Hello Everyone!
Welcome to my new series of blog posts on writing. I thought I would share my tips and tricks for writing dystopian fiction. This blog post will be geared more towards the Young Adult and possibly New Adult genre, but I'm sure most of these tips will apply pretty much anywhere! I hope you enjoy these dystopia writing tips. I'm going to have a series of questions along the way that you can answer, so grab your notebook!
What Happened?
When I came up with my dystopian plot, I was watching the UK Edition of
Big Brother. If you didn't know, the show was inspired by George Orwell's
1984 (which I never read). As I was watching it, I thought it would be incredibly unique to throw a bunch of characters in the house and see what happens (I love Sims, so this was a natural thing for me). Now, I knew they had to find a reason for being there and I came up with it. So, how do you figure out your own plot?
- Where and when is your story taking place?
- How did your world get to this point?
- What kind of government system is running it?
- What rules are implemented on the society
Some of these questions can definitely be answered later on, but having the basic foundation of your world is key to starting your dystopian novel. Unlike contemporary, Science Fiction and Fantasy need to have that world building. Imagine
The Hunger Games without all the world building. It wouldn't work. To set up your society, answer these questions and any other things you can think of to set your story.
Creating Your Characters
The most important rule I've found is to come up with your cast of characters first. When I began writing Vigilant in 2013, I knew I wanted this intricate cast of characters that would all be interwoven in the plot (still working on that, of course). But I wanted this main character who comes off as distant, cold, and focused. She is someone who will do anything to get back to her family, even if it's something she doesn't want to do. I believe that makes her a type of anti-hero (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
Having your characters fit in with this world is so important. Once you come up with your characters, you have to figure out how they fit into this world. Every person reacts differently with their environment and it's no different with your characters. In my book, each of my characters have a motive for being in the place they are (despite the fact that they were forced there). Because of these reasons, I have a huge binder dedicated to this book.
Obviously this is not a photo of my binder, but this just gives you an idea of what I put into my binder about my characters. I always assign a face claim to my characters. Eliza Taylor is who I picture as Aurelia. I'm not gonna lie, about four or five other characters I picture as people from The 100. That show helped me so much with this book.
When you're writing about your characters, begin from the beginning. Before they were even born. You need to write a biography about all of your characters because you and I both know that their pasts will come up at some point or another. Each character has a secret and most of the time, it's their past.
When writing their biography, keep these questions in mind:
- Who are their parents? What did their parents do?
- What kind of childhood did they have growing up?
- Who did they get along with? If anyone.
- What are their hobbies (this may be proven useful)?
- What kinds of clothes do they wear?
Then, as you begin to move onto these characters during the duration of your story, make sure you write about how they connect with each other. Are they depending on each other for a lifeline or because they're genuinely interested in that person? Or is it a reason that the reader is unsure about until the end? I've got one of the latter ones in my book and my betas are loving it!
When you're actually writing your story, make sure you choose your POV wisely! Most dystopians take place in first person, but it's up to you! This is your story and you decide how to tell it!
Technology, Medicine, & All Things Science
Science, technology, and medicine are all at the core of this genre. My dystopian universe isn't too technology or medicine based. I did that on purpose because I'm not too into computers or medicine. I do incorporate both things within my novel, but in a lack of knowledge sort of way. My character grew up in a very poor area (like most of the world she lives in), so her access to technology and medicine is limited. She knows what she needs. She reacts to technology like we would if we walked into a science lab. In awe.
In mine, I've depended on technology I've heard of before and what could be. I am super inspired by my world I live in, I often take the things I've seen around me and apply them into my work. That would be why technology is not a huge object in my book because it's not overly necessary. There are moments where I have a technology based scene, but I don't make that the whole point of the scene.
Medicine is always a huge part of any dangerous society. Someone will always get injured or hurt. As I'm a big Outlander fan, I find herbal medicine highly fascinating. I've actually implemented some of these methods into my book. These people depend on each other for safety and health, not the nurses or the government. Staying alive is all that's on their mind.
So, as you can see, medicine and technology both depend on how much you want to look into it. This also depends on your natural talent of either topic. If you know more about one than the other, pick that. Otherwise, make up your own science! There's so much you can do with the whole of the genre that the world is at your fingertips.
Setting, the Most Important Thing
Setting is your most important detail. You have to explore your world in all ways possible before you even begin writing your book. You have to know these basic facts.
- HOW did your world get to the way it is?
- WHAT is the type of government instilled on your world?
- WHY are your events taking place?
- WHEN is your story taking place?
- WHERE is your story taking place?
With these questions, you're able to explore the type of world you have. To me, setting includes everything from the globe as a whole to the house your characters live in and how they dress. Everything here is of the most important. World building is by far the most important detail because without the details you give, your world will represent what we know.
Our goal as a writer is to give off the impression that this world is no longer the one we live in. We have to make it seem like these things actually exist. So yes, that means we have to dig into the depths of our brains and invent things. I mean, we already create people out of thin air, it can't be that hard can it?
One thing I've learned about setting through writing on Wattpad is that you have to explain everything in your text. On one of my books, I have a class setting and the reader didn't fully understand it. To this day, I'm still getting questions about it because it's quite confusing. So because of this, you have to explain how your world works and every little detail. It's best to know these things before you start writing your novel.
A great tool for this one is Pinterest. Pinterest has given me so much inspiration as I work on Vigilant. There is so many computer generated images available in the dystopia tag on there that it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Create a pinterest board for your book (even if you're writing something other than Dystopian). Having these visuals helps you go a long way. I've actually gotten TONS of ideas for my second book in the trilogy because of pinterest.
If you have any questions about dystopian writing or want to have a discussion, leave a comment down below! I would love to chat about these things with you!
What topics do you want me to cover next?
See you next time!
~Amanda
