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@anyone
So I’m trying to write a dystopian novel. I have characters, some vague plot ideas, but no world. I need some sort of evil government, but everything I think of is either really lame, overly ridiculous, or 2020 on steroids. I’m honestly a terrible worldbuilder.😂 Any tips, whether on dystopian worlds, or just worldbuilding in general, would be welcome.
The squirrels are collecting more nuts than usual this winter. I've already lost 3 relatives.
I’ll try to be of help!
I write post-dystopia. Like after such government fails and the world has been in dilapidated disorder for a long time. It’s kinda similar lol
It sounds like you’re concerned it isn’t believable. What I would say is use history as your guide. There are evil governments, like Hitler’s dictatorship, but there are far more conflicts that happen between normal countries. Anything can be blown into a dystopia, because our world is always trying to stay in balance. For instance, a current problem is border control. It doesn’t matter what your politics are, you can make this issue into a dystopia. You don’t need a evil government, just characters who earnestly want a better life in terrible circumstances.
When I’m worldbuilding, I basically just ask myself the question why over and other again, and try to come up with something that could happen in a fictional world. So, as a example for the above idea:
Why is there conflict?
One country is prosperous, the other is not.
Why is one country more prosperous?
because it exploited the weaker country.
Why did it exploit the weaker country?
The two countries have been long time rivals, once ruled each by two brothers. Each brother inherited a portion of land, but country 1 (Which is now weak) became power hungry, and tried to take more after the fathers death. Country 2 never had the strength to rebel, and lost land. Later, country 1’s leader fell, and without a heir, the country was left in confusion. Country 2’s new young leader seizes the opportunity to seek revenge for his sick Father, who he is ruling in place of. Quickly, Country two is taken over, and their people are enslaved for labor. The riches of the mainland grow, and the colonies for the slave become drained of all prosperity. Despite all the land being now owned by the single ruler, the border is kept to keep the wealthy separate from the poor. As of lately, some of the poor have been trying to run the border, and take food and recourses from the wealthy. Rebellions are stirring.
Ok so I know it might not make sense how I came up with that. But the last portion was a effort to make a villain who can have multiple motivations, and a chance to change. Evil for the sake of Evil can be done, but there isn’t much in life that’s black and white. Even if the current leader to this country is the villain for the entire book, he has multiple motivations, and he could change. Which makes him seem more real. Most of us in life have had a chance to change before.
When you ask yourself a why question, you should rarely use a “because he’s evil” or “because he’s good” there’s a deeper reason for almost any behavior, whether it be the place you were raised, what you were taught in school, or a traumatizing experience.
For picking main characters in this instance, I would pick what creates the most conflict. It might be hard to resolve, but that’s how we grow as writers lol. So I think I’d go with a border patrol agent from the wealthy districts, and a slave from the poorer districts. Maybe a soldier too?
I’ve heard people say that found family works best when all the mc’s are different, and I think those seem different enough in characteristics at least.
Now that there is a backstory for the way things became, you can set it immediately afterwards, or like 50 years, whatever works best. This about how you want it to look, and how long it takes to reach that place. Are there fires? Old burnt buildings? Was it fast destruction and people are still adjusting, or has society been eroding slowly for hundreds of years, and do they know no different?
When you are worldbuilding, I think it’s important to leave artifacts of the history and how long things have been around. Perhaps there is a ancient city hall building with bats living in it. Do the people know what a city hall is? Is it trashed, or pristine? When people pass by it, do they look down in despair, or do they know no different, as it looks just like the rest of the ruins? Perhaps some monuments are only meaningful to certain characters. Not everyone should feel the same way about things that have happened, or have all the same information.
Oh and I’m not saying you should use the idea I came up with XD I just wanted to provide an example of a current conflict turned into a dystopia. You can use anything they talk about in the news really.
Hope maybe that helped you!
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Oh, and the two brothers inheritance conflict came from history. Goodness, was it roman history? I was watching some video with my dad about it lol.
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Ugh I posted something long and it didn’t work XD
Min has way more experience with dystopia, so listen to her. But I’m working on a dreampunk/fantasy dystopia, so I have a feeling for the genre.
Dystopias are all about taking a philosophy or point of worry in the modern day, and running with it as far as you can in a hypothetical scenario. It’s interesting to imagine how the delicate balance of society can change, especially at the hands of humans.
For example, Fahrenheit 451 is about how our attention spans and capacity for poetry is disappearing. In that world, books are banned and everyone’s house walls are made from tv screens.
What elements of our modern world can radically influence things down the road? Common themes include technology, communism, and global warming. But you can just as easily exaggerate a human weakness, like laziness or nostalgia.
If you want to have complex worldbuilding, it usually has to have a concept behind it that ties everything together. That might be a classic tech-took-over-the-world scenario. Once you have a hypothetical in place, you can create history for why things are this way. (I.e. People were too confident in their own intelligence and wanted to outdo each other, similar to the race to space, but their inventions accomplished too much.)
Hope this helps 🙃
“Everything is a mountain”
I feel like I should have some long drawn out post since one of my first for real novels was dystopian, but it seriously needs a lot of work, so I only have one short piece of advice for you. 😉
Don’t limit your scope. A lot of times dystopia takes place in a world/country similar to America, right? Don’t tie yourself down to that idea. Corrupt governments can happen anywhere. So instead of forming your country based off of America, maybe try a different country. Give it tropical, Irish, Middle Eastern, or North Pole vibes. If you pick a different location/culture to base yours off of, you’ll give yourself a lot more room to explore the possibilities.
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
I’m so honored you consider me experienced lol
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
@everyone
I promise I didn’t ghost this topic. I’ve just been too tired and brain dead for worldbuilding. (It’s my fault. I was up past two reading again.) I’ll probably respond tomorrow or the day after. 🙂
The squirrels are collecting more nuts than usual this winter. I've already lost 3 relatives.
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