My story idea. - Writers Forum

ameilie · 11-17-2007, 04:56 PM

I am going to attempt to write a story about the collapse of modern society, and the only survivors are teenagers. Sounds a little biased, but I think it could be a good book.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Does anyone know any good sites for character sheets??

Malone · 11-17-2007, 05:37 PM

Sounds a little Red Dawnish. Could be cool, though. I'd just play around with sex and drugs and violence and whatever else teenages like, and maybe show how impulses ultimately win over reason and lead to disaster.
I don't know what a character sheet is, but if it's outlines of characters, just make up your own.

Amara-J · 11-17-2007, 06:06 PM

It's an idea that's been done quite often, but not a grand cliche. Sounds good as a starter idea. Have you read books in the same vein, by the way? Sometimes, a little offhand reference - but not plagarism - can help.

Lord of the Flies (William Golding) is something like that, except that the characters are pre-teen boys and it's set on a tropical island. Plenty of violence and mercenary behavior for your reference; the collapse of civilized society is a major theme.

I suppose it does depend on which angle you're trying to tackle, and what roles will said teenagers play in the story. Happy writing!

WriterDude · 11-17-2007, 07:09 PM

Sounds Children Of The Corn gone world-wide to me, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I want to hear more of the story, though. Why just teenagers? Why did society collapse? And what does society collapsing have to do with only teenagers surviving? I would say this could a decent setting if you can pull it off and make it a bit realistic, but it's not enough for a story on it's own. Maybe if you let the story build up to a point where society collapses and only teenagers survive, but what then? That should be the start, not ending.

Azram · 11-17-2007, 07:27 PM

Wasn't there a TV series about the exact same theme?
I believe it was called ''Tribe'' or something like that, and it was set in a world where every single adult died from a very fatal (obviously) epidemic. The kids joined up into gangs and scavanged the fallen cities for supplies.
They all wore idiotic face paints, and had hormone driven dramas.
Sound familiar to anyone?

Azram · 11-17-2007, 07:30 PM

Found an article about it on Wiki, if anyone wants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tribe_%28TV_series%29

WriterDude · 11-18-2007, 04:13 AM

The Tribe? Yeah, I've seen a few episodes. It's not that bad, although not exactly my favourite series. But just because the idea has been used before, it doesn't mean it can't be used again. The important part is to make it your own, instead of just ripping off some other idea.

ameilie · 11-18-2007, 11:24 AM

I've already started it, and it begins one week after society collapses. The people in my story try to make a new society not far from the original city. The reason the adult society collapsed was as a result of a cult that believed they were sent from God to purge the Earth from sin, and that the adults were those that carried that sin. They were all adults themselves, and they ended up killing themselves to finish the job.

My main character Jaiden, has just met up with two brothers on the river bank after running for a week away from her town. I'm already building on some sexual tension between Jaiden and the younger brother (Donovan).

Also, could anyone give me any good ideas on how to inject sexuality into the story? I want to make it a bit darker, and since I'm rather young, I'm not sure how to do so without it seeming tacky/untasteful.

Malone · 11-18-2007, 11:31 AM

Just be tacky/untasteful in the first draft and see if it works. If not, rework/search for new ideas. Since this is about teenages, and you're young, seems like what you would want to write would fit what the teenages would want to do sexually.
And how does the cult kill the adults who aren't members of their group? I have a hard time believing that every adult on earth would join the same religion, or that a single group could actually find and murder all the adults. A biological weapon or some kind of nuclear thing is more believable, but that would kill the kids too. Maybe you can add some random adults who have survived that the teens come across throughout the story. I don't know. Good luck.

Destroyer · 11-19-2007, 08:38 AM

Never could stand the Tribe, even when I was the age it was made for.

I agree wih Malone. You'd find it hard to come up wth an explanation.

codychick411 · 11-19-2007, 06:56 PM

In a short I wrote years ago about zombies (my favorite things on the planet! I love you G.R) I changed it up a bit by using a virus that infected adults and turned them into vampire/zombies but did little more than give younger people a stomach ache... maybe something like that (minus the vampire/zombies) could be a better explaination for the world wide deaths of adults and the survival of teens or younger. A pandemic like that would be more realistic (not that it's a super realistic pandemic in itself) than a cult.

ameilie · 11-19-2007, 09:02 PM

The issue of the adults death will be revealed more and more throughout the story. It was briefly touched on in the very beginning, but there will be more explaination. I have a very rough idea about the whole "cult" thing, which I will be looking into more.

Destroyer · 11-20-2007, 05:51 AM

To be honest you're going to have a hard time coming up with a valid explanation.