Quick Tossing
Posted Wed, 02/13/08
I was writing a new scene for Collective Obsessions yesterday and realized I have yet to mention, however briefly, the wars which occurred during the time span of the story. Military maneuvers are not the focal point of the story by any means, but it's a tad ambiguous of me to leave out some mention of them in the course of the unfolding.
Since the story begins in 1865 and ends in 2008 (tentatively), all of the big ones need some reference: a skiff of the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as the Persian Gulf and US-Iraq wars.
Not to belittle the wars or their supreme sacrifices, mention of them gives me the opportunity to rid myself of a few more characters that are merely dangling at the moment. I keep them on the periphery just in case I need to develop them for another purpose, but there are a few characters that won't see the light of day again – so it's off to war they go.