There’s nothing better than a great chase scene. Whether it be by foot or in a car (or whatever mode of transportation you like), a good chase scene can do a lot for a story and even the characters. Actually, it should do both and the good ones usually do. I’m about 50% through a first draft of my next novel (currently titled Zero Trust) and wanted a chase scene as the bad guys closed in, and to put pressure on my main characters. It’s also a point in the story where my two POV characters almost cross paths, one of which is on the run from the other. Which made for a fun chase and upped the stakes. Below is the Who, What, Where, When and Why of how I approached the scene, and other considerations.
Why?
To me the most important question to ask of any scene, and in particular an action scene, is why is this happening? Why is this important? Why should readers care? Of course, having a chase scene is cool, no doubt, but it still needs to be important to the story and characters. For this story, it’s a point of pressure release after build up over 40k+ words. It’s happening right after the midpoint and when the bad guys close in story beats (late in Act II). Which will build up again for the climax and ending. For the characters, they’ve made decisions, avoided obstacles, and branched themselves to this point based on their motivations / wants / needs. There is no other option for them. They’ve been penned in (no pun intended) and their only way out is to run. And their choices and behaviors within the chase will also (should at least) reflect their personalities or how they might approach a problem. For the readers, it’s a point of relief, mixed with some character development. The story is a box where the walls are closing in, I want that claustrophobic feeling to come across as readers follow these characters down their paths of choice. Which ultimately force them into a situation where they have to do something, and take action against those that want to hurt / kill them.
Who?
Zero Trust follows two characters, primarily. LiLo, a rogue hacker that is being chased by her former employers, and a mysterious hitman who is also tracking LiLo. For this chase scene there’s three characters, LiLo, the hitman, and LiLo’s former employers. A three point attack where LiLo is boxed in and basically thinks everyone is out to kill her, which they are. I want the chase to feel kinetic so I’m doing short chapters and scenes, bouncing back and forth between the POV of LiLo and the hitman. The idea is to ratchet up the tension as the three groups start to come together. Also, want the remnants of what happened a scene ago to impact the other character. Everything running in parallel, with the reader learning more about each character and their behaviors as the chase carriers out.
What?
I knew I wanted a chase scene to happen in this book. I really had no choice. Underneath it all, it’s a story about survival and LiLo trying to beat this mysterious, integrated, organization that trained her. They’re on her tail, cat and mouse games, always on the run. A chase scene is inevitable. In HOST I have a few foot chase scenes. For Zero Trust, I wanted to do another but with a bit more action, which the characters call for. A hitman will kill people in his way, a hacker will run, a mysterious group with military trained baddies will kill. The what question was really what kind of chase do I want? I thought a car chase but it didn’t fit the characters, and felt a little too bombastic. A foot chase is more personal, characters get close and will have to react to each other face to face. If you have two characters whose solution to most problems is violence, face them off! Sending them through alleyways, having them interact with city streets, cars, pedestrians and options for escape is fun to explore, and felt easier to control from a writer’s perspective in terms of logistics and plot holes.
Where?
I’m a big fan of globe trotting espionage, action / adventure stories. HOST bounces around from London, to Antwerp, to Seattle, to West Virginia. Zero Trust will also bounce around but mostly in the USA. This is a prequel story for LiLo as she’s still early on escaping her former employers, she’s still kind of safe at home, state side. The story will bounce from Boston, to Seattle, to West Virginia, but this chase scene will take place in Pittsburgh. It’s a fun town, if you haven’t been, but I picked it because it’s not too sprawling, logistically speaking for the rest of the story it’s easy to maneuver to and somewhat central, and I’d been there before. LiLo connects and recruits a few hackers who are located in Pittsburgh, it serves as “safe house” location for her while she plots and plans a big cyber heist. It’s cold, it’s gritty, and is steel town. All aspects I could build into the chase to give it more depth.
When?
The when could be both when in the actual story the chase takes and / or when in the story timeline. For the story beats, it’s right at the midpoint and leads into when the bad guys close in. So about 50% into the story, maybe a little more. As for story timeline, without spoiling too much, it takes place as both main characters (LiLo and hitman) are getting close in achieving their goals, in some shape or form. The hitman is uncovering details that may change his world view, while LiLo is advancing her goal of exposing her former employers. They each think they’re winning or have some doubt but they think progress is being made. If it actually is…well that’s to be discovered later.
Conclusion
Going through these questions helped shape the chase scene I wanted to write, and, honestly, read. They served as a starting point for what would lead into a research phase for each question I had. Knowing the area, researching streets, neighborhoods, locations and culture were all vital for writing the scene. Adding details here and there to ground the reader helps build the world as scene through the characters eye, another way to build reader connection and develop a character. Making sure the distance and logistics of a foot chase through a city is realistic. How many miles can each run, while also being attacked, before exhaustion sets in? I even mapped out the chase on Google Earth / Google Maps to make sure it was consistent and made sense. And there’s still more research I feel I need to do before I can say, yeah this is it, this is a fun and exciting chase scene where the stakes feel real.
P.S. For Research Sake
Mapping out a chase scene and researching the area where the chase takes place is all very important but so is watching chase scenes. Few movies below that I watched for research…of course.
Point Break, Seven, Blade Runner, Inception, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (yes, it’s a great chase scene), Casino Royale, Bourne Identity, Reservoir Dogs, Hot Fuzz, French Connection, The Untouchables. There are many, many more but these are solid.
