So, at 80,000 words, I promised myself that I could start writing the fight scene. As it turned out, it took me until after 100,000 words to get around to it.
Well, after 3548 words, I'm finally done with the fight scene. The word count is now at 108,949. I had 300 fewer words, but then realized that I had done a lot of research for pretty much nothing and while the suspense at the end was great, it wasn't what I needed.
Some things I learned:
1) Remember cause and effect. I had this very cool part with a collapsing ceiling, but didn't remember that if you fall ten feet onto your left shoulder, you're going to do some damage. I had to go back in and dislocate a shoulder.
2) Speeches aren't necessary. There are three lines of smack talk in there and for the rest of the time, the fight for their lives is really a fight for their lives. Unless you're Buffy, Luke or Mal Reynolds, you don't stand around talking about how much you want to kill your opponent.
3) When all else fails, ask wikihow. Sure, I didn't learn how to smash through a bay window, but I did check my facts on breaking down a door.
4) Don't be afraid to tinker. The original draft of this stunk.
