: Re: Characters' motivation and feelings on defending against an alien invasion I got really good answers to my last question, so I decided to post a new one:) In my novel, a few humans suddenly

@Kevin153

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So you've not seen the first Independence Day then? The vast majority of people simply run for their lives, they don't try to fight, ditto the more recent Battleship, War of the Worlds and Battle Los Angeles. In fact I can't think of an invasion scenario, alien or earthly, in which the vast majority of people didn't take a duck and cover approach to the situation for just as long as they possibly could.

Stories about large scale conflict tend to focus on the "interesting people", those who are willing to fight and do get involved in the situation of their own free will. For an interesting counterpoint to this I suggest Krystyna's Story which follows a girl who would have liked nothing more than to have stayed out of World War Two but was caught up in the forced deportation by soviet forces of the majority of the population of Eastern Poland. Narratives from the point of view of people who run and hide are hard to write, I refer you to Terry Pratchett's reasons why there aren't more Rinchwind novels, because the story necessarily avoids the events that usually drive the narrative forward.

As to what the characters you choose to focus on feel under the weight of the task you're giving them? That's a story element that you have to work out based on their background and the exact situation you're putting them in, the answer will never be exactly the same for two given characters or two given sets of circumstances.

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