: Re: How can I write a panicked scene without it feeling like it was written in haste? I normally try to place myself in my character's shoes and I think to myself, "how would I react if I were

@Ravi5107385

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Panic and dire situations do not necessarily make time seem to flow faster.

People frequently talk about adrenaline making time seem to slow down, and it's not a bad idea to let your writing reflect that. I once got hit by a car in the crosswalk (Spoiler alert, it was going slowly, stopped almost as soon as it hit me, and I was not permanently injured). When I turned my head and noticed that the car was going to hit me, I had basically no time to react. As I am not a parkour master or a stunt man, I didn't have time to make a conscious decision to jump or roll or dodge or anything that might have softened the blow. Instead, I looked at the car, stood there like a deer in the headlights, and the split-second seemed to stretch out to infinity, my brain echoing with the thoughts, "I'm about to be hit by a car. There's nothing I can do to stop it," as it rolled towards me.

Continuing forward about ten minutes, I took a test for a college course (because my panic somehow rolled into 'I'm going to be late for my test' and I did not make good decisions) -- I distinctly remember reading through the first question on the exam about a dozen times, and every time I got to the multiple choice options, I got distracted by overwhelming thoughts like "OMIGOD, I JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR", "My leg hurts" or "A CAR, A FREAKING CAR!" (No, I did not get this particular question correct)

The point I'm trying to make is that, just because your character has very streamlined actions or intentions, does not mean that their brain is shut down and only thinking about what they're doing. It might be imperative that they go chop down a tree. If that's just a simple chore, go ahead and say they went out back, chopped down the tree, gathered some firewood, and brought it inside.

If, on the other hand, chopping down this tree is going to save the world, they're going to be thinking about the weight of the axe in their hand, how heavy their footsteps are as they cross the yard, what this is going to mean for the rest of humanity. They'll pick the best angle to swing at the tree, so they don't have to work up the nerve to do it a second time, and they'll pull back their shoulders and swing with all their faith and resolution. The axe will slice through the air, and the sound it makes as it cuts into the bark will resound through their head in chorus with the reverberations of Newton's Third Law in their arms.

tl;dr During moments of extreme importance, be sure to express the character's thoughts and emotions, even if decisions/actions are made quickly.

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