I have difficulty creating realistic conflict.

[Blood Valkyrie]

Hi there! I'm currently working on a story about an emperor who has gained control of almost half the world; kings and queens have sworn loyalty to him ... mostly because of war ...

I have a problem, though. I have difficulty making conflict happen in a way that seems realistic. Politics, even fictional politics in fictional worlds, confuse the heck out of me.

Also, when it comes to war and action scenes, sometimes I just get a blank, or I end up writing something that doesn't make sense.

How do you keep fighting, combat, politics, and such realistic in your stories? Do you use any sources for inspiration?

I am confuzzled.

[sora wonk]

I imagine history would be a great source, as well as government textbooks. Also reading stories that fall in those genres, historical fiction...

In particular, I'm thinking of Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card. It's about genius kids who become world leaders and thus have a lot of political conflicts intermixing with their interpersonal ones.

Hypothetically, you should be able to write about anything so long as you're interested enough to do a lot of research and then brave enough to stop doubting yourself and make up the rest. It's fiction, after all. Let people review it if it worries you.

[Blood Valkyrie]

sora wonk

I imagine history would be a great source, as well as government textbooks. Also reading stories that fall in those genres, historical fiction...

In particular, I'm thinking of Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card. It's about genius kids who become world leaders and thus have a lot of political conflicts intermixing with their interpersonal ones.

Hypothetically, you should be able to write about anything so long as you're interested enough to do a lot of research and then brave enough to stop doubting yourself and make up the rest. It's fiction, after all. Let people review it if it worries you.

Thanks for your help. smile You're very helpful. 4laugh

[FindingJackie]

Research might help you a lot, of course. Try to look at what triggered conflicts like WWII or how the people of the Roman empire reacted to the invasions. If your fictional world reminds you of a certain era or culture, I'd try to focus on researching about this and tweaking things to fit your universe. After all, researching the Crusades when you work with a polytheist people who doesn't mind worshiping multiple gods and idols wouldn't be quite as useful, since they do not have the same motives and ways of dealing with things.

Is your universe completely fictional or even fantasy? If so, you can make up a lot of it. Just try to keep the internal logic of your universe. I start with this question: why did the emperor decide to conquer so much land? Did he want resources from there, or did the other people abide by the wrong rules to him? What makes the various peoples different? It could be something as simple as being ruled by two brothers who divided the land after their fathers death, or a complete disagreement about values and the way a country should be ruled. Figure out what each people wants, and why that can't work together. I'm sure you'll find something good. smile

If you want some help working on this, feel free to pm me. I can ask questions and try to bring you further into your creative process.

[Kairi Nightingale]

All I've got to add is remember that the people in charge are people and will be driven by their own characterizations. Wars can start over someone being dumb or reacting irrationally to stuff. People are manipulated and hurt and kill for selfish agendas or over minor quarrels. Politics is basically people using their power and influence to get what they want. So set goals for your characters and then go about making them attain them through their position and manipulating other people. Create or research rules that are established in the culture/society/religion and think about how these people could use that to their advantage as well as what would provide a disadvantage.

[Blood Valkyrie]

FindingJackie

Research might help you a lot, of course. Try to look at what triggered conflicts like WWII or how the people of the Roman empire reacted to the invasions. If your fictional world reminds you of a certain era or culture, I'd try to focus on researching about this and tweaking things to fit your universe. After all, researching the Crusades when you work with a polytheist people who doesn't mind worshiping multiple gods and idols wouldn't be quite as useful, since they do not have the same motives and ways of dealing with things.

Is your universe completely fictional or even fantasy? If so, you can make up a lot of it. Just try to keep the internal logic of your universe. I start with this question: why did the emperor decide to conquer so much land? Did he want resources from there, or did the other people abide by the wrong rules to him? What makes the various peoples different? It could be something as simple as being ruled by two brothers who divided the land after their fathers death, or a complete disagreement about values and the way a country should be ruled. Figure out what each people wants, and why that can't work together. I'm sure you'll find something good. smile

If you want some help working on this, feel free to pm me. I can ask questions and try to bring you further into your creative process.

Thank you! I might pm you later, if that's ok, but I don't know. Right now, I'm feeling wishy washy. :3

[Blood Valkyrie]

Kairi Nightingale

All I've got to add is remember that the people in charge are people and will be driven by their own characterizations. Wars can start over someone being dumb or reacting irrationally to stuff. People are manipulated and hurt and kill for selfish agendas or over minor quarrels. Politics is basically people using their power and influence to get what they want. So set goals for your characters and then go about making them attain them through their position and manipulating other people. Create or research rules that are established in the culture/society/religion and think about how these people could use that to their advantage as well as what would provide a disadvantage.

Thanks. mrgreen

You're rather helpful. biggrin

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Blood Valkyrie

Hi there! I'm currently working on a story about an emperor who has gained control of almost half the world; kings and queens have sworn loyalty to him ... mostly because of war ...

History is full of large empires, and a lot of them inevitably fell into conflict with either themselves, or one another, so if you feel like turning to Wikipedia's pages on the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon's Empire, the Russian Empire, or the British Empire, they've probably got you covered.

[Blood Valkyrie]

Maltese_Falcon91

Blood Valkyrie

Hi there! I'm currently working on a story about an emperor who has gained control of almost half the world; kings and queens have sworn loyalty to him ... mostly because of war ...

History is full of large empires, and a lot of them inevitably fell into conflict with either themselves, or one another, so if you feel like turning to Wikipedia's pages on the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon's Empire, the Russian Empire, or the British Empire, they've probably got you covered.

I feel stupid for not thinking of that.

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Blood Valkyrie

I feel stupid for not thinking of that.

I feel stupid for freaking the hell out about this weird sound I was hearing, only to realize that I was wearing my headphones, that this video was open in another tab, just with the volume set to almost zero.

Blood Valkyrie

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

What I'd also really suggest is picking an era that your setting is roughly synonymous too, and researching how life was back then.

It can give your story that extra little bit of verisimilitude, if, for example you talk about how nobody can really afford a standing army, and how they have to raise an army from their vassals, if they want to go to war, or how the concept of the 'City Watch' never really existed, and the people mostly policed themselves, or how trials usually just consisted of getting enough people to say you were innocent, instead of the courtroom drama we're accustomed to.

[lucidpattern]

Sorry if this sounds mean but if you don't understand politics or conflict maybe you shouldn't be writing a story about it?

[Kairi Nightingale]

lucidpattern

Sorry if this sounds mean but if you don't understand politics or conflict maybe you shouldn't be writing a story about it?

The phrase "Write what you know" does not mean don't write what you don't know; it means research what you don't know so you CAN write it and that's exactly what the OP is doing. Can you imagine how many great books we'd miss out on if the authors just quit when they ran into a subject they weren't familiar with instead of researching it and attempting to grow familiar enough to write it properly? Don't limit yourself by giving up on what you don't know - expand your horizons by gaining knowledge and understanding through asking questions, experiencing new things, and research. There's always something new to learn and the best writers are ones who create a vast inventory of information to pull from as they need it.

[Kimbahbayy]

You could research how war/politics etc work and incorporate it into your writing. Often times if an author writes on something specific such as a kid with a disability, they will speak to real live sources or second person sources, or talk to doctors, henceforth the mentions at the beginning/end of the book towards those who've helped them further develop the plot

[Blood Valkyrie]

lucidpattern

Sorry if this sounds mean but if you don't understand politics or conflict maybe you shouldn't be writing a story about it?

I didn't understand late Victorian London, but that didn't stop me from writing a horror novella set in that time period.

http://www.amazon.com/Mercy-Krishtina-Mayers-ebook/dp/B00J1QB3VO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414469308&sr=8-1&keywords=mercy+krishtina+mayers

It wasn't meant to be a 100% historically accurate book, but I think all the research I did do helped. xD

[Blood Valkyrie]

Azn_Angel22

You could research how war/politics etc work and incorporate it into your writing. Often times if an author writes on something specific such as a kid with a disability, they will speak to real live sources or second person sources, or talk to doctors, henceforth the mentions at the beginning/end of the book towards those who've helped them further develop the plot

Do you know where I could find accurate information on weapons, martial arts, and injuries?

That wasn't sarcasm or anything. I genuinely don't know.