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May 19, 2013, 1:58pm

Post-Apocalyptic Forums :: Post-Apocalyptic Media :: Books :: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic feel

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Topic: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic feel (Read 458 times)

elizabethfour
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How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic feel
« Thread Started on Jul 7, 2012, 6:23pm »

I am writing a book have been for a few years now. It takes place after an apocalypse and sometimes I find it a little difficult to keep my settings destroyed. I obviously would never want to sleep in a burnt out shell of a car but it is a possibility for this setting so I was just curious how you keep it bad if that makes since. Maybe keep some pictures handy of things like Japan after world war two or Chernobyl? Not sure. Thanks.

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attagirl
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #1 on Jul 15, 2012, 6:41am »

Good question, heh!

I personally find that channeling my own personal experiences in the right direction helps

Sure I've never been to Chernobyl but I've been inside a few dilapidated buildings in my life - who hasn't? I'm a great believer in writers describing their own experiences, so in this respect, IMHO, you don't need to sleep in a burnt-out car: a night spent in a tent by a camp fire complete with bitter cold, stench, utter discomfort and mosquitoes can make the scene ring perfectly true as long as you concentrate on the emotions and change a few details.

Reading eyewitnesses' stories definitely helps, but nothing beats describing the moments of one's own misery

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kriegshund6
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #2 on Feb 17, 2013, 9:56pm »

One thing that I've done that really helps is joining the military. Obviously, this isn't something that should be done lightly and I didn't just do it to write, but it has really helped. There's something about lying on the cold ground in full kit behind a machine gun waiting for something to happen, walking for miles carrying all your possessions and living solely off of the stuff in your bag.
So, while I wouldn't recommend joining the military on a whim, it could be helpful. A much more viable option, however, would be to go talk to some veterans. If you demonstrate a genuine interest and behave respectfully, they can be, for the most part, pretty forth coming about their experiences.

Another option that I have also found helpful is constructing 3-D models of the locations and characters in your story. For a visual person like myself, it really helps keep things in perspective.

Food for thought.

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workquick
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #3 on Feb 21, 2013, 2:58am »

Go camping primitive style. Take as little as possible with you and stay two weeks while writing on your laptop. I wrote my first novel. 'Hard Road' while camping on WMA land next to the Broad River in the foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stayed the months of February and March. Froze my tail off at times, but nothing like the sound of water flowing, trees all around and solitude to put you in the mood to write.

Terry

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Amadeus B.
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #4 on Feb 21, 2013, 3:29pm »

I usually, when I find the time, simply visit an old abandoned prison complex in the local city. Made myself a nice spot there and simply... let go of the imagination. Though, it helps if you think of things that you waste these days, a crude example could be water, and imagine what would be if that would be heavily limited or even taken away.

It's even good to rely on old experiences. You surely went on a walk, a long walk up a mountain or something, the thirst that acompanied you and so on. Simply remember such memories and it'll go kicking.

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crumblywriter
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #5 on Mar 10, 2013, 10:38pm »

I built a pretty complex model for how the world ends, but by-and-large most of the action in my story takes place in-doors. The destruction that's left is mainly in terms of collapsed houses, screwed up roads, abandoned vehicles and impassible streets. Oh yeah, and the dead lying everywhere! But once they get inside, and remove the bodies, everything is largely intact.

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matov
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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #6 on Mar 11, 2013, 11:44am »

Personally I would say to not waste to much time on getting every little 'technical' detail right. To much PA fiction turns into gun/survivalist porn in which the writers dedicate page after page to details which add nothing to the story flow itself.

Look for small things. So for example in a SHTF situation the reality would be, especially in a lot of work places and so on, that they would probably be abandoned long before things really go wrong so any characters going into say an old office block might only notice things like dead pot-plants as any sort of obvious signs that things had gone very wrong.

My own advice is to focus on the characters and how they relate to those around them rather than going into explicit details about what weapons they are carrying or similar. A gun is a gun at the end of the day and ultimately who ever can pull the trigger the fastest tends to 'win'.

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Re: How do u writers get in2 the post apocalyptic
« Reply #7 on Mar 13, 2013, 6:03am »

I just like to think. If there is an activity that you do which helps your mind wonder then do that and just let it wonder until you stumble onto something you think you could write about.

I personally find driving a good one (i'm obviously also paying attention to the road, lol), and when trying to get to sleep at night. Just think of a situation, think of how the world could have gotten that way, or think of a real-life problem and how that could escalate into something bigger and how life would actually be after that.

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