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I need ideas
See, I'm currently writing a zombie story, and I don't want it to be too cliché. I need interesting ideas of what to do with the plot and storyline so it can be different than the rest.
Here are the main details of the story: In the beginning, Ace Archer, the main character and a true Texan, tells the readers about when he first realizes that his town has been taken over by zombies. Then, he tells how he meets Dana Gabes. I'm only 3 pages into it so far, and that's basically all that's happened, but I need something different to write so it won't be to similar to the Left 4 Dead game, or the Walking Dead tv show (which I am a huge fan of and if there are any RPers out there I'd like to do an RP with that). But anyways, any ideas??? |
Zombies aren't a strong point of mine, to be perfectly honest, but you're going to want to have a clear idea how you can beat these zombies and how the zombies came to be. Was the water supply polluted and therefore when people were tending to the cemetery the water they used on the grass caused the bad nutrients to be absorbed by the bodies? Or was there a disease outbreak which caused regular citizens to become zombie-like creatures? Or perhaps some big factory was cutting corners and dumping radioactive waste which reacted with the bodies in the cemetery and caused the ground to become sour? Whatever it is that you've picked, you need to elaborate on that and make sure you plan out every little detail, that way you know where to go with this. After you know what caused the zombie outbreak, you need to think about how you want it to end. Are they easy to kill or difficult? Can you just use any old weapon or does it need to be specialised to combat these creatures (if it does have to be specialised you should probably encounter some character along the way that knows the ins and outs of this outbreak, simply so they can relay all this information to the reader and it not seem like your main character knows everything yet does nothing)? You also need to plan out if you want it to be mindless killing and death or if you want it to be a fight for survival, also who you want to die and who you want to survive.
I didn't really do a good job of coming up with ideas, mainly because I feel that writing should be a personal experience and done to your tastes. :/ |
I've decided to make the zombies mutated citizens. The readers/characters don't know what the disease is but I've decided on an animal that bit a human with a mutated form of rabies and it slowly graduated as the human scratched others until it became a zombie virus. And that way, I can have different types of zombies. Some will just be humans who need to kill and can still communicate and manipulate people, some will be plain zombies who just kill, can't talk, and can be easily taken out with a bullet to the head. I need settings in the story, too. The story is in Houston, Texas right now so I need more places (made-up ones) to use. So have any name suggestions and/or setting ideas? Also, I need a science-y sounding name for the disease. The plain version is Ice Fever because the patients get hypothermia when they get it first. But I can't decide on a real formal name.
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Hm, I'm into zombies, but I'm also into the zombie cliche, so I'm not much help with what you're looking for.
My sister had the idea of (in the walking dead universe) just holing yourself up in a high-rise (blocking off the lower levels) and finding a way to wear out the zombies below -- I don't think the idea of the survivor(s) successfully blocking off the zombies and having to live waiting and watching has been used yet, but then again, that might be too boring. |
Here is an actual paragraph from my story. A little critiquing would be nice.
I began unlocking the second lock when I heard a small clicking noise. I turned the lock back closed and stared through at the hallway through the peephole. There was another click as a man, one I'd never seen before, walked down the hallway in full Southern gear. He had on the boots with the spurs, a pair of dark wash jeans, a leather jacket and an all-original black cowboy hat. Gun in his hand as he walked the hall like he owned it. A drifter walked at him, and without a glance he hit it with the barrel of his shotgun. Knocked the thing's head halfway backward. It kept comin', limpin' along with blood gushin' out of its green body and a twisted, half-eaten leg. |
When I write a story or some such thing, I always use http://nine.frenchboys.net/faq.php, a genorator for names, heros, villans, places, titles, and, yes, plots. It seems to be down right now though. Still, its a good tab to keep open when typing.
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Since this thread is helping you create your own story and edit your writing, I've moved it over to the Lit Spot's Writing Discussion forum. :yes:
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Try making A story about something you like!
Anyone can do this because they're writing about things they like and it's their idea. So make a story bord |
Let's start with the basic common knowledge of what zombies are. Zombies are once-people who have since turned cannibal with limited invulnerability, infecting any that they are in contact with, transmitted through blood or saliva. The commonly thought way of destroying them would be to chop their heads off and smashing their brain matter. Typical zombies are slow with a simple mind, but recent interpretation have them become faster and more cunning. You can set the tale with a fresh start by making certain changes or additions to the zombie folklore (but please don't make them sparkle). You said that you have different versions of zombies, some even retaining the same level of intelligence as their pre-zombie state. That's great! Would you be interested in having a zombie in the team for a while? A chapter or two could involve the protagonists meeting one of the smarter zombies, who saves them from the main herd if only to keep them himself as emergency rations. Or a zombie who used to be an avid How-To-Kill Zombie nerd, still out killing the mindless type of zombies to live his post-apocalyptic fantasy (but still eats people himself). Do the zombies eventually die out from deterioration/food deprivation (aka are they immortal?) and if not, do they turn on each other due to their varying intelligence and self awareness?
As for the setting, I guess the best thing is to either research on potential locations, or go set it in places you're more familiar with. You've already set it in Texas, a real life location, so researching on real cities or nearby states would be beneficial. Having made-up cities would seem kind of weird if a Texan reads your novel, after all. Unless you intend on them going to make-shift towns and post-zombie made cities, in which fake names would be fine. Try putting some in-joke reference to the names. Fat Boy and Little Man farm, a sly nod to the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in a chapter where an entire city is destroyed. An ironically named Valhalla motel, in which a zombie attack occurred. Something too sci-fi sounding would lessen the credibility of your story. Nobody is going to name their city Florimin Amenthyst in the middle of the USA during the outbreak. Go for neutral, almost boring sounding (but wry) names, usually based on nature or some AngloSaxon name. Perhaps Greenfield as a nuclear plant? Ashen Avenue? Smither-George Town? Little Louisiana? I like the idea of them running away from the city, running to the Amish towns (thinking that it's safer/less zombie infested), then to abandoned places like farms and factories, before heading to major cities again for supplies AND technology to ward off zombies while communicating with other survivors. Also, being set in Texas, will they try to go North to Canada, or South to Mexico? What will they be driving? |
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