Action!

Got milk?

2011-08-21T17:03:00.000-06:00

Flowers On The Wall by The Statler Brothers Been a long time coming......But I'm proud to announce that I've rereleased The Milkman in a special, "author's cut" edition. Here's the blurb and the cover for your enjoyment! When Liza, an intrepid reporter, stakes her career on an interview with a milkman named Blake, things go from weird to worse when they are abducted by aliens. After finding

Now available...Action! The Ebook!

2011-06-11T19:49:00.000-06:00

Now available from Smashwords and soon to be available from all online retailers, you can buy the complete Action! manual for only $2.99!

12: Gratuitous Explosions and Other Action Downfalls

2011-06-11T07:35:00.002-06:00

Writing action scenes can be a tremendous amount of fun. Your characters can do all those stunts you've seen in movies, and you can invent entirely new predicaments for them. You have to be careful not to get too carried away with that fun, because it can result in some pitfalls that can ruin even the best-planned action

Critique #15

2011-05-06T20:20:00.000-06:00

The largest dog howled a war cry and the others lunged forward. Cecily screamed. She turned, took two steps and tripped over sagebrush. An arrow whizzed over her head, then another and another and another. All four dogs stumbled and fell. Uncle North! Thank the winter brothers for Uncle North! [Formatting point: Later on you italicize thoughts. Make sure you're consistent.] Cecily pushed

From the Department of Ian's Fiction #3

2011-04-26T19:24:00.000-06:00

Pariah’s Moon now available! Branded on his face and exiled following his forbidden affair with the Princess of Aelfland, Elven soldier Giele seeks redemption on the frontier across the ocean, but even fleeing half a world away isn’t far enough to escape the troubles that follow a marked man. He finds sporadic acceptance, even some measure of friendship, from a holy man, a drunken mage

Hey, look, another review!

2011-04-23T23:30:00.000-06:00

Blood on the Ice gets a whopping 5 stars from Ren! Read the full review here. Why haven't I posted anything new here? I'm getting ready for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference next weekend, and have a lot of ducks to get in a row before then. Also, nobody's submitted any scenes for me to review, so I'm a little short on both time and new material. I'm hopeful to get a surge of new submissions in

From the Department of Ian's Fiction #2

2011-03-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Here's another review for Blood on the Ice, posted by Jenn Zuko on Nerds in Babeland! Some choice quotes: “Healy’s snickering, boyish humor is a highlight of this novel—from the characters’ postmodern comments on vampiric pop culture to the hockey teammates’ constant good-natured trash talking to the wry snarkiness of the “narrator” (a lovely twist as to the identity of the narrator I

My Insane Free Ebooks Deal

2011-03-24T12:55:00.001-06:00

Ok, here's how it works. You go to www.ianthealy.com, click on the Ebook Store tab, and pick any story or novel from that list. Then you click on the Contact link and tell me 3 things: (a) What piece you want, (b) What ebook format you want-I have them all, and (c) Roughly how long it will take you to read. Then I will email your free ebook to you, with the following caveat: I ask you to post a

From the Department of Ian's Fiction

2011-03-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Real Denver Sports: Blood on the Ice by Ian T. Healy - Book Review

11. Types of Action Scenes: The Battle

2011-03-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

The Battle or, “War is Hell!” The Battle is, in my opinion, the hardest type of action scene to write well. When you have to manage huge groups of people, of which your characters are a part, it’s a tricky process to keep them from getting lost amid all the action. Dealing with large-scale combat requires a lot of planning on an author’s part. Most authors want their hero or heroes to be

Another nice review!

2011-03-02T20:46:00.002-07:00

Here's the review from the workshop I conducted for the Pikes Peak Writers!

A note from management (again)

2011-02-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

My computer was down for about a week and I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. I haven't forgotten about you here, though! Look for some new material this week. Also, I have exactly one action scene left in my queue to critique, and after that I'm open. So if you have a scene you're dying to get analyzed because you're under a short deadline, now's the time to submit it.

A nice review!

2011-02-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

Stacy reviewed the workshop I conducted this week.

The Action Scene Worksheet

2011-02-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with my workshop, I've created a worksheet for your use in plotting your action scenes. It's an .rtf file. You can download it from the link on the top right of the sidebar. I hope you'll find it a useful tool in planning out your action sequences. Last minute reminder: I have a workshop today in Colorado Springs at 6:30 PM. Details are in the sidebar. I hope to see you there!

Critique #14

2011-02-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Tyler flopped under the bottom rail of the corral. He crawled through mashed hay, horse droppings and mud mixed with animal piss. He dodged mud-caked hooves. At the gate post, he mopped his face with the sleeve of his jacket, perched his rifle on a fence rail and trained it on the church. A glimpse caught in the next lightning flash showed Spencer dart from the well to the buildings on the

Workshop update!

2011-02-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Pikes Peak Writers has finally found a venue of sufficient size to host me. No, it's not the Air Force Academy Stadium - at least, not this time. The Writing Better Action workshop will be next Tuesday, February 15, from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM at the following location: Fire Station #19 2490 Research Parkway Colorado Springs, CO 80920 I hope to see you there! Map available here.

Critique #13

2011-01-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Setup: Thomas is demonstrating a new invention called "Megahorse" which is a little like a Star Wars AT-AT except with 8 legs like a spider. It's running an illegal steam engine. Thomas is concerned that something is wrong after they fire the cannon for the first time. [Steampunk. Me likey.] Master Spencer ran over and pulled open the hatch. “What is the matter? Why did you power down?” “

Workshop Reminder

2011-01-20T11:15:00.001-07:00

Don't forget! If you're in the Denver area this coming weekend, I'm presenting an Action! workshop for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. I'd love to see you there! Date: Sat., Jan. 22, 2011 Time: 1 PM-3PM MST Location: Lakewood Library 10200 W. 20th Ave., Lakewood, CO 80125

10. Types of Action Scenes: The Chase

2011-01-10T07:28:00.002-07:00

Or, "We're about to enter Hot Pursuit!" There’s something very primal about a chase scene. It goes all the way back to when humans were still hunter-gatherers and before. We revel in the thrill of the chase, whether it’s from the perspective of the hunter chasing after the prey or from the perspective of the fugitive fleeing before the predator. Either type of scenario gets our blood flowing

Critique #12

2011-01-03T08:00:00.002-07:00

This is a special critique I'm doing for my friend Caron Guillo, using an excerpt from her book An Uncommon Crusade, which will be released Tuesday, Jan. 4! If this scene piques your interest, you may want to get yourself a copy. Obviously, this scene is already in print, so any suggested changes I have are going to be academic, but any chance to learn something is a good thing indeed. Battle

Merry Christmas from the Action! blog

2010-12-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

It's been an exciting few months since I began this project. It started with a simple goal of creating a method to share my knowledge of writing action scenes and has since morphed into a book project, live workshops, and eventually an online workshop. I hope that some of these plans will come to fruition in the following year. In the meantime, I hope you'll keep submitting me action scenes to

Article: Perceptual distortion in real-life action

2010-12-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

This post was emailed to me by a friend (*waves to Stacy*), and I agree with her assessment that it was valid to reprint here. Source: www.delanceyplace.com. In today's excerpt - in moments of extreme duress, such as that which police experience during a shooting, human perception alters radically:"Over a period of five years, [researcher Alexis] Artwohl gave hundreds of police officers a

9. Types of Action Scenes: The Shootout

2010-12-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Shootout or, “PEW PEW PEW!” Once upon a time, humans developed technology that allowed us to stand away from our opponents and kill them at a distance. Ever since then, we’ve been obsessed with ranged combat in all its myriad forms. In fiction, there are three rather broad categories of ranged weapons, roughly equivalent to the past, the present, and the future: arrows, bullets, and

Critique #11

2010-12-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

This is from a fantasy WIP. Abbreviated backstory: Sorcha is a sort of Paladin, hunting down an evil warlock. She finally tracks him down at the edges of a reef where a half-drowned ruin lies buried in mud and encroaching tides. Her goal is to capture him and prevent his escape. *** Where was the vile man? Sorcha could feel the cold trail of his soul’s hate snaking through the waterlogged

8. Types of Action Scenes: The Fight

2010-12-06T07:00:00.002-07:00

The Fight or, “Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves.” A physical contest between two individuals is probably the oldest kind of conflict in human evolution, and forms the cornerstone of all action. In any violent conflict, if you strip away all the weapons, gadgetry, vehicles, costumes, etc., you’re left with two naked savages trying to overpower each other with brute strength. It sounds uncivilized

Update to January Workshop

2010-12-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

The workshop for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers will be held Saturday, Jan. 22 from 1 PM to 3 PM (MST) at the Lakewood Library, 10200 W. 20th Ave., Lakewood, Colorado. Hope to see you there!

Announcement: Scheduled Workshop 2

2010-12-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

I have another Write Better Action workshop scheduled. This one will be on Tuesday, Feb. 15 from 6:30-8:30 PM at a location to be determined in Colorado Springs. This will be a full-length workshop I will do for the Pikes Peak Writers as part of their Write Brain series of monthly workshops. More information on this as I get it.

Announcement: New posts to resume this week

2010-11-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo is about done (officially on Tuesday at midnight), and I'm already 2000 words past 50k and still writing. I've officially been pronounced a winner for the 7th year running. What does this mean for Action? I'll be ready to do more action scene critiques ASAP (and I only have one left in the queue, so please, if you're thinking about whether or not to submit one, I'd love to see it).

Critique #10

2010-11-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dwarven teens Eryk and Kyndra accidentally discover that exiled traitor Boris Cracktooth has secretly returned to their Forge. When they are spotted, Boric sends his two gnome henchmen after them. They realize they can't outrun the gnomes and split up. Eryk hopes to keep the gnomes pinned down and buy enough time for Kyndra to get away and bring help. Eryk watched Kyndra until she disappeared

Critique #9

2010-11-08T07:18:00.002-07:00

By the time David was driving back into the garage, I was feeling better. Then the thing was mewling at the front door, getting louder every second. I opened the door. [I'm coming back with this comment after reading further. If the narrator knows this thing and it's mewling at the door, why is she opening it?] The thing had left a black trail on the sidewalk and front step and was reaching up

The first workshop

2010-11-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

I gave my first ever Action! workshop yesterday to a larger group than I'd expected. Overall, I felt it went well. I didn't babble too much (which, frankly, I'm prone to doing) and managed to get through my planned hour's-worth of material in an hour. Afterward, the attendees said they got a lot of good, useful information out of it and I hope that they feel they learned something. Things for

Why an Action Scene isn't enough

2010-11-03T21:26:00.000-06:00

Author John Scalzi has an excellent article on this topic (albeit from a film standpoint) over at filmcritic. You should go read it.

A note from management...

2010-10-30T16:01:00.000-06:00

In case you don't know, I will be participating in NaNoWriMo for the seventh time this year. What does this mean for this blog? It means posting may be a little less frequent. I have a few critiques in the queue (and would love to have a few more if you'd like to submit one!), but instead of posting twice a week, the posts may drop to one a week in November just to let me put my emphasis

Critique #8

2010-10-27T21:43:00.000-06:00

Setup: Fozzie and his covert ops team are en route to rescue a teammate (Grinch) in the company's private jet. They've just been given their cover assignments, and are supposed to be posing as scientific researchers. Fozzie has taken one look at the material he's supposed to be memorizing and fallen asleep. This scene takes place relatively late in the book, which is a romantic suspense. [I want

7. The Stunt

2010-10-25T06:30:00.003-06:00

Giele whipped the pan out, up, and across Rarik’s face. It rang with the impact of iron on bone as Rarik flew backward into the middle of the aisle. Giele whirled around as the Dwarf shouted and fired his pistol. The bullet hit the pan with such force it nearly twisted the handle from Giele’s grasp. His hand went numb from the vibration of the metal. He glanced down and saw the bullet

Critique #7

2010-10-21T06:58:00.001-06:00

This is an excerpt from a fantasy novel. In this scene, Kilen (the swordsman) is chasing down the Kopi, a man who has been hired to guide a group safely through a dangerous forest but has fled the group and is escaping into the forest. Kopi is the name of the character's ethnic group. Farce is Kilen’s horse, and Tegu is Kilen’s sword. ---- The Kopi saw the swordsman bearing down on him and

Critique #6

2010-10-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

The following is a fraction of the scene where our (anti)hero thief character first meets our (anti)hero actress character. They've both heard stories about the other but haven't actually met till now. Your basic heist gone wrong. Here they're fleeing from guards. The arrow released a long thin rope that reached to five feet or so above the rooftop below. He grabbed the rope, hauled himself

6. Why an Action Scene at all?

2010-10-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

Like all good fiction, it all comes down to conflict and the ways a character can choose to resolve it. Ultimately, these boil down to three possibilities. Any of these are legitimate means for dealing with the central conflict of your story, and be sure to weigh the pros and cons of each one when deciding your character’s route. Avoidance. The character chooses to avoid taking action in the

Critique #5

2010-10-12T07:00:00.079-06:00

The MC is an off duty DI on her way back from a murder case in Lincolnshire that is linked to other murders she is investing by the same killer. Petrol was low so I took the slip road to the next service station and pulled up onto the forecourt. I jumped out and noticed a red Vauxhall Astra pull up at the pump behind me. A skinny youth got out and headed over to the shop to get sweets, I

5. Where do Action Scenes take place?

2010-10-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

In short, anywhere you want to set them. I call the location of an action scene the set piece. Set pieces are crucial aspects of any action. Take two characters who are going to fight each other. Put them in a doctor’s office. Now put them on a beach. Now put them in a crosswalk. Each of those scenes has the same basic conflict: two characters fight. But the setting itself necessarily

Critique #4

2010-10-06T20:18:00.000-06:00

This is from an urban fantasy. Set up: Kathryn and Jimmy had been dating but not sleeping together, and she broke it off. They live in a rural area, and are, in fact, standing on the front porch of a modular home, formerly known as a trailer. No one else is around. Jimmy has never been abusive before now. Neither has Kathryn, although she doesn't know she has more-than-human strength rolling

4. Who Is Involved In Action Scenes?

2010-10-04T20:59:00.001-06:00

I’ve already hinted at this in prior posts. At its most basic level, an action scene involves two characters: the Hero (the narrator or focal character of the narrative) and the Opponent. The Hero is, of course, who your story is about. The Hero has a goal of some kind, and the Opponent has a goal which opposes it. That opposition creates the conflict which is the root of all action scenes (

Announcement: Scheduled Workshop

2010-10-02T10:23:00.000-06:00

I will be doing a Writing Better Action workshop for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers on Saturday, January 22, 2011. It will most likely be from 1 PM to 3 PM, M.S.T. Location yet to be determined. Hope to see you there!

Critique #3

2010-09-30T19:18:00.000-06:00

Backstory: Northern Mexico. The Kid and his amigo Montoya ["Hallo! My name is amigo Montoya...You killed my father..."] have convinced the old scout Ulysses his patrons, the McCullochs, and their cowboys, that is is in their interest to help rescue the Mescalero Apache sisters, Tzoeh and Evangelina, from Cain's band of mercenaries who sell Apache scalps to the Mexican Governor. [Fair warning: I

3. What is an Action Scene?

2010-09-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

At its most basic level, an action scene is an expression of plot or character development through violence. Wait, violence? Is that really necessary? In a word, yes. We’re still essentially the same cantankerous hominids we were a hundred thousand years ago. Ever since the first proto-human got angry about something done by one of his neighbors and picked up a rock to bash the other fellow

Critique #2

2010-09-28T06:30:00.000-06:00

Backstory: A space courier is refilling his spaceship when three thugs he'd seen the previous night appear on the landing pad demanding his cargo. The Hunters split up, boxing him in. One donned brass knuckles; the other a switchblade. Deep mentally rehearsed his moves. He pressed his foot against the base of the rig, waiting for the last moment. He had to move fast, without remorse.

Critique #1

2010-09-26T12:51:00.000-06:00

Stan pulled out his tranq gun from the inside of his coat. “I got no problem puttin’ you down again, El Creepo.” He cocked the gun and pulled the trigger. [This is good, clear action]Marx moved so fast even Louis’s eyes struggled to track him as he threw Sera into the path of the tranquilizer dart. [I think this would have more punch if you split it into two sentences. Longer sentences read

2. Directing the Scene

2010-09-25T20:49:00.001-06:00

To effectively create an action scene that meets both the needs of the story and the needs of the reader, you must think more like a movie director. This means that you must consider not only the characters and their goals, but their motion through a given scene. Action scenes require characters to be in motion, and the effective description of that motion is what makes the difference between a

1. It's Hollywood's Fault, or Why Johnny Can't Write Action Scenes

2010-09-23T18:01:00.003-06:00

(Excerpt from the Introduction to Action! Write Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques) I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume everyone reading this has seen a movie. If you’ve never seen a movie, well, you probably shouldn’t be reading this book because you have a barn to raise and a beard to grow. In the 19th Century and before, writers had far more leeway to write action than they