Are your military characters using the right equipment?
Do they speak like soldiers?
Does your character’s background support the story goals?
These are just a few of the questions authors ask themselves when they are writing stories that involve characters with military backgrounds. And this is exactly why you need a Military Technical Advisor to review your work.
As a Story Grid Developmental Editor and Book Coach, my background in military special operations makes me uniquely qualified to assess stories with military characters and settings.
Military Matters is a series of posts where I discuss how authors can accurately write about, well, military matters. My goal is to arm the authors with words that make their prose stronger. Over the next few months, I’m going to talk about how I have helped authors create authentic military characters and settings, without losing their readers in military jargon and acronyms.
How Can a Military Technical Advisor Help Fiction Authors?
There are a lot of misconceptions about soldiers in the United States and around the world.
If you have no background in the military, a Military Technical Advisor will ensure that you are writing realistic military characters and situations. Even the most successful authors use them, and those that didn’t probably should have (I’m talking about you Lee Child, but we’ll get to that in another post about Jack Reacher).
Even if you have served in the military, I think you would have to admit that you don’t know everything about all of the military jobs and places people have served. A good Military Technical Advisor has a network of subject matter experts to connect with in order to help authors with the most up to date and realistic information for their content.
Additionally, there are methods to integrate the military vocabulary and lingo into books that will make the civilian less of an outsider. I often find myself smoothing the dialogue or descriptions so the reader isn’t taken out of the world the author has created and can enjoy the story to its fullest.
How Can a Military Technical Advisor Help Non-Fiction Authors?
Maybe you wrote a memoir. Congratulations! And it’s your story, you were there, so why would you need an “expert” to check your work?
A Military Technical Advisor can help you round out your memories, put them within the context of the politics and military changes of the time, and help you fact check your work.
Writing a memoir is hard. Whether the events happened last year, a decade ago, or a lifetime ago, sometimes authors don’t remember events as accurately as they imagine. And sometimes, it’s just nice to have someone who walked the same battlefields and can help bat ideas around.
What is the Military Matters Series?
These posts will share some of my experiences working with authors who were writing about military subjects or characters, the problems they had, and some of the solutions we came up with.
It will also include books and movies that include military matters, and how the writers and directors got it right or wrong, and what my suggestions might have been had they cared to ask.
Click here to read my other Military Matter Posts.
Let me know in the comments if you have any specific questions on Military Matters in writing.
To find out if our advice can help you write your best book, we offer a free discovery call for full-length manuscripts. Request yours today!
How Can We Help You Write Your Best Book?
Do you want someone to come along side you as you write, providing you with continuing support and feedback as you plan, write, or revise your novel?
Do you have a completed manuscript in need of a deep read by a professional who will provide you with detailed feedback, suggestions, and a clear way forward?
Do you have an idea for a book or professional knowledge and experience you want to share with the world, but lack the time or experience to write a book?
The Story Ninjas 
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