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Writing Dystopian



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Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:51 am
Dreamer84 says...



So hello guys. I am writing a dystopian novel for the very first time and I have read many dystopian novels that were amazing (Hunger Games, Delirium, Divergent, Between Shades of Gray, ect.), but I don't want my novel to sound exactally like those other ones. Does anyone have any advice on writing an original dystopian novel??? If you don't want to post it publicly feel free to PM me :)
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Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:28 am
LiptonCookie says...



I know exactly how you feel... :/ Dystopian novels seem to be the thing going around lately and it's hard to get an original idea. I often see novels regarding a fatal or altering-to-human-brains-or-body epidemics that usually revolve around dystopian. Then there's the matter of separating people into groups like Divergent and the Hunger Games. However, that idea isn't too main stream, but it gets hard if you fully rely on the division of people to be your plot..you might be like me and accidentally relate it too closely with their story.

Think science fiction. Steer clear of having an epidemic rule your story—unless you want to, but it's not exactly the most original idea out there. Rebellion is also a popular topic as well, but it wouldn't hurt to put that in. Try to devise other scenarios that would give your characters a push to do whatever they're meant to do and think of other science-fiction things. Perhaps something futuristic, far off into the future and something with civilization happens or it could be present-day and something occurs that causes oppression. A dystopian novel has to have a lot of hardship in it—the opposite of a utopia. Find a large problem to put into the world and novel that causes the people to feel oppressed—knowingly or not—and you have an element of dystopia in there.
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Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:58 am
Dreamer84 says...



Thanks @LiptonCookie. To help get more ideas on how to write a dystopian novel I am going to give away on my idea. So my main character (haven't came up with character names yet....still looking for the names forum) lives in this world where the government made a ¨perfect¨ society. At the age of 16 teenagers are sent to a camp of disapline where they are disiplined into being ¨perfect.¨ At first my MC is all for it because she is far from perfect (cluts, basically your everday teenager). In this dystopian society when you are sent to camp along with disaplining you into being perfect they plant a device into your brain (nobody knows about this) to keep you disaplned. The goverment keeps an eye on you and at any sign of going against their ¨perfect¨ society they start to control you back into obidience to fit their mold of perfect. This involves working as a spy for the goverment as their puppet to stop any flaws in their ¨perfect¨ plan. Once my MC goes to camp and catches on to the evil plan she tries to find her way out of this ¨perfect¨ hell created around her so she can stop this evil plan from corrupting the original way of life where everyone is free and are their own person ¨perfect¨ or not....

I kinda just made that up but now that I wrote it I want to see it through into a great novel....Hope that helps spark ideas :smt003
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Fri Mar 21, 2014 3:38 am
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niteowl says...



Hi there Dreamer.

That idea sounds incredibly similar to the "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld. I loved those books as a teen and highly recommend reading them since you're into this stuff. If you don't want to read the whole thing I bet there's a summary on Wikipedia.

I understand that it's hard to come up with an original idea for this kind of stuff. Some random thoughts

1) Many dystopias have a veneer of ideal-ness--for example in the "Uglies" series, everyone gets surgery to become pretty and feel happy all the time. These ideals tend to have some resemblance to things we think are good--peace, freedom, equality, happiness. It might be interesting to have negative things as the stated ideal. For example, what if the surgery made people ugly and depressed, but that was promoted as the best/only way to be?

2) This may have been done before, but it might be cool to have the "creation story" of a dystopia. Maybe the MC is legitimately trying to solve the problems of his/her society, but along the way it gets perverted and the ideal becomes inachievable. Most dystopian novels that I've seen are mostly concerned with the dismantling of said regime. Why not go back to its formation?

As for the names, I think there's a thread somewhere about that, but I can't remember which forum it's in. Poke around and see. :)
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Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:43 pm
Cole says...



I wrote a dystopian novel a year or two ago.

What inspired me to write it wasn't the fact that dystopian fiction is popular these days. Rather, I wrote it because I was using it as a tool to comment on an aspect of our society that frightens me, which is people's increasing intolerance toward religion and faith.

My novel, called In Secret Places, follows Mary Reedel who lives in a fearsome society where its people are brutalized by the government's military police. By chance, Mary finds and saves a young blind man, Noel, who was washed up on a beach. He teaches her about God and, through him, she discovers that the government she lives under has secretly been hunting down believers in hiding and has been fighting wars overseas to purge religion from other nations.

So, like mine, maybe don't start with a genre, society, or character. Start with an idea, find something about society or people on which you want to comment. Find something you feel needs to be said. That way, it won't just be a story. It will have power and purpose.
  





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Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:31 pm
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queerelves says...



There are guidelines or rules for everything writing-related, and they help us to categorize and understand our writing. Grammar has rules, there are guidelines that define what's fantasy and what's science fiction, etc. There are also rules/guidelines that define what a "true dystopia" is.

The (Typical) Guidelines for a Dystopia-

    1. Everyone believes it's a utopia. The exceptions are the main characters, or a very small revolutionary group (because you wouldn't have a story if there weren't exceptions to that rule)

    Examples:

      Animal Farm by George Orwell (all the animals believe that their farm is better than it was when Mr. Jones was in charge)

      Delirium by Lauren Oliver (everyone believes they're safer since love is non-existent)

      Divergent by Veronica Roth (everyone believes they have an ideal system, and that their society functions better than before because of the factions)

      Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (everyone thought that the mass production of children/the class system/the brainwashing made it ideal and put everyone in their place)

    2. Everyone must believe the same thing. Sometimes, it means science is banned and only religion is allowed; sometimes, it means religion is banned and only science is allowed. Those are only broad examples, though. Usually, it involves brainwashing and/or indoctrination.

    Examples:

      Delirium by Laruen Oliver (everyone is required to believe the same things about love, and [as far as I remember] there's a state-wide religion)

      Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (the state literally brainwashed the children from the time they were born with what I believe they called hyponopaedia)

    3. Everything is predetermined. In a dystopia, your life decisions are directly chosen by the government, indirectly chosen by the government, or the government gives you a list of options to choose from. Often, things like what you read, what you wear, etc., are chosen by the government.

    Examples:

      Matched by Ally Condie (who you marry is decided for you, as well as what you eat, where you live, what you read, when you die, etc.)

      Divergent by Veronica Roth (you must choose from a specific list of factions, though you're able to choose what you do within those factions)

      The Giver by Lois Lowry (your job, who you marry, who your children are, what you feel, what you see, when you die, etc. is decided for you; the best example of this)

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (books are banned)

    4. There is a gigantic gap between the upper class and the lower class. Certain groups are systematically oppressed, or in some cases, systematically killed. Genocides are common. Often, the government tells the people that one group or one person must suffer in order for the rest to be able to live happily.

    Examples:

      Divergent by Veronica Roth (the factionless are treated as sub-human)

      Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (you are literally born into your class; the best example of this)

      The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin (one child must suffer in order for Omelas to be as gorgeous as it is)

      The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (the Capitol is filthy rich, while people in the lower districts are treated as sub-human to point where they're essentially treated like animals)

      Matched by Allie Condie (I forget the names of the ones who are treated as sub-human here, but certain people aren't allowed to be married, are forced into what were basically labor camps, etc)

    The Giver is a notable exception to this rule since there is no class in their society.

    5. The government is totalitarian. The people have no choice in their representatives or their laws. You almost always have to be born into the government. The government is either an autocracy or an aristocracy. Usually, there are two ways this goes. Either it's a standard dictatorship where everyone knows who their ruler is and essentially worships them (think North Korea), or it seems like the government is an invisible force, and no one really knows who the government is.

    Examples:

      The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (President Snow is the only ruling force that anyone ever sees)

      The Giver by Lois Lowry (the lives of the entire population are chosen by a group of elders)

      Legend by Marie Lu (the government is exclusive and, I believe, a monarchy)

    6. The government is watching. The government keeps track of what its citizens do. They watch them, listen to their conversations, etc. This isn't in all dystopias, but it's pretty common.

    Examples:

      1984 by George Orwell (Big Brother)


The most important thing about this list: you don't have to follow these rules. In writing, rules are established in order to be broken for effect. Take the poetry of e.e. cummings for example: he breaks the rules of grammar, and he does it to create a certain effect within his writing. You can do the same thing with the rules of dystopia! You can follow all of the rules (like in Brave New World) in order to make your dystopia seem all-around awful and thus create an effect that way. You could also follow just one of the rules (like in Fahrenheit 451) in order to highlight only a certain issue in society.

I might be calling these rules, but they are not absolute.

In order to write as best a dystopia you can, I would recommend reading a lot of dystopian novels/stories. You've already read a lot of modern ones, but you should also read the classics, because the classics are what inspired modern dystopias, and they're the ones who set the guidelines.

Recommended Reading-

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Warning: Sexual content)
      Brave New World was the first dystopia, written in 1931. Modern Library ranked it fifth on its list of the 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. I read it a year or two ago and I enjoyed it. It's a little difficult to read, and it's a really bizarre book.

      Summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/summary.html

    1984 by George Orwell (Warning: Sexual content)
      1984 is probably the best known classic dystopia, and also one of the first, having been written in 1949. 1984 has shaped our culture, and it's where phrases like "Big Brother" come from. It's not too difficult to read, and it's also pretty bizarre--but not as much as Brave New World.

      Summary: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/summary.html

    Animal Farm by George Orwell
      Animal Farm isn't a traditional dystopia. Actually, it's not traditional at all, considering it's literally a book about talking animals. It seems childish at first--and that's part of the point--and I expected not to like it, but it turned into my favorite book. Like 1984, it's an allegory for Stalinist Russia and communism, and it's very easy to read (it has simple language and only about 80 pages) but not as easy to understand. If you want a short, simple dystopia, I would definitely recommend checking out Animal Farm.

      Summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/summary.html

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Warning: Mild violence)
      Fahrenheit 451 is a pretty infamous book, and even though it only contains one or two aspects of a true dystopia, it definitely belongs on that list. It's a fairly short novella about a man named Guy Montag, a fireman, but his job isn't to stop fires, it's to start them. It's central focus is censorship, since it takes place in a universe where books are banned, and anyone who is caught with a book has their home set on fire. It's likely to touch a lot of people here, since books have a special place for all of us. And get this--people have literally tried to ban Fahrenheit 451, a book about banning books. I recently read it (about a month or two ago), and I thought it was a pretty easy read.

      Summary: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/summary.html

    The Giver by Lois Lowry
      Another infamous book, set in a society where everything is heavily controlled. I believe it's meant for a younger audience, so it's a pretty easy read with a cliff hanger-esque ending.

      Summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/giver/summary.html

    The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin (Warning: Sexual content, abuse)
      This is the only short story on this list, and it's also probably the most bizarre. It starts with a serene description of what sounds like an ideal town and ends with a horrific twist.

      Summary: http://www.enotes.com/topics/ones-who-walk-away-omelas (Sorry, I couldn't find a Spark Notes for this one)
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Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:46 pm
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lostthought says...



Has anyone else noticed how Dystopian stories are almost always in the future? That's because they had some big event that turned the world to that amount of ruin! But, you never get to know the details of it. Perhaps you can write one about how the world started turning slowly to whatever government they are forced to follow!

Maybe you can write one about a group of people who try to fight (rebel perhaps?) And lose. Then your MC can then show what happens after that (Let's say she didn't get caught or died). Most stories have victories, change it up based on a failure. Sound like a good idea?
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Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:53 pm
LadySpark says...



Hey there! So writing a dystopian novel right now is like writing a vampire novel a couple of years ago. They're everywhere, and you're always going to be battling the cliches of it because it's so so over done. Like niteowl said, your novel plot sounds remarkably like Uglies. Which is a great book, don't get me wrong, but you want to be original.
I'm going to assume you're going to stick with your plot (though I hope you explore other avenues because it has been done), and ask some questions I'd like you to think about when you're writing it.

Why is everyone so obsessed with being perfect? Why would anyone not want to be perfect? Doesn't everyone desire perfection? If you were a klutz and always messed things up, wouldn't becoming perfect be a relief? If you take the 'government is destroying us' angle-- why does the government desire to destroy their people, and why are they doing it by making the people 'perfect'? Wouldn't they try to do the opposite? If she's already been brainwashed when she finds out the corruptness, why does she care? Brainwashing should keep her from noticing and or doing anything about it--because that's what brainwashing does. How does she defeat that?

Think about this questions, if you plan on continuing with your plot. :)
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Mon Apr 28, 2014 2:13 pm
Tenyo says...



I love dystopian novels. The darkness and pessimism of them is delicious.

I'd say the key to making any novel unique in its genre is to do a lot of lists and brainstorms. My general rule is to never settle with your first idea.

Media is media, it's explosive, and when you sit down to write the first things that will come to mind are the ones you've recently seen or read or heard about. If you want to make something unique then you need to write those ideas down and then keep playing until other ideas come and get flushed out of your head.

It's kind of like digging. You need to get past the dry, pebbly earth to get to the good stuff. It takes more effort than just sprinkling seeds and hoping they grow, but the fruits will me worth it.
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:52 pm
Dreamer84 says...



Thanks guys I'll take everything under consideration....Every piece of advice is welcomed 8)
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