And, ACTION!

Hello to my new followers! Glad to have you on board.
For today's Journey (I unfortunately didn't have the time to illustrate myself) I'm going to discuss the one thing I've always had a knack for. The Chase, and The Getaway. Some of you may be awesome at it, and some may struggle with action packed scenes.  Either way, here are some ways to amp up the action.  This week is dedicated to Chase Scenes and how to make the best of each scene. 

If you have a tight focus on your character already, guess what, you're about to go tighter. Your sentences will get shorter. Your detail will go to the wayside.  Directional phrasing will want to rear it's ugly head but there are ways to attack these scenes with success. Today, I'm going to focus on the body and why it does what it does when in the fight or flight response.  Let them guide your scene.

A. Lets Take A Look At The Body: Fight or Flight? (This is awesome!)

1. Pupils dialate:  This means your Character is going to automatically SEE more (even in the dark).  Does this mean you need to describe each thing they see? NO!  Another cool tip/fact, time may seem to slow down as our senses heighten.

2. Hair stands on end: Why? It makes us more sensative to the world around us. It's also been suggested that this, on a psychological level, intimidates the enemy.  Have you seen a dog with it's hair on end...you already know thats a bad sign, right? In humans, we don't turn into a hell hound, but our hair turns into mini receptors.  COOL! It's like whiskers!

3. The heart speeds up:  I know, duh, but why does it speed up? The arteries constrict to maximize pressure in the area while the veins open up to allow blood to race back to the heart.  Want to know how much blood runs through your heart while in the fight to flight?  It goes from ONE gallon to FIVE gallons per minute. That's a lot of blood folks. Don't skip on the the pulse while writing the scene. 

4. Instant Energy: It's not RedBull that causes the increase in adrenaline. It's your liver.  Yup, it turns those fatty cells into glucose. I wouldn't reccomend this as a descriptive, but that's pretty awesome!

5.Respiratory: The lungs, throat and nostrils open up. The faster you breathe, oxygen fires into your muscles making them faster and stronger. Deeper breathing increases the ability to SCREAM!  Don't skimp on the breathing. 

6. Blood Vessels: These suckers, while opening up near the heart, will constrict to organs that your body deems unnecessary at the moment. The body will send more blood to heart and lungs and skimp on the blood to say...a kidney. They even constrict around certain glands, including the amount of salivA. You're character will get dry mouth! It can work as a description.  I've used it, trust me.


7. Skin: In contrast to dry mouth, the sweat glands will open up to cool the body.  Another description!!! Sweat in the eyes sucks! Use it!  Another cool fact, blood vessels constrict at the surface of the skin.  Why? It is preparing itself to decrease blood loss should there be an injury.  So, it would be accurate to say that if your character gets a gash on thier leg, it won't gush at first.  Save that mess for the "cool down". 

8. Endorphines: Your bodies natural pain killer.  A character can't be bothered with too much pain during a chase scene. Another thing that can wait till later...the aftermath of blood and pain. Ouch!

9. Judgement System:  Your brain will tell you what to do on a primitive level.
Freeze (not like ice) in place.  This allows for better hearing, and eyesight allowing for a better assesment on whether to fight or flee.
Shielding is another response. It is knee-jerk and primal. Common examples are to cower, as well as cover the face with the arms and hands. Turning the back away from an attacker is another common instinct in protection.  We don't think it, we just do it. And, so should your characters.

Cut the deep thoughts, a character won't have them.  Short, simple, sentences. 

These are common reactions and should be employed in the chase scene because they are relatable to the reader. On Wednesday, I will road map the steps for a great chase scene.  Stay tuned!

Do you struggle with chase scenes, action packed scenes? Or do you handle them well?  Have you employed any of the above body cues for fight or flight?

For more information go to: Fight or Flight