Sorry to quote Rihanna at you -- the pun was too good to resist. Calm down now. Have a cookie?
I never imagined I'd write a dystopian novel. I've had a crack at enough fantasy stories in recent years to realise that with my nit-pickery tendencies, sci-fi is definitely more my thing, but dystopian sci-fi always seemed so...well. Trendy.
I mean, look at me. I'm wearing a frickin' lace collar. Do I look trendy to you?
But there was a girl's name I wanted to use that would so suit that kind of world. There was a yummy half-Japanese scientist getting more tortured and delicious, the more he brewed in my brain (think Tekken's Jin Kazama, but in glasses. This is him => Tell me you don't want to be injected with synthetic dreams of this young man, like my new heroine). There was even some wonderfully smug Latin terminology developing. So I've given in, and I'm writing the damn thing (sorry, Requiette. If it helps, I'm going to turn you into a script).
I've been thinking, as I write my synopsis, about what makes dystopia tick. If "the darkness is the light," then what does that mean? There's no hope? Or there's always hope in strange shapes and places? What does good dystopian fiction need to work?
It needs characters who have suffered. It needs characters who are willing to fight, even if it's a loosing battle. Dystopia is all about people on the edge who are grasping at straws, and that's where the psychology gets interesting to me: when you're pushed to your limits and there is nothing left in the world worthy of love, will you go down screaming? Will you rot away slowly as a foot soldier, absent and void?
Or will you never stop searching for something -- somebody -- to love, even if it means you start doing strange things? Bad things? Unforgivable things...? How do you get around that without bowing out on a crappy-ever-after?
I'd love to read your thoughts on writing good dystopia. I think I currently write dystopian characters in contemporary England, but I suck at worldbuilding...it's the lazy way out. Help me!
I never imagined I'd write a dystopian novel. I've had a crack at enough fantasy stories in recent years to realise that with my nit-pickery tendencies, sci-fi is definitely more my thing, but dystopian sci-fi always seemed so...well. Trendy.
I mean, look at me. I'm wearing a frickin' lace collar. Do I look trendy to you?
I've been thinking, as I write my synopsis, about what makes dystopia tick. If "the darkness is the light," then what does that mean? There's no hope? Or there's always hope in strange shapes and places? What does good dystopian fiction need to work?
It needs characters who have suffered. It needs characters who are willing to fight, even if it's a loosing battle. Dystopia is all about people on the edge who are grasping at straws, and that's where the psychology gets interesting to me: when you're pushed to your limits and there is nothing left in the world worthy of love, will you go down screaming? Will you rot away slowly as a foot soldier, absent and void?
Or will you never stop searching for something -- somebody -- to love, even if it means you start doing strange things? Bad things? Unforgivable things...? How do you get around that without bowing out on a crappy-ever-after?
I'd love to read your thoughts on writing good dystopia. I think I currently write dystopian characters in contemporary England, but I suck at worldbuilding...it's the lazy way out. Help me!
Posts
Me wants to read it already! hehe
I've never written dystopian but I kind of love the idea of it. I need to read some more so I can get a feel for what's out there!
Someone recently posted that there needs to be a glimmer of hope in fiction -- if he wanted unrelenting grimness, he could turn on the news.
I think he's right. Being a little older, my standard for dystopia are movies like Blade Runner and THX 1138 -- which have hopeful endings.
The hope can be big -- saving the world -- or small -- finding that right person in a miserable world -- but there does need to be hope.
Dystopia is what drives characters to grasp at straws, I think. Dystopia is the embodiment of hopelessness, and the characters are fighting to keep the dream alive. The conflict is built right into the setting.
IMO. I'm curious to see what you write! :)
Maybe because dystopian worlds you don't have to be confined by society's rules, which lets you have more freedom to do what you want.
I believe that's why I'm not attracted to Dystopian novels. As "L" said, there must be hope. And there's enough grimness in life that I don't want to have to SEARCH for hope. I want it to be out there front and center.
Having said that...there are readers for all genres of books so don't give up!
I don't write Dystopian novels, although I'd love to try it one day. But I think that dystopians should scare readers into thinking that the events of that world could happen to them, their society. When dystopian worlds hit so close to home,that's when I get that "whoa" reaction: this is scary and this is real.
I think dystopian fiction is best when attached to absurdist philosophy. Particularly the notion that when the world doesn't give us what we want (such as meaning) we have to create it.
So rather than simply grasping at straws of hope, I think the best dystopian fiction demonstrates a world where hoping for anything material occurring is tantamount to insanity, and then seeing what the characters do to attribute meaning, purpose or hope to their lives in the face of it. And at that point, the only difference between a hero and a villain is perspective.
Good luck, it sounds like this story has already wormed its way into your brain which can only be a good sign!
I read a piece of advice lately about writing dystopian fiction that I liked: Think about the things you can't do without in life - then take them away.
I don't think dystpoians are really that different from other books in a way - instead of having the hero vs the villain, you have the hero vs society as villain.
This looks very exciting :) The basic concept is what makes a dystopian work or not for me. It sounds like you've got some good stuff down already. Best of luck!
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Thanks for all of these!
You know, the concept of thinking about what people need and then taking something away -- that's exactly how I'd describe most of my stuff anyway. So I think I was right in saying I already write dystopian stuff in some sense.
I think I agree about the sense of hope -- even if it's just in the humour of a snarky best friend, or the moments two characters spend with each other, utterly in love. Does anybody else build up to writing certain scenes like that? I love the satisfaction of getting to a pivotal point, and maybe these are a special breed in dystopia.
Thanks again for all of your comments -- they're useful, and I have taken them on board :)
Not that this has anything to do with dystopian pictures, but reading your post I started hearing a mix of Langston Hughes's "A Dream Deferred" and "Somebody to Love" by Queen. Can't exactly say I mind.
I think dystopia is all about internal conflict. It's personal. It's about looking deep within yourself and figuring out what you want and need and think and how you feel in comparison to society. It's about more about rebellion, but learning what parts of you are dying to break the rules and which parts of you NEED to stay where you are. It's about breaking boundaries and...wow...You know what? I think I'm going to write my next post about this. Thanks. :-D
<3 Gina Blechman