Becoming a novelist

[Zeratul2k]

If it's a gunfight, don't trust hollywood. The average urban gunfight lasts much less than a minute, though adrenaline can make it feel like more. In other words, depending on the perspective you are writing your book in, first person would make for a detailed gun-fight, since everything would look slow to the character, but a third person narrative would make for a fairly quick gunfight (which would be anti-climatic, if you have been building it for 3 chapters now).

A hand-to-hand fight is different, since those usually last more but, again, it depends on how you have been writing. A good idea is, as oldwrench said, to have another person read it, then have them describe it back to you. See if they look interested, excited, or bored, which can be a good gauge.

[Elvin]

One's a psycho with a knife, the other has a wooden sword that isn't willing to go for a kill.

Right now it's a bit more than a page, but everything is cut down on the second draft... I guess I'll just polish it until it's perfect and see.

[oldwrench]

Hands Elvin a can of Turtle Wax and a polishing cloth......... go for it, kid.