This is the 6th installment of WARFARE FOR WRITERS - 6 Fog of War graciously permitted by Timons Esaias.

Warfare or Writers 6 deals with common mistakes writers make when writing about war, battles and et cetera.

The thing that is screwed up the most, is having warriors know too much, too accurately and too quickly. The truth of war is that nobody knows what's happening and half what they think is wrong. There are few truth commissions sorting through the facts while war is happening, so ignorance of what happens accumulates over time. One example: The American public didn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor for the entire war. We still aren't quite sure.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR WRITING?

Don't do that

Have the uncertainty of the situation get on your characters' nerves

Use it as a plot device.