Yeah I do like it, but it gets a little confusing with all the characters in it. What I think is that fantasy land should be like Narnia, full of creatures but has no humans. But this seems like you'd be willing to make this gory, so I think you might benefit from adding some politics into this.
And I think that I should say that Silas should be a little bit decenter, like he seems a little trashy, no offense intended at all. Just give him some redeaming qualities, eh? And for how Silas gets his work to take him into it, maybe it could be something magical to do with the pen he writes with.
Maybe it belonged to a very talented poet or author. The quill of Edgar Allan Poe, the charcoal sharpener or set of Lewis Carroll, the paint brush of Dylan Thomas, and you could say that this object is the secret to how they could create such magical worlds in their time, because they were able to go into their world and report on what they see. Whoever you decide to do, I would fill your world with things in their poems or stories, things left over.
I would recommend starting the story with him in an antique shop, perhaps reminising of how his deceased girlfriend always loved to drag him to these things, and their home was full of all this old crap, saying he hated it at the time but now he cherishes it each moment of it. And he sees the object and can't get it out of his mind. I would expect the sales man to be all mysterious and witchy, perhaps after he discovers what it can do he tries to talk to the guy to but the store never seemed to exist.
Awesome story idea, something I would totally love to read. The story idea in itself is very orginal but the cliches are in the characters (silas is your typical 'bad***-except for his painting ability,k you have your nerds, etc etc) but I like the characters. The group as a whole is pretty orginal.
And the character ames! Wow, those are pretty awesome. I'd give it an 8.5/10 because though its good, and I really like the twist, I think it needs a few more twists and turns.
For ex. You've stated that choosing the land that silas created, would cause people he knows to die. What would happen if silas choose to stay in his real world, would he be cursed for life or something?
I'td be pretty interesting if there was a two way battle going on like that. If you know what I mean. If you don't know what I mean, ignore what I just said.
Title ideas: a land behind the paint world of imagination smoke and mirrors? If only... freedom or death?
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.