# Atrocities of War  (part 1) - Language Warning



## Lewdog (Dec 6, 2012)

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this, but here is a short story I began work on last week.  It's a perfect example of my realism writing style.  I enjoy writing from point of view than anything else.  Please feel free to point out any mistakes and grill me as much as you want.  I already have the rest of the story built in my head, including a very strong ending.  It's just a matter of sitting down and concentrating long enough to finish it.  The working title is, "The Atrocities of War."


       It was a day like yesterday, and probably like tomorrow will be.  Damn it's hot and I can't believe I forgot to check my boots this morning for scorpions before slipping them on.  Damn it that hurt!  I guarantee I won't make that mistake again.  At chow this morning we were warned that a sand storm might come in today, and to make sure we brought our extra protection just in case.

We have 9 other guys in my unit and most are pretty good fellas, one not so much.  I can't stand the son of a bitch, he talks too much and the worst part is he loves show tunes.  If the government hadn't changed their policy on gays in the military I would have outed him a long time ago.  My life would be a lot fucking better with him gone. 

Well we were given orders by the staff sergeant to search some of the houses on the far west end of Kabul's inner city for some caches of weapon.  I sure hope we hit the mother load, I can take getting rocks thrown at me all day, over some idiot Taliban fighter shooting at me with an AK47!  These guys are horrible shots with those things.  They look like a baby with a rattle spraying bullets all over the place.  How any of our guys ever gets shot is more than likely to be friendly fire than anything else.  The government won't tell you that, but its true.  

Why in God's earth we are still in this shit hole I don't know.  How are we supposed to be scared of these people who live in mud huts with no electricity and no running water I have no clue.  Thank to God we have bottled water, there is no way I could drink their water, I swear they shit and piss in the same water they wash their close and get their drinking water.  If we were to leave here I'd bet most of them would die off from diseases and save us the trouble.  The first house we went through the woman was yelling and screaming at us.  Our "interpreter" if that's what you can call him, could only pick out a few words, and it sounds something like "your donkey killed my son America is a hate state..."  Oh well I don't give a fuck what she says we are searching her house.  We didn't find anything but a few crude homemade knives.  We grabbed them and got out of there as fast as we could, none of us could stand her squealing tone any longer.  I'm amazed how much different their language is compared to English.  I mean how in the fuck can you get meaning out of a word that sounds like she is hacking  up a hair ball?  Well we moved on and she continued to follow us into the street still screaming.  I pointed my gun at her and told the interpreter to tell her to get back in her house before I reunite her with her son.  She shut up and went back inside.

I had one of those moments, where you think something is about to happen.  I guess it is my "Spidey Sense."  When we walked in the next hut, they were very quiet and friendly, almost too quiet, and most definitely too friendly.  There was a middle aged woman, a young child, and an elderly man in bed.  As we began our search I could feel tension in the room like someone was about to die, I didn't want person to be me.  I put my hand on my gun and turned just in time to see the old man man pull a gun out from under his blanket and point it at our interpreter.  The man mumbled something right before he was supposed to fire.  I put two in his head, the entire wall was covered in blood and brain matter, damn was it messy!  The woman went crazy, and ran to hug the man but one of the guys in our unit, Jones, grabbed her before she got to him.  Another guy in our unit, Hendrickson, walked over and took the guy out of the old man's hand.  The little boy sat motionless like he had become desensitized to this type of horror.  To his credit, Kabul does have a pretty high death rate.  I would say I discharge my weapon at least 3 times a week, shooting at Taliban sympathizers.  We searched the rest of the home and found a grenade under the bed, thank goodness the old man couldn't reach it, otherwise my store of life would have been over before it really got going.  As we left the hut I asked the interpreter what the old man said before I shot him.  He told me he thinks he called him a traitor.  This isn't uncommon for someone to say this.  We wouldn't be able to do our job without and interpreter, so we often run short on American soldiers trained to speak their screwed up language so we have to recruit people out of the community.  Some of the citizens think they are traitors for working for us.  They get paid well by Iraqi standards, getting paid like $200 a week American.  

So far in just two huts we have found knives, guns, and a grenade.  Nothing wakes you up faster than having a gun waived in your face.  I was on a buzz high at this point.  If we found more weapons I'll move into a furor.


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## Jon M (Dec 8, 2012)

Effective at creating an unsympathetic character. The guy doesn't seem to have many redeeming qualities. There were times in the story when you dipped into his head that I thought were clunky. Either need to be removed or smoothed out. Stuff like "Damn it that hurt!" is what I'm talking about. 

The reference to Spider-Man is odd, seems a bit juvenile, but I suppose that fits with the narrator. He seems like a child, incredibly immature. The reason it seems so odd is because it comes out of nowhere. Could be an interesting trait of his, to liken what he sees in Afghanistan to the comics he's read, but it needs more buildup. It needs to be established early on that the character is a comic book fan for this to work. Given how unpolished and underdeveloped the prose is at this point, however, I'm inclined to believe it's just a half-baked reference.

Story has a long way to go in terms of description, creating a sense of place, creating characters with histories that will interest the reader, and just plot in general.

As an aside, my feeling is the atrocity here is not the war so much as the soldier.


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## Lewdog (Dec 8, 2012)

Jon M said:


> Effective at creating an unsympathetic character. The guy doesn't seem to have many redeeming qualities. There were times in the story when you dipped into his head that I thought were clunky. Either need to be removed or smoothed out. Stuff like "Damn it that hurt!" is what I'm talking about.
> 
> The reference to Spider-Man is odd, seems a bit juvenile, but I suppose that fits with the narrator. He seems like a child, incredibly immature. The reason it seems so odd is because it comes out of nowhere. Could be an interesting trait of his, to liken what he sees in Afghanistan to the comics he's read, but it needs more buildup. It needs to be established early on that the character is a comic book fan for this to work. Given how unpolished and underdeveloped the prose is at this point, however, I'm inclined to believe it's just a half-baked reference.
> 
> ...




It does have a way to go, but things like "Spidey Sense" in my opinion is lingo that stretches the boundaries of generations.  One does not have to be a current and active comic book fan to understand and use the term, also Spiderman comic books have been a part or since 1962.  I agree more detail needs to be added, but one shouldn't really comment on the nature of the story until it is all played out.  Once you read the piece as a whole you'll understand.  Right now it's like catching the last 10 minutes of the movie and wondering how the hell it relates to its title.  Another thing to take into consideration, is I like to write with a point of view and realism, taking the attitude and education of the character and use words and phrase he might also use.  For example, he won't say that the heat of the desert in the morning hits you in the face like opening a kiln and standing in front of it.  Instead he might say that the desert heat in the morning reminds him of the days in his teen years working at the steel plant with his father during summer break and the heat of the blast furnace hitting his face felt as if the sun itself was inside.  

I hope that makes sense.  This is the first write though, and usually when I write short stories I do 5 or so rewrites as a whole before I consider it finished.  My question is, is it a short story worth finishing?  I really don't know of a whole lot of military stories out there currently, then again I might be looking in the wrong places.  
thanks for the feedback and hopefully you will continue to visit this piece as I it comes to a close.


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## Burlesk (Dec 8, 2012)

I think I can see what you're trying to do here, and I'm not sure I agree with Jon M's comments. Although it's true that the narrator is deeply unsympathetic, that in itself isn't a barrier to good fiction. It depends what you do with him. If you're intending to (say, for example) gradually expose him as being morally in the wrong, or have him go through a change of heart, or something like that, you could be on to a good thing with this story. You do need to develop him more, though.

Likewise, I don't think there's any problem with the unpolished prose. It feels reasonably authentically like the interior voice of an ordinary serving soldier.

One small issue – the story starts in Kabul, with the Taliban as the enemy, then about two thirds of the way through, the scene suddenly becomes Iraq. (Stick with the former: it's more current.)

Hope this is helpful. I look forward to seeing how this idea develops.


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## Lewdog (Dec 8, 2012)

Burlesk said:


> I think I can see what you're trying to do here, and I'm not sure I agree with Jon M's comments. Although it's true that the narrator is deeply unsympathetic, that in itself isn't a barrier to good fiction. It depends what you do with him. If you're intending to (say, for example) gradually expose him as being morally in the wrong, or have him go through a change of heart, or something like that, you could be on to a good thing with this story. You do need to develop him more, though.
> 
> Likewise, I don't think there's any problem with the unpolished prose. It feels reasonably authentically like the interior voice of an ordinary serving soldier.
> 
> ...




Thank you, that is a faux pas on my part.  I'm afraid to give up the ending.  I guess I could try to make a spoiler alert to some that feel knowing the ending makes it easier to help with the story as a whole.  I big part of the like sympathy comes from training and experience.  Throughout the careers and service in my life, soldiers, policemen, and others are told treat everyone like they are guilty in the beginning, out of the safety of the officer AND the person they are dealing with.  You never know who might be a criminal or a hostile entity until you dig beneath the surface.

Well I'm not sure how to make a spoiler alert, so if you want to know the ending and think it is best in regard to seeing how as a whole the story would best, send me a PM.    Thanks again for the feedback!

P.S.  If you want to better understand the style I am writing this story in, there is a movie that has been out awhile now that drew rave reviews and received very many award nominations called, "The Hurt Locker."  It's a great movie about the everyday lives of explosives experts.


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## Jon M (Dec 8, 2012)

Lewdog said:


> It does have a way to go, but things like "Spidey Sense" in my opinion is lingo that stretches the boundaries of generations.  One does not have to be a current and active comic book fan to understand and use the term, also Spiderman comic books have been a part or since 1962.


I understand perfectly well what the term means. I mean to suggest that its inclusion here does not seem very well thought out, a bit out of left field.  



> I agree more detail needs to be added, but one shouldn't really comment on the nature of the story until it is all played out.



If that is the case then it makes no sense to post it here. 



> Once you read the piece as a whole you'll understand.



Unfortunately, you, as the writer, do not have this luxury. If this was page one of a 200 page manuscript, I can tell you right now I wouldn't read much further. This might sound a little harsh, maybe a little elitist, but usually I can tell from the first couple of paragraphs if the writing's worth the time. This draft just isn't there yet. 



> Another thing to take into consideration, is I like to write with a point of view and realism, taking the attitude and education of the character and use words and phrase he might also use.


Sorry if this comes as a surprise or anything, but 'writing with realism' is not a new concept, as described here. This is what all good First Person (and Third Limited) stories do. They attempt to capture the voice of the character narrating the story. 

For a good war book, I suggest taking a look at Tim O'Brien's books, specifically _The Things They Carried_, _Going After Cacciato_, and _If I Die In A Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home_.


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## Foxee (Dec 8, 2012)

Don't ever count on someone reading the whole work to decide if they like it or not or in order for them to 'get it'. One thing readers want is a reason to read on, no matter what part they scan first. (Think of advertising and how used to it we are, whole stories are told in a matter of a few minutes in an effort to sell something) The beginning, especially, should both paint a clear picture and give some kind of incentive to read on.

While this intro reads a bit like a soldier's journal and if that is the tack you want to take then start with what your character has uppermost on his mind. By the time he's sat down with pen and paper or he's talking about this over a beer with a friend he's ready to talk to, he's not thinking minutiae of what his life is like. He wants to talk about what's eating him. And I want to read about THAT. Things like not checking his boots and getting stung by a scorpion don't need to take center stage, they can be supporting annoyances.

Try to characterize his fellow soldiers as you go instead of making a blanket statement. For now this would be fine but perhaps when you're in the edit stage you'll see where you've already done this and you can trim out what you don't need later.

It should be '*mother lode*' which is a reference to mining and finding a rich vein of whatever you're mining for.

Annnd my time is up. Hope this helped.


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## Lewdog (Dec 9, 2012)

You make some good points, I just think some people don't understand the genre I am writing to.  Not everyone can pick up this story and be interested in it.  It takes more of a search by those who look for it.  I know that limits my reader pool and quite possibly give lots of refining, my customer base.  This just isn't a story where the dialogue from inside a soldiers mind would talk about rainbows and lollypops.  You'll read more f-bombs, then you'll read about kittens.  I can see you have lots of awards, so you know what you are talking about when it comes to writing.  Have you ever written this type of story?  Part of the lack of character development helps to create the mundane feel of the story.  It's supposed to equate what the main character is living, more of a job than a humanitarian mission.  Hopefully as I go along in the story you'll see why I have done some of things that I have.  Trust me I totally appreciate what you are saying.


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## Burlesk (Dec 10, 2012)

I think the most important thing for you right now is to continue this piece. It needs a story structure, and that means going on with it, developing your narrator, filling in his setting and character, drawing in the supporting characters. And ultimately you need to have a plot of some kind.

What you've already written is fine as far as it goes, but it isn't enough, and can't be judged properly until it's complete.


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## empresstheresa (Dec 10, 2012)

> It was a day like yesterday, and probably like tomorrow will be. Damn it's hot and I can't believe I forgot to check my boots this morning for scorpions before slipping them on. Damn it that hurt!



A literary agent will stop reading right there.  :confusion:

"It was a day like yesterday, and probably like tomorrow will be."  sounds like the writer is trying to imitate somebody's classic work.  Tale of Two Cities maybe:  'It was the best of times. It was the worst of time.  It was a time for hope.  It was a time for despair."    Better to say 'It was a routine day.'  Now, will sentence two describe what this routine is?

"Damn it's hot and I can't believe I forgot to check my boots this morning for scorpions before slipping them on."
Wait a minute.  Why is today routine?  Why write sentence one if it's not explained.
Anyways this sentence would flow better with "check my boots for scorpions this morning before".  He's checking for scorpions, not morning.

Damn it that hurt!
What hurt? Was he stung by a scorpion?  Then shouldn't he be seeing a doctor?    

I give up.  :cry:


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## Jeko (Dec 10, 2012)

Hi Lewdog,

I'll do my usual thing of focusing on the first few lines.

_It was a day like yesterday, and probably like tomorrow will be. Damn it's hot and I can't believe I forgot to check my boots this morning for scorpions before slipping them on. Damn it that hurt! I guarantee I won't make that mistake again. At chow this morning we were warned that a sand storm might come in today, and to make sure we brought our extra protection just in case.


_The way you make the day seem normal is useful - it captures attention, implying that the day _won't _be normal. The way you use all three tenses in one sentence is quite effective at displaying how normal the day _should _be. Though it took me a while to realise that you were writing this on the day it happened, but that's because of how I'm used to seeing tenses.

The repetition of 'damn' numbs the effect of the word for me. There might be better expressions you could use than damn - using it twice makes the voice feel limited.

The next few sentences don't flow too wel together for me. You change subject within the paragraph, focusing at first on the agonies and 'damn'-worthy aspects of your life, and then you switch to desribing your day.

The final sentence reads like it's come right out of a book. It doesn't mess around, but it keeps a good tone and sets a tone of danger. The idea of a coming sand storm, whether it means anything to the story or not, gives the reader an image of coming danger. It might even be a microcosm, depending on how the story continues. At any rate, it's a very subtle hook.

You have a good opening. It doesn't jar the reader but it throws a few punches. Good luck with this story!

Cadence


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## Jon M (Dec 10, 2012)

Lewdog said:


> I can see you have lots of awards, so you know what you are talking about when it comes to writing.


Sorry, this is just nonsense. Not to take anything away from Foxee (I lubs her, and she's a great writer), but the medals are only semi-serious. There are some very, _very_ talented folk here who _do_ know what they're talking about. The only difference is that the people dishing out these awards don't seem to be paying attention. So let's not assume that these little graphics actually mean anything, because that would be silly and not very bright.


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## Lewdog (Dec 10, 2012)

Jon M said:


> Sorry, this is just nonsense. Not to take anything away from Foxee (I lubs her, and she's a great writer), but the medals are only semi-serious. There are some very, _very_ talented folk here who _do_ know what they're talking about. The only difference is that the people dishing out these awards don't seem to be paying attention. So let's not assume that these little graphics actually mean anything, because that would be silly and not very bright.



Hand in your award and go sit in a corner for a timeout.


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## Lewdog (Dec 10, 2012)

Cadence said:


> Hi Lewdog,
> 
> I'll do my usual thing of focusing on the first few lines.
> 
> ...



Thank you.  I have struggled with some lingo because using the PoV method limits what an actual soldier would say.  It feels eerily similar to JD Salinger and the extensive use of the F-bomb in "Catcher in the Rye."


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## Jeko (Dec 11, 2012)

> Hand in your award and go sit in a corner for a timeout.



Relax, Lewdog. No need to take offense at Jon M's explanation.

Awards don't denote how good a writer is here. They give indications of achievements we've made. In the same way, the number of green bokes you have doesn't say how good a writer you are. Neither will your post count.


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## Burlesk (Dec 11, 2012)

Lewdog said:


> I have struggled with some lingo because using the PoV method limits what an actual soldier would say.



Don't regard this as an obstacle; regard it as a challenge to your skills with storytelling and characterisation.

As you must know from real life, people frequently reveal more than they think they're revealing when then speak about things going on in their lives. With a fictional character narrating a story, you as the author can manipulate that tendency to make your narrator unwittingly reveal things about himself and his experiences. This gives an extra dimension beyond what your soldier is consciously aware of. This is one of the keys to how a good author can successfully use an unsympathetic character as a protagonist.

You can also use the reported speech/actions of other characters for this purpose. You mention _Catcher in the Rye_. In that novel, Salinger uses Holden's narration to reveal things about him that he isn't aware of himself. He also uses the dialogue with other characters to put a moral 'spin' on Holden's own version of things (I'm thinking particularly of his dialogues with his sister Phoebe and the ex-teacher he goes to visit).


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## the antithesis (Dec 11, 2012)

I don't know if I like this. I'll chalk that up to personal taste. It may simply be the sort of story that doesn't interest me. It may be a bit premature to post this when you don't have the full piece done. It's been the advice I've gotten and agree with that one should write the first draft with the door shut. Only after you've editied it to at least the second draft can you show it to people. I agree with this because I have found that if I start showing my first draft around, I tend to not finish the damned thing. But that may be just me.

Some of the language here is a little clunky. A bit of polish is necessary. Here's what I found:



> Damn it's hot and I can't believe I forgot to check my boots this morning for scorpions before slipping them on.  Damn it that hurt!  I guarantee I won't make that mistake again.



This is interesting. I found this educational for myself. This section is kind of like passive voice. It's not passive voice, but it's similar to passive voice in that it is writing around the action instead speaking of it directly. What happened is that he was stung by a scorpion on his foot, but you don't actually say that happens. You imply it but it's obvious that is what happens. I could see myself doing this sort of thing and being proud of it. Looking at it with a sober head, I don't think it's anything to be proud of. It's not a deal breaker, but it's clunky. It doesn't flow and is probably a bit padded. The problem may not be that it only implies the main action but that by writing around it, there is too much so it feels padded, or worse, like you're dropping extra hits to make sure the reader gets it that he had been stung. This can and probably should be shortened to a single sentence. Maybe cutting "Damn it's hot" free as a separate sentence. This is just an example:

_Damn it's hot. My foot is throbbing because I forgot to check my boots for scorpions this morning like an idiot.

_Short and to the point. It conveys the basic information you're getting across, that he was stung because he wasn't diligent and he feels stupid about it. In the original text, you have him feeling dumb about this twice. I've reduced that down to once and it gets the message across more effectively. So do something like this.



> ... and the worst part is he loves show tunes.



Is this a euphemism for "he's gay?" If so, just say he's gay. Or that the main character thinks he's gay. It's not 1987 anymore. You can just say he's gay. Even if the mc the sort of person who would use euphemisms instead of the g word out of some fear of catching teh ghey himself, just say  it. Saying the guy loves show tunes right after saying he talks too much makes me think he's singing all the time. Just say he's gay.



> Well we were given orders by the staff sergeant ...



The "Well" is a bit informal. I guess you are trying to convey how boring this life is, but it comes across as unprofessional. The mc is already unlikable. It may be better to not give the reader more reasons to dislike him.

to search some of the houses on the far west end of Kabul's inner city for some caches of weapon.  I sure hope we hit the mother load, I can take getting rocks thrown at me all day, over some idiot Taliban fighter shooting at me with an AK47!  These guys are horrible shots with those things.  They look like a baby with a rattle spraying bullets all over the place.  How any of our guys ever gets shot is more than likely to be friendly fire than anything else.  The government won't tell you that, but its true.  



> Why in God's earth we are still in this shit hole I don't know.  How are we supposed to be scared of these people who live in mud huts with no electricity and no running water I have no clue.  Thank to God we have bottled water, there is no way I could drink their water, I swear they shit and piss in the same water they wash their close and get their drinking water.  If we were to leave here I'd bet most of them would die off from diseases and save us the trouble.  The first house we went through the woman was yelling and screaming at us.



You should put a paragraph break here. It was a little unclear that you were talking about present because of the preceding sentences where you're talking about things in general. 

  All in all, it's not a bad story. Not my taste, but there you go. I think you might have something in making getting shot at and nearly killed kind of boring because this is the workaday drudgery of war. Getting killed, watching your friends die, is as dull as any assembly line job after a while. Because all jobs get dull after a while. Even ones that can get you killed. It just needs to be polished a bit more. I had notice a few spelling and grammar errors, but I didn't make note of them because I'm sure someone else already has and it would be better if you caught them yourself.

You could improve this by expanding it. That would be difficult because it would mean giving names and personalities to the other guys in the unit and it would be difficult to make them not be cliched character made out of cardboard. But, if you could pull it off, revealing everything here through dialogue instead of inner monologue would improve things exponentially. But that can be very difficult. I would encourage you to take up the challenge, though. It could be worth trying, at least. Think of it as exercise.


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## Foxee (Dec 11, 2012)

> This just isn't a story where the dialogue from inside a soldiers mind would talk about rainbows and lollypops.


Read my post again.

I didn't say anything at all about making your character sound different, all I'm saying is get to the point quicker. While you're canoodling around with him thinking 'Damn, it's hot' I'm thinking 'Damn, what else can I go read?'

I'm suggesting you skip ahead to what is really bothering him and weave the heat, the scorpions, and all the rest of it in as you go.

Unfortunately not all the awards are for being an awesome writer, I'm still trying to achieve that.


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## Lewdog (Dec 11, 2012)

Cadence said:


> Relax, Lewdog. No need to take offense at Jon M's explanation.
> 
> Awards don't denote how good a writer is here. They give indications of achievements we've made. In the same way, the number of green bokes you have doesn't say how good a writer you are. Neither will your post count.




It was a light hearted joke.  No offense taken, or given.


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## IanMGSmith (Dec 19, 2012)

Lewdog said:


> Nothing wakes you up faster than having a gun waived in your face.



 ...unable to breathe with throat being crushed, is what woke me. Just as you say, transition from sleep to defcon-1 is instant. Lucky me, we were only on a training manouvre. Never experienced live combat, hope I never shall.   

Atrocities of War: If this is about your personal experiences in Afganistan you may find, over time, that your feelings and understandings change somewhat. This could be both a good and a bad thing but keep your first scripts without change, because in time they will likely be your best reference. 

You have the makings of a great story and a revelation of the "ugly" side to "pretty pretty, we're all nice people here" society.

I am also replying to your more recent thread, something about "lost without a cause" and you whining (sorry) about not being a good writer or something. Like the rest of us, you do need to edit and spellcheck and you can improve your writing skills right here. There is no doubt in my mind you have an amazing story to tell and if you don't wish to write it yourself, perhaps someone could direct you to where a publisher might provide a ghost writer. Journalists and newspapers would be interested if you are offering any new revelations.

Please get this story out Lew,

Ian


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## Lewdog (Dec 20, 2012)

IanMGSmith said:


> ...unable to breathe with throat being crushed, is what woke me. Just as you say, transition from sleep to defcon-1 is instant. Lucky me, we were only on a training manouvre. Never experienced live combat, hope I never shall.
> 
> Atrocities of War: If this is about your personal experiences in Afganistan you may find, over time, that your feelings and understandings change somewhat. This could be both a good and a bad thing but keep your first scripts without change, because in time they will likely be your best reference.
> 
> ...



I know how with my most recent post it can come across as whining.  I don't have the patience to be a writer is the best way I can put it.  The longer I write, the worse my writing gets.  I'm easily distracted.  I can't even write this response to what you wrote without turning and watching the television.  In my mind its not a lack of attention, it's a thirst for my brain to soak up as much information as possible.  For good or bad, its a problem for my ability to write.


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## IanMGSmith (Dec 20, 2012)

Hey Lew, 

I kinda figured. Yeah, writing can sometimes create more questions than answers.

Loss of attention/cognition can be associated with depression so please check with your doctor if it continues to trouble.

I (humbly) suggest you hang onto what you have written, it's good and you never know, one day?  

Ian


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## Lewdog (Dec 20, 2012)

I'll have another installment tomorrow.  It will more than likely only be three to four pieces.  I never intended it to be more than a short story.  People have asked me about character development and even giving people names, that's not going to happen for a reason.  The vagueness represents a point I am making regarding the war and how its so much like a 9-5 job for a blue collar worker, and not the romantic, hostile experience that people think it is.  People need to understand this isn't war anymore, this is police work.  Faces change, names change, the enemy doesn't.


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## IanMGSmith (Dec 20, 2012)

That's good news! 

Might be away a few days but will look for it.

Ian ...now off to catch some zzzzz s


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