Perfect. You’ve decided upon a conflict, the conflict of war, but before you move forward ask yourself a few of the following questions:

1. What could cause a war?
2. Win or lose?
3. What sort of war is this going to be?
4. What are civilians doing while the war goes on?
5. How does this war end?

Let’s begin with number one, what could cause a war?

There are several aspects which could cause a war, from issues like culture, religion, all the way to smaller issues like somebody stealing or even (my personal favorite) somebody planting an idea in somebody’s head, a lie even, to cause the balance in your world to falter. The best example of this is the betrayal of Petyr Baelish from Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Without going too deep into it, Petyr a.k.a. Littlefinger starts a war because of a lie. There are many aspects to look at what started the war in Westeros, but the lie he fabricated added the right amount of fuel to the flames to cause a civil war. Sometimes big conflicts are created from the smallest things.

Aside from what was done to cause the war, the other question to ask when thinking about what could cause a war is what was their motive? In murder mysteries, criminals always have their motives and so does a war. Let’s go back to Littlefinger one more time and figure out his motive.

What you should know is that House Baelish’s founder was a sellsword from a foreign country. Ambition is in their blood and that is why he fell in love with Catelyn Tully when he met her; she was not only beautiful and kind, but she was the eldest daughter of a high lord. Of course, he’s a bit broken and prideful so he excuses his ambition for love rather than obsession and, because of his obsession with Catelyn and power, he decides to set the Lannisters and the Starks against each other in order to kill two birds with one stone.

Therefore, a motive is a strong foundation for the cause of war. War isn’t just about the bad guys versus the good guys, sometimes it is more ambiguous than that. War can be the biggest conflict in your story, but it can also be utilized as a plot device to develop your character or the story.

Next, we’ll talk about winning or losing.

The obvious should be said outright: you need to know a thing or two about what war looks like before you start writing about it so read up or find something to watch, but one thing is certain; the winners of war get to write history and as a writer you’re responsible to choose whether your protagonist is on the winning side or the losing side. Of course, winning isn’t everything, sometimes it is not nearly as interesting as losing. Take, for example, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

History tells us that the Scottish have a war against the British and lose, but in Outlander, time traveler Claire Fraser tells us how she and her husband Jamie are going to try to stop it, “try” being the operative word because they inevitably fail at stopping it. Despite losing the war their story doesn’t end there, so why should the stories of your characters end when their enemy prevails?

What sort of war is this going to be?

In The Art of War Sun Tzu writes, “the greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” War takes on many forms, war can be silent and deadly, sometimes it’s loud and rambunctious, and sometimes it is just a game of politics. Nevertheless, sometimes it is all three. Choose wisely.

What are civilians doing while the war goes on?

I was reading a short story by Ernest Hemingway the other day, it was called Old Man at the Bridge. The Old Man was a civilian of some war going on at the time and when the narrator approached him to ask him a few questions, the man seemed to be elsewhere. War changes people, even those that are innocent of bloodshed. War can tear through villages and cities, take loved ones away and more.

It can also be a distant idea which never touches down where civilians live, yet it changes their everyday lives. In wartime women became war nurses and volunteers, they sometimes took up jobs that men who went to war left behind. Men who are not fit to go or refused to go have been made out to be disgraceful, social pariahs, and emasculated by the society around him. Children were left to their own devices as long as they kept themselves safe.

According to Professor George Eisen, during World War II Jewish children would play morbid games called “Gas Chamber” and “Gestapo Agent.” They mimicked their surroundings without knowing any better.

Your protagonist might be out fighting a war, but the people they’re fighting for are also fighting a battle and preparing for both victory and defeat themselves.

Finally, how does this war end?

This bit is entirely up to you, the war you created might end, but your story might continue on. The important thing to take away from all of this is the fact that war truly takes a lot of planning. Even if it seems like people are thrown into it, there’s always a motive for what causes a war.