Violence: A Writer's Guide

by Rory Miller

This is not about writing technique. " A Writer's Guide" is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Psychology, Research, Martial Arts, Crafts

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2010

About the author

Sergeant Rory Miller is a corrections officer, a martial artist, and an instructor in both of those areas.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Maria V. Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an EXCELLENT resource for writers who write about crime, violence, fighting, etc... The man knows his stuff and it's been eye-opening for me. The book is all about realism and realistic fights, etc... however, fiction is fiction for a reason - it's not as brutal as real life and I think a writer has to balance the amount of realism with the needs of the story since most people read to escape "real life." I'm a stickler for "realistic" action scenes, but my protagonists do engage in fights and win - even when ambushed :)

[Brent Weeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novelists need to be experts on storytelling. For everything else we need to fake it convincingly. If you want to become a real expert on violence, you can spend years in a dojo, and in a jail, and on the street, and in Iraq, and in conferences and libraries analyzing your real-world experiences. Or you can borrow the expertise of someone who's done all that. Clear, concise, invaluable. Sgt. Rory Miller has written the best book on violence I've read.

[Sonya Lano · Rating 5 out of 5]

For writers who use any sort of violence in their stories, this book is hands down an excellent resource. Regardless of what time period you write about, regardless of whether your character is on the receiving end of violence or whether s/he should know how to fight (in any way, shape or form), and regardless of whether you yourself have had any kind of weapons training, martial arts, or self-defense course, I would highly recommend this book -- especially if you haven't had any personal experience with violence in real life (or even if you have but haven't had experience with the type of violence your character encounters or uses).

In this book, Rory discusses the physical aspects of violence and the logistics of it, which are essential to know when thinking about how a character would realistically fight in a given setting. He also expounds upon the levels of violence and the interaction between those levels, which is helpful in measuring what level of violence your characters fall under and are comfortable with (and which ones they're not). He describes various types of violence, so you'll understand exactly what type of violence your character is involved in, and he shows the motivations and mentalities involved in perpetrating those types of violence, which will help when giving your character a reason for entering into violence (as well as a reason for avoiding it if at all possible). He also explains what types of mentalities are needed for the use of particular weapons, which is a factor in deciding what kind of weapon your character's personality type would be likely to choose and wield. And it could present some interesting conflicts, too, if the character is forced to wield a weapon s/he has problems using!

He doesn't leave out cultural or social aspects of violence, either, including war and varying outlooks in different cultures. This is great when giving a group or an individual motivation (and justification) for killing in wartime AND in peacetime, depending on the attitudes of a particular culture.

Also (and this I gather is his real motivation for writing the book), he deflates many of the common tropes used in action films and books today, which form the extent of many writers' knowledge of violence. Unfortunately, when used as a basis for fight scenes in books, it may leave them sounding unrealistic and unintentionally slapstick. If for no other reason than that you don't want people rolling their eyes at your kick-butt character's awesome fight scenes, you should really check this book out (It's why I did!).

The writing itself is also easy to read, almost as if you can hear him talking, filled with fascinating (at least for me) facts, and I even laughed out loud a few times (and, yes, there are a few typos but honestly? I'm reading the book for information, not to mark off points for bad editing). Moreover, Rory is open and honest about what he has experience with and what he doesn't, and he provides practical advice on how to find out some things for yourself (for example, if you want to find out what different types of sword swings / thrusts, etc. will do to a person's body, try it on a sausage - not necessarily an appealing afternoon's activity, but it's a better alternative to doing a Google search that might get you on various security agencies' watch lists!).

Additionally, he delves into gender differences (behaviors, views on violence, etc.), different types of weapons (people themselves, guns, knives, swords, axes, blunt weapons, less lethal weapons such as pepper spray...), habits of professionals, relationships between professionals and civilians, what a professional would look for (and at) when entering a potentially violent situation (or even just when entering a room), and what s/he would notice. He writes about the types of wounds received by certain weapons, what parts of the body professionals proficient in certain types of weapons go for, what people experience when they're in the middle of a violent situation, what they feel (and what they don't feel), what they hear (or don't), how certain wounds feel (or don't feel)...

This is just what comes to mind off the top of my head.

In summary, I would definitely recommend this book as an excellent resource for anyone writing anything pertaining to violence (or also, I would venture to say, for anyone wanting to understand the nature of violence in and of itself, because for those who don't understand it, this book can be a real eye-opener).

[Gwyn Haller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This writing reference book is painful, shocking and at times very, very dark. It is graphic and contains links to videos that are films of heinous crimes being or having been executed on real people. I believe that this book puts, the writer, inside the body when facing a physical assault or executing one. The information in this book is not sugar coated--take graphic violence seriously. Still, I know that my writing will be solid, gut-wrenching, realistic and drastically improved. So, yes, I recommend this book to writers. *Raising my glass to Rory Miller* Excellent book on a tough, tough subject.

[Eric Plume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for writers of all genres. Miller gives a no-nonsense breakdown of how fighting happens in the real world (along with some historical information geared toward speculative writers) as well as weapons and how they work. There's an extensive section on injury, as well as information on police culture and activity.

If you write and your writing has violence of any sort in it, this book needs to be on your reference shelf.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first half of this, and found it revelatory, even, but after that it became very repetitive, with a lot of the same phrases and points used in every chapter. Perhaps one is not meant to read it cover to cover, as I did, but rather flip to given sections in a writing bind. Miller is clearly biased to what he calls infighting, but he admits this early. It remains a valuable read, though I found his story asides to using his goats to test swords disturbing.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 stars.

An informative look into the world of violence, written by someone with a great deal of first-hand experience.

Violence: A Writer's Guide tackles four main topics—(1) what real-life injuries are like, (2) what real-life weapons are like, (3) what real-life fights are like, and (4) what people who use violence (in the author's experience/opinion) are like. The descriptions of all four don't pull punches; this isn't one for the faint of heart. Miller wants you to know the realities of violence so you can make an informed decision about what you want to depict realistically in your writing.

Miller comes across as a straightforward, no-BS kind of guy and his writing reflects that, though this does mean there's a certain lack of polish and some repetition (Violence: A Writer's Guide appears to be self-published). Links to several videos of real-life murders are also given, though I'll admit I didn't watch them personally. They do speak to Miller's larger thesis regarding violence, however: that it's quick and brutish, and no professional will ever get into a fight if they can at all help it—they'll just ambush and/or shoot you instead.

Miller is also not the kind of person who believes "Violence never solved anything", and he's more than willing to laugh at you for thinking so. Seeing the perspective of someone who has lived a life like his, getting to understand how he views the world after interacting with some of the worst of humanity, is a definitely side benefit (regardless of whether you share it or not). This stands out most prominently in his belief that people in countries like America have an extremely abnormal relationship to violence compared to many other places (and every human full stop throughout history). I'm not going to dispute the prevalence of violence in the world/past, but these sections felt the most like Miller was stepping out of his area of expertise, and would have benefited from a greater citing of historical sources and researched examples. He is also, by necessity, writing very much from an American perspective, for better or worse.

Ultimately, Violence: A Writer's Guide delivers on its promise to teach the reader about the realities of real-world violence, and is definitely worth a read from that perspective. It's not perfect, lacking a little of the polish of a professionally edited book, but it is undoubtedly effective—which I'm sure Miller would say is the most important thing.

[Marissa Honeycutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into the world of violence for writers. He doesn't pull punches and he really makes some good points about reality versus what we read in books and see on TV. Really gave me some good ideas on how to write both my hero and my villain. The "pros," as he calls them, really do have a different way of viewing the world and I look forward to using what I learned in future books.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it kind of reads like a powerpoint presentation at some points, this is a really interesting and useful guide to the realities of violence for writers who (God willing) will never experience anything close to some of the darker things they have the impulse to explore in writing. I don't think my writing - or reading of literary scenes of violence - will ever be quite the same again after reading this, and that's a good thing.

An unassuming self-published book written in very unassuming, direct, and non-literary prose that nevertheless is a worldview-changer (along with confirming some things about violence that I've long suspected). The author's voice also feels very trustworthy because of his unadorned, no-bullsh*t approach.

I would love to see an expanded, more polished, traditionally published version of this book. I also would have liked a nice long solid bibliography or list of books for further reading at the end of it, and an expansion of the firearms chapter, particularly more depth about gun wounds since they are so abused as a narrative device both in movies and literature - since the author notes that firearms are a huge topic and he is leaving a lot of information out.

The chapter on historical and cultural issues ("violence in other places and times") was a little rough and weak, and I would have loved to see a much more in-depth treatment of historical violence, though I realize that might go beyond the author's expertise. It's easy enough to grasp the basic point that if your social/cultural/historical norms are different, you might have an easier time accepting or participating in certain kinds of violence - but to what degree are there "universals" that persist through time and culture? As a historical novelist I'm very interested in making characters relatable to modern-day readers, so the universals, if there are any, or the aspects of human psychology that are relatively resistant to change across time and cultures, are extremely important. You want to strike a balance between historical accuracy in getting into the "mentality" as well as the factual world of your characters, and still make their reactions like enough to those of modern-day readers that the reader can identify with them.

In George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, his characters engage in levels of violence so extreme and ubiquitous - presumably in an effort to capture some realities of the medieval world, despite the fact that it's a fantasy series - that I personally struggled with whether any world that took place on our earth peopled with real human beings could be so non-stop brutal and merciless. My own theory is that even in other times and cultures, the majority of people at base just want to go about their business in friendly peace with each other, and human impulses to avoid violence and show compassion are persistant, even in societies where the cultural norms and external circumstances are very conducive to violence, and individuals' peacable impulses may be in conflict with the society's overall violence. But I guess it would take a very big book and maybe several Ph.D.s in anthropology and psychology and history to really get a good handle on the degree to which that might be true.

Edited to add: I keep think of more items to put on my wishlist for this book. I would have also loved to see more discussion of how being under the influence of alcohol or drugs affects the various kinds of fighting and violence he discusses.

[Matt Posner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really blew me away with its impressive depictions of not only how to be violent, but also how to think like a violent person. Rory Miller's framework for analyzing human beings by what they may be willing to do is perhaps chilling, but also very thorough and persuasive.

I highly recommend this book for writers who deal with violence because most of us are probably getting it wrong. I also recommend it for general readers as a good introduction to the subject -- Rory is not a novelist and doesn't deal with novelistic or fiction issues specifically, preferring to focus on general information.

Rory is an author whose books I will continue to read. As a result of enjoying his book, I contacted him and invited him to do an interview with me as well -- and his answers are similarly eloquent and complex. Great stuff! It's a reference I will go back to again and again for an understanding of how to write combat and manage the psychology of dangerous characters.

I interviewed Rory Miller here: http://schooloftheages.webs.com/apps/...

[Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is actually probably a good book for writers to consider reading, as it is written by someone who has experience in actual violence, in contrast to almost all the writers out there writing violent scenes in fiction. The thing is, the book desperately needs a ghost-writer or collaborator. Despite that, there is some good information in here. It's just hard to read a poorly-written writer's guide to anything.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting detail. Plus a nice bonus snippet of the problem with crawling through air ducts even if they're large enough.

Highly recommended to anyone interesting in writing violent fiction, or anyone interested in violence but not so much that they want to go out and get first-hand experience.

[Is Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recc this to anyone who writes characters or stories that involve any level of violence, even if it's not physical violence. Lots of great info by a guy who has done a fuckton of different shit in the violent professions, and a pleasure to read.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, great stuff here. I'm an ex-(small town) cop and a peacetime Army veteran, so a lot of this was completely new to me. It made me realize how sheltered my life was, and how much I have to work on to make the bad guys I write more believable.

It's written for writers, especially writers like me. But it will give you an interesting insight into the human mind.

[Adam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those that say ‘violence is never a solution’ have most likely never been in a position to use it. Violence is often a very effective solution, which is why so many people rely on it.

This book is not so much about writing as it is an explanation on the nature of violence and how the world really works. There are a lot of factors that people underestimate due to having never experienced it themselves. As a result, many stories will come across as blatantly false to those that do. This is a guide to understanding those factors and in turn write a more realistic story.

This book was amazing. There was a lot I did not know or had the wrong idea about. While I don’t imagine writing about soldiers or professional lawmen in the near future, there was still a lot to take away from it. The breakdown of the mechanics of fighting differ greatly from how it is usually portrayed. What tends to be portrayed may look pretty, but it is a far cry from how it should play out. I found the section on how the different genders respond to violence particularly enlightening. So much of this is beyond what I’ve known in my life. I can only imagine how grating fiction could be to those with actual experience.

Violence is a more complicated concept than most people would imagine. The basic levels outlined at the start of this book reveal just how difficult it is to imagine yourself in the shoes of someone elsewhere on the chain. Most people tend to think anything one step beyond where they are on the ladder are the violent ones. When writing a character of a different level, it is easy to make mistakes and assumptions based on how you’d imagine that person would act as opposed to how they really would.

This book is an excellent guide to the world of violence. I recommend everyone give it a read, even if they have no intention of ever being a writer themselves. Very informative.

[Noel Coughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an introduction to the world of violence for Writers. It’s not a book on writing technique. It’s really about the mechanics and psychology of violence. The writer has twenty years experience as a correctional professional and worked in Iraq as an adviser. Combined with thirty years of martial arts training, this gives him an insight into the nature of violence which any writer dealing with the subject would find priceless.

I can’t say I enjoyed the book, but I found it eye opening and fascinating. It’s definitely a book I could see myself rereading. Writers, I’m sure, will pick out of it what they want, or rather what their readership will let them. The writer of the foreword said that he didn’t agree with everything that Miller wrote, and I could see others agreeing with that sentiment especially with regard to some of the macro-historical points. However, you can’t disagree with Miller’s experience and knowledge of the subject.

The information is presented in a concise, matter-of-fact fashion. There are links to real word examples of violence which I skipped. I simply have no interest in watching other people’s suffering to further my knowledge. I know some writers like morgues and dead bodies but I’m not one of them.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource toward more realistically (or at least thoughtfully) depicting violence in your writing -- looking at weapons, social interactions, what goes on inside the mind and body before and during and after a violent situation, how wounds and trauma actually work, things like that. It's dark and depressing and cynically pragmatic in places, but also fascinating, combining personal anecdotes, scientific study, and demonstrations of why you don't want your kid wandering on YouTube without a content filter.

If I've any criticism to the book is that its organization is a bit scattershot. The book screams for an index, and even with topical chapters certain material seems to be difficult to track down. Copious dog-earing is definitely in order.

Actually writing violence realistically would likely make for very short stories, but knowing the truth, vs. common tropes, can only be helpful in deciding how realistic you want to be, and what that means for your characters.

[Sarah Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violence: A Writer’s Guide is by far the most useful book on writing I’ve read this year. I’m pretty sure if you open my Kindle copy you’ll find I’ve highlighted roughly half the text. Rory Miller has many years of experience and he knows what he’s talking about as he covers not only the basics of how violence works, but also the psychology behind it, and his insights and experiences as a violence professional.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not fond of the term "self-plagiarism", but...this is a straight copy-paste of his earlier work with the "added value" of single-sentence parantheticals every 5 pages or so that say "(think about this when you're writing a law enforcement character)" or "(might be good for supernatural characters)". He sometimes even repeats the exact same content within this book just to pad out the length.

This is a deeply cynical cash-grab, and he should really be better than this.

[Mike Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a couple of oddly similar books I read in the run-up to a book that I knew was going to conclude with an episode of unexpected violence. There are books on how to write a fight scene. There are books on how different martial arts (and I include historic weapons in this definition) work. But these are all books for the writer that wants to stay mostly within the agreed-upon conceit of the fair fight and the just cause and all that.

This is a book about violence. The first chapters are all about the psychology, about how so many real episodes of violence are about the psychological equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight. The gunfighters of the American western expansion didn't make a threat in the saloon then stand out in the middle of Main Street with their coat open. When they wanted to kill a man, they shot from close range. From ambush. In the back.

As writers we are often having to navigate a very strange space between what seems plausible to our readers -- what reads emotionally true -- and what allows them the thrills of heroic action. Fiction is always a moderated, a curated experience. No matter how "gritty and real" you think it is, it is still telling lies. They are just lies tailored towards a different set of audience expectations.

This is not a book by a writer. He admits that straight up. It is a book about what violent altercations look like from different points of view; from the inexperienced (who too often should be read as "victim") and the operator. And there are ranks within the operator, too, from the strut of a street hood to the seen-it-all of a beat cop.

(And something we miss far too easily; violence is hard for most of us but it isn't, actually, all that hard. For someone with the right makeup, their approach takes the clarity of the famous bank robber who was asked why he robbed banks. Blink. "Because that's where the money is." Throughout human civilization violence can achieve money as well as power and fame and there are still many, many people who find that a simple and obvious choice. Not a matter of passion or anger or sadism. It's where the money is.)

In any case, Rory goes through scenarios, weapons, wounds and pain, but this isn't in any way a list. It is more like groundwork, categorization that will let you find the specific weapon and fighting styles and injuries that will work for your story. He is doing the heavy lifting of the emotional and cultural background and an objective look that can help you see through some of the glamor of "ninja tanto" and all that rot. And then use one in your story because now you have a context to understand it.

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's easy to be an expert in the theory of violence, and much harder to be an expert in the practice, for the simple reason that every time one gains experience in violence (in a fight, in an accident) the risk of injury or death is always there. We would have a lot fewer great artists if every time someone tried to paint, the canvas tried to kill them.

I front-loaded that analogy to make the larger point that anyone trying to tell you they know some sort of secret or technique to always emerge victorious in combat is not only obviously a liar, but a dangerous person from whom you don't want to take any advice.

To his credit, Rory Miller doesn't have what I call the "Steven Seagal" complex, and he isn't pitching himself as a guru, or touting his book as some kind of cure-all or panacea for every dangerous encounter. He makes it clear that the two rules of violence (which is otherwise a realm without rules) are to avoid violence when possible, and, when avoidance isn't possible, one should try to end things as quickly and violently as possible. A combat sports mentality has no place in the kinds of life-and-death situations that either bad guys (like contract killers) or good guys (or maybe neutral guys?) like cops and soldiers find themselves in. "Cheating" and "fighting fair" should be alien concepts to someone whose main goal is survival (or the survival of their family).

That's all good and well, and since this is my second (or maybe third?) encounter with Herr Miller's work, I found his knowledge, his expertise, his sense of humor, as well as his ability to admit what he doesn't know or where he lacks expertise, to be welcome and refreshing. I'd frankly kind of missed the guy's voice.

The problem for me with this specific book is that I don't feel that it does a good enough job of integrating what the author knows about violence with how, when, and where this would be relevant or useful to the writer. Ideally, the author of a book like this would know as much about crafting literature as about violence, but that may be a big ask. Also, as previously mentioned, since this is not my first encounter with Miller, I found some repetition between this book and "Meditations on Violence" (i.e. "The Dead Man's Ten" and describing the sensation of dying).

If you've never read anything by Rory Miller before, though, and you're just getting started in your literary career, and you also have little to no experience with violence in the real world, then this is a quality primer and you could do a lot worse.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this ebook is a professional user of force - legal violence - having been a penal officer and military trainer for decades. His insight into the mindset required for professional use of force, and into the mindset for criminal use of force, pure violence, is eye opening.

The purpose of the book stems from the irritation of a knowledgeable person with the unrealistic portrayal of violence in media, be it movies, TV, or books. The author gives a lot of insight into the causes of violence, the execution of violence, and crucially the consequences of violence. I share his frustration with plot points based on violence that make no sense, but I don’t have his real world experience.

The book concentrates on modern gun based violence, but provides enough insight into knife violence and blunt instrument violence to be applicable to fantasy settings. Nevertheless, the main import comes from the mindset. As the author points out, most contemporary American writers and readers have no idea what it is like to live in truly violent society (those who live in violent communities being neither writers nor readers), such as America of barely a century and half ago, medieval Europe, or tribal societies around the world. Therefore importing contemporary peaceful values into an action setting really does not work, particularly fantasy settings where life is cheap and suffering is normal as is injustice.

The author is well aware he is not qualified to give writing advice beyond “come on guys make it realistic”. The book itself rambles, digresses, repeats itself, lacks structure, and is in real need of a proper editor, making for a poor reading experience, but as the author states, that’s not the point. He knows what is real violence and gives some gems of advice, all of which can make storytelling more realistic or at least plausible. The rest is down to research: know how weapons are made and used and know what weapons do. There’s a lot of material out there providing that info, and lots of books about martial techniques. But there’s not much out there concerning the reality of violence beyond true crime or military biographies, or victim tell all stories. Research in that respect is harder.

I’m not sure I’d read this book again, maybe I will, maybe not, but in the mean time I’m glad to have finally read it after first opening it a while back. So it’s three stars for now.

[Tom Woolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with the rating on this one. I really wanted to give it four-an-a-half stars

It's not a perfect book. It's not Miller's best book; Meditations on Violence and Facing Violence were both better structured and more cohesive works. But Violence: A Writer's Guide serves its purpose, and is likely the the best of the three for writers looking for insights into the psychology, sociology, and physical realities of violence.

Miller makes this statement at the beginning of one section: "What follow are generalizations and include a lot of my own prejudices. Just be aware that these are informed prejudices." The caveat applies to much of the book. Some of Miller's conclusions seem overly broad or reductionist. Some may find his style overbearing. Generally, though, he acknowledges the limitations of his own experience and refers to outside sources where appropriate, and though there are weaknesses in his writing, those weaknesses are more than outweighed by the insights he brings to the table. Some of his ideas about the taxonomy of violence and about the psychology of violence are profound. His descriptions of the physical, psychological, and legal realities of violence are invaluable for the writer (or anyone else) who seeks to understand an aspect of human society that is largely invisible to most affluent Westerners.

Ultimately, I would recommend all three of the books mentioned in this review. For me personally (as someone who practices martial arts and combat sports, and has at least a passing interest in "self-defense"), Meditations on Violence was the most interesting work. For someone whose primary interest is in self-protection or self-defense, Facing Violence is probably the best to read. And for someone who has a more general interest or who is approaching the topic as a writer, Violence: A Writer's Guide is a good place to start.

[Taryn Moreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book on Writing Realistic Violence

If you care at all about authenticity when it comes to violence in your fiction, from how career criminals think to what getting shot in the gut feels like, this is the book for you.

The author is someone with a lot of firsthand experience in a violent, dangerous profession, rather than a writer, which is gold.

I would recommend this book as a primer for anyone writing any story with a decent amount of violence. It’s so good at going through the fundamentals of motivation for violence, reasons to use certain weapons, how adrenaline, injuries, and pain work, and a lot of other topics that can serve as the basis for further research.

Definitely a go-to writing resource.

[Colin Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rory Miller comes across as a good guy, but I wouldn't want to bump into him a dark alley. Many of the examples in this writer's guide come from his experiences; he's been a prison guard, tactical police officer and a host of others, so he knows what he's talking about. Folks in the UK have very little experience of guns, even the little details that Americans take for granted would be unknown to us, but Rory spans that knowledge divide excellently, for people of all experience levels.

The book does have a habit of repeating, sometimes within a few pages, so it could've done with a bit more editing, but the information is invaluable, and the writing engaging. An excellent writing resource.

[Lisa R.h. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific resource for writers who want to get an insight into the world of violence or for anyone curious about the workings of violent individuals (and the weapons they sometimes use). I found myself devouring this book, but as someone who majored in Criminal Justice, this was right up my alley - so to speak. Engaging, intelligent, darkly funny...there is so much material in here that really makes you think. Highly recommended if you're writing about violence or if you're just interested in this topic.

[Gabriel Thek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I've talked about (and recommended) to friends just because the info is given in a clear, direct, no-bulls**t way.
Excellent short book about real life violence. Be warned, this doesn't give you any tips on writing per se, but gives you useful information that could be used by pretty much anyone (from RPG players and writing enthusiasts like me to people already practicing it as a job, or for fun). Even if you are just curious about violence, this books serves its purpose, with Chapter One being the true eye opener here.

[Terri Pray · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a writer, thinking about being a writer, or simply love reading anything to do with violence, this book is a must.

The author speaks from personal experience and pulls no punches when it comes to smacking down common myths in the world of fictional violence. He doesn't claim to know it all, far from it, but does point you down the right path.

This is a must for the research shelves for any writer who does, or might, include violence in their work. Even if the violence is off screen.

[Darnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great resource. While some parts have okay practical selections, it's not well-organized; some sections are just long lists of things, or the author will explicitly say he's just throwing out a few examples off the top of his head as opposed to putting more work in.

Worse, even though the author calls out machismo, that's the main thing he has to offer. He wants a specific vibe from violence in fiction and he's very angry that he doesn't get it, or at least that's how he wants to be seen.

[Kit Englard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was invaluable when I decided to buckle down and improve my fight scenes. As a pacifist, writing violence was a weak point in my work, but Rory Miller breaks down not just the mechanics of fighting, but also the psychology and emotional context behind it. I highly recommend this to any writer looking to level up their fight scenes.
Fair warning: some of the content is dark and intense. I skipped the video materials because I’m squeamish, but the written content alone was absolutely worthwhile.