Young Writers Society

Hello. I am writing a story for my friend about a war story. This isn't a story that is going to be made or published but something to start of my writing career possibly.the story is in the very beginning of the planning stage.; The only ideas I have made up is that the story will be called 'Purple Heart' and it is about a character who is heroic but un-recognised in the story but I plan to make a big moment for him close to the end which would show who he really is. I'm struggling to think of ideas such as the plot or other characters and that is just the start.

My advice would be to research, plain and simple. Look into what wars have occured in the past and draw inspiration from them. This in no way means just looking at timelines -- try to find real life stories of people who were affected by the war. Read war poetry. See if there is any art from then. Read accounts of skirmishes people were involved in. See if you can find letters or journals from the time.

Essentially, Google is your friend. I'm not suggesting that this will be a cure to all your problems regarding being unsure where to start, but you might find one tiny tidbit of information that acts as a catalyst for coming up with the rest of your story.

Whether you are writing about a real war or not, this could definitely help with coming up with characters or obstacles for your character to face. What era is it set in? That is anotber thing to think about.

Drop me a line if you have any queries, and remember that no one can write your story but you, it might just take a little searching to hit that spark of inspiration.

I agree with Tri where she says research. Google is a massive resource of inspiration, because the best place to look for war-related ideas is within war history. Don't just stick to WWI and WWII, either (or the American Revolution or the Cold War), although I'd suggest skimming over them, too. Look into other European wars, and Asian wars, and African wars. Gather sources from all around the globe. Research techniques and battle strategies. Figure out how different ranking systems work, and figure out an exact era/setting to work with. Roman times? Old England? Ancient China?

The next thing I'd suggest is reading biographies from war heroes. It'll be easiest to find these about Americans and Europeans, if you're within the western hemisphere, but I'd strongly suggest trying to dig for stories from other groups, too.

Also: Watch fictional war movies and read fictional war books. As long as they're well-researched, they should be a storehouse of legitimate inspiration.

We can't tell you exactly what your plot or who your characters should be; it's your book. The best way to find inspiration is to dig for it, or to not overthink it, period.