Every Hell is Different: Notes on War Writing

"There are indeed no rules for writing about war, except that you must survive long enough to put pen to paper." --Christopher Merrill, from page 101 in Writing Creative Nonfiction

War is one part of human life that everyone finds fascinating--it pushes the limits of how advanced our technologies and societies are, and it illustrates the primal, animal places that are still in all of us, no matter how "advanced" we become. I think Merrill's quote sums up how such an experience should be written about--with no rules, just like the war is fought. And even if you aren't writing about a literal war, I think that the small wars we fight in our own everyday lives should be approached that way, too. Don't go into writing about your experiences with all these rules weighing you down. Just write first, then worry about "rules" later.