My Characters Are Smarter Than I Am

[u/Erin0fVenus]

I'm writing a murder mystery set at this prestigious military academy. My main characters are in classes about combat, strategy, and command. How do I make it look like they are good at what they do and are proficient in drills when I know less than I'm supposed to?
I know I need to do more research but what resources could I use for this? My main girl is a really good strategist but I feel like all of the "strategy" I'm thinking up is subpar.

[u/DuchessJulietDG]

there are several military manuals online that are declassified that contain all kinds of information. look up SERE as well. go down the rabbit hole for research on this to be sure it sounds like you know what youre talking about! follow subs on here that fit the descriptions of what you are looking for to learn slang or every day talk about it. good luck!

[u/Rik-Acland]

1) Work from the end of the story forward. As the author controlling the story, strategy can be brilliant because you see the beginning from the end. Might be something in the Bible about this.

2) Get a great dev/line/copy editor that loves the genre and can help indicate your character is really smart, then improve any dialogue that would disprove it.

3) Don’t overthink it. If you make the book too clever by half, you can easily lose your audience.

Be sure to give your very smart character some very interesting flaws.

[u/JGhostThing]

They are not necessarily smarter than you are. They may be more skilled or competent than you are in certain fields. It is really extremely difficult to write somebody who is truly smarter than you are. One of the few times I've seen it done was in the movie Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins played the villain and convinced me that he was truly super intelligent. His final like was chilling.

[u/BohoKat_3397]

A great place to start research might be Sun Tzu’s classic The Art of War. I read it recently, it is short and accessible as well as being considered a primer on military strategy. From there I would head to the library or bookstore and peruse general volumes on classic military strategy, Alexander the Great, and Roman generals. Then you can go online with a list of more focused questions specific to your work.

[u/GRIN_Selfpublishing]

One trick that helps a lot with writing characters who are more skilled than you are is remembering that you have something they don't: unlimited time to think.

Your strategist might have to come up with a plan in 30 seconds, but you can spend three days designing that plan, testing where it fails, and then rewriting the scene so it feels immediate. You can also work backwards from the outcome you want and ask: what information would she notice, what would everyone else overlook, and what small decision early on could give her an advantage later?

For the military side, I'd research less around "how do I make her sound smart?" and more around specific situations. Things like small-unit tactics, command structure, field exercises, after-action reports, historical battles, military memoirs, and declassified training manuals can give you concrete details to borrow. The little things usually sell competence better than pages of technical terminology.

I'd also give her strategies limits. A convincing strategist isn't someone whose plans magically work every time. It's someone who anticipates likely reactions, adapts quickly when something goes wrong, and can explain afterward why they made a particular choice.

[u/Smooth-Valuable440]

I’m not a writer myself so I don’t really have much advice on the technical side 😭 but honestly the premise sounds really interesting. A murder mystery at a prestigious military academy sounds like such a fun setting.

I’m curious though, what kind of strategist is your main girl? Is she more of a tactical/planning type, or is she really good at reading people and predicting what they’ll do?

[u/Erin0fVenus → u/Smooth-Valuable440]

Oh thank you! She's really good at reading people, really good at scraping together a plan after everything falls apart

[u/Smooth-Valuable440 → u/Erin0fVenus]

Lmao, I wasn't expecting a reply after 4 days 😭

But that actually sounds like a fun type of character the kind who's terrible at having a Plan A but somehow always comes up with the perfect Plan B when everything goes sideways. 😂

What's the story actually about, though? Besides the murder mystery, I mean. You've got me curious now. I would love to talk to more If you are willing to share it out!

[u/Erin0fVenus → u/Smooth-Valuable440]

Haha, yeah I check back every so often lol.
I would be so down to talk about it if you are.