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Hey guys

Im having a touch of trouble getting a duel scene right. As i see it ther are two methods of creating an engaging duel scene...
1) a quick and violent engagement, the length should reflect the ferocity of the fight
2) describe every action and be visceral about it, the legnth dosnt matter as long as its consistent and interesting
so guys any ideas, i guess it could be a mix of both but id be keen to hera your thoughts

thanks
steve

I have some resources that might help; This and this.

But yeah, you have a good question. I try to lean towards the short and brutal side, because that's what real life is more like. You don't hear about awesome 10 minute kung fu street fights, but you do hear about a guy being jumped and beaten to death while walking home from work. But I guess it's good to have some fancy stuff, because having a story with one curb stomp battle after another gets kinda tiring. It's up to you I guess.

This one story I read really stuck with me mostly due to the climatic duel at the end, it wasn't long and drawn out but neither was it very short. It was a intense show of combat as both men went all out from start to finish full of near misses and ending as both began to steadily slow down due to the fast pace of battle and the good guy in the story beheading the villain in his first sign of exhaustion (given the nature of the story and combat it was very up in the air who would win till the fight was actually over). It felt like a long read yet was actually short and full of vigorous details. Sooo I'd say a middle ground might be best depending on your style.