The thing about WAR Novel

[Bimbanana]

I write about fantasy & fun politics, yes. And fun politics is all about fun war, yes. And i'm still doing fine when the war is still 1vs1 or 3vs3

But here's the thing. Now i need to scale it up to waaay up there. Like WW2 scale or cold war scale.

But how the heck should i write a scale that big without overwhelming the readers with too many info dump (many new country, characters, war fronts, etc)
And now... i don't even know where to begin...

Tbh, i'm pretty stuck that i write joke series (go read Orc's Journal on chapters discussion) as my coping mechanism.

I actually dont even know what i really want to ask here.
But! Any recommendation of war history or political figures that i can use for reference will be appreciated

 

[Rzzy]

Hey, we dive same genre, can I join in? I also want to get the same lesson about avoiding info dumps, didn't expect show no tell to be so difficult

 

[SouthernMaiden]

War. War never changes

Idk, but I used to listen to hardcore history. Probably the best history podcast of all tome ever

 

[Snake99]

Read Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War

 

[YukieSama]

My question to you is why would it be an info dump? Even in ww2 there were many fronts and it was split into 1v1 to 3v3's. Is your protagonist going to be in all the fronts? Why is the war happening? Also it's probably going to take a lot of chapters so I don't think they're going to be overwhelmed

Just my two cents. Best way to solve abstract problems is to ask concrete questions

 

[Anonjohn20]

All you need at the beginning is a "casus belli" and two conflicting sides. All the complex exposition can be slowly drip-fed over time.

 

[A-Random-Writer]

if you have the time maybe a map or like a news paper clipping would give insight to the reader and honestly that would be pretty cool to show what the countries are like. ( or you fill it with propaganda but that is still cool for the story)

 

[Pennywise]

All you need is make the Mc ...EREN YEAGER!

 

[Bimbanana]

War. War never changes

Idk, but I used to listen to hardcore history. Probably the best history podcast of all tome ever

Hardcore history podcast is it? will check it out, thanks!

Read Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War

Oooh peloponnesian, aight will also check it. Thanks!

My question to you is why would it be an info dump? Even in ww2 there were many fronts and it was split into 1v1 to 3v3's. Is your protagonist going to be in all the fronts? Why is the war happening? Also it's probably going to take a lot of chapters so I don't think they're going to be overwhelmed

Just my two cents. Best way to solve abstract problems is to ask concrete questions

Yep, i have like 15 protagonist maybe more in this war arc that will be spreaded out across the globe. Sigh, you're right i guess no way to avoid this arc becoming 120++ chapters

All you need at the beginning is a "casus belli" and two conflicting sides. All the complex exposition can be slowly drip-fed over time.

Already done that. Now is about people fighting. About struggle. About devastation! About HORROR! MUAHAHAHA wait what am talking about again?

if you have the time maybe a map or like a news paper clipping would give insight to the reader and honestly that would be pretty cool to show what the countries are like. ( or you fill it with propaganda but that is still cool for the story)

uhh, yes i've made the map when everything still peaceful. Guess i need to stare at it again and imagine which country got dragged and what possible campaign would be cool enough to be shown. (OMG THIS IS IT! THANKS!)

All you need is make the Mc ...EREN YEAGER!

RRROAAAAAARRR

 

[TinaMigarlo]

I have a recurring MC and a few sidekicks who was *in* a war, but it was a non standard war. Twice I open the book with a third person short war experience. Because there's a slow start to the first person story of him later in life. Takes you a few seconds to realize that's the "quiet unassuming guy". I do this so the reader realizes this seemingly "boring guy" is going to get some action, its just not every fucking chapter. Another book he's in, there's what I think of as an interesting chapter late in the book. there's an interview of a professional soldier in the conflict itself, and he's real frank about the situation there. He is preceded in the interview by a spokesperson from the country they're helping out defending them.

throughout his origin story, you slowly learn ALL about the crazy war he was in.

I was kinda proud of the "interview" portion, because it disguises an info dump as a mildly entertaining something different in the book. i go for gritty reality in war scenes, not the wisecracking unstoppable hero.

White Death - Chapter 00 – Preface | Scribble Hub

www.scribblehub.com

^^^ not like I could roll with an entire book ABOUT this war in this fashion. but it gives you an idea of how you can describe what's going on, without simply trying to text across a war movie scene. The purpose of this chapter is to break the reader into exactly what kind of shit the MC has been into, so later on you'll know he's going to be capable at tackling thug problems when it comes up.

later in the same book, he's hurt after the big fight and on a pain pill and some morphine paste. He relates to the girl he's close with taking care of him, his own breaking point back then. I like to give a sense of what a war like that does to the guys that make it back.

 

[Eldoria]

I've faced this dilemma. In an epic-scale conflict, you can't give an info dump through an omniscient narrator because the story would be too boring.

Ultimately, I decided on adaptive POV, using various historical narratives, character experiences, and bird's-eye views. POV can be very flexible according to the narrative's needs.

For example, when you want to convey the history of a war, you can adopt a historical POV by reading ancient reliefs and manuscripts using a "We" narrator. It will provide a deep sense of collective emotion over past tragedies.

Conversely, when you're narrating a battle on the battlefield, you can shift your POV to a limited third POV that focuses on the central character (usually the chapter's protagonist) fighting their enemies. It will make the narrative intense, tense, and emotionally charged.

Furthermore, you can use an objective/cinematic third POV to depict the battlefield at a macro level (troop formations, geography, and the atmosphere of war) through a bird's-eye view. It allows the reader to see the full picture of how the war unfolded objectively and macro.

Adaptive POV adapts to the needs of a war narrative. I've included some examples for reference below. I hope it helps.

1. War history POV
2. Bird's-eye POV
3. Character POV: Captain Reynard and Commander Feroux

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I write about fantasy & fun politics, yes. And fun politics is all about fun war, yes. And i'm still doing fine when the war is still 1vs1 or 3vs3

But here's the thing. Now i need to scale it up to waaay up there. Like WW2 scale or cold war scale.

But how the heck should i write a scale that big without overwhelming the readers with too many info dump (many new country, characters, war fronts, etc)
And now... i don't even know where to begin...

Tbh, i'm pretty stuck that i write joke series (go read Orc's Journal on chapters discussion) as my coping mechanism.

I actually dont even know what i really want to ask here.
But! Any recommendation of war history or political figures that i can use for reference will be appreciated

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Options:
1) Go the war commentator route - your character (or characters) narrate the story. Their awareness of the war grows as the scope rises and the importance of the war sinks it.
2) Don't worry about it - your character(s) only experience part of what's going on, so only share those parts with your readers. Keep track of the rest in the background and maybe have it impact their story occasionally.
3) Trust that your readers are here FOR the war, and carry on has you have been doing; don't worry about the scale, your readers are there for the story and likely EXPECT it to go huge.

 

[Bimbanana]

I have a recurring MC and a few sidekicks who was *in* a war, but it was a non standard war. Twice I open the book with a third person short war experience. Because there's a slow start to the first person story of him later in life. Takes you a few seconds to realize that's the "quiet unassuming guy". I do this so the reader realizes this seemingly "boring guy" is going to get some action, its just not every fucking chapter. Another book he's in, there's what I think of as an interesting chapter late in the book. there's an interview of a professional soldier in the conflict itself, and he's real frank about the situation there. He is preceded in the interview by a spokesperson from the country they're helping out defending them.

throughout his origin story, you slowly learn ALL about the crazy war he was in.

I was kinda proud of the "interview" portion, because it disguises an info dump as a mildly entertaining something different in the book. i go for gritty reality in war scenes, not the wisecracking unstoppable hero.

White Death - Chapter 00 – Preface | Scribble Hub

www.scribblehub.com

^^^ not like I could roll with an entire book ABOUT this war in this fashion. but it gives you an idea of how you can describe what's going on, without simply trying to text across a war movie scene. The purpose of this chapter is to break the reader into exactly what kind of shit the MC has been into, so later on you'll know he's going to be capable at tackling thug problems when it comes up.

later in the same book, he's hurt after the big fight and on a pain pill and some morphine paste. He relates to the girl he's close with taking care of him, his own breaking point back then. I like to give a sense of what a war like that does to the guys that make it back.

I thought you write a soccer story Thanks, will check it out

I've faced this dilemma. In an epic-scale conflict, you can't give an info dump through an omniscient narrator because the story would be too boring.

Ultimately, I decided on adaptive POV, using various historical narratives, character experiences, and bird's-eye views. POV can be very flexible according to the narrative's needs.

For example, when you want to convey the history of a war, you can adopt a historical POV by reading ancient reliefs and manuscripts using a "We" narrator. It will provide a deep sense of collective emotion over past tragedies.

Conversely, when you're narrating a battle on the battlefield, you can shift your POV to a limited third POV that focuses on the central character (usually the chapter's protagonist) fighting their enemies. It will make the narrative intense, tense, and emotionally charged.

Furthermore, you can use an objective/cinematic third POV to depict the battlefield at a macro level (troop formations, geography, and the atmosphere of war) through a bird's-eye view. It allows the reader to see the full picture of how the war unfolded objectively and macro.

Adaptive POV adapts to the needs of a war narrative. I've included some examples for reference below. I hope it helps.

1. War history POV
2. Bird's-eye POV
3. Character POV: Captain Reynard and Commander Feroux

Thank youuu. As expected from Eldoria senpai, instantly recognized the problem

Options:
1) Go the war commentator route - your character (or characters) narrate the story. Their awareness of the war grows as the scope rises and the importance of the war sinks it.
2) Don't worry about it - your character(s) only experience part of what's going on, so only share those parts with your readers. Keep track of the rest in the background and maybe have it impact their story occasionally.
3) Trust that your readers are here FOR the war, and carry on has you have been doing; don't worry about the scale, your readers are there for the story and likely EXPECT it to go huge.

This!
Thank you so much professor charles

 

[eagle_360]

But! Any recommendation of war history or political figures that i can use for reference will be appreciated

My dearest baby orc,

It is always easiest to write the fascist route.