The Poseidon Adventure (1969)
A luxury ocean liner overturns when it has the misfortune of being directly above the location of an undersea earthquake.
Everything About Apocalyptic Writing
by JL Nich
I must begin this article by stating I am a huge apocalyptic reader fan. I’ve read a ton of this subgenre. I watch movies and listen to audibles. I’m not the know all but I enjoy a good Apoc book that tells me how things might END THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT .
The catastrophic event has always intrigued me. How the authors lead into a survivalist book and how people can change or adapt their current normal role to take on the new life of adventure or horror, is astounding. I’ve read articles on this genre and some say it’s a wish-fulfillment to imagine you are part of the 1% remaining and can actually survive or hack the survival. You are fulfilling your dream of being ‘That Guy’. Others say the genre explores our deepest fears. And to be honest, all APoc events are portrayed as horrific. Even the Apoc of Rebel Wilsons Isnt It Romantic has its horror. I can’t think of one time where the event was a good thing. But the dystopian worlds that the events may produce can be quite compelling to try and understand.
I like the challenges being met and the underdog odds of people surviving, like in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). It’s really whatever you make it. Ask Stephen King author of the 1152-page book The Stand (1978). His plot started as an Apoc event and turned into a purely religious fight of good against evil. Ask Margaret Atwood author of The Handmaidens Tale (1985). Her book has a feminist slant and tragic portrayal of society’s future for women. Ask Suzanne Collins author of The Hunger Games (2008). Her series held us captive with suspense as the 13 districts, the remaining society after some cataclysmic event in her world, fought it out to take out the 1%. I’m not averse to the idea.
The Hunger Games
Book 2: Catching Fire – Katniss and Peeta’s unprecedented co-victory in the 74th Hunger Games stirs an uprising.
As a writer of Apoc stories, you need to ask yourself 5 major things.
- What type of Apoc story do you want to write?
- When does your story take place?
- Where does your story take place?
- How did your Main Character (MC) survive?
- How does it end?
What type of Apoc story do you want to write? Oh, the thrills of writing an apocalyptic cataclysmic event. But there are soooo many. A religious event (Second Coming), a Climatic event (Famine, Flood, Earthquake), an Astrological event (Astroids, the moon shifts, a Technology event (Cybernetic warfare or a technology failure of some kind, my iPhone—oh no), a Man-made event (Nuclear, Chemical), or Social Collapse (a vital resource is lost, like Bees), or health-related events like a pandemic (plague). And we didn’t even touch on what I call an Adaptive Event (genetics are altered, Zombies or aliens come to visit). My niece also added the Magical Event (a portal is breached).
The Handmaidens Tale
A near-future New England, in a totalitarian state, known as Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government, women are subjugated in a patriarchal society.
Examples:
Left Behind(2000) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkin, a religious science fiction thriller film where a small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction. Dragon Age Inquisition (2014) in that world of magic a veil holds out the Fade and it is breached allowing spirits and demons to enter in the Mortal Realm. An LBGT favorite is Jean Stewarts Return to Isis (1998) series. Apoc The Dark Crystal, Apoc Tairen Soul series, Wall-E (2008), Planet Of The Apes (1968), Arrival (2016), The Matrix (1999).
Here is an LGBTQIA focused post-apocalyptic book series, I enjoyed years ago. Return to Isis by Jean Stewart a
Return to Isis
Dystopean furturistic book by Jean Stewart that takes the ‘little Amazon’ inside all of us and tells the story how she has to find her way to Freehold to live in happiness.
When (time) does your story take place? What year? You don’t actually have to say this out loud. Perhaps implication is enough. The world-building can answer the issue of when. Back To the Future starts with 1980s music and the MC Marty attends a graffiti-laden high-school. As an LGBT advocate perhaps look at the book called The Three by Meghan O’brien. She immediately sets the tone with her world building dystopeon world. I’ve mentioned world building is a craft in a previous blog post The Glorious Art of World Building, and this sub genre of Speculative Fiction can often demand exceptional world building to take the reader into your WHEN. When does the story takes place should be explained in the work somehow, if not verbally (i.e. radio DJ announcing date and time) the implication of the future versus modern-day versus some unknown time must be shown via world building.
Also, when (before, during, after) does the Apoc event happen? I’m talking are we reading about Before, After, or During the Apoc event? Has the world ENDED, WILL END, or IS ENDING–As we know it.
Here are some examples.
WILL ENDED: (Pre-Apocalyptic) the event must be prevented in Armageddon – an asteroid is going to impact earth, iRobot invasion where Spooner (Will Smith) distrusts robots who serve humanity (rise of machines), The Stand by Stephen King (deadly virus spreads – pandemic), On the Beach where society in Australia will soon die from drifting wind patterns coming from America (nuclear fallout), The Day the Earth Caught Fire looks at Earth thrown out of its orbit around the sun by excessive nuclear testing(nuclear explosions).
IS ENDING: (Apocolyptic) Jericho (nuclear survival TV Show), Battle of Los Angeles and Independence Day (both alien invasions), 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow (both runaway climate changes), World War Z (Zombie pandemic), Technological singularity shown in AI (Alien Invasion).
ENDED – (post-apocalyptic): The Postman (played by Kevin Costner) examines how society and the world begins to put itself back together as US Postal services are being restored, The Book of Eli (played by Denzel Washinton) reveals how belief in something can endure death (nuclear holocaust survival), other examples Enders Game the future relies on children who train to use Earths defense system to defeat alien bugs (alien invasion), The Walking Dead survival in a world of zombies, Reign of Fire (Dragon holocaust), Left Behind (religious holocaust), Air how to survive when a chemical weapons catastrophe has wiped out most of mankind and rendered the air un-breathable, The Hunger Games a future society survival where rich are entertained by the poor who compete in a game to the death, The Matrix where sentient machines have taken over and humans have to survive, The Maze Runner looks at survival testing for kids against aliens, The Road is a look at a father and son who are forced to perpetually search for survival. Escape From New York, Snake Plisskin has to break into the maximum security prison New York Island has become to recover the president.
As the writer, you can take us toward the event or fast forward and tell us about what has already happened after the event. Of course, if you are brave and worthy you would lead us up to an event then take us through and bring us out on the other side. But all three have been done in glorious ways and there are so many great examples.
The Road
Dystopian futuristic look by writer Cormac McCarthy of a movement with father and son down the survivalist road after an unknown cataclysm that has destroyed industrial civilization.
Additional listings of my TBR:
Z-Town by Eden Darry (Zombie invasion)
Love and Chaos by Poppy Woods (the New dystopian America) – An all-woman military? I’ve got to read this.
Smoketown by Tenea D. Johnson has comets, pandemic, magic.
Survival Instincts by May Dawney a post-war dystopian adventure
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, an underground LGBT in a patriarchal society bent on ridding themselves of the ‘others’.
There are hundreds more listed on GoodReads.com when you search for Lesbian apocalyptic or whatever genre you wish to search. Keyword ‘dystopian’ will find more, as well. Not all will be LGBTQIA related since people are allowed to label their own work. But a good deal of them will be exactly what you want to find. My TBR list is never-ending.
This article is really long now and will have a part 2 in discussing
- Where does your story take place?
- How did your Main Character (MC) survive?
- How does it end?
I hope you enjoyed it. Please subscribe for my website if you want to be notified when I’ll be publishing or to get free samples of my work. Also see my PATREON to sign up for monthly sneak peeks
JL Nich, SFF Author
jlnichauthor.com
