The Worst Thing You Can Write in Military Science Fiction

I read a lot of military fiction. In fact, it’s my favorite genre. Much of what I read is military science fiction; a genre that I’ve found is often mislabeled. To wit, I don’t give a damn about silly-ass space combat, I want to read about ground pounders, but that is a blog for another day.

A lot of military science fiction is bad; not just the Kindle Direct stuff with less than stellar editing, but also top shelf, triple-A titles from major publishers. And do you want to know why? It’s not plot, although we have all written and read our share of sketchy plots. It’s not setting, although I’m not a fan of science fiction with alien elephants or birds, it’s the people, the military people to be exact. Two-dimensional, cardboard cutout soldiers, sailors, and marines, are the worst thing that you can write into any military science fiction story.

Too many authors paint their military heroes as rock-jawed, supremely confident jerks. To the one-percent who have served, and the much greater percentage that have loved or been mentored by those that served, these characterizations come across as at least distracting, at the most as straws that often break a weak camel’s back, causing the reader to set the novel aside.

So what’s the trick, you ask? What are military men and women like? The answer is simpler than you ever thought. Soldiers, sailors, and marines are just like you. Yeah, they have more training, yeah danger can bring out the hero in some and the coward in others, but treat them as human beings, with human motivations, and you won’t go far wrong. Men and woman fight not for God and country, but rather for the man or woman in the trench next to them. They fight not to save humankind, but rather to avoid embarrassment. Yeah, you’d be surprised how many trooper aim a rifle, pull a trigger, and fight just because they don’t want to seem a coward in front of their friends.

So if you want to create an authentic character, look in the mirror. Inject your fears, your desires, into that soldier and you won’t go far wrong.

Mark H. Walker served 23 years in the United States Navy, most of them as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal diver, he is the author of Desert Moon, an exciting mecha, military scifi novel with a twist, World at War: Revelation, a creepy, military action, with a love story, alternate history, World War Three novel thing, and numerous short stories. They are all available from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing right here. Give them a try. What the hell?