I often complain about how people get their information about violence from books, TV, and movies, which so often get it wrong. But why would that be? So in this episode, I talk to New York Times best-selling author Barry Eisler about writing, writing fight scenes and so much more.
The bonus episode is available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70063460
Enjoy!
The links mentioned in this episode (I get a small commission for purchases made through Amazon links below at no cost to you):
- Barry’s website: https://www.barryeisler.com/
- Barry Eisler books: https://amzn.to/3zWYd77
- Dave Grossman books https://amzn.to/3cZF8Il
- Hong Kong Brawl, A Short Story https://amzn.to/3vDnY9O
- Dresden files https://amzn.to/3OYQppL
- Elmore Leonard https://amzn.to/3SlG4Hr
- Montie’s Law of Self-Defense https://wimsblog.com/2018/11/monties-law-of-self-defense/
- Banshee MMA champ fight scene https://youtu.be/94jYxr9l1As
- Death of Waingro: https://youtu.be/p2AE3Qx6NDs
- Sherlock Holmes fight scene: https://youtu.be/lLuhWLNqpiA
- Heat 2: A Novel https://amzn.to/3Q0ZTCc
- Eastern Promises: Bathhouse Fight https://youtu.be/iaNWbHhsT2A
- Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting https://amzn.to/3zWVuKP
- Into the woods https://amzn.to/3QmtuWz
- BBC Way of the warrior Dan Inosanto https://youtu.be/QcqIF06L1uU
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Matthew says
This is a great podcast. I don’t know why I waited so long to listen. As a writer who is in no way as successful as Barry, I learned a lot. (I sold about two sword and sorcery stories and that’s it.) I really like Barry’s saying about don’t describe the rain, describe how the rain feels.
I always felt “realism” is overrated in fiction. It’s fiction somebody made it up so it’s not real. What it has to be is internally consistent. Example of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon working though it obviously is not real is good.
The problem comes when people mistake fiction for reality. In self-defense this can be lethal. There other ways to make this mistake. Romance movies often have bad advice for real relationships. You have to keep reality and fiction separate. That’s not as easy as people think because everything is so complex that we only understand a little on most subjects so we use fiction to fill in the gaps.