Young Writers Society

ok, hear me out and don't immediately assume that it will be the post apocalypse where zombies are coming out of no-where and the main charachter is a superhuman who is nearly invincible and can take on anyone, because if anything that is what i am trying to prevent.

Story start with a small side detail. Ten- Fifteen years in the future and global warming has become global freezing and the polar icecaps are spreading southward making the only habitable place near the equator. Also oil production is slowing. This lack of land and resources provokes a free for all WW3 in the heart of Africa and the Middle East. Three years after fighting started all the major superpowers are destroyed and those that are left standing are at the bottom of a very deep pit. All communications have been shut down and many soldiers who survived the war continue to fight in the wastelands created by the fighting.

The story would follow a man (i don't know who he is or what he does so i need some help on that) who is adopted y an outfit who learned that the war was over and is now heading up north to create a community and a new life. One problem. Lots of people who don't know the war is over trying to kill them and the environment. Most of the book will be in the desert or highlands but the farther north they go they see more forested areas. One more problem. once they arrive up north a man who now controls the only semi- surviving nation sends an emissary. Turns out he's a bloodthirsty A** who only offers submission or death. Eventually they get into a big war and i wont tell any other important events in the plot or people wont read it .

Now for the questions. Need help with technology and landscapes. I'm American so i don't know much about other countries. What is The middle east like? what are the buildings like? geography? main sources of water? etc? and what weapons vehicles and equipment will our soldiers be using in 12 years? then there are the characters. My protagonist is completely uncreated. and i have a vague idea for the antagonist which i will explore later on. The outfit that the protagonist joins is almost completed so i will do that.

The antagonist (still needs a name) was a high ranking officer for some country (don't know which one yet) that was promoted to general in the early stages of the war. He quickly proved himself to be bloodthirsty and brutally efficient. When the war was nearing its end he sensed destruction coming for the country and killed his ruler (president etc.) taking the country for himself. He then led the country to become one of the last surviving empires.

so as you can see the plot is mainly developed but still has flaws, and the most help i need will come about characters. any ideas are appreciated, sorry for the length.

come on! anyone?

Please do not bump your threads. ^_^ Help will come around! Bumping is a no-no.


If you need help developing your characters, we have a user group just for that! Put your mouse over "community", go down to "YWS Groups" and then look for the Character Development group! It's a great place, and you can get a lot of specific help there, as well as working on your characters and making them more realistic.

sweet i'm new so i didn't know

well, i can give some examples of technologies we could be using very shortly...
1)41(or something like that) calibur sniper rifles--super powerful, each shot calculated, everything taken into account. rotation of earth, wind, gravity, the whole lot.
2)lasers. FROM SPACE!--it might sound sci-fi, but it's not completely unrealistic. if they can focus on individuals form space, why not zap them with a laser?
3)expect nukes. NOBODY is going to give up 'dem nukes. the US probably won't, China won't, Russia won't. all the countries that will are countries like iceland, france, and canada.
4)invisibility cloaks--for real! they can make cloaks with cameras on the opposite side show what's behind them...in front! basically...the wearer is invisible. they cost about some big $$$ right now, but in twelve years...who knows?
5)vehicles that run on odd things. they can make them run on air, biodiesel, etc. i'm not very informed on this, but trust me...fuel will not be limited to oil.
6)bio-warfare. the US is trying to abolish this, and DEFINITELY prevent it. this is a nasty tactic--innocents inevitably die, and the possibility for a global epidemic is significant. dangerous, dirty...probably going to be there for WWIII.
7)possibly the return of close-range weapons. new armors and defensive technologies may one day stop projectiles in their tracks. if projectiles become useless, close-range weapons might once again be the weapon of choice.

hope this helped!

weapons will be all of the following, and close range weapons will be in use
most guns will fire plasma but armors and portable energy shields like in halo make guns useless in some situations so energy swords (not like in halo) are going to be used more. bio-warfare will be a big part later in the story. thanks for you ideas they all helped.

Your plot sounds good so far

Listen - you'll have to research all of this yourself - one of the biggest pains of being a novelist, sure, but you'll grow to love it.

Why not make this war on an alternitive Earth? Then you could make up anything/everything about weapons, landscape and other countries.

PM when you've written the first chapter, coz I love your work.

Cheers, Jhai

i never thought of that but that would be interesting. Maybe a colony on a half frozen planet, actually it would be better if the planet froze over every 100 years or so. After we colonize it and get settled in, what do ya know, the world freezes over. that gets rid of the arguement of global warming and my Bio-Warfare could simply be placed on a new bacteria found on the planet. And if it supports life then i have new and amazing creatures! sorry, i just went a little crazy there. thanks now i know what to do *salutes*

{Edit}
but if i do that then i am still confined to the contries we have today. I think i will go with an alternate reality with a distorted mirror image of earth as we know it where some things are the same but most things will be new... now i have so many more things to think about...