Alright, to get to the main points, my story is modern-sci-fi POV, a war story told from one Private's point of view, and extends for around ten years (I'm not sure whether to do time lapses or write a whole epic. I have a detailed timeline for my overall setting that's over stretches 50 years, and my MChar is enlisted in the last 10 years or so. Here's an excerpt from my setting (Apologies if it's too long): ----------------------------------------------------------- 2017: The last American squadron exits Iraq, which is now a stable democracy and an unmatched organized military compared with it's surrounding countries. 2025: Iran, now an unstable nuclear power, is drastically losing influence in the region thanks to the prosperity of Iraq. In the midst of a near-civil war, Iran desperately assaults Saudi Arabia due to the wealth of natural resources there, and dare not touch Iraq, for it is now NATO protected. Saudi Arabia, a rich nuclear power, retaliates by firing a 8 nuclear missiles into Iranian cities, demolishing them. Unfortunately for S.A., Iran's Mutually Assured Destruction plan launches twice the amount of nuclear missile (16) onto S.A., with both capitals and leaders dead, along with 87% of each population killed. 2026: Now that Saudi Arabia and Iran is destroyed, their oil reserves are useless/unwanted. The largest oil producers are then Iraq, China, Canada, and Russia. Iraq is NATO exclusive in oil distribution, sparking anger in oil-needy countries. 2027: Russia, now regaining it's strength as a major power due to oil profit, expands for more oil-rich lands in eastern Europe. NATO members are quick to denounce Russia's actions, but the warnings are left ignored by Russia. Moving into Europe and Eurasia (Georgia, Turkey, Caspian and Black Seas), Russia shows a small but still present military force. NATO, not wanting to take a chance, blockades and boycott all Russian goods, including oil. 2028: With masses of oil but a sudden drop in customers, Russia boosts it's military machine- creating a new "Steel Curtain" between Russian Territories and the European Union. NATO, with growing pressure and even a majority of UN support, declares a military push-back of Russia. Russia does the same against NATO and seizes neutral European/Eurasian countries. 2029: China, North Korea, and other authoritarian Asian countries (Not South Korea and Japan, which are allies with NATO) feel disturbed, since Russia did not inform them of any invasion or military expansion in any form. To them, only one thing is the most probable- A Russian invasion of Asia. China, Myanmar, Vietnam, and North Korea form the Asian Defence and Welfare Organization (ADWO). 2030: With skirmishes in Europe, Russia shows aggressive force and desperately attempts to seize Asia as well by first taking Mongolia. The ADWO fights back and officially declares war on Russia while keeping a neutral stance with NATO and it's allies. World War Three historically starts on May 5th, 2030. 2031: The ADWO, purposely losing land to Russia (Which now has an abundance of people and resources), uses this as an excuse to invade South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. NATO, seeing it's allies getting taken down, declares war on the ADWO. There are now labeling changes. Russia and it's territorial allies (From Eastern Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Greece to Turkey, Northern Syria, to Kazakhstan and Mongolia) are now recognized as the Eurasian Welfare Front (EWF). The ADWO is now the United Asian Coalition (UAC), and NATO, since it's now inviting countries not from the North Atlantic, changes their name to the Global Treaty Organization (GTO). 2054: 25 years of fighting has brought the whole world split into three, with all sides exhausted. Riots have broken from the people, and each side has lost a majority of their original purpose. The planet is scratched and dented by weekly WMDs, and the loss of life nearly tops over 3 billion. While each government attempts to keep a strong front, economies are worse than the Plunges of '08-'10, and even military officials feel that the war has lost it's true causes and it's mostly useless to go on the same rhetoric. The world is bent on social collapse, with everyday riots, and a non-existent upper-class (Only upper-middle class, middle-class, and lower-class). Due to WW3, the Earth is dying environmentally and psychologically. Space warfare (Satellite launched kinetic rods and nukes) is used to the maximum, speeding up Earth's downward spiral. --------------------------- Again, sorry for the long list, but I just wanted to make a clear point. The story is officially told from POV at 2045, right in the middle of the war. My problem is that I don't want typical Scifi cliches, but a realistic tale in a realistic war. My MC is from a poor background, good education with scholarship, but was drafted into GTO (Future day NATO) when the war took a turn for the worse. Ideas, thoughts, advice or remarks are greatly appreciated.
A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it. There's no point to asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..." If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it. Please read this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development? (and yes, this is a template post, which should give you an idea of how often this comes up.) So the main message is, don't worry about "storyline cliches." Truly, the only cliches you need concern yourself with are overused phrases and metaphors. If your writing is clear and stimulating, and your characters interesting and believable in their complexities, you will succeed. Just make sure your storyline flows logically, without glaring contradictions, with itself or with reality's laws. Oh, and make sure you understand the difference between storyline and plot - check the above link if you aren't sure.
My advice is not to get too caught up with the details of the backstory/setting and focus on the main story -- characters and plot. At the end of the day, setting/concept usually contributes to about 10% of the overall quality of your story.
Ideas, thoughts, advice or remarks are greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE] Once again, as others have said. It's your story and you have to write it as you want it to be. Then its only you who decide if it's "good enough" for you. I probably won't make many revisions to the two novels I have going concurrently because I like the way they're flowing and written now..
I'm a little bothered by the pacing of that timeline; the events seem too drawn out. The first two World Wars were only about four years apiece. I find it hard to believe that WW3, fought with more advanced technology and in a more fast-paced world, will be stretched out over 50 years. I can think of at least one country (I won't say names) that would level half the planet rather than allow itself to slug it out for 50 years. The end of the world is only a button-press away; I don't expect everyone to keep their finger off the button for that long.
Thanks for everyone's advice, and I guess I'll focus more on the real plot than the background. To answer a few things: -A few South American forces sided with the GTO (Future NATO), and others were either neutral or joined EWF (Future Russian Directorate). Same with Africa. Main battlefields were in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Europe, Canada (EWF invasion of North America over Arctic Sea), South East Asia, and Northern Asia. -Missile Defence Shields (Satellite fired high-intensity light beams) cause long-range nuclear missiles to be useless and nuclear warheads are then limited to only short ranged and/or manually placed situations. -The war seems very drawn out, a little too drawn out, I agree, so I'll shorten the time. I pictured an epic war-scarred Earth, and 10+ years of a World War seems to satisfy that setting. Yeah, I'm a geek when it comes to universal settings. I'll keep those as a factor, but I'll definitely be working on the story itself.
With that many conflict zones, I could see WW3 lasting a lot longer than the others. You have to remember that the first and second world wars were nuclear (as in, centered around a nucleus which was Germany) -- as soon as Germany's borders were pushed back and Berlin fell, it was over.
The concept seems interesting but, like many people indicated, the concept is completely worthless and the quality of the story depends competely upon the way in which its written. If you like the story, write it and see how things go. Chances are, if you see something promising in it and enjoy it, somebody else probably will too.
