All mini arcs must be in the story for a reason and must show something about the character whether that is the character’s motivation, flaws or proactiveness. Similarly, dialogue arcs need to be there for a reason, also showing an aspect of character or moving the plot forwards. Maybe the dialogue is for the purpose of revealing a secret, or establishing conflict between characters. Whatever it is, the purpose should be clear enough for the audience.
Action arcs contain an action-type promise (X must defeat the bad guy) with a progress and payoff to that promise. In Deadpool, our main character has _ bullets left and _ many bad guys to kill. This scene counts the bullets as Deadpool uses his skills and ingenuity to kill all the bad guys. Counting the bullets gives the audience a sense of progress towards the goal (kill all the bad guys and survive). Finally, we have the payoff whereby Deadpool is about to shoot the main villain but he has run out of bullets (of course, he can’t kill the villain so quickly or else that would be the end of the movie).
If an action scene seems a bit boring, then a possible diagnosis could be that there is no sense of progress. Maybe it is an action scene with no clear stakes. Some people didn’t like Deadpool and Wolverine because in all of the fight scenes, you have two characters who both heal. Neither can die from the fight hence, no stakes. Personally, I think this reasoning takes away from the whole point of those kinds of fight scenes which is to establish and act out all of this tension and conflict between the two characters. The payoff is found later when these characters, who hate each other, are able to work together towards a common goal.
So, the next time you are writing an action scene and you feel like it is boring but you are not sure what to do about it, remember to ‘count the bullets’ and create a sense of progress towards the established promise in your scene.
What is one of your favorite scenes or mini arc done well? What was good about that scene? Let us know in the comments below!