Action!

ac·tion -noun. the process or state of acting or of being active

It seems to be general knowledge that every story MUST include a good bit of action. But neither I nor many fellow writers I am acquainted with are very good at writing action sequences. In my opinion, this stems from our habit of hiding away in dimly-lit places, typing away for hours on end. We don't DO a lot of action. Writers sit. Right? Right.

So how are we expected to write action? *sweat* With a LOT of work, it would seem.

If it's not done correctly, we end up with stage directions instead of a good fight. You've all read them: 'John swung. Bob ducked and stepped back. John rushed forward.' It reads very boring and tiresome, doesn't it? Anyone could see that. But an ongoing problem is how to FIX it!

I recently came up with a list of words that may be found in an action-y, kick-butt scene. Somehow, it helps me while writing these scenes to be able to have interesting vocabulary and better descriptions.

A: assail, aim
B: bang, batter(ed), blow, barge, bash, break, beat
C: claw, cut, catch, charge, chase
D: draw, dive, dart, dodge, dash, die, duck, duff up
E: edge, egg on
F: flinch, fly, fling, fall, face, flail, fend off, fire, flip, flog, freeze
G: grab, grapple, groan, grasp, growl, grate
H: hit, hoist, hack, hang, hold, hook, hunt
I:
J: jump, joust, jab, jar
K: kill, kick, keel, knock
L: leap, lunge, lash, latch, lay
M: move, meet, mount
N: nail
O:
P: pull, pick up, punch, prowl, pelt
Q: quiver
R: reign, rain, run, rise, race
S: sting, sit, side-step, skip, spring, sprint, spatter, shoot, smash, stab, slap, slam, swing, slump
T: turn, twist, tumble
U:
V: volley
W: whip, whirl

Anyone know any that I've missed?