Today I’m answering a question from Lydia, who is looking for advice on writing an unforgettable dystopian novel.

It’s a good question, and shockingly, one we’ve never talked about on Go Teen Writers yet. Before I dive into it, though, I want to say that there is no one way, or right way, to write any novel. Sure, there are genre expectations, which are super important in a formula romance, but dystopian is one of those wild genres where just about anything goes. You need compelling characters and an engaging story, and there are a few genre conventions to mention, but the rest is up to you.

Dystopian stories are powerful because they are naturally filled with conflict, which keeps readers turning the pages. Sadly, most humans are pessimistic, which makes it easier for readers to believe that the future will be a mess. Besides, earth’s history is filled with enough disaster and horror to make a dystopian future unsurprising, if not expected. I have written one dystopian trilogy (The Safe Lands) and am currently working on Hunger, the second book in the Thirst Duology. In Hunger we will get to experience the events that will set off the future Safe Lands dystopian. That said, I don’t know everything there is to know about this genre. The dystopian genre is complex and varied, and when I consider how many books are part of this genre, I know that what I have read doesn’t even scratch the surface.

In my opinion, I feel like there are two main forms of dystopian. First, there is the world in which the main character is oblivious to any problems, like in The Giver by Lois Lowry. This is life, and life is good. Isn’t it? Then he finds out through the course of the story that there is a much better way to live and he decides to fight for it. Second, there is the world that is awful and everyone knows it. It could be that there is a controlling group that is making things hard on another group, like in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, or it could be a world in which it seems there is nothing to be done, like in The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In a book like this, either the main character will fight to take down those in power, or he is simply trying to survive.

So this is one important part of a dystopian novel that you need to decide. Is there going to be a process of discovery? Is there a mystery to solve? Or is the ugly truth already known by all and your character is simply trying to survive or needs to depose those in power so that good can triumph?

Dystopian is one genre where you, as the author, get to make a point with your story. It’s part of the genre. So, what do you want to say? What about today’s world makes you angry? What present-day concerns exist in our world? What caution do you want to give humanity about where we might end up if we stay on this present course? Once you’ve answered those questions, then you need to find a way to express all of that through the journey and actions and personhood of your main character. The plot should continually push your character toward some kind of looming catastrophe.

Oddly enough, that is not at all how I came to write Captives. I came at it from a different direction. Captives was intended to be a fantasy novel with a plague. When I presented the concept to my editor, however, it was the height of the dystopian The Hunger Games craze, and my publisher said they’d buy it if I wrote it as a dystopian. So, I took my fantasy idea and mashed it with the idea of a loose retelling of the Babylonian Exile in the Bible, where Daniel and all his young friends were made to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. My plan was this: The teenagers are taken captive into the Babylonian storyworld, and they want to get out.

That’s not enough for a story, and because I chose four points of view, I was able to make the story much more complex. One of the brothers wanted to get his people out. The other brother wanted to join this amazing new world. And the third brother wanted to help the people of this crazy world find a cure for the deadly disease that was slowing destroying them. So, I had conflict with teens taken captive, who wanted to get away. Then I added more conflict by giving different teens different outlooks on the situation and therefore different motivations.

That said, while you can start with questions about what you want to say with your dystopian, you can also start in the future with how things are, then work your way backwards, asking questions about how the world came to be this way. How did they get here? From this vantage, you might ask yourself what is different or unfair about this dystopian world? What truth will the main character discover? What is the main character fighting for? Why does it matter to fight? What are you (the author) trying to say about how society got here?

Since themes are a big part of the dystopian genre. There are certain themes I’ve seen lots in this genre, like dictatorships, control over others, the loss of individualism, conformity, loss of freedom, oppression, ignorance, hedonism, destruction, disaster, inequality, science gone too far. This list is by no means exhaustive, and as I said from the start, you make the rules with this genre. Here is a small list of themes with examples for further study. Many of these books could fall into more than one category, but I’ve placed them where I felt they fit best. Please feel free to add more examples in the comments. Also, I have not read all of these titles and in no way endorse them all.

Controlling entity rise to power: Legend by Marie Lu, 1984 by George Orwell, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Iron Heel by Jack London, Divergent by Veronica Roth, A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes, V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, Anthem by Ayn Rand.

Technology takeover (or tech world): Feed by M.T. Anderson, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, I Robot by Isaac Asimov, The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson. The Terminator movies would fall into this category as well.

Inequality of class: Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler, The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker, Matched by Allie Condie.

Invasion: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.

War disaster: The Postman by David Brin, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.

Nuclear disaster: City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.

Environmental/overuse of natural resources: Aquifer by Jonathan Friesen, The Scavengers by Michael Perry, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, The Fog Diver by Joel Ross.

Animals gone extinct: The Last Wild by Piers Torday.

Population problems or iniquity or age, gender, or race: Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Gone by Michael Grant, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Children of Men by P. D. James, the movie Logan’s Run.

Disease: The Stand by Stephen King, World War Z by Max Brooks, Captives by Jill Williamson.

Experiments or science trying to fix things and went too far: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Anomaly by Krista McGee.

Religious persecution: Swipe by Evan Angler, Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee, Counted Worthy by Leah E. Good.

Monsters: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, World War Z by Max Brooks, Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz.

Making pleasure a priority: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Captives by Jill Williamson.

False Utopia: The Giver by Lois Lowry, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Worldbuilding

The last thing I want to focus on with the dystopian genre is that strong worldbuilding is really important. The setting must evoke emotion. The reader needs to feel that this place isn’t right. And that looks different depending on what kind of world.

In Cormack McCarthy’s The Road, the reader never discovers what happened to the world. We just follow the characters in a desolate future where people are mostly alone and live off whatever they find wherever they find it. And when two people come upon one another, there is desperate fear because both want to survive and don’t know if they can trust this stranger. In this book, the worldbuilding is bleak. A deserted San Francisco in one part, if I remember right. City streets, empty and overgrown with weeds. People dirty, wearing whatever they find. Things like that.

Yet in a book like my Captives, I wanted to build a wealthy, self-serving, bustling futuristic city, and that took a lot of research and imagination. I tried to advance technology a great deal (and still am not sure I succeeded). Implants seemed the most logical way to go since we were already at the point of using thin, handheld devices like cell phones and iPads. I also changed the way people spoke—gave them slang for their own time. The dystopian book closest to the same theme of Captives that I’ve read was Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and it too used a futuristic slang and technology, though it was written in 1931.

For inspiration on setting and plot, you can use the horrors of the past to inspire and inform your storyworld. Look to wars, genocides, natural disasters, diseases, dictatorships. For futuristic technology, look up things like “phones of the future” or “futuristic cars.” You can use what engineers are working on to spark your imagination. Here is a little dystopian worldbuilding checklist to help you:

Dystopain Worldbuilding Checklist
-Is there a government? What’s it like?
-How does that different government change how people live?
-How is the environment different from today?
-How does that different environment change how people live?
-How is technology different?
-How does that different technology change how people live?
-What does society value?
-How do those values affect other areas of life, work, education, entertainment, etc?
-What does a typical day in the life of your character look like?
-What does your character fear about the world he or she lives in?
-What does your character want in life that the world is keeping from becoming a reality?

If you’re looking to write a young adult or middle grade dystopian, click here to check out this Common Sense Media link that has tons of dystopian books—many I’ve never heard of before. I’m thinking I need to add many of these to my growing classroom library.

Questions or Comments?

Do you have any dystopian questions?
Any books to add to my above list?
What are some of your favorite dystopian novels?