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DRAFT ZERO
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Damon Young

Guest

"The first intention is not fakery. So if your first intention, for example, is to hit someone with a straight oblique cut to the left side of their head, if they do not parry that or get out of the way, you should 100% cut them on the left side of their head. That is your first intention. If, however, they parry that, then your second intention should be to mouliné around their blade and cut them to the right side of the head. But in both cases, you need to be completely committed. And if you’re not completely committed, your first intention’s unlikely to work anyway, because they’ll know. They’ll know that it’s a fake."

— Damon Young  |  DZ-100: Scenes through Swords

2023

DZ-100: Scenes through Swords

What scene-writing tools can be learned from martial arts?
DZ-100: Scenes through Swords
Listen if you want to know why the distance between two characters matters more than what they say.
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In this slightly unusual episode of Draft Zero (but also incredibly on brand), Stu and philosopher-swordsperson Damon Young discuss how the lessons they have learned from martial arts can be applied to scenes. In particular, they discuss how approaching an opponent in a sword fight can be analogous to how characters approach conflict, such as: the distance between the characters, who chooses to engage first, how to feint, how to lure an attack by leaving yourself vulnerable, etc… →

"There’s this notion in Greek culture and philosophy, ancient Greece, that is called kairos, which essentially means the right time. And the right time is different to sort of chronological time, clock time, ticking time. The right time is a kind of felt sense for the right moment. And you can’t know ahead of time when that will be. You can’t assign a clock time to it. You just have to wait until you know it’s right. It’s a kind of more organic time."

— Damon Young  |  DZ-100: Scenes through Swords