In a recent post, Fight Scenes: Instinct & Perspectives, I spoke about emotional engagement and the perspectives used for writing fight scenes. I touched on fight-or-flight, and how a writer can use that to their advantage. However, I also spoke about believability. If elements of your fight scene delve into the unbelievable, you will lose your reader.

While most people are able to easily visualize how the average Joe will respond in a fight, what their actions would be, and their capabilities, there is one type of fighter that is often used within fight scenes that majority of people can't truly relate to.

I'm talking about those characters who are highly trained to be assassins, spies and special forces soldiers (or SAS, as they are known in some countries). While all of these characters will have different backgrounds and different skill sets, there will be commonalities to the way they behave. Their reactions to a given situation can almost be predicted.

This post is the first in a series where I'm going to look at these particular characters and how they behave. I'm going to draw on examples from various thrillers (book and film), in the hopes of showing you that even though you might not have first-hand knowledge of how the minds of assassins, spies and special forces might work, you will know the commonalities. Where possible, I'll even give you a few exercises that you can try yourself, so you can appreciate the skills that these people have in real life.

Before I get too carried away, I should point out that there will be certain behaviors that can also be found among police, security and regular soldiers. However, the level of training for this special class of characters is well above what police or regular soldiers go through. And security... Well, there is a reason why there is a range of characterizations for those ones, ranging from the idiot through to the nightmarish.

They may look different, but they look the same.

The only physical similarity between assassins, spies and special forces is that they are all fit. They can all pack one hell of a wallop in their punches and kicks, and they can run over long distances if necessary. Other than that, they come in ALL shapes and sizes.

I will grant you that it is extremely rare to encounter a female among the special forces, but among the ranks of assassins and spies... Have you ever heard stories of the Black Widow Killers?

Male or female, small or large, they will have different specialties and prefer different weapons. Their assignments are often selected based on their skills. Let's face it, would you really want to send someone undercover into Russia who didn't speak a word of Russian?

And as difficult as it might be to believe, none of them have a death wish — not the active ones anyway. The ones who do are quickly pulled out of rotation, and are often forced to see a head doctor. A man with a death wish, who doesn't care if he lives or dies, is actually a danger to those he works with — he'll get them all killed.

Their missions are often planned to the nth degree, working out contingency for their contingencies. All of them are consciously aware of the fact that their nice, quiet walk in the park could quickly turn into a real-life version of the zombie apocalypse. If there is a way to do their job without making a mess, they will take that option, but they're prepared for Murphy's Law.

No matter their background, there will be a bearing to their presence that will tell the story of their past. Unless they are acting a part, trying to conceal the truth, they'll hold themselves with confidence, sure of their surroundings and their skills. But when in public, they will never totally let their guard down. The moment they become complacent is the moment they're dead.

It's a bit of a joke: their heads are on a constant swivel. To the common man, it will appear as a casual glance, admiring the settings surrounding them. However, in reality, they are looking for anything that could be a sign of potential danger. These sorts of characters are hyper-observant, but they aren't looking for the details that one would ordinarily think of.

Take the following image as an example:

This is an exercise in observation. When looking at this picture, what do you notice?

What is the first thing you actually see in that picture? I'm guessing it's the kid in the yellow shirt. If so, I'm not surprised — that kid is center frame. However, do you see the man on the cellphone? What about the man looking through the binoculars? Do you see the second man looking through the binoculars? Or what about the man drinking from the water bottle? Did you miss the man with the green lining in his hood?

There is so much to see in that image, and most people would miss it entirely. It's just a crowd, likely watching a football game. However, the assassin, spy or special forces soldier would note something about every single person in that crowd, quickly looking for possible threats — and they do it so fast that you don't even realize that they've done it.

They're not looking for brand names or logos. They're looking for anything that seems out of place — and it could be the item that is actually perfectly suited to its surroundings that others dismiss it, like the abandoned briefcase in the middle of a train station.

In almost every single spy thriller movie I have ever seen, there will be a scene where the good guy is looking around a crowd, noticing certain individuals. It's a cinematography trick to focus on each bad guy in turn, bringing them to attention of the viewer. They'll talk about misdirection, but later in a film, they'll point out all the clues that you might have missed — and if you go back and watch those films for a second time, you can't unsee those clues. (If you're like me, you're trying to work out if you actually noticed them the first time around and wondering how you could have missed something so obvious.)

Exercises in Observation

Exercise 1: The Coffee Shop Observer

People watching can help build your skills in observations.

As a writer, you should be people watching anyway, studying how people interact with one another in different settings — studying human behavior. But when you're out people watching, how often do you pay attention to the setting itself?

Sit down in your favorite coffee shop in a location where you can see everyone and everything. Casually observe what is going on around you and take notes. The more you do this, the more you'll notice.

Character Hint:

The seat in the coffee shop from which you can see everyone and everything will also be the seat that an assassin, spy or special forces character would choose. They would try to sit with their backs to the wall, never a door or window if at all possibly avoided. And their seat will have a clear view of all exit points.

Exercise 2: The Busy Food Court or Shopping Mall

Take a friend with you to a busy food court or shopping mall. Divide your vantage point into quadrants, like a pie. Look at each quadrant for only a few seconds, then move on to the next quadrant. Tell your friend what it was that you saw in each quadrant. Your friend can score you on how many details you got correct.

Character Hint:

These thriller characters are experts in this particular exercise. Nothing gets by them.

Check out this clip from The West Wing that shows Exercise 2 in practice. The clip comes from Season 3 Episode 21. (Note: May is late spring / early summer in the USA.)