INTERVIEW WITH CARLA HOCH

Carla Hoch is the author of the Writer’s Digest book Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes. She is a professional fight scene editor, fight writing mentor, podcaster and head blogger of FightWrite.net, a blog that teaches fighting to writers. Carla has training in over a half dozen martial arts and fighting styles and regularly teaches workshops on the mechanics of fighting for writers as well as the craft of writing fight scenes. She lives outside of Houston, Texas.

 
Instagram: @carla.c.hoch  Twitter: @carlahoch          
blog: www.fightwrite.net  iTunes and Google Play: FightWrite podcast   

         INTERVIEW

  

    Tell us about yourself, Carla.

I’m a 46 year old – yes, I said it, I own it - wife, mom of teenaged twins and caretaker of various household mammals. I am also a martial artist, writer, blogger and podcaster who teaches writers how to write realistic fight scenes and regular folks how to defend themselves. And, I am proud to say I live in the Texas, the greatest country in the world.

How did you get involved in writing fight scenes?

Eight years ago, I was working on a book that had several fight scenes. But I didn’t know the first thing about fighting. So, I enrolled in to a Hapkido based self-defense class. It terrified me. I cried a lot and swore I’d never go back. And, I kept crying and swearing it off every week until it no longer bothered me. To date, I’ve dallied in close to a dozen martial arts and fighting styles. Hapkido, MMA, taekwondo, Muay Thai style kickboxing, street defense (self-defense with weaponry), Filipino Martial Arts (knives), aikido, iaido (katana work), a tiny bit of kung fu (which I call “kinda fu”) and I’m currently a student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. I also regularly teach self-defense.

That’s the fight part. Here’s the write part.

About four years ago, a writer friend of mine, Ben Wolf, suggested I be a part of a panel discussion of fight scenes at the Realm Makers writing conference. He and I knew one another outside of writing, he knew about my training and I had actually been encouraging him to do martial arts. Anyway, on this panel were seasoned authors, medical professionals and a decorated soldier as well. But, most of the questions from the audience were about plain old fighting which right up my alley. That sort of knowledge out of me seemed to amuse folks. I’m a bit of an oddity, you see. I’m no spring chicken plus I’m the size of a strapping fifth grade boy.

At that same conference the next year, I taught a workshop. Then, I taught another the next year and the next. I started mentoring writers and editing fight scenes professionally, all the while still training in as many fighting styles as I could. Then I thought, hmmm, I wonder if I could blog about this. Three years ago, I started fightwrite.net and this year I have an eponymous podcast and book out with Writer’s Digest: Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes

Crazy, huh?
 

    What are some of the biggest mistakes writers make when describing fight scenes, wounds, or other injuries? 

Don’t give too much technical detail, which sounds crazy, I know. But far more important than what is technically happening is how it is affecting the combatants. Give the readers sensory details they can relate to. Your reader may not know how to throw a proper jab or what it’s like to be punched in the eye. But they have probably been poked in the eye. They know the pain of an eye injury and how the tears flow down the face and how the other eye squints in sympathy pain. They know that one injured eye can impede vision of both eyes. So, focus on the sensation of eye pain rather than the punch that caused it. In the words of Maya Angelou: people will forget what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel. Make your readers feel the action.
 

    Share three things about you that would surprise people.
 

    I am a descendant of Shakespeare’s maternal aunt.
 

    I was a high school Spanish teacher for nearly ten years and I’m learning Portuguese. Oí, tudo bem?
 

     Writer’s Digest originally turned down my Fight Write book. I had emailed the synopsis to an editor who turned it down pretty quick. I asked him to please let me resend it to him when the MS was completely finished. He didn’t respond. Four months later, I resent the finished MS and received a kickback email reading that the editor was no longer with WD. Thankfully, I was furnished with a brand-new email contact. I emailed the new editor and wrote that the previous editor and I had discussed my book and he was expecting my finished MS, which was true. I sent the finished MS to the new editor and called my friend, who is also now my agent, Steve Laube. He laughed at my chutzpah and told me to be patient. Writer’s Digest would likely get back to me within six weeks. For once in his life Steve was wrong. It wasn’t six weeks. Writer’s Digest got back to me in six days.
 

    Tell us more about your upcoming book.
 

    If you have any sort of violence in your work, this book is for you. It’s called Fight Write: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Fight Scenes. It is published by Writer’s Digest and is a companion to my eponymous FightWrite.net blog and Fight Write podcast. The book, the blog and podcast are not just about writing fight scenes and fight technique. They also discuss the psychology of violence, psychological warfare, different types of weaponry, including poison, common injuries, wound descriptions and the stages of bleeding out, death and decomposition. There’s also a chapter on fighting aliens and another on improvised weaponry such as Sharpee pens. It has a ton of info in it. Give it look.
 

    What are you planning next?

More of the same: training, blogging, podcasting and perhaps another book…(she grins widely).

Anything else you’d like to share?

I will be teaching two classes at the Writer’s Digest national convention in NYC in August. One class will be about the craft of writing fight scenes and the other will be a demo of fight technique with audience participation! You can get $50 off registration using the code: WDSTAFF19

FIGHT WRITE 

Whether a side-street skirmish or an all-out war, fight scenes bring action to the pages of every kind of fiction. But a poorly done or unbelievable fight scene can ruin a great book in an instant.

In Fight Write you'll learn practical tips, terminology, and the science behind crafting realistic fight scenes for your fiction. Broken up into "Rounds," trained fighter and writer Carla Hoch guides you through the many factors you'll need to consider when developing battles and brawls.
In Round 1, you will consider how the Who, When, Where, and Why questions affect what type of fight scene you want to craft.

Round 2 delves into the human factors of biology (think fight or flight and adrenaline) and psychology (aggression and response to injuring or killing another person).

Round 3 explores different fighting styles that are appropriate for different situations: How would a character fight from a prone position versus being attacked in the street? What is the vocabulary used to describe these styles?

Round 4 considers weaponry and will guide you to select the best weapon for your characters, including nontraditional weapons of opportunity, while also thinking about the nitty-gritty details of using them.

In Round 5, you'll learn how to accurately describe realistic injuries sustained from the fights and certain weapons, and what kind of injuries will kill a character or render them unable to fight further.

By taking into account where your character is in the world, when in history the fight is happening, what the character's motivation for fighting is, and much more, you'll be able write fight scenes unique to your plot and characters, all while satisfying your reader's discerning eye.

Leave a comment, along with your contact information, and you could win a signed print copy of Carla's book! (U.S. only, please.)