History SoYouWantTo / WriteAWarStory

* CoolGuns. Weapons need to be awesome yet practical, while being produced in numbers great enough to be issued to whole militaries and therefore plausibly show up in a story.

*** TheChick = TheMedic, the NewMeat, the NaiveNewcomer, the radio operator, or maybe a chaplain. Note that real militaries very rarely are fully gender integrated (a rare exception being Canada), women rarely serve in frontline combat units, they normally are kept in [[AmazonBrigade gender segregated units]], and very few countries conscript women. TheChick can be either male or female, so long as they seem to be the soul of the group. Remember that despite the normally non-combat status that being TheChick designates, TheChick can still definitely be badass, tough, and competent in a war story.

* CriticalResearchFailure. Just because your story takes places 9021809843500238584829399253323 light years away with humans fighting aliens with antimatter particle beam guns does not excuse you from at least getting some basic facts right and doing your research.

Armed conflict between organized factions great and small occurs in a lot of fiction. Here's how to write a story about [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} WAAAGH!]]

* CoolGuns. Different from RareGuns in that many of these weapons are ''Awesome Yet Practical'' while being produced in numbers great enough to be issued to whole militaries and therefore plausibly show up in a story.

* RareGuns: There are reasons why the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rare guns]] are so rare. Typically, rare guns are that way because they were impractical, too expensive, not so good as the competition, absolutely dreadful weapons, or because their production was halted by either something better coming along, or because the country producing them was invaded.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene. While war crimes are horrible, they happen a lot less frequently than Hollywood would have us believe (however they do happen within ''any'' armed force, even in this day and age) and those who perpetrate them are frequently brought to justice pretty quickly, don't just gloss over them. Be frank and real when dealing with them. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools As with all fiction writing]], if it doesn't serve plot or character, then don't just ThrowItIn for the {{Wangst}} of it.

* UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar. Be careful about this one. This is straying into the realm of politics and rants about the merits of organisations like the UN and the International Criminal Court. There will always be undercurrents of this, especially where military units are concerned, but it should only be the subject of an extensive exploration if you plan to include a political dimension. Otherwise, it can safely stay in the background until the ObligatoryWarCrimeScene.

* ''{{Film/Platoon}}'' is similar in vein to ''Film/FullMetalJacket''. It is known for featuring Charlie Sheen, adagio for strings, and one of the most chilling [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene war crime scenes]] in movie history.

* NotSoDifferent. Many of the greatest war stories have focused on the fact that soldiers on opposing sides are not different creatures. They are all human, they just happen to have different allegiances and if a war wasn't going on, they might well have become very good friends. One side is not necessarily more predisposed towards war crimes and morally questionable acts than the other (that's not to say you can't have a time-honored Good vs Evil story).

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Even if your opinion is that [[WarIsHell war is the absolute worst thing that can ever happen]], and even if your audience agrees with you, you'll find a very small following indeed if your story is ''completely, unremittingly bleak''. Even in the worst situations, [[InUniverseCatharsis people find ways to keep their spirits up]] -- do the same for the story and it will benefit. A BreatherEpisode or CurbStompCushion can make a bleak plot more bearable, and a TokenGoodTeammate will help people find someone to root for even if ArmiesAreEvil.

* VideoGame/BlacksiteArea51

War is a complex, controversial, and multifaceted thing. Whatever you do, don't get stuck on politics or ethics. It is one thing to have a character who doesn't agree with what they're doing or with the way things are run, but it is another to keep on dragging in the moral questions of war so that it gets in the way of the story. Show, don't tell! Remember, TropesAreTools. It's all about how you write and utilize tropes. If it doesn't fit the story and serve a purpose, DO NOT ThrowItIn!

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene. While war crimes are horrible, they happen a lot less frequently than Hollywood would have us believe (however they do happen within ''any'' armed force, even in this day and age) and those who perpetrate them are frequently brought to justice pretty quickly, don't just gloss over them. Be frank and real when dealing with them. [[TropesAreTools As with all fiction writing]], if it doesn't serve plot or character, then don't just ThrowItIn for the {{Wangst}} of it.

* SuperSoldiers. If any of these are every made in real life, they will likely be normal people who are very well trained and conditioned while being given some sort of powered armor. How about instead of making a SuperSoldier invincible, make them just insanely skilled and more physically fit than what normal people could attain, but make them just as fragile and vulnerable as everybody else. Look up Yahtzee's rant on supersoldiers. Also, the idea has been deconstructed to death already; the supersoldier is EmpoweredBadassNormal, but at the cost of a short harsh life, never knowing love, being affected with [[ShellShockedVeteran Post Traumatic Stress Disorder]], being treated like an animal, being unable to live without fighting, and being forced to fight no matter what their personal feelings are. A reconstruction of this could show that the SuperSoldier is a EmpoweredBadassNormal who pays a high personal price for their martial prowess. Yes, they have all sorts of problems. Yes, the job is tough, thankless, and will claim their life, but they do it for thier country, for their comrades, so that others may live, because nobody else can, because they have people they care about, because others are counting on it, or maybe they really love being a soldier.

* ''Film/OperationPetticoat'' is a comedy about a US Navy Submarine in [=WW2=] fighting against the Japanese. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny They sink a truck]].

* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms. Horrifying ubiquitous. Here are a few of the most common and egregious examples. Firstly, every single Kalshnikov rifle is automatically an AK-47. Genuine 47's are very rare; most AK's aren't 47's, let alone Russian. The most common AK is the AKM, or one of its innumerable clones, most notably the Chinese Type 56, which is recognizable for its fully hooded front sight and integral underfolding blade bayonet. Note that the Type 56 can also denote the Chinese version of the SKS. [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks The American military]] does ''NOT'' issue the MP-5 or the Uzi! Only the [[SemperFi USMC]] regularly issues the M16; almost everybody else has used the M4 since around 2009. The modern Russian military has the AK-74M as its main rifle- not the AK-47 or the AKM. These older weapons find their ways into backwater and underfunded units as well as occasionally into the hands for Spetsnaz troopers who prefer the penetrative power of 7.62x39.

* The FarCry film, even appearing in Film Brain's WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown