Avoiding mistakes when writing about firearms. Tactical, tacti-fool or tacti-cool?

This is the first in a series of guest posts by my colleague Steve Allen, a soldier-turned-editor who specializes in firearms and military-particulars editing.

Today we're looking at applying caution when loading up your hero with high-tech kit. Is he or she tactical, tacti-fool or tacti-cool?

​Over to Steve ...

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I’m a specialist freelance editor of firearm and military-related particulars. I see gun-related writer mistakes all too frequently. Many simple firearm mistakes can be avoided without problems.

Unfortunately, many of the firearm mistakes I see are not simple, nor are they so easily fixed. Insignificant firearms mistakes inflame the nitpickers and have them shitting on your reviews.

Savvy readers catch even the smallest of mistakes. After a mistake, readers question your writing, wondering what other mistakes you’ve made. Make too many and your story falls apart.

Basic firearm mistakes cause you to lose credibility. Even in fiction, you must maintain credibility.

What follows in this series are the frequent firearm mistakes that I see in fiction manuscripts and some advice on how to avoid them.

Tactical, tacti-cool and tacti-fool
​Give your characters a good weapons load-out and good gear. Know the difference between tactical, tacti-cool and tacti-fool. Arming your characters reasonably takes some practice and restraint.

• Tactical learns about guns, gear and shooting on the range. Tactical is your character spending hours on ranges practising, attending classes and training to better his or her skills.
• Tacti-fool reads about guns, gear and shooting on the internet, believing himself (usually a trait of men; especially rare in women) to be an expert.
• Tacti-cool: Unless writing satire, parody, comedy, etc., avoid giving your characters tacti-cool gear. It looks awesome but is of dubious worth.

Unless writing satire, parody, comedy, etc., avoid giving your characters tacti-cool gear. Loading a character with tacti-cool gear, and having him learn the hard way the value of quality gear is a good use of tacti-cool stuff – just don’t overdo it.

This is what tacti-cool looks like:

• Ginormous hollow-handled and heavy survival knives filled with gear of questionable worth. These survival knives usually come with a sheath that’s as ridiculous as the knife.
• Gaudy anti-personnel hatchets with ludicrous blades better suited for use as a prop in a cheesy post-apocalyptic movie than survival.
• Altoids- and sardine-can-sized personal survival kits.
• Tactical baby carriers with more MOLLE slots than anyone could ever need.
• Paracord overload. For a while, nearly every piece of tactical gear (especially if it was black) such as knives, axes, folding shovels, etc. had to be wrapped in miles of paracord.
• Ridiculous camouflage patterns and hues. No skulls, dragons, or weird colours.

Oooh, shiny!
I cringe every time an author tells me, ‘But it looks cool.’

​Don’t give your characters ridiculous and worthless gear based on looks.

Movies are incredibly influential, which is why I mention them so often in this series. Looking cool is great in the movies; it can get you killed in the field. Avoid gear such as:

• Gaudy anti-personnel hatchets (there’s a reason I mention this mistake often).
• Close-quarters battle (CQB) weapons du jour such as the kerambit, a hooked Indonesian fighting knife. Just as society chases fads (gluten-free, kale, acai berry, veggie smoothies, tiny homes, bacon, etc.) so does tactical gear.
• Avoid exotic, experimental or ammo du jour (unless the story requires it). When flechette ammo was in vogue, I saw a lot of usage in fiction, particularly in shotguns.
• Ginormous fighting knives, the envy of Crocodile Dundee.
• Cheap samurai swords or other bargain, mass-produced martial-arts weapons designed to look cool.
• Explosive tipped arrows.​

​Low-cost, mass-produced tactical gear is designed to empty the tacti-fool’s wallet, not actually to be used in combat.

A simple rule of thumb to follow is: if the elite troops don’t carry it, avoid arming your character with it.

A caveat is: if the weapon fits the character’s back story, then it might be okay. For example, if your character studied Silat (Indonesian martial art) and carries a kerambit it fits the story. If your character learned Eskrima (also known as Doce Pares; Filipino martial art) while living in Cebu, then arming her with fighting sticks fits the story.

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If you enjoyed this, there's a PDF summary of the key points here. Just click on the image to download.

You can access the full 45-page ebook now by joining Louise's Writing Library. If you'd prefer not to sign up, that's fine. Instead, watch out for forthcoming posts in The Art of Firearms in Fiction series here on The Proofreader's Parlour.

Yes, I'd like to join the library

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Steve Allen is a retired soldier living north of Seattle, WA, with his lovely wife and daughters, a neurotic terrier and a goofy black Labrador.

When not editing, Steve wanders the Pacific Northwest on roads less travelled, searching for good books and very cold beer.

​Email: stevenwordsmith67@gmail.com

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Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, you might like to join Louise’s Writing Library. Members receive monthly updates featuring self-publishing news and resources.

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