A writer, especially an action or adventure writer, needs to have a sword and know how to use it, in my opinion. How can you write a fight scene realistically if you don’t know how to fight? 😀 Featured in this photo is a Bohol Blades Ginunting, the sword of any arnisador.
I’m sure my friends from the Philippine blade community will be delighted with this post. But yes. Can you accurately imagine how a swordfight will go if you’ve never been in one? Imagination can only get so far when experience can fill gaps you never realized were there. While there are some geniuses (my brother will highlight Monty Oum) – who can choreograph a stellar fight scene with fantastical weapons and powers – not everyone can.
Okay. Now my brother and I are arguing about this. But my friend who has published a long series of webnovels agrees with me. The weight of the weapon in your hand, how it feels to block an attack… All of it, is easier to write when you’ve experienced it before.
Writers must do a lot of research to portray a subject realistically. My favorite writer, Trevanian, once wrote that when he portrayed an art heist, someone used the same modus to steal art after his book was published. When he published a novel set amidst a mountain climbing adventure, many perished attempting the same feats. So he stopped adding such realistic details to what he wrote so others could not attempt in real life what he had researched so thoroughly prior to writing. In the same way… I do believe that action writers needs some experience in martial arts or even sparring or fights so their personal insights can be reflected on the page through the minds of their characters. Maybe.
And what writer wouldn’t want a sword? 😀