random military news link, and a note on original research

[bedlamsbard]

In case anyone is interested, one of the rifles they're talking about here, the Heckler & Koch HK416, is the gun carried by Beau Lorne on the North Carolina in my original novel. In case anyone was wondering why I choose the throwaway things I do when writing; this is why research is important. The HK416 is currently carried by Delta Force; Beau is Delta.

I hadn't heard about the FN SCAR before, though. I also haven't established what rifle the Rangers onboard carry. I've mentioned that the Air Force carries FN P-90s, but that's less a matter of research and more a matter of me stealing from Stargate; I doubt I'm going to stick with the P-90, if only because it's not currently used by the U.S. and doesn't have anything that makes it stand out from other rifles. I haven't said what the Marines and the Navy carry, either, although I've probably used the M16 and M4; I just don't think I've made a big deal out of it.

Of course, since Delta can carry basically anything they want, I've also mentioned that along with all his luggage, Beau also brought a ton of different weapons, at least one of which is a Vietnam-era CAR-15. How do I know this? He made Colby shoot with it in a scene I've written. Why the CAR-15? A mention in Black Hawk Down, about a Delta operator carrying a Vietnam-era CAR-15 because it makes bigger holes than modern weapoons.

If anyone was wondering how I did research and made decisions. Which they probably weren't.

Comments

[scarletts-awry.livejournal.com]

...I never commented on your rather large research related post, did I? I'm sorry, I totally meant to but got caught up in other stuff. Because, actually, I find all of this interesting. I seriously enjoy seeing any part/s of other writers' processes. Plus, the military (and how it works) is one of those large, vague areas I'm quite curious to know about (especially since I know very little.)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*laughs* One of these days I should post the list of military-related books I've read for research purposes -- I mean, I find it fascinating, but my goals are twofold: get a feel for the military mindset and figure out what the hell they're talking about. (I have a pile of books from Amazon that I haven't read yet, and I'm eyeing a few more speculatively.) (I can also add that the top military writer in fandom is miss_porcupine, who writes SGA gen.)

I love talking about writing, and I love seeing how other writers write, just because it's fascinating. Have you read synecdochic's writing meta (http://synecdochic.livejournal.com/tag/writing+meta) posts? Because it's Very Very Interesting.