could help answer your question. Quora is great for detailed experiences about people who lived a specific scenario that you’re interested in. I wanted to write a story where the main character suffered from retrograde amnesia, but I didn’t want to accidentally offend people who actually suffered from that condition, so I found a quora page where a user asked people who suffered from retrograde amnesia what their experiences were like compared to popular fiction. It gave me a lot of insight on how to properly address the condition in my story and basically filled in all the blanks I had. I’m sure you can find places where people explain how their PTSD works. I remember when Violet Evergarden came out- an anime about a girl who suffers from PTSD after WW1, many veterans on Reddit came out and praised the show for handling PTSD portrayal so well and detailed their own experiences with the condition in comparison. I would recommend relying more on the internet for niche topics such as firsthand PTSD experience, as it takes ages for psychological studies/books that deal with those niche topics to get properly published and distributed. Of course it’s good to take some precautions when reading about experiences from random strangers, but you should be able to find some common things listed within all the accounts.
how is it no one? aside from other people thinking that, the "no one" meme never make sense, because even if the person in question is indeed the only one that clearly it can't be no one...
This is why the Scouring of the Shire is such an important ending to the Lord of the Rings. Even though Sauron is defeated in a Big Bad Battle and the finalization of the Quest, the world isn't the same. The hobbits return to their home to find it scarred by war, and they have to set it right before they can fully come home. In a wider perspective, the world itself changes. The events of the book signal the end of an Age, as the elves leave Middle Earth to sail to Valinor and leave the world to the rule of Men. Gandalf, Bilbo, and Frodo have to leave the world with the other ring bearers because their lives have been so affected by these powerful talismans. I really appreciate that Tolkien thought of those things and didn't end the story with Frodo and Sam at Mount Doom.
Yes! You get to the end and are so happy that the hobbits get to go home, and then have to see Sam grieve after he has wanted to be home for so long. It is so powerful!
The only issue is that, in either film or book, after that “Big Battle,” you can only keep the audience’s interest for so long unless you play it right where it’s EXTREMELY apparent that the conflict is not resolved after the climax. Like in the book (and especially the film), the end of LotR just feels too long and drawn out despite how it takes the time to let the dust settle.
@@Kailova07 Disagree. I like that they did that (should`ve shown how bad the Shire was after the war but I understand why they didnt do that). The book felt mostly drawn out in the beginning, and the movie was good enough to have that sort of an ending. They took time , which is something they didnt do with the Hobbit trilogy. I do feel like we are very impatient people today in the modern world, so I think in one way its healthy to have to wait for the ending to come. Thats just my opinion on it, anyway :)
I feel like Tolkien also wants to make a point there. Even after the Scouring of the Shire, when it has been reconquered and Frodo tried his hardest to return the Shire to the way it was. He should be happy that he was able to protect his home and the people he loved. But he wasn't.
Imagine you're an author trying to write about the effects of various explosives on people/infrastructure... Now imagine the NSA goes through your browser history.
@@cormachayden1614 I'm not an author but I'm halfway sure I'm on some secret FBI watchlist because of morbid curiosity in the worst of humanity at times.
Dear Authors... families/family-like relationships (father figures, sisterly friends, etc.) I’m writing a book that has a lot to do with family, and I’d really like to see what people think about this. Love your videos!
That is a great idea! I love those relationships in books and especially when it's built over long periods of time. Magnus Chase is a good example of that
Tolkien writes the best battle scenes of any I've read (probably because he actually fought in a war). They have this sense of chaos but also emotion and horror. And make you feel so victorious like when Eowyn defeats the witch king.
Zuko : " 100 years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided , but with the Avatar , we can put it back on the right path." I see the importance of that statement now , makes the story 💯 "There is No happily ever after , right after a major concluding War"
Dear Author: Inner conflicts. I really want to see this thing in books. Like how can all the heroes in the world are so witty, charming and bold? Why no one is a introvert who likes to stay indoor? [I have seen this in several movies,like Onwards for example,but still waiting for a book to read about it]
Introverts don't necessarily have to be people who prefer indoors although, to be honest, most are (myself included). Introvert just means you get tired after a lot of social interactions and you like your alone time. This alone time can be done outdoors though. I guess it's harder to have introverts as MCs because their tendencies are to stay inside which can be hard to build a fantasy quest upon. Especially cause when they are introverts in the beginning and get unwillingly dragged into a quest, they're somehow magically not an introvert afterward??? Anyways yeah, I have a pretty introverted MC but the other MC is the extrovert who ends up dragging the introvert around lol
@@asiangalaxygirl I am an introvert myself and so I can understand you perfectly well. However, creating quests inside is not really impossible. Like creating a magical world inside games (Feyland) or inside books (Beauty and the beast lost in a book). And it's really disturbing when the introvert somehow change into someone who is extrovert after a magical quest. I myself never endured a magical quest,so I am not sure of the outcome. But seeing this same thing (introverts turning into extroverts)over and over is really stressing.
@@geminithetwins that's the other thing they never touch on, in my opinion, is the stress of being an introvert around hordes of people. No one does that, that I've read. But it is so insanely stressful for me to be around people, especially people I don't know. And they never have a character "cling" to the people they know in said crowds/parties. They just make them people persons. It's so frustrating!
Why do you feel like you have to include fight scenes though? You can also write in a fantasy setting without a war happening. You still have magic and strange creatures, a medieval setting, etc.
@@couchpotatoe91 for me its that i want to tell a specific story and for my current story it is necessary that they are there. i dont want to give up a whole plot idea just because i hate writing action scenes. i also dont enjoy writing landscape describtions but i still somehow have to do them. aaand sorry my english is not that well
Hey Joe, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this topic. I’m writing notes on a character of mine that has to undergo training so I’d like some advice before I dive into this portion. Thanks!
Honestly I hate it when the main character has some “special force” that trumps all when fighting. They get out onto the battlefield and the main character gets cornered and is surely going to die, but then, oh WOW! The main character has some special magic power that no one else has and was never mentioned ever. It’s just really annoying and makes the main character seem untouchable, which for me looses all the tension of the story. Ps. Love you Merphy ❤️
Dear Authors: Please don't make combatscenes too flowery, you will only lose the reader along the way because it becomes difficult for them to comprehend what is going on. Your prose can be incredible, but a combatscene might not be the one to show it off.
I do like the final Hogwarts battle in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The deaths were heart wrenching and the battle was decently paced with the magical elements blended in very well.
I love the way the "Battle of Brenna" was portrayed in "The Lady of the Lake" (The Witcher). Many POV from both sides of the conflict: commanders, generals, patriots, mercenaries, regular trained soldiers, untrained soldiers (peasants, criminals), scouts, special troops and even medics healing the wounded plus the omniscent narrator in the background and different time perspectives (live action but also flashbacks, entry in a diary after years). I would want more authors to do stuff like that.
Battle of Brenna is definitely my favourite battle in literature. You get only a few paragraphs in the head of many of those characters you listed, but you can really feel their emotions and hopes and goals. And they also really show the overall chaos and destruction and the scale of battle, while the future-flashbacks like Jarre's memoirs and military academy cadets analysis provide a general overview of tactics. This is absolutely awesome, as you can get the feeling of total chaos that the characters see, but also you don't get lost in it.
As a beginner writer I am very grateful for this series. It allows me to know what readers like and don't like and how I can improve my writing. Thank you!
the promise is really good and indeed shows how the defeat of ozai and zuko's new leadership didn't make problems go away. and it's not semi-canon it's canon.
If you're going to kill off your main character, know you're going to do it from the first book. If I crack open book 3 and I'm reading love interest's perspective (and if it's the first time we had a new perspective), I *immedeately* know one of them will die, and it's probably the main character. Not referring to anything in particular of course.
Yeah....how can you NOT be saying Divergent!? 😂 worst end book ever, though I didn't much prefer book 2 either. Book 1 hooked me, but she seemed to literally lose the plot after that. Notice each story is pretty much repetitive in plot line so she killed off you know who for what? Drama? A change? A "twist" that everyone saw coming? Either way, horrible execution. Definitely on the "what not to do" pile for "dear authors..."
My mum read divergent after me and told me as soon as she read a chapter called "four/Tobias" or whatever at the beginning of the third book she knew tris was gonna die, it was painfully obvious that they needed him as a narrator to continue the narrative
@@cactojuice exactly! That was my thought. Like, if she (the author) had him as a part narrator from the beginning, it would have been less likely to occur to me that Tris was going to be killed off. (Other than the "never fail" prediction of intimacy=death I keep seeing in YA) but because she suddenly introduces that perspective in the last book it was a roll your eyes "can it be any more obvious" type thing. 😫🙄
@@nayumi1223 ikr. The manga is insanely good now I dare say it's one of the greatest pieces of fiction not just manga I've read. So many sick moments are gonna be animated (I just keep moving forward until my enemies are destroyed).
the battles in AoT are the best, people die, they use strategy (Armin, Hange) leadership (Erwin) and strength (Eren, Mikasa, Levi) and the worldbuilding and how Paradise evolved just makes so much sense, the Return arc really showed how good Isayala is at portraying battles, and the go-in back and fourth between the outer gate and the inner gate made it much more engaging and well paced, pretty much each chapter and arc steps on the last and chains it up and throws it in the trash bin.
Merphy: I recommend reading the community tab Me seeing there are 1.1k comments 😅, well there goes my morning. Time to brew a full pot of coffee. Hope I see you in there Mocio.
I feel like the tv show Star Wars: The Clone Wars does a really good job of showing multiple aspects of war. It not just about the battles but also the political and strategic parts of war. It also introduces so many different worlds and how they view the war and it shows that not everyone agrees and that’s what this video made me think of.
The show also plays very well with a lot of different strategies and dynamic battles; some are chaotic fun, others are darker and clouded, and even Anakin loses them occasionally. The battles also usually serve as either starting incidents (at the beginnings) or character development (especially for Ahsoka, and normally at the ends) of episodes, so they’re typically a lot more important than just background filler. A big part of why I consider that show the definitive best storytelling in Star Wars
Yep. I can't respect it unless there are highly specific, valid, and well-considered reasons for the insubordination. Much more interesting to see ppl wrestle with the implications of their ethics/duty/training than to see them just flip a switch and give up on what they were fighting for three seconds ago.
Sometimes it can kinda happen. Think Marshall Ney during the battle of Waterloo. He, on his own initiative, led a disastrous cavalry charge. Shit happens sometimes
I want a war when the hero or villain doubts that they will win. Its just, villains always seem so sure they'll win. Same with heroes. I want to feel nervous and wonder what if, what if we might not win?
They did continue the aftermath of the war in the comics for Avatar, those that want Ozai back in power, conflict of fire nation colonies staying in the earth kingdom. However i think the show did touch on a lot of adult topics and themes but the ending was definitely aimed directly at the kid audience.
Murphy, I recently discovered your channel, and I’m already hooked! Your Dear Authors series is soooo helpful to me as a writer to know what readers like and dislike. Thank you!!
"Of course I want it to be realistic!" Personally I want it realistic enough in fiction. Plausibility is more intriguing to me, and it gets me thinking of what could have happened instead.
Instead of killing a character, I am a big fan of BREAKING a character. Giving a loving character a fate worse than death like destroying their mind, their drive, etc and seeing them decay while still alive is so incredibly impactful. It makes that character a living scar that the rest of the cast have to deal with and, while they are fixing the other wounds of the world, they literally cannot fix this character, and that breaks THEM too
This is actually what happened to my villain, the concept popped in my head and I just knew I wanted to use it! Basically he and his husband ruled the kingdom, his husband convinces him to go on an adventure for a few days and take a break from royal duties, husband gets killed which is already traumatizing enough, then the villain who is desperate at this point spends five or so years killing magic users until one agrees to teach him a spell to bring back his husband, this also slowly destroys his mental state, eventually one agrees and once he FINALLY re animates his husband, the husband is freaking out over what the husband did (I mean what would you do if you suddenly came back from the dead and your husband has murdered hundreds of innocent people, neglected his kingdom, and is now feared by everyone) and says a few things he probably shouldn’t have. This finally breaks the villain who flees and spends the next 10 years working to craft a plan to guard himself with magic in order to take revenge on the “ungrateful” kingdom by finding really messed up ways to destroy peoples will to live, this also leaves his husband, who ends up changing his name to come and continue to rule the kingdom, broken and self loathing and desperately hoping that he can help the villain turn back to good! And then I remembered I was writing a comedy... OH WELL XD
I love the battle of the department of mysteries, it's a really good battle in my opinion. People die and get injured in this battle There is a meaning behind it, the battle started because of harry's love for sirius, he was willing to do anything to save him. And voldemort got what he wanted, but at a cost. He got harry to pick up the prophecy, but in the process, everyone now knows he is back, and the prophecy broke That in my opinion is a perfect battle And if you haven't realized yet, I'm talking about Harry Potter (it's only my opinion, sorry if I offended someone )
@@KnightOwl1881 So I never watched much of the old show, but my mom LOVES it and big things she pointed out was that EVERY EPISODE, without fail, they went on this mission with all the main characters and one extra guy to complete the ship's crew. And EVERY EPISODE, without fail, they killed off that extra guy 😂So I call it the Star Trek phenomenon whenever I read it
i really just want a series or book in the perspective of one of the soldiers or the people under the "big bad " after they're defeated and see how much it changes/affects their lives, if there is something like that then please recommend one :-)
2 possibilities Grunts a story told through the eyes of Orcs who steal a cache of magic weapons that allows them to survive the final battle. Or Black Company a series that follows mercenaries hired by the big bad.
I'm actually writing a story that will deal with the aftermath once the big bad is defeated! Glad to know I'm on the right track. And a lot of what the MCs are doing is the behind the scenes tactics... Cool!
Yes, we all love Sanderson, but this Dear author series makes me appreciate his craft even more. I wasn't completely satisfied with Mistborn but I can see his growth in the Stormlight Archive and I can feel him do so well most of the things discussed in this series of videos.
The _Star Wars: Thrawn_ books are great about breaking up action with tactics. Of course, the protagonist, Thrawn, _is_ a tactician (and the best in the galaxy), so… that’s to be expected, I guess.
A wonderful example of a well written finale battle is the battle for New York in Percy Jackson. The entire series leads up to this and it definitely fulfills expectations and it takes place over almost the entire book. You see individual action but also strategy and tactics. There’s stakes and personal connection in that main fight. And there are sacrifices and post war consequences.
Re: a story ending with a final battle. A great example of this done WELL Tarmon Gaidon in The Wheel of Time series. The battle goes on for about 250 pages, which sounds like over kill, but it is detailed, multi faceted and written from so many POVs. It is amazingly satisfying.
Merphy: All the book only serves to build up to the final battle and then it's over in 10 pages Me: Eyeing to Blood of Olympus whose final battle is like 1 page
@@saintroddy blood of olympus was meant to pass the torch to Jason, pipes and leo. Rick thought this was the best thing for the future of this universe as he felt that percy had become too op so he made him and ann move on with college and stuff. That's why he benched Percy in ToA and used leo, Jason and piper more instead.
One book I've seen that does the "long build up and short execution" type of battle scene well was Rainbow Six. In that, when the tactical unit was going to breach a room and apprehend the bad guys etc, they keep planning and planning for pages because they want the absolute perfect outcome. Then it happens so quickly because it's simply a firefight between a few people, it still feels satisfying.
That thing with war not being over when the big bad is gone is so true. Like, I don't even need to see the world after, show me the emotional trauma the characters now have. War is not something you just walk away from like some kind of after-school activity you don't like. It stays with you, it haunts you.
Something that really bugs me out is when some side of the war (the evil side 99,99% of the time) creates an army using enslaved warrior or stuff like that, and the good side be like "uhu is so fun to kill them iei" (especially when one of the characters already been slaved before, i'm looking at you Finn (Star wars new trilogy))
I do not enjoy it when families/friends in a book don't ever argue or get mad at each other. It makes the family/friend's relationship not only unrealistic, but also you don't see the love and bonds that they have for each other. For example: If there are two brothers who grow up together, fight together, and help each other without fighting at least once, you just won't feel a stronger relationship then if they had fought or disagreed with each other. Hope that makes sense:)
I actually disagree with the way the Divergent series not being good. Could it have been done in a way that was more significant? Yes, but that's not how real life works. Most people don't die in remarkable ways. I personally found it to be such a breath of fresh air. The message that I took away was basically that you can be such an important player in a story and still have an unremarkable death. Honestly, ASOIAF did the same thing multiple times and nobody complained
I love the “War fight consequences” in hunger games, Katniss and Petta were sent away, Katnis has PTSD, Prim (and many others), died, Gale and Katniss had a falling out, and all the innocent people in the capital had their previous lives taken away and their children killed. These are the things that definitely invest me in a series.
Realistically, in pre-gunpowder battles, the winning side tended to have very few casualties and the losing side had tons, most of them killed after they flee or surrender; so while not having many deaths for the heroes in a battle might not be dramatic, it's not necessarily a cop out. Alexander the Great led cavalry charges into uncertain odds for his entire adult life and he eventually died of typhoid fever or something 13 years into his conquering career. I also think authors often fail to capture how scary a hand-to-hand fight to the death is supposed to be. Like imagine how afraid people are of normal serial killers, and then imagine the enemy army as a highly trained and well organized force of serial killers numbering in the thousands. The best case scenario is that you and your pals are better serial killers than the enemy or else you're probably dead.
Battle scene of Attack on Titan season 3 part 2 slays almost every battle scene I've ever watched/read. Emotional stakes, multiple perspectives and new battle tactics. I need Isayama's storytelling talent😭😭
Unfortunately, the main reason the Warriors lost was because they weren't very observant. Had Zeke looked slightly to the right instead of getting overly emotional, they would've been boned. Had Bert checked on Eren instead of giving so much attention to Armin (come on, just reach out and squeeze him), they would've been boned. And Reiner deciding not to kill the horses wasn't particularly logical.
Point 2 was probably my favorite part of the mistborn trilogy. Seeing how the world reacted to the actions of the main characters made it feel so much more alive than a traditional "happy ending".
Part of the reason informed tactical genius in books is so common is most authors haven't studied enough military history to learn what tactics worked and why.
I can study it until my eyes bleed, but grasping the concept and understanding what I've read is another thing altogether. I agree with you though, that not enough do this. I just would be to overwhelmed to execute a proper battle scene properly in line with military strategy. It is daunting to the extreme if you don't understand what tactic would be good in what situation AND make it unpredictable to the reader. Like, oy, just second guessing myself in the thought process is too much. 😅 Oh, wait... Did I read your comment wrong and say completely the wrong thing based off the wrong understanding?! (If so, oops.)
Hey Merphy, the way you talked about wars and how most are like not showed in different perspectives was good and I wholly agree with it. And that is why I recommend to you 'Hunter X Hunter'. It is one of the best anime. It has soooo many layers in its story. I can guarantee that u too would love it. Ok just wanted it out there. Try it.
I love "The Ranger's Apprentice" take on battles. Sure there are multiple cotrivances but there's a lot of strategy involved, along with sieges, defending a castle, ambush, guerilla techniques. A brilliant mindwork is always a win for me. Battles and fights that only rely on strenght (physical, magical, whatever) are just boring.
There is a problem with including the villains perspective: It is hard to fit it into the same book. If you do both, you are almost guaranteed to reduce both stories and end up with something mediocre. The only good example of a villains perspective I have seen took a whole trilogy of the villains perspective. That was really cool to see and I think it is the only way to do the villains justice, by giving them their OWN book(s).
A major peeve of mine is when the main characters just stop fighting in a battle because something happened. They're in a raging battle, and should not have time to stop for "one last kiss", a lengthy conversation or to drop to their knees and mourn a dying/dead friend. If any character drops their defences in a battle, they should be immediately struck down. I'd love to read a book where a main character has to deal with the fact that their lack of focus actually resulted in the deaths of friends and family they were no longer protecting, or where the hero is 30 seconds too late because they stopped for a kiss. It's not romantic, it undermines the tension.
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is a great example of continuing battles. In the very first book, the protagonists bring down the tyrant of their country. In the next two, they face the challenges of running and maintaining said country, and learn too late of a cunning ancient enemy that they have played right into the hands of.
that thing about the battle being so quick reminds me of the last book of the heroes of olympus series. they actually made a callback about in on trials of apollo saying it was over in like 5 minutes
I think one thing i'd like to add is that before writing battles, look up one set of actual battle casualty stats. Because this is likely enough to avoid the major pitfalls in writing a battle, where either everyone survives entirely unharmed, or everyone is very clearly killed in full view of everyone else. Most casualties are wounded, not killed, but a lot of people do die/get hurt enough that they are a casualty, not just someone with a grazed knee. Basically, I think getting this scale wrong in either direction can lead to a weirdly unrealistic aftermath. In once case there was a war/battle in which everyone came out totally unharmed, which means the words 'war' and 'battle' should have been switched out for 'episode of WWE Smackdown' and 'royal rumble' at some point in the editing process. In the other, people are failing to comment on what genocidal maniacs the opposition were. You can have this second type successfully, but you need to acknowledge that the 'enemy' or, in worse cases 'the good guys', were massacring people as they tried to surrender or run away, because at some point one side would have decided that this battle was a bad place to be. Big culprits of this are long running series that feel like they have to wrap up where every single story arc ended, and so everyone obn both sides dies in a battle that should be accompanied by the footnote *and the population never recovered from such horrific losses, leading to the extinction of the nations involved by famine and inbreeding only a century late.
i always love it when the battle is at its lowest point(for our heroes), they get ready to die and THEN a last minute save comes along (Endgame, LOTR - multiple times, GoT). Call it cheesy or whatever, but it's rousing and gets me everytime.
“ He lifted his home, and brought it down with a mighty blow, and then he lifted his other arm, And... scratch his back” Step aside George R R Martin we have a new king of subverting expectations
After watching the segment where you said what you personally liked in battle scenes, it instantly remindend me of Skulduggery Pleasant (especially the 8. and 9. book). These books are criminally underrated!!
On the villain’s perspective topic, She-Ra spends almost an equal amount of time with the villains as with the heroes, and does an amazing job of making them real people you want to succeed, yet also has them actively trying to kill the good guys. It’s just an amazing show and has a redemption arc that’s almost ATLA level
This is more for drawn out battles and less for skirmishes. I like it when there is a proper layout of the battle at some point in the beginning so the reader can get a good feel for the odds of victory. What factions are involved, how are they organized, what types of soldiers/spaceships are there and (roughly) how many does each faction have? Where are they positioned and what is their effective range? Limit the space of everyone. The main character can't fight on all fronts at the same time, so tell us where they are and from the former description of the layout we then know what obstacles and enemies they will have to face. That doesn't mean that there can't be any surprises, you can spring a trap, throw in an unusually skilled enemy fighter pilot that is stuck to our tails can can't be shaken off or whatever, but I hate battles where every three seconds a new threat appears, that no one knew about. It just feels like the author is making everything up as they go and the overall threat level is unknowable.
I think a pretty great example of a climactic battle done right is the finale of the Percy Jackson series. The siege of New York and Mount Olympus feels huge and monumental, and it never really feels like our heroes have it well in hand. As I recall (and I haven't read it in some time, so this is going off of memory,) it manages to dodge or subvert a lot of these common complaints and to my mind was a very satisfying conclusion.
what you said kept making me think back to war and peace--it's the best book that shows war and the effects of war that i've ever read, you don't just see the war, you also see the peace, the peasants, the high-class people, the soldiers, the politics, and of course the battles, but everything is so big and tolstoy really emphasizes how everything affects everything and how small things can lead to something bigger and how individuals can be a part of something that is bigger than themselves and i love how clueless all the characters are about that fact, no one actually knows how or what they influence or even that they are part of something that will go down in history, they just live their lives in absence of sonder. it's so amazing.
A lot of my favourite fight scenes are in anime. *i am a book reader. Its just my opinion* Edit: a lot of this reminds me of Attack on Titan, and the last book of TOG series. Also, The Way of Kings.
Vikings have some of my favourite war/battle episodes I've ever seen. There are huge, brutal bloody battles switching from perspectives constantly. The action is amazing and you're on your toes guessing who is going to die or survive. Then it also has episodes where battles are completely cut and you see the characters after the fight, bloody and almost broken then shows flashbacks to what happened and it really shows the emotions that just showing the battle itself misses. Like how Hvitserk is talking about how Ubbe had the chance to kill him but didn't and Ivar says, of course, he couldn't kill his own brother then throws a dirty look at King Harald, giving another flashback of King Harald killing his brother during the battle after his brother had already surrounded.
These "Dear Authors" are so useful when you are writing a book. I really like these vids because they point out some mistakes i make myself, and they explain how to fix them!
I recently finished the Percy Jackson series and I loved (SPOILERS) the fact that they took a break from the battle at times and how characters that we actually cared about died. I mean when Silena died? I cried. That was great imo.
I can appreciate a step by step fight or battle when strong and interesting magic is involved. Those kinds of actions can demonstrate it in a surprising and clever way.
The "adding new characters before a battle" thing was done well in Outlander. There they added two characters that were similar to the comic reliefs of the story. They were added a few episodes (only watched the series, never read the books) before a big fight the viewer already knew would be lost. Then the fight came and one of them died. And one of the original pair. And now the two leftovers had something to bond over. It was nicely done.
![Dear Authors... Stabby, Stabby [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xBho0GKrdqo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dear Authors... Stabby, Stabby [CC]](/img/tr.png)
![Dear Authors... Writing Emotions [CC]](/img/n.gif)
He lifted his arm...and...scratched his back.
The sign of a true warrior.
Alexander the Great, Odysseus, Joan of Arc, Luke Skywalker... Scratching their back and nodding approvingly.
That warrior was so bad ass he scratched his back in the middle of a fight!
He got back up....and...farted.
The sign of a true warrior.
Not all heroes wear capes.
He's got some reach.
A Definition of Author Whiplash...
Us when authors DON'T kill people: Ugh this is pointless.
Us when authors kill people: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT???
Us when authors bring back people they killed: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAAAT??????
Different people have different opinions, some people like death in wars and others are to attached to the characters thus not preferring it. It’s not whiplash, certain people like certain things
@@sincerelykeira0 Its definitely whiplash for me. I want my characters to live soo bad and than after no one dies I'm like.. well no one even DIED..
Julia Nymwhen Lol I guess everyone’s different 😂
I think everyone can understand the necessity of a characters death but is still sad to see them go.
Alara. x exactly
Would anyone be interested in a dear authors...Fear? I feel like this would be an interesting concept to talk about.
Definitely! I would totally wanna see what people give as references, because on the author side of things, it'll help me with writing it. 😁
Well, that would be the horror genre. Which is well established
Yeah, that would be interesting.
MrShaiya96 not necessarily. It could also cover characters over coming fears, and fighting through them. On the flip side could see them succumb to their fear too.
@@hayleyb.2648 This is what I was thinking when I thought of this. Quickest example I can think of is Kip from the lightbringer series has alot of fears in book one ranging from bodily insecurities to straight up childhood trauma. See how this fear affects the character and how the character changes to overcome those fears is interesting. Horror side of it would be cool to see as well like what works for an author that instantly brings dread and fear to the reader
Add to killing characters: hurt characters. So many battles end with the MCs bleeding attractively from a small wound they barely notice. Lop off a limb! Poke out an eye! Seriously, wound your MCs!
YES THANK YOU!!
Like I feel as if the only time characters lose limbs or body parts in battle is in war films/TV shows cause the real person lost an arm or whatever. Let your characters get injured! It’s going to happen it’s not unrealistic to lose a leg in war!
That’s why I loved how to train your dragon because hiccup gets his whole leg taken from him and it’s really sweet moment between him and toothless because they’re both physically disadvantaged in some way making their connection even greater
Tolkien knew how to do this and a lot of modern authors do too. Sanderson gets it right a lot in Mistborn. Sure, they survive without permanent handicaps, but the wounds aren't stylish and they don't heal easy either.
How to train your Dragon?
I'm surprised you haven't done a Dear Author's about families yet.
As someone whose current project involves twin sisters and their friendship and conflicts I'd love to see one of these!
Oh please do!
This sounds great! Currently writing a story about the consequences of legacies, familial pressure and just families in general so this would be extremely helpful.
Yes! Like the Luthors, the fire nation, Starks, Targarian and Lanister. How a family name is a responsability, a curse and a burden. How your birth right influence you as a character.
Agreed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This may have been said before, but: Dear Authors... PTSD or something relating to mental health of characters. This is something I am trying to write in my own book and I would love to see what people have to say about it
YES!!! Ditto that! You can't just ask people with PTSD what it's like because it's rude, but then people with PTSD get riled when fiction doesn't represent their problem properly or gets it too text book. But what else are we supposed to work off of? I need good references from the people who know what it's like, and if they're authors the more the better because they will literally let you inside their mind with the narration.
@@kanashiiookami6537because randomly asking people to tell what its like to have any attribute is rude. it's all in how you ask. "What's it like having ptsd?" vs. "I'm interested in learning more about ptsd from someone who experiences it. Is that something you're comfortable talking about?"
@@07dki I get what you're saying, that how you phrase something matters. But even if you put it in the best way possible, there are people who get offended just being asked because they think its a private matter that should never be spoken about. This goes for the family or friends of said person as well, and not just talking in terms of mental issues. There are just so many people who get offended by nearly anything that simply asking can set people off. Or, if you're one to try and talk about your problem, people around you may be offended that you're being open about it. (Speaking from experience. I know people who think disabilities and mental issues should be kept schtum and will give you a "look" if you break their ideal of presumed perfection.)
That all being said, this is why I wish i could find material for authors to use about these issues. Like I found a book detailing weapons usage and injury in reality vs fiction that was geared toward authors for better writing. So why isn't there anything on the subjects that matter? Why can't we be inclusive?
Anyway, hope your day (whatever is left of it by the time you read this) is good. Stay safe. ☺
Kanashii Ookami Maybe you’re just not looking in the right places. Many “question forum” websites could help answer your question. Quora is great for detailed experiences about people who lived a specific scenario that you’re interested in. I wanted to write a story where the main character suffered from retrograde amnesia, but I didn’t want to accidentally offend people who actually suffered from that condition, so I found a quora page where a user asked people who suffered from retrograde amnesia what their experiences were like compared to popular fiction. It gave me a lot of insight on how to properly address the condition in my story and basically filled in all the blanks I had.
I’m sure you can find places where people explain how their PTSD works. I remember when Violet Evergarden came out- an anime about a girl who suffers from PTSD after WW1, many veterans on Reddit came out and praised the show for handling PTSD portrayal so well and detailed their own experiences with the condition in comparison. I would recommend relying more on the internet for niche topics such as firsthand PTSD experience, as it takes ages for psychological studies/books that deal with those niche topics to get properly published and distributed. Of course it’s good to take some precautions when reading about experiences from random strangers, but you should be able to find some common things listed within all the accounts.
The hunger games!!!!!!!
No one:
Merphy: "For example, Avatar The Last Airbender did this so well..."
With good reason
I agree with her
how is it no one? aside from other people thinking that, the "no one" meme never make sense, because even if the person in question is indeed the only one that clearly it can't be no one...
Especially when the fire nation attacked 😝
@@ransherman1611 yeah that's the whole point of the meme lol, memes don't care about your feeling
This is why the Scouring of the Shire is such an important ending to the Lord of the Rings.
Even though Sauron is defeated in a Big Bad Battle and the finalization of the Quest, the world isn't the same.
The hobbits return to their home to find it scarred by war, and they have to set it right before they can fully come home.
In a wider perspective, the world itself changes. The events of the book signal the end of an Age, as the elves leave Middle Earth to sail to Valinor and leave the world to the rule of Men.
Gandalf, Bilbo, and Frodo have to leave the world with the other ring bearers because their lives have been so affected by these powerful talismans.
I really appreciate that Tolkien thought of those things and didn't end the story with Frodo and Sam at Mount Doom.
Yes! You get to the end and are so happy that the hobbits get to go home, and then have to see Sam grieve after he has wanted to be home for so long. It is so powerful!
It's one of my favorite chapters of the book!
Tolkien was no stranger to war and it's outcomes and it really shows throughout his work.
The only issue is that, in either film or book, after that “Big Battle,” you can only keep the audience’s interest for so long unless you play it right where it’s EXTREMELY apparent that the conflict is not resolved after the climax.
Like in the book (and especially the film), the end of LotR just feels too long and drawn out despite how it takes the time to let the dust settle.
@@Kailova07 Disagree. I like that they did that (should`ve shown how bad the Shire was after the war but I understand why they didnt do that). The book felt mostly drawn out in the beginning, and the movie was good enough to have that sort of an ending. They took time , which is something they didnt do with the Hobbit trilogy. I do feel like we are very impatient people today in the modern world, so I think in one way its healthy to have to wait for the ending to come. Thats just my opinion on it, anyway :)
I feel like Tolkien also wants to make a point there. Even after the Scouring of the Shire, when it has been reconquered and Frodo tried his hardest to return the Shire to the way it was. He should be happy that he was able to protect his home and the people he loved. But he wasn't.
Books: The only time we advocate for relentless mass murder
No no, he’s got a point
Imagine you're an author trying to write about the effects of various explosives on people/infrastructure...
Now imagine the NSA goes through your browser history.
@@cormachayden1614 I'm not an author but I'm halfway sure I'm on some secret FBI watchlist because of morbid curiosity in the worst of humanity at times.
@@mwplaylist2890 god I sometimes do my research on incognito coz like how else would you search for assassination techniques?😐😂😂
@@60auropriyaswain67 What? You don't want "How to assassinate president and not get caught" in your search history? Madness.
Dear Authors... families/family-like relationships (father figures, sisterly friends, etc.)
I’m writing a book that has a lot to do with family, and I’d really like to see what people think about this.
Love your videos!
This is SUCH a good idea -- I have a big family and, honestly, well-written families can make any book that much more amazing!
That is a great idea! I love those relationships in books and especially when it's built over long periods of time. Magnus Chase is a good example of that
I love family/family type relationships books the best, there is so much feelings to it! Go for it ❤❤
Yes! I love familial relationships in books. I'm sick of nobody having parents or sibling relationships being written shittily.
All the best for your book
Tolkien writes the best battle scenes of any I've read (probably because he actually fought in a war). They have this sense of chaos but also emotion and horror. And make you feel so victorious like when Eowyn defeats the witch king.
I like when Bilbo gets knocked out in the Hobbit & wakes up after a big battle, so realistic, Bilbo was brave but he's not a warrior or soldier
Yes it certainly helps if you lived it and experienced it (plus he understood the true stakes of war).
Seth Finberg “by the year 1918 all but one of my friends where dead” -J.r.r. Tolkien
Zuko : " 100 years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided , but with the Avatar , we can put it back on the right path."
I see the importance of that statement now , makes the story 💯
"There is No happily ever after , right after a major concluding War"
*cough* nineteen years later *cough*
Cabbage man would like to disagree
ok I can't read that without reading it in Zuko's voice
The weapon you would wield in battle is...
Words
But also probably an axe or something
Nah she'd use words.
Magic to be precise.
Senator Padme Amidala to a tee.
Robin Rad Tolkien magic
In the story I’m writing non of my main characters wield a sword , spears and axes baby
And glaves! Don't forget the galves!
Dear Author: Inner conflicts. I really want to see this thing in books. Like how can all the heroes in the world are so witty, charming and bold? Why no one is a introvert who likes to stay indoor? [I have seen this in several movies,like Onwards for example,but still waiting for a book to read about it]
Introverts don't necessarily have to be people who prefer indoors although, to be honest, most are (myself included). Introvert just means you get tired after a lot of social interactions and you like your alone time. This alone time can be done outdoors though. I guess it's harder to have introverts as MCs because their tendencies are to stay inside which can be hard to build a fantasy quest upon. Especially cause when they are introverts in the beginning and get unwillingly dragged into a quest, they're somehow magically not an introvert afterward???
Anyways yeah, I have a pretty introverted MC but the other MC is the extrovert who ends up dragging the introvert around lol
@@asiangalaxygirl I am an introvert myself and so I can understand you perfectly well. However, creating quests inside is not really impossible. Like creating a magical world inside games (Feyland) or inside books (Beauty and the beast lost in a book).
And it's really disturbing when the introvert somehow change into someone who is extrovert after a magical quest. I myself never endured a magical quest,so I am not sure of the outcome. But seeing this same thing (introverts turning into extroverts)over and over is really stressing.
I mean that’s basically Bilbo Baggins
@@noahmugan354 Lol true though
@@geminithetwins that's the other thing they never touch on, in my opinion, is the stress of being an introvert around hordes of people. No one does that, that I've read. But it is so insanely stressful for me to be around people, especially people I don't know. And they never have a character "cling" to the people they know in said crowds/parties. They just make them people persons. It's so frustrating!
I absolutely HATE writing fight scenes 😭 this will definitely help me!
i feel you on that one
Why do you feel like you have to include fight scenes though? You can also write in a fantasy setting without a war happening. You still have magic and strange creatures, a medieval setting, etc.
@@couchpotatoe91 for me its that i want to tell a specific story and for my current story it is necessary that they are there. i dont want to give up a whole plot idea just because i hate writing action scenes. i also dont enjoy writing landscape describtions but i still somehow have to do them. aaand sorry my english is not that well
@@atlas-ck5bp Seems fair.
Bernard Cornwell does a great job in writing fight scenes. If you ever get the chance to look at any of his works, I hope it may help your craft 🙂
You should do a Dear Authors, Training Sequences. Cause I have a lot to say 😂
Lol
Hey Joe, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this topic. I’m writing notes on a character of mine that has to undergo training so I’d like some advice before I dive into this portion. Thanks!
O-o tell meh
Yes. Training is part of telling the progress realisticaly.
Honestly I hate it when the main character has some “special force” that trumps all when fighting. They get out onto the battlefield and the main character gets cornered and is surely going to die, but then, oh WOW! The main character has some special magic power that no one else has and was never mentioned ever. It’s just really annoying and makes the main character seem untouchable, which for me looses all the tension of the story.
Ps. Love you Merphy ❤️
Ah yes. Deus ex machina at its finest.
Ryan Sivek lol
ah yes, 99.9% of anime protagonists in a nutshell.
Cough-Bella Swan-Cough
Paul Shealy 😂
Dear Authors: Please don't make combatscenes too flowery, you will only lose the reader along the way because it becomes difficult for them to comprehend what is going on. Your prose can be incredible, but a combatscene might not be the one to show it off.
I do like the final Hogwarts battle in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The deaths were heart wrenching and the battle was decently paced with the magical elements blended in very well.
I love the way the "Battle of Brenna" was portrayed in "The Lady of the Lake" (The Witcher).
Many POV from both sides of the conflict: commanders, generals, patriots, mercenaries, regular trained soldiers, untrained soldiers (peasants, criminals), scouts, special troops and even medics healing the wounded plus the omniscent narrator in the background and different time perspectives (live action but also flashbacks, entry in a diary after years).
I would want more authors to do stuff like that.
Battle of Brenna is definitely my favourite battle in literature. You get only a few paragraphs in the head of many of those characters you listed, but you can really feel their emotions and hopes and goals. And they also really show the overall chaos and destruction and the scale of battle, while the future-flashbacks like Jarre's memoirs and military academy cadets analysis provide a general overview of tactics. This is absolutely awesome, as you can get the feeling of total chaos that the characters see, but also you don't get lost in it.
As a beginner writer I am very grateful for this series. It allows me to know what readers like and don't like and how I can improve my writing. Thank you!
Dear Authors...Sacrifice
Dear Authors...Inner Conflicts
Dear Authors...Anti-Heroes
Dear Authors...Familial Relationships
I’m almost done with my book, and there’s the big battle at the end that the entire book lead up to so this is good advice for me 🤩🤩 Thank you!! :D
Good luck! Hope it's a best seller
good luck! Writing a book is a lengthy process, don’t give up! ❤️❤️
Never here this early. On Avatar, it does have a comic called "The Promise" that deals with the post-war fallout. It's semi-cannon.
the promise is really good and indeed shows how the defeat of ozai and zuko's new leadership didn't make problems go away. and it's not semi-canon it's canon.
I agree, the expanded lore covers everything Merphy mentioned.
I thought she was reading it already?
@@holstfly1 i think she read search
And the post war Is Explored more in smokes And Shadows btw Its full Cannon.
If you're going to kill off your main character, know you're going to do it from the first book. If I crack open book 3 and I'm reading love interest's perspective (and if it's the first time we had a new perspective), I *immedeately* know one of them will die, and it's probably the main character. Not referring to anything in particular of course.
@Divergent
Yeah....how can you NOT be saying Divergent!? 😂 worst end book ever, though I didn't much prefer book 2 either. Book 1 hooked me, but she seemed to literally lose the plot after that. Notice each story is pretty much repetitive in plot line so she killed off you know who for what? Drama? A change? A "twist" that everyone saw coming? Either way, horrible execution. Definitely on the "what not to do" pile for "dear authors..."
My mum read divergent after me and told me as soon as she read a chapter called "four/Tobias" or whatever at the beginning of the third book she knew tris was gonna die, it was painfully obvious that they needed him as a narrator to continue the narrative
@@cactojuice exactly! That was my thought. Like, if she (the author) had him as a part narrator from the beginning, it would have been less likely to occur to me that Tris was going to be killed off. (Other than the "never fail" prediction of intimacy=death I keep seeing in YA) but because she suddenly introduces that perspective in the last book it was a roll your eyes "can it be any more obvious" type thing. 😫🙄
Levi Vs beast titan. One of the most hype fights EVER (if you can even call it a fight). My heart was beating so damn fast.
Not a book but that scene still gived me chills
*SPOILERS*
When Pieck took Zeke away and Levi began slaughtering the rest of the titans there.
Hell yeah! Ouuuu in season 4 we are gonna get some epic scenes my dudes
@@nayumi1223 ikr. The manga is insanely good now I dare say it's one of the greatest pieces of fiction not just manga I've read. So many sick moments are gonna be animated (I just keep moving forward until my enemies are destroyed).
the battles in AoT are the best, people die, they use strategy (Armin, Hange) leadership (Erwin) and strength (Eren, Mikasa, Levi) and the worldbuilding and how Paradise evolved just makes so much sense, the Return arc really showed how good Isayala is at portraying battles, and the go-in back and fourth between the outer gate and the inner gate made it much more engaging and well paced, pretty much each chapter and arc steps on the last and chains it up and throws it in the trash bin.
Merphy: I recommend reading the community tab
Me seeing there are 1.1k comments 😅, well there goes my morning. Time to brew a full pot of coffee. Hope I see you in there Mocio.
Ah, BTW, I changed back to my name lol
I feel like the tv show Star Wars: The Clone Wars does a really good job of showing multiple aspects of war. It not just about the battles but also the political and strategic parts of war. It also introduces so many different worlds and how they view the war and it shows that not everyone agrees and that’s what this video made me think of.
The show also plays very well with a lot of different strategies and dynamic battles; some are chaotic fun, others are darker and clouded, and even Anakin loses them occasionally. The battles also usually serve as either starting incidents (at the beginnings) or character development (especially for Ahsoka, and normally at the ends) of episodes, so they’re typically a lot more important than just background filler. A big part of why I consider that show the definitive best storytelling in Star Wars
4:00 - You should read the Avatar comics. Things aren’t better, especially in that first arc of comics titled “The Promise.”
Professionalism is a must for me especially for the protagonist side. The whole lose cannon bucking the chain of command is a trope that I hate.
Me too. It's so overused and in real life I'm pretty sure loose cannons are the first to die in battle.
@@runningcommentary2125 that or depending on the setting they may not even be brought to the battle field.
Yep. I can't respect it unless there are highly specific, valid, and well-considered reasons for the insubordination. Much more interesting to see ppl wrestle with the implications of their ethics/duty/training than to see them just flip a switch and give up on what they were fighting for three seconds ago.
Sometimes it can kinda happen. Think Marshall Ney during the battle of Waterloo. He, on his own initiative, led a disastrous cavalry charge. Shit happens sometimes
@@MrGustavoavillelaz I know shit happens. I am tried of someone disobeying orders and everything working out fine and no repercussion.
I want a war when the hero or villain doubts that they will win. Its just, villains always seem so sure they'll win. Same with heroes. I want to feel nervous and wonder what if, what if we might not win?
They did continue the aftermath of the war in the comics for Avatar, those that want Ozai back in power, conflict of fire nation colonies staying in the earth kingdom. However i think the show did touch on a lot of adult topics and themes but the ending was definitely aimed directly at the kid audience.
ending was fine not every ending has to show after effects
Is this going to become the same thing like with HelloFutureMe, where there is no episode without Avatar reference? I don't mind tho... ;)
Dont forget trope talk, avatar is in every of it
An author who loves killing his own characters (only few with later resurrection) is Derek Landy, the author of Skulduggery Pleasant.
Yes! Compared to Derek, Rick Riordan looks merciful towards his characters 😂
Plus resurrections actually make sense in that series with the way the magic system works and is built up
Murphy, I recently discovered your channel, and I’m already hooked! Your Dear Authors series is soooo helpful to me as a writer to know what readers like and dislike. Thank you!!
"Of course I want it to be realistic!"
Personally I want it realistic enough in fiction. Plausibility is more intriguing to me, and it gets me thinking of what could have happened instead.
Instead of killing a character, I am a big fan of BREAKING a character. Giving a loving character a fate worse than death like destroying their mind, their drive, etc and seeing them decay while still alive is so incredibly impactful. It makes that character a living scar that the rest of the cast have to deal with and, while they are fixing the other wounds of the world, they literally cannot fix this character, and that breaks THEM too
This is actually what happened to my villain, the concept popped in my head and I just knew I wanted to use it! Basically he and his husband ruled the kingdom, his husband convinces him to go on an adventure for a few days and take a break from royal duties, husband gets killed which is already traumatizing enough, then the villain who is desperate at this point spends five or so years killing magic users until one agrees to teach him a spell to bring back his husband, this also slowly destroys his mental state, eventually one agrees and once he FINALLY re animates his husband, the husband is freaking out over what the husband did (I mean what would you do if you suddenly came back from the dead and your husband has murdered hundreds of innocent people, neglected his kingdom, and is now feared by everyone) and says a few things he probably shouldn’t have. This finally breaks the villain who flees and spends the next 10 years working to craft a plan to guard himself with magic in order to take revenge on the “ungrateful” kingdom by finding really messed up ways to destroy peoples will to live, this also leaves his husband, who ends up changing his name to come and continue to rule the kingdom, broken and self loathing and desperately hoping that he can help the villain turn back to good!
And then I remembered I was writing a comedy... OH WELL XD
Reader: Kill a main character, so I feel emotion.
Also reader: You killed him! I loved him! I kill you!
At least he feels now strong emotions.
Better inspire hatred than disapointment
I love the battle of the department of mysteries, it's a really good battle in my opinion.
People die and get injured in this battle
There is a meaning behind it, the battle started because of harry's love for sirius, he was willing to do anything to save him.
And voldemort got what he wanted, but at a cost. He got harry to pick up the prophecy, but in the process, everyone now knows he is back, and the prophecy broke
That in my opinion is a perfect battle
And if you haven't realized yet, I'm talking about Harry Potter
(it's only my opinion, sorry if I offended someone )
I don't know, The Fight against the Inferi was great.
Aside from the cavalry arriving out of nowhere, you make a good point
Introducing a new character 3/4's of the way through the book just to kill them -- the Star Trek phenomenon
I'm curious what you mean by Star Trek phenomenon?
@@KnightOwl1881 So I never watched much of the old show, but my mom LOVES it and big things she pointed out was that EVERY EPISODE, without fail, they went on this mission with all the main characters and one extra guy to complete the ship's crew. And EVERY EPISODE, without fail, they killed off that extra guy 😂So I call it the Star Trek phenomenon whenever I read it
Lol I never would have thought of this but you're not WRONG
Except that Star Trek usually kills the "red shirts" before the midpoint ;)
@@anonymousbibliomaniac4588 They're called red shirts.
i really just want a series or book in the perspective of one of the soldiers or the people under the "big bad " after they're defeated and see how much it changes/affects their lives, if there is something like that then please recommend one :-)
2 possibilities Grunts a story told through the eyes of Orcs who steal a cache of magic weapons that allows them to survive the final battle. Or Black Company a series that follows mercenaries hired by the big bad.
I'm actually writing a story that will deal with the aftermath once the big bad is defeated! Glad to know I'm on the right track. And a lot of what the MCs are doing is the behind the scenes tactics... Cool!
Yes, we all love Sanderson, but this Dear author series makes me appreciate his craft even more. I wasn't completely satisfied with Mistborn but I can see his growth in the Stormlight Archive and I can feel him do so well most of the things discussed in this series of videos.
I was thinking that too. He is a master of this stuff but always improving as well!
@@naughtscrossstitches Glad to know someone feels the same! :)
I’ve always wanted to participate in one of these but every time you post the questions I freak out and don’t know what to say😭😭😂😂
Lol same
me too
I'm just always late
The _Star Wars: Thrawn_ books are great about breaking up action with tactics. Of course, the protagonist, Thrawn, _is_ a tactician (and the best in the galaxy), so… that’s to be expected, I guess.
A wonderful example of a well written finale battle is the battle for New York in Percy Jackson. The entire series leads up to this and it definitely fulfills expectations and it takes place over almost the entire book. You see individual action but also strategy and tactics. There’s stakes and personal connection in that main fight. And there are sacrifices and post war consequences.
Re: a story ending with a final battle. A great example of this done WELL Tarmon Gaidon in The Wheel of Time series. The battle goes on for about 250 pages, which sounds like over kill, but it is detailed, multi faceted and written from so many POVs. It is amazingly satisfying.
Aight, we gotta get her to watch Attack on Titan
Is that a Zoro Luffy fusion?
Indeed it is (I didn’t make it)
Merphy: All the book only serves to build up to the final battle and then it's over in 10 pages
Me: Eyeing to Blood of Olympus whose final battle is like 1 page
Love Rick but idk why he decided to bench Percy and Annabeth for the climactic fight.
@@saintroddy blood of olympus was meant to pass the torch to Jason, pipes and leo. Rick thought this was the best thing for the future of this universe as he felt that percy had become too op so he made him and ann move on with college and stuff. That's why he benched Percy in ToA and used leo, Jason and piper more instead.
Currently plotting this big battle/war that spans for a whole series and im now half convinced that Merphy is a psychic of some sort
One book I've seen that does the "long build up and short execution" type of battle scene well was Rainbow Six. In that, when the tactical unit was going to breach a room and apprehend the bad guys etc, they keep planning and planning for pages because they want the absolute perfect outcome. Then it happens so quickly because it's simply a firefight between a few people, it still feels satisfying.
That thing with war not being over when the big bad is gone is so true. Like, I don't even need to see the world after, show me the emotional trauma the characters now have. War is not something you just walk away from like some kind of after-school activity you don't like. It stays with you, it haunts you.
Something that really bugs me out is when some side of the war (the evil side 99,99% of the time) creates an army using enslaved warrior or stuff like that, and the good side be like "uhu is so fun to kill them iei" (especially when one of the characters already been slaved before, i'm looking at you Finn (Star wars new trilogy))
YES, in my story they train to immobilize them(they're part of a cult, not exactly enslaved)
I do not enjoy it when families/friends in a book don't ever argue or get mad at each other. It makes the family/friend's relationship not only unrealistic, but also you don't see the love and bonds that they have for each other. For example: If there are two brothers who grow up together, fight together, and help each other without fighting at least once, you just won't feel a stronger relationship then if they had fought or disagreed with each other. Hope that makes sense:)
For a writer these videos are soooo useful! Will you do one on world building or mentor characters?
I thought she did a world building already.
Yes I agree! I love writing and these are very helpful. I second that vote especially the world building one!
Nicholas Beeson she did magic systems
I actually disagree with the way the Divergent series not being good. Could it have been done in a way that was more significant? Yes, but that's not how real life works. Most people don't die in remarkable ways. I personally found it to be such a breath of fresh air. The message that I took away was basically that you can be such an important player in a story and still have an unremarkable death. Honestly, ASOIAF did the same thing multiple times and nobody complained
I love the “War fight consequences” in hunger games, Katniss and Petta were sent away, Katnis has PTSD, Prim (and many others), died, Gale and Katniss had a falling out, and all the innocent people in the capital had their previous lives taken away and their children killed. These are the things that definitely invest me in a series.
That's one of the reasons I love that series, the consequences are very well done and realistic
@@cloud8071 if it wasn't under the label of ya dystopia people would rate it so much higher
Realistically, in pre-gunpowder battles, the winning side tended to have very few casualties and the losing side had tons, most of them killed after they flee or surrender; so while not having many deaths for the heroes in a battle might not be dramatic, it's not necessarily a cop out. Alexander the Great led cavalry charges into uncertain odds for his entire adult life and he eventually died of typhoid fever or something 13 years into his conquering career.
I also think authors often fail to capture how scary a hand-to-hand fight to the death is supposed to be. Like imagine how afraid people are of normal serial killers, and then imagine the enemy army as a highly trained and well organized force of serial killers numbering in the thousands. The best case scenario is that you and your pals are better serial killers than the enemy or else you're probably dead.
Battle scene of Attack on Titan season 3 part 2 slays almost every battle scene I've ever watched/read. Emotional stakes, multiple perspectives and new battle tactics. I need Isayama's storytelling talent😭😭
Unfortunately, the main reason the Warriors lost was because they weren't very observant.
Had Zeke looked slightly to the right instead of getting overly emotional, they would've been boned.
Had Bert checked on Eren instead of giving so much attention to Armin (come on, just reach out and squeeze him), they would've been boned.
And Reiner deciding not to kill the horses wasn't particularly logical.
Point 2 was probably my favorite part of the mistborn trilogy. Seeing how the world reacted to the actions of the main characters made it feel so much more alive than a traditional "happy ending".
Dear authors: in-fighting/disputes amongst the main protag group - could be interesting
Part of the reason informed tactical genius in books is so common is most authors haven't studied enough military history to learn what tactics worked and why.
I can study it until my eyes bleed, but grasping the concept and understanding what I've read is another thing altogether.
I agree with you though, that not enough do this. I just would be to overwhelmed to execute a proper battle scene properly in line with military strategy. It is daunting to the extreme if you don't understand what tactic would be good in what situation AND make it unpredictable to the reader. Like, oy, just second guessing myself in the thought process is too much. 😅
Oh, wait... Did I read your comment wrong and say completely the wrong thing based off the wrong understanding?! (If so, oops.)
David Webber, and David Drake both use real historical battles for the basis of battles in their works.
@@robertblume2951 They are examples of doing it right, I agree.
Hey Merphy, the way you talked about wars and how most are like not showed in different perspectives was good and I wholly agree with it. And that is why I recommend to you 'Hunter X Hunter'. It is one of the best anime. It has soooo many layers in its story. I can guarantee that u too would love it. Ok just wanted it out there. Try it.
Meruem is one of the best villains ever written
@@Sprachkonzert He is the type of villian that everyone will respect. And I love Togashi's writing dude. The depth of it!!
the ants arc really was deep
The original Percy Jackson books have a very satisfying final battle
As an aspiring author, I really appreciate your channel. It's helping me a lot considering my story is a young adult medieval fantasy.
i clicked for the agni kai background, stayed for the good advice
I love "The Ranger's Apprentice" take on battles. Sure there are multiple cotrivances but there's a lot of strategy involved, along with sieges, defending a castle, ambush, guerilla techniques. A brilliant mindwork is always a win for me. Battles and fights that only rely on strenght (physical, magical, whatever) are just boring.
Same thoughts. I love the battle in the fourth book!
To be fair to Avatar, the extended universe comics delve into the aftermath of the war
There is a problem with including the villains perspective: It is hard to fit it into the same book. If you do both, you are almost guaranteed to reduce both stories and end up with something mediocre.
The only good example of a villains perspective I have seen took a whole trilogy of the villains perspective. That was really cool to see and I think it is the only way to do the villains justice, by giving them their OWN book(s).
A major peeve of mine is when the main characters just stop fighting in a battle because something happened. They're in a raging battle, and should not have time to stop for "one last kiss", a lengthy conversation or to drop to their knees and mourn a dying/dead friend.
If any character drops their defences in a battle, they should be immediately struck down. I'd love to read a book where a main character has to deal with the fact that their lack of focus actually resulted in the deaths of friends and family they were no longer protecting, or where the hero is 30 seconds too late because they stopped for a kiss. It's not romantic, it undermines the tension.
agree to disagree
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is a great example of continuing battles. In the very first book, the protagonists bring down the tyrant of their country. In the next two, they face the challenges of running and maintaining said country, and learn too late of a cunning ancient enemy that they have played right into the hands of.
Maaan, i cannot wait for her to read Marineford.
Ah, yes, the 'final battle', aka that one time Voltron did something better than Avatar and we just don't talk about it.
Because we worship Caillou but with a tattoo
that thing about the battle being so quick reminds me of the last book of the heroes of olympus series. they actually made a callback about in on trials of apollo saying it was over in like 5 minutes
I think one thing i'd like to add is that before writing battles, look up one set of actual battle casualty stats. Because this is likely enough to avoid the major pitfalls in writing a battle, where either everyone survives entirely unharmed, or everyone is very clearly killed in full view of everyone else. Most casualties are wounded, not killed, but a lot of people do die/get hurt enough that they are a casualty, not just someone with a grazed knee.
Basically, I think getting this scale wrong in either direction can lead to a weirdly unrealistic aftermath. In once case there was a war/battle in which everyone came out totally unharmed, which means the words 'war' and 'battle' should have been switched out for 'episode of WWE Smackdown' and 'royal rumble' at some point in the editing process. In the other, people are failing to comment on what genocidal maniacs the opposition were. You can have this second type successfully, but you need to acknowledge that the 'enemy' or, in worse cases 'the good guys', were massacring people as they tried to surrender or run away, because at some point one side would have decided that this battle was a bad place to be. Big culprits of this are long running series that feel like they have to wrap up where every single story arc ended, and so everyone obn both sides dies in a battle that should be accompanied by the footnote *and the population never recovered from such horrific losses, leading to the extinction of the nations involved by famine and inbreeding only a century late.
i always love it when the battle is at its lowest point(for our heroes), they get ready to die and THEN a last minute save comes along (Endgame, LOTR - multiple times, GoT). Call it cheesy or whatever, but it's rousing and gets me everytime.
Listen here Tyrion only lost half a nose
"Stupid Sacrifices"
Jesus from the Walking Dead. I still have no idea why that whole death scene even happens.
Jesus was in the Walking Dead???
Just want to put out there that GRRM is a master at writing the consequences of war.
Hell yeah he is! :D
“ He lifted his home, and brought it down with a mighty blow, and then he lifted his other arm, And... scratch his back”
Step aside George R R Martin we have a new king of subverting expectations
After watching the segment where you said what you personally liked in battle scenes, it instantly remindend me of Skulduggery Pleasant (especially the 8. and 9. book).
These books are criminally underrated!!
On the villain’s perspective topic, She-Ra spends almost an equal amount of time with the villains as with the heroes, and does an amazing job of making them real people you want to succeed, yet also has them actively trying to kill the good guys. It’s just an amazing show and has a redemption arc that’s almost ATLA level
Something tells me she's gonna enjoy Marineford....
she gonna love the writing but considering her last vid, she’s gonna be devastated about a character
This is more for drawn out battles and less for skirmishes.
I like it when there is a proper layout of the battle at some point in the beginning so the reader can get a good feel for the odds of victory. What factions are involved, how are they organized, what types of soldiers/spaceships are there and (roughly) how many does each faction have? Where are they positioned and what is their effective range? Limit the space of everyone. The main character can't fight on all fronts at the same time, so tell us where they are and from the former description of the layout we then know what obstacles and enemies they will have to face. That doesn't mean that there can't be any surprises, you can spring a trap, throw in an unusually skilled enemy fighter pilot that is stuck to our tails can can't be shaken off or whatever, but I hate battles where every three seconds a new threat appears, that no one knew about. It just feels like the author is making everything up as they go and the overall threat level is unknowable.
I think a pretty great example of a climactic battle done right is the finale of the Percy Jackson series. The siege of New York and Mount Olympus feels huge and monumental, and it never really feels like our heroes have it well in hand. As I recall (and I haven't read it in some time, so this is going off of memory,) it manages to dodge or subvert a lot of these common complaints and to my mind was a very satisfying conclusion.
I'm always confused by wars and battles 😳
Me: [Sees last, super-long comment.]
Me: Welp, SOMEBODY'S read The Art Of War...
As a writer I really like this. Helps me out a lot.
what you said kept making me think back to war and peace--it's the best book that shows war and the effects of war that i've ever read, you don't just see the war, you also see the peace, the peasants, the high-class people, the soldiers, the politics, and of course the battles, but everything is so big and tolstoy really emphasizes how everything affects everything and how small things can lead to something bigger and how individuals can be a part of something that is bigger than themselves and i love how clueless all the characters are about that fact, no one actually knows how or what they influence or even that they are part of something that will go down in history, they just live their lives in absence of sonder. it's so amazing.
A lot of my favourite fight scenes are in anime. *i am a book reader. Its just my opinion*
Edit: a lot of this reminds me of Attack on Titan, and the last book of TOG series. Also, The Way of Kings.
Merphy: I promise I won't reference Avatar too much!
*recommends Hello Future Me*
A WIZARD DID IT!
Vikings have some of my favourite war/battle episodes I've ever seen. There are huge, brutal bloody battles switching from perspectives constantly. The action is amazing and you're on your toes guessing who is going to die or survive.
Then it also has episodes where battles are completely cut and you see the characters after the fight, bloody and almost broken then shows flashbacks to what happened and it really shows the emotions that just showing the battle itself misses.
Like how Hvitserk is talking about how Ubbe had the chance to kill him but didn't and Ivar says, of course, he couldn't kill his own brother then throws a dirty look at King Harald, giving another flashback of King Harald killing his brother during the battle after his brother had already surrounded.
These "Dear Authors" are so useful when you are writing a book. I really like these vids because they point out some mistakes i make myself, and they explain how to fix them!
what kind of weapon would merphy use if she was in a battle/war?
the community tab probably
Words
Climbing axe.
Her books
Her beautiful hair.
I recently finished the Percy Jackson series and I loved (SPOILERS) the fact that they took a break from the battle at times and how characters that we actually cared about died. I mean when Silena died? I cried. That was great imo.
I'm loving this series in general, but this video has been the most helpful so far. Thanks, Merphy!
I can appreciate a step by step fight or battle when strong and interesting magic is involved. Those kinds of actions can demonstrate it in a surprising and clever way.
Dear authors... Do's and don'ts of different perspectives? (First, third)
Can you do, Dear Authors: Siblings
Edit: Thank you so much for reading my comment!
Atleast the Avatar comics addressed that like with the fire nation village that had existed since the beginning of the war.
The "adding new characters before a battle" thing was done well in Outlander.
There they added two characters that were similar to the comic reliefs of the story. They were added a few episodes (only watched the series, never read the books) before a big fight the viewer already knew would be lost. Then the fight came and one of them died. And one of the original pair. And now the two leftovers had something to bond over.
It was nicely done.