The art of creating Heroic Bloodshed

To the general public, creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, etc. that goes outside the normal bounds of professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works in this category commonly include novels, epics, short stories, and poems.

Yet, for some writers, the scribe in question can create their own literary genre. I am proud to present…Heroic bloodshed. It’s my own genre of action/adventure fiction revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honor, redemption, and violence. The protagonists featured in my heroic bloodshed are often good-willed criminals (typically triad members), hitmen, or thieves, and several have a strict code of ethics. Usually, these traits lead to the betrayal of their employer and they become the savior of their intended victims. Another kind of protagonist I introduce is police officers with a conscience (often members of Hong Kong Police or Interpol), who are incorruptible, and I took time to model them after the Hard Boiled Detectives of the thirties and forties. Loyalty, family, and brotherhood are the most typical themes of my genre. The stories generally have a strong emotional angle not only between, but during the intense action sequences.

To create this style of fiction writing, I was inspired primarily by the filming styles of John Woo and Ringo Lam. A published author once described some of my work as “a Hong Kong action film that features a lot of gunplay, gangsters, assassins, and loads of kung fu. Lots of blood. Lots of action. Lots of emotion, depth, and pathos. You will cry.”

Pistols and sub-machine guns are frequently utilized by the heroes due to the light weight they provide, enabling their wielders to move more quickly. They are frequently held akimbo (which means dual wielding, popularized by American action films). The heroes are extremely agile and implement rolls, dives, slides, and falls while they duel, making for a graceful, ballet-like performance in the midst of gunfire.

Sadly, amidst all of the action and character depth, the Heroic bloodshed stories often end on a downbeat or tragic note, which depict the main hero dead, arrested by the police, or severely incapacitated.