K: Kahn

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. Also find inspiration at the IWSG blog every day in April.

Kahn is a bad guy in the Star Trek universe. He's a genetically engineered soldier with some god-complex issues. He's brilliant, physically superior and the embodiment of arrogance. Soldier is the Kurt Russell character in an older movie. He's raised to be soldier after a very cruel upbringing to mold him into a merciless and tough fighter, trained to follow orders. In the movie, his generation of

soldiers are being replaced by genetically improved and younger soldiers. Both these futuristic science fiction play around with the idea of people trained or bred just to serve as soldiers and little value is place on their lives. Both of these movies gave me ideas for my bestselling series Recon Marines which is about genetically-engineered soldiers. The questions I asked myself about these two plots: Would the creators of such soldiers eventually come to fear them? Would these soldiers ever question their superiors? What would we do with them when they were too old to fight? If they were created in a lab, would they have the same human rights as others? How might their harsh upbringing and training influence their characters and personalities? Could they ever live as normal citizens? What would their emotional states be like? My Recon Marines are not like Kahn or Kurt Russell's character but my own creation inspired by those movies. I have a biology minor, so throughout the

series I was able to include real science about genetics.

Lesson: If a movie or show inspires you, watch as a writer and ask yourself what works in it that makes you like it. Use what you know to help you in your writing such as I used my biology background. Find ways to make sure the reader sees your protagonist as sympathetic. Asking yourself questions as you plot will help you deepen the plot and avoid holes in the story line.

"A fault denied is twice committed." French proverb

And since today is Thomas Jefferson's birthday here is a quote from him.
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

If you saw the Star Trek movies with Kahn (old or new), did you ever feel bad for him at some point? Do you think our future might hold some type of genetic engineering to improve people physically and intellectually? Are there problems you would foresee with that? Are you keeping up with A to Z?