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WWI
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Hey all! A year or so ago I got the idea for a WWI novel. I shelved the idea at that point because I really was not equipped with what I needed to be able to focus on it. Now I’m thinking of getting it out and trying to rehash the plot and theme points I already have. The current main theme is strength, specifically where different people get their strength and how that causes them to fail or succeed and how their successes sometimes seem like failures and vice versa. There is an underlying theme of grief, it’s about a terrible war after all, and another one of peer pressure. At this time in history things were changing drastically, and the youths of that time were severally pressed in many different directions similar to how we are today. I’d just love to get some opinions specifically on how these themes might work together and what you all think could be the struggles with them. Thanks!
Wow…your novel sounds really cool 🙂
I love writing about WWI and WWII xD
So regarding the peer pressure, would the youths’ struggles be in feeling that they should be fighting too, and not just letting the adults fight out the war for them? Or is it the struggle of knowing where they stood in regards to the war and their own personal beliefs? I guess they could be struggling with the impact that the war had on them, losing loved ones etc…
I don’t know if any of that helps…sorry if it doesn’t 🙂
~ Laugh. Drink Coffee. Smile. And Write ~
Let me just say it’s been ages since I heard from you last! Secondly, love your idea! And your themes seem great. What was the gist of your plot? That might help me a tiny bit with your question.
I’m also writing a WW1 book so we can be WW1 writerly buddies 😛
Ceud mile failte
@abigail-rebekah Yeah right now I have the kids struggling with personal convictions as to whether or not the war is right, also struggling with whether or not they should enlist even though they are underage. Those are all really good points, thanks so much!
@seekjustice Eyyy wwi writing buddies? I’m in ;).
Here’s the basic storyline:
Twins, Helena and Laurence have never been separated, but Laurence illegally enlists, along side his fiery friend Russell, and dies in the Battle of Belleau Wood. The theme is strength. Laurence has never been a fighter, he’s a writer who loves the beauty around him and hates wholeheartedly the idea of war. But he finds his strength that his friends say he does not have, in God, and decides to go and die for his brothers. Russell finds his strength in himself, in his surety and passion for life. He comes back from WWI scarred in more ways than one, scared to try to live after realizing life isn’t the grand adventure he thought it would be. Helena feels that all the strength she must have is being sucked out of her. She is the light and her wick is slowly being eaten up because she has no heavenly source to sustain it. When Laurence dies her candle is snuffed out and she finds herself continually wondering how Laurence could give his life for a German, how he could have had the strength to surrender to Gods will.
Oh, this sounds really cool! I really like how your plot sounds so far. 🙂
I’ve yet to actually start it, but I’ve been toying of writing a WW1 novel from the perspective of a German soldier. (My mother is German, so she knows a lot more about the history from the German perspective than most people. I think it would be pretty interesting to delve into.) My main Hi-Fi project at the moment is in the Vietnam-era however. 🙂 I don’t know if I’ll every get around to writing either any time soon, as my fantasy project is my main focus overall at the moment.
"A hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head."
- C. S. Lewis
That sounds great 🙂 I really like the plot for your story.
Glad to be of service 😉
~ Laugh. Drink Coffee. Smile. And Write ~
@abigail-rebekah Thank you! *bows*
I’m really excited about this story tbh…it just has so many opportunities for solid themes!
@sarah-inkdragon Wow that’s a really cool idea! That would open up a ton of great themes! Hope you get to write it sometime 🙂
Yeah, it definitely does. I look forward to the finished version 🙂
~ Laugh. Drink Coffee. Smile. And Write ~
Interesting idea. To help with your kids and story maybe. War in itself is bad. Plain and simple. Kill or be killed. Not something God made us for. Now, I am thinking of becoming a soldier myself and have come to understand something. An unrighteous war is a truly evil war. Think WWII from the Nazi diehard’s view. How can one justify the death of millions over the idea that you are somehow racially superior to everyone. The war that we must strive for as Christians is a righteous war, one that is not fought for personal gain. Think the War on Terror. A war fought to destroy an organization that sought nothing other than to harm others to get their way.
Your characters must seek a way to justify their reasons to fight or their return to home will not end their war.
The Devil saw me with my head down and got excited. Then I said Amen
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