antagonist<\/a>\u00a0is meant to, well, antagonise. He\u2019s meant to stand in the heroes\u2019 way and make things harder. Sometimes there\u2019s a chase one way or the other.<\/p>\nMany times the antagonist has a direct part in the apocalypse that ended the world, and other times the antagonist simply opposes the heroes in their journey and makes things as hard as possible for them along the way.<\/p>\n
Remember to think of what happens when the protagonists and antagonists cross paths. They can interact and meet several times throughout the story, but keep the big showdown for the end.<\/p>\n
What happens when the heroes finally reach the antagonist? Does he have something they need to save the world, for example, or does getting the antagonist out of the way mean anything for the heroes\u2019 journey?<\/p>\n
5. Outlining Your Epic<\/h2>\n
There are a few lucky authors who don\u2019t outline their stories at all. But outlining is a technique used by most writers and journalists for a reason; it allows you the gift of foresight, and makes it easier to make large-scale changes to your story. You\u2019ll spot holes in your own plot sooner this way, and think of clever turns quicker when you see it at a glance.<\/p>\n
My way of outlining is writing something similar to a synopsis first. How would I describe the story to someone else \u2013 a friend or editor \u2013 in just a few sentences? From there, I go on to outlining the story in more detail and outline important plot points, many times in a stream-of-consciousness order that I\u2019ll go back and look at later.<\/p>\n
Your way of outlining might look a little different. The important things are that\u00a0you record important plot points<\/strong>,\u00a0you have at least an idea of how your story progresses<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0you can tell how your story begins or ends.<\/strong><\/p>\n6. Storyboarding for Fiction<\/h2>\n
Storyboarding is an outlining technique that\u2019s usually employed for movies, video games and comic books, but it\u2019s something that can be especially useful when you\u2019re writing a short story or an epic. Write down the core plot points \u2013 or draw them, or find pictures on the internet that match; put these together side-by-side in the necessary order.<\/p>\n
You can choose to do this in the old fashioned way \u2013 though having a thousand photo\u2019s arranged side-by-side in your apartment next to your desk might just look a little, well, serial-killer like. We prefer doing this electronically. Storyboarding is an extremely powerful tool when you\u2019re composing fiction, especially when you combine it with thorough outlining.<\/p>\n
An excellent example of colourful storyboarding is the epic \u201cHeroes\u201d<\/strong>. Another example that\u2019s a personal favourite, though not necessarily a great example of apocalypse fiction, is \u201cMax Payne\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0the video game.<\/p>\n7. The Hero’s Journey and the Big Showdown<\/h2>\n
The most important elements to apocalypse fiction are:<\/p>\n
\n- The actual apocalypse<\/strong><\/li>\n
- The heroes and antagonists<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Their journey<\/strong><\/li>\n
- The conflicts they face, both external and internal<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Any other enemies \u2013 flying spiders, natural disasters, a mystery to solve…<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are other elements \u2013 these are just the core. There might be groups or isolation, there might be darkness or light, there could be natural disasters or internal battles. How you spin the story of your journey is entirely up to you. That\u2019s where you get to have a lot of fun. It\u2019s like playing \u201cSim City\u201d and pressing the hurricane button, except your options are literally endless.<\/p>\n
Of course, the journey means nothing if it doesn\u2019t come down to something. What\u2019s the point of the journey if it doesn\u2019t have an end? \u00a0There is usually a conclusion of the journey, or a large-scale fight or showdown between the heroes and the antagonist.<\/p>\n
Sometimes there is sacrifice involved of some of the members of the group, often self-sacrifice for the sake of the others. Think of stories like \u201cThe Myst\u201d and, once again, \u201cThe Stand\u201d. Stephen King gave it yet another try by writing \u201cCell\u201d: This time, a technological apocalypse.<\/p>\n
8. The Elements of Your Apocalypse: Endless<\/h2>\n
There are plenty of subgenres and sub-elements that can form part of apocalyptic fiction. War; nuclear disasters; huge, killer bugs; fear of the dark or isolation; survivalist-elements; natural disasters and long journeys. \u00a0There are no rules that say it can\u2019t be a short story, and there are no rules that say it can\u2019t be a 1, 000 page epic tale.<\/p>\n
You can set your story before or during the events of the ending of the world, or you can set your story\u00a0after<\/em>\u00a0the apocalypse to explain how humanity (or a select group) has been recovering after the events after the end of the world.<\/p>\nSometimes there are zombies and other creatures, other times there are only human elements to the story. Again, there are rough guidelines for what constitutes apocalyptic fiction, but what you really do with the story is entirely up to you in the end, as long as your goal is excellent storytelling.<\/p>\n
9. Suggested Fiction for Research<\/h2>\n
In any genre of fiction, it\u2019s recommended that you do your research before you sit down to write. This helps you to get a proper grip on the genre in preparation, and you\u2019ll quickly see what kind of stories you like and which stories really got on your nerves \u2013 and why.<\/p>\n
This is developed skill. A kind of\u00a0feel for it\u00a0<\/em>that you develop as a writer or journalist. You can only get this through practice: Writing a lot of stuff and reading a lot of stuff. There are thousands of examples when it comes to what you should be reading, but here\u2019s a rough guide of some good starting points \u2013 of course, your list will likely end up looking different.<\/p>\nBooks & Short Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The Road\u00a0<\/strong>by Cormac McCarthy<\/li>\n
- Left Behind<\/strong>-series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins<\/li>\n
- The Stand\u00a0<\/strong>by Stephen King<\/li>\n
- Cell\u00a0<\/strong>by Stephen King<\/li>\n
- War of the Worlds\u00a0<\/strong>by HG Wells<\/li>\n
- World War Z\u00a0<\/strong>by Max Brooks<\/li>\n
- I Am Legend\u00a0<\/strong>by Richard Matheson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Movies & TV Shows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- This is the End (2013)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Terminator (1984)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- End of Days (1999)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[31,15],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}