Writing Military Science Fiction: On Real People, Flooded High-Rises, and Squad Automatic Weapons

I write military adventure. Sure, the brew uses a large measure of science fiction and some paranormal seasoning, but at its heart it's military adventure.

I read military adventure. A lot. I also read a good amount of action, be it super hero, detective, thriller, horror, or what not.

I'm a retired Navy diver. Explosive Ordnance Disposal to be exact. During my career I met and worked with Navy SEALs, Australian SAS, and--while studying at the Naval War College--a bunch of Marines and Army Officers fresh off Desert Storm. 

And hey, I've watched Black Hawk Down several times.

As I read military adventures or science fiction, I'm often distracted by the lack of military authenticity. Hence, I thought I might jot down a few suggestions for those of you writing in the genre. Hope they help.

Learn Your Caliber

If you reference any historical weapon take the time to research the weapon. It turns off astute readers when you write, "Brady squeezed the SAW's trigger, sending a stream of .50 caliber rounds down range."  The SAW uses a 5.56mm round.

Where do you learn this stuff? A quick check of Wikipedia is a good start. That will confirm your facts. But fiction isn't a listing of facts. Fiction is all about the sights, sounds, and smells. I've found YouTube is invaluable for grasping the sounds and visuals associated with a weapon. Just search "SAW Firefight" to see exactly what it's like to wield a SAW in a firefight.

Forget Your Caliber

All the techno jargon in the world won't make your combat seem real. You need experience. Now most of us don't want to trade a tour in a war zone for the experience needed to write authentic action scenes, so what's a writer to do?

Forty years ago, I'm not sure what writer's did, but in today's world there are a multitude of ways to gain the experience (albeit secondhand) you need to write.

• Research: Read first hand accounts of combat.
• Game: Yes, game. Call of Duty models the sights and sounds of combat well.
• Movies: But the right movies. Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and Act of Valor are all good. White House Down is bad.
• Read: Authentic military-military science fiction authors are David Drake, Dan Abnett, and D.J. Molles, to name but a few.
• Interview: Talk to veterans. This is one of the best ways, and yes, I guess that was available forty years ago.

Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen are People

Surprise, surprise, surprise. You would think that this is obvious, but it is something that we need to remind ourselves. Just because someone totes a rifle or flies a jet doesn't change the fact that they are people, with husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and brothers, and real motivations, both good and bad. Too many movies have portrayed folks in the military as muscle-bound idiots, who want nothing more than to order people to "Drop and give me 20." Well, muscle-bound idiots do exist in the military, but idiots exist everywhere. Portray your military characters as characters first, military second, and you won't go far wrong.

Never Take Death Lightly.

It is the rare soldier who isn't deeply disturbed by killing. That doesn't mean a soldier won't do his job and kill the enemy when necessary, nor does it mean that the stress of combat doesn't flip some men out, but in general killing is a disturbing occupation. Make sure your characters treat it as such.

This goes double for the innocents in your story. I recently read a novel where the good guys defeated an evil overlord type by flooding, completely flooding, a high-rise apartment building. Crazy, I know. Even more crazy is that fact that the "good" guys didn't even spare a casual thought for the thousands who would have died.

Give Soldiers Real Motivations

It's true that some men and woman join the armed forces due to patriotism, but that isn't why they pull the trigger. That isn't why they will charge a machinegun nest, or risk life and limb. They do those things primarily because of the person next to them. To protect a friend, to help in a way that they would hope they might be helped, to avoid the perception of cowardice. No doubt there are other motivations; people are complex, but almost always the motivation is real, and it's personal, not a vague concept.

The above list is by no means definitive. There are hundreds of authors that have had more success than I, but hopefully you guys will find these tips useful.

See you tomorrow. I think.

If you like my writing, you might want to check out my alternate-history-military adventure-with-paranormal-elements novel, World at War: Revelation. If you really, really like my writing you might want to help me come up with a less cumbersome name for the genre. If you do, leave it in the comments.