Writing battles

 

Hello, friends!

For today, I chose a really complex topic - writing battles & war scenarios. Because there's a lot to say about it, I had to choose only some of the things about it. I highly recommend educating yourself further and reading some books with battles before going into it yourself.

I hope you enjoy the post, and it inspires you to learn more!

Now, let's get into it!

First, I'd like to say it's important which POV you'll choose for the battle scene - after choosing your focus will shift to different areas of interest. Here are some of the most popular options:

→ the fighter’s POV - you'll focus on weapons, attack and fighting styles, the emotions they're feeling, exhaustion and mental tool it's taking on them

→ the general’s POV - you'll focus on describing how the battle is going, what is the full picture, war strategies, having to make hard choices fast

→ the healer's POV - you'll focus on medication, how to help a wounded person, the pressure of time and someone's life in your hands, graphic details 

→ the victim's POV - you'll focus on the trauma the victim is experiencing, their world falling apart, losing their home and family, being attacked, helplessness 

Regarding battles and war conflicts don't forget about how it affects mainly the common folks. Here are some questions you should answer and consider when writing it:

→ how does the particular conflict disable society? Which parts of it? 

→ what are the conditions people have to live in? What are the soldiers’ conditions? How do they vary depending on societal hierarchy?

WOUNDS

• It's important in writing battle scenes - people get hurt. That much is obvious. What I want to point your attention to is describing how they get hurt and how realistic it is.

• Starting with weapons, make sure you know what damage a particular weapon does.

• When the wound is already inflicted, remember to write a realistic reaction (if not, explain why). 

• Wounds take time to heal. Consider it when writing.

• If you want to get graphic describing them, make sure to keep it biologically correct (research it if needed!)

TACTICS

If you're not a tactical mind, find ways to avoid getting too technical in writing. Also make sure you're not writing something that doesn't make sense by f.e. consulting a friend.

Tactics are important in battles. Why the location, why the time, why those troops, why this technique - those are all questions you should be able to answer. 

You have to plan the battle LIKE A GENERAL would. If it's done poorly, it should be only because the general was. Otherwise, it's bad writing.

If you're not exactly for George Martin's amount of gruesome details, there are many ways to avoid having to use them. For example:

• You can go more poetic, and describe the battle like you're writing a poem

• You can use a side character to reminisce about the battle without having “to be there”

• You can write the character's inner experience of battling inside or outside ones

No character should stay without the mental burden of having to fight. It's good to describe how different beings deal with their trauma or just hard memories from the battle. 

War always leaves marks. Remember about it and don't forget to describe it. Examples:

→ refusing to fight ever again 

→ becoming apathetic about fighting and goes on a killing spree 

→ waking up from nightmares about fighting 

When planning a bigger conflict, it's really helpful to have a map of your story world. That way you can f.e. include how geography intervenes with the conflict or how far do soldiers have to go to get to the location.

I also strongly suggest sitting down and making a list of how the conflict is going to go, what plot twists there will be, and how the politics will change because of it.

Peace talks and determining what changes will take place in the world are also very important. Will some countries cease to exist? Will a princess of country A have to marry a prince of county B? Will the king be overthrown? Etc, etc…