She blatantly errs in describing everyone except Jonas in The Giver as not just "colorblind" but also deaf. Yet she mentions Gabe's crying as problematic.
Because I have taught this novel repeatedly this particular error stood out. Now I'm inclined to go back and read her descriptions again with a more critical eye. John Nelson It's important that we see a reflection of our own society in the pages of the dystopian fantasy society. It is also important to create a complicated tale and not just the same-old good versus evil story and predictably good prevails.
Life is more complicated and drawn with many shades of grey I look for those complicated shades of grey in a great dystopia.
For the post-apocalyptic setting I want to know what about our present-day dysfuction led us to self-destruction. This was easily understood in the Cold War, but what aspects of today's society and culture led us on a path to self-destruction? It's that social commentary that makes the dystopia such a rich genre. I find the social road signs to destruction sometimes lacking in some of the new crop of YA dystopia.
John G. View More Comments. Non - Subscribers. Added To Cart. Neal Wyatt , Jul 17, The Other Woman by Daniel Silva leads holds this week. Former President Obama has more summer reading. Downton Abbey is heading to the movies. Materials on Hand Materials Handling. Matt Enis , May 16, Automated systems are helping libraries move staff to patron-facing work, while manufacturers innovate new design features. Lisa Peet , Jun 21, Log In Email. First Name. Last Name. Every dystopian novel contains some form of resistance from the protagonist.
How and to what level are they resisting? Make sure to form your protagonist in such a way that their methods of resistance are realistic.
Is the hero successful in bringing about a change in the dystopia, or is the protagonist crushed by the government? Are the people willing to accept the idea of change, or have they been so beaten down that they are no longer able to think for themselves? Keep in mind, not all dystopian fiction needs a happy ending. On the contrary, it is somewhat unrealistic to believe that a state or nation could correct itself over the course of a single novel. In the end, dystopian fiction will always serve as a reminder of the importance of personal freedom and the value of the individual.
It also cautions readers to consider carefully the world around them, and to not simply blindly accept the decisions of others.
One where the ruling elite manipulate the masses and create a glistening veneer that hides and contradicts a seedy underbelly of corruption?
I kid. Ready to start creating this brave, new world? Would you like a printable list of questions to help you get started on building your dystopian world? Subscribe to receive this free resource. This long standing advice is never more important than in a dystopian setting.
Take your time to describe how this world looks and feels. Show how the characters of your story interact with the environment. Is it harsh and unyielding? Probably… but not necessarily. Environment may or may not be a secondary character in your dystopian story. The environment could be friendly and fruitful and not something your protagonist struggles against.
Instead, the protagonist could struggle against humans, technology, or some created system. Establish what the rules are in this dystopian world and do it early, but not too early. What I mean by that is to let it unfold naturally within the course of your story. There are two reasons for this. New towns and cities might have sprung up in the meantime, especially if these cities and towns are necessary for your story. In fact, the more you change the everyday world of today, the better, because you want to convince your readers that this is what the earth will be like in three hundred years.
Transport also depends on geography. In an inhospitable environment, how are roads built and why? Do roads get domes overhead for protection, or are they just built underground?
What kind of technology is being used to cover long distances? Also, do you need to use any of those in your story? If you do, make sure that these things are presented in your story in a way that ensures that they are a part of the world, not just things you invented to move your story forward.
In other words, if people use oversized zeppelins to get from one place to another, make sure that the readers understand that this is normal. In that case, if your characters have another form of transport, make sure to explain that this is outside of the norm and why. Languages can really make a difference in a world. Considering that the story happens in the future, you can go two different ways:.
A lot of novels feature people speaking in different languages without having said language make an appearance in actual words. Sometimes you can just describe it: staccato words, guttural tones, etc.
Other times you can have a character understand it and translate for the protagonist. And yes, of course, if inventing languages is something that you enjoy, showing it in your novel will flesh your world out even more.
Access to medicine is a big part of any world, especially a dystopian one. If one or more of your characters get injured, where and how do they get help? Moreover, what new diseases ail humanity in the future, and how curable are they? If ordinary people cannot get easy access to medicine, do they turn to herbs? Is there a black market where the medicine you get is half a cure and half a curse? Who would manage it and why, and how did that come to be?
What is the connection that your characters have with it? When it comes to other miscellaneous, that depends solely on you and your imagination. The world is not just made of jobs, transport, family, fun, medicine, and landscape. There will be trinkets, gadgets, futuristic looking houses and buildings.
Locks, keys, advertisements, means of communication and communication devices. And more. The way that you imagine these things and their role in the everyday life of your characters must be present in the story, again, as the foundation upon which you can weave your plot and story.
Once you combine the dystopian society with a futuristic setting, you will have a dystopian fiction world that presents a good foundation upon which your story can be built, brick by brick.
A good story has a well-developed world, characters and plot, the unity of time and space — as in, the readers will get to learn what happened, when, and where — told through the eyes of a narrator. The narrator can tell the story through first person point of view, third person limited point of view, third person omnipresent point of view, or second person point of view which is probably the rarest type of point of view in fiction.
As we previously mentioned, in a dystopian world, your story is either connected to the dystopian society, and at the end of it, either the society is beginning to change, or it has been toppled like a house of cards. If your story is not connected to the dystopian society, then the dystopian society becomes just a background for it. Of the two options, the first one offers a better opportunity for a cohesive story. Utopian societies are a myth because the task of making everyone in the world happy and content is too difficult for a society to manage — and even when it does, there is always something lurking under the surface, like in Brave New World , and the utopian society easily turns into a dystopia.
On the other hand, dystopian societies beg to be toppled down. For that reason, most dystopian stories either have the main character escape said dystopia, or the society itself is toppled. What you should not do is touch upon the topic of rebellion and changing the world without delivering at the end. So, how can you develop the story? A good story has a tightly woven plot and fleshed out characters.
The tightly woven plot depends solely on your protagonist: unless you have an ensemble of protagonists with their own point of view chapters, you are telling the story of one person among many. That means the following:. Cue going back to the ordinary world — or staying in the new world. Previously, we talked about the people in general in a dystopian world, the creation of groups, tribes, families, their values and cultures and languages.
When it comes to creating characters, you can play with some of the following tools:. If the character is not important, then there is no reason for his or her appearance in the story, other than the fact that you want him or her to be there. For example, if you need someone to be knowledgeable of all things technology, do not have him be a tall, skinny male, with messy hair and glasses, who speaks only in long, explanatory paragraphs and lives and breathes the knowledge.
He or she would also have a background. Maybe she delivers the best results when she listens to hard core heavy metal music. The list goes on. Of course not. If tattoos denote the status of the citizens, make sure that there is an original idea behind it, and that you will do something original with them.
Again, avoid throwing everything at the blank page to see what sticks. A lot of dystopian novels tackle contemporary issues.
The level of success in this depends both on the specific issue and the story that the writer has told. The problem here is that often; writers attempt to tackle contemporary issues unsuccessfully. If you decide to do this, make sure that you know what you want to want to say. For example, if you decide to take on world hunger, increase it to unimaginable levels, and use it as a setting in your story.
Also, make sure that there is a point to it. The reason why writers address issues in their novels, regardless of genre, is because they have something to say about it, and because they want to make their readers think about it. However, most often, writers do it for the first reason and often, without a clear message. As we said in the previous section, tackling issues is difficult. However, social commentary presents an even bigger challenge. Not only do you have to do it in a sensitive manner, you have to be careful — sounding too preachy can alienate most of your readers.
The potential problems here are many. Said reader makes a statement about your novel and then you will have a lot of eyes on your story — and not in a good way. As we previously said, the best thing that you can do with a dystopian novel is to make your readers think.
There is a lot of philosophy in A Brave New World. There are many things to think about in The Hunger Games. First, you must choose your words carefully. Second, the social commentary needs to be relevant to the story or the history of the world. Often, you can use it as a contrast — what used to be compared to what it is now. Even your readers will probably not take those words seriously.
In other words, do not put in social commentary just for the sake of it. Make sure that it happens naturally within your novel, at the right place, the right time, and that the characters who are actually involved in the scene have a reason to do so.
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