Ask the Experts: Carla Hoch

Trained fighter and writer Carla Hoch guides you through the many factors you will need to consider when writing your scenes of chaos, combat, or crime. 

What Carla's students are saying:

“Carla Hoch is by far the best FightWrite instructor who has ever walked the face of this earth! I have gotten so much valuable information out of this course that I will now apply to my writing. Thank you, Carla!” – Jason Calhoun

Schedule a call with Carla to perfect your fight scenes today! You’ll be speaking one-on-one with Carla over Zoom for a duration of one hour. All time slots are in Eastern time.

Who will benefit: 

• Anyone who wants to write realistic violence  
• Writers whose work features combat scenes  
• Writers of speculative fiction, mystery/crime/thriller

What you will learn: 

• All the aspects of writing a fight scene from start to finish including blocking, pacing, reaching your reader, and if dialogue is a realistic addition. 
• Battles, from medieval warfare to modern combat sports.
• Insights on swordplay, magical battles, and animal companions, as well as how non-fighters might handle combat.
• What your criminal and crime-fighting characters might encounter, from the scene of the crime to the crime scene clean-up.  
• How to write deception, compelling evidence, problematic personalities, and get the inside scoop on autopsy and how pop culture has influenced crime-related stories. 
• How to incorporate weapons of opportunity into your work.
• What injury is best for your work as well as how the injury might appear and heal.

Carla Hoch 

Carla Hoch is an award-winning writer, trained fighter and professional educator who regularly teaches on the craft of writing fight scenes, action and violence as well as the mechanics of fighting for writers. She is the author of the Writer’s Digest book Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes and Fight Write, Round Two: Crafting Chaos, Combat and Crime. Carla is a writer for Writer’s Digest Magazine and the WD Blog as well as an instructor for both Writer’s Digest University and Writing Mastery Academy.  Her award-winning blog, FightWrite.net, has been named in Writer’s Digest 100 Best Site for Writers five years in a row. 

Carla is a world champion jiujitsu player and has experience in almost a dozen fighting styles. She lives and trains outside Houston, Texas.

Cancellation Policy: Appointments may be canceled without charge up to 24 hours in advance. Appointments canceled less than 24 hours in advance will incur the full session fee.