Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Thats Logistics

I have a story I am writing, fantasy wafare.  I am finding that it is very difficult to successfully write about a war, let alone a single battle scene.  To add to the fact, I don't have a computer I can use more than a few times a month, and it doesn't have internet.  A laptop would be very very helpful, but I can't afford one.

One of the difficulties I'm having is logistics.  When I started, I didn't think about the logistics of a battle.  I don't know the population my fantasy land (Felenore), how big their army could be, how big of an army they could support, how they would support it, etc.  How would they make sure they had weapons for everyone?  Or horses, food, and shelter?  Do they have a draft, or do they just sign up? Is there an age limit?  I don't even have a detailed map drawn up, its just in my head.

When I started, I didn't even think about why they were at war, it was merely that the enemy had attacked.  I can't have the enemy land attack merely because they are evil, thats rediculous.  It would have to be revenge, land, money, or power.  Revenge isn't a likely cause, as while a king may be angry with someone, the men of his country would not be eager to attack.  I also have to think logistics for the attacking country.

Then there are the individual battles, and scenes within those.  I still need to map out cities/battle fronts.  They can't all be the same, that would become boring to read.  While it is a fantasy, there is not an overpowering presense of magic, so that wouldn't play much of a role in a battle.  I can write from just the main character's point of view, or from another character, or from an enemy, or from a general birds eye view, or switch between multiple viewpoints.

Basically, its all very frustrating, and seems impossible to get my thoughts in order for everything.  I'm thinking about starting a binder just for this story, so even if I can't work on the story itself, I can work on logistics, maps, battle plans, etc.  Typing things out helps my brain sort it all out, too, which is why I'm posting this.  I'm sure that while you would all love to hear about plots and such, I am not sharing.  You have to wait for that.

When its planes in the sky for a chain of supply that's logistics.

When the parts for the line come precisely on time that's logistics.

A continuous link that is always in sync that's logistics.

There will be no more stress 'cause you've called UPS, that's logistics