October 25, 2021-There are only a few more days to take advantage of our writing prompt challenges this month! I hope that if you’ve been participating, you’re enjoying the process, learning a lot about who you are as an author, and stretching yourself outside of your limits.
Let’s talk about today’s challenge! Here are the instructions, and then we’ll get into the definition and types of dystopias.
Write a 2,000-word short story using the photo above. Tell it from the fourth-person narrative and use all five senses.
Ouch, this is a tough one! Let’s get into some definitions:
Fourth-person narrative: The term is also sometimes used for the category of indefinite or generic referents, which work like one in English phrases. For example, “One should be prepared.” It’s essentially a non-specific third person. One, someone, somebody, anyone, anybody, oneself, one’s.
Here’s my take on fourth person narrative for this prompt: One could only imagine what happened here; there is destruction everywhere, complete devastation, and absolute suffering. Someone or something is responsible for this atrocity against humanity.
Dystopia: An imaginary place where the state of being is appalling and/or oppressive. The word dystopia comes from Greek root words that mean “bad place.” The opposite of utopia.
Types of Dystopia:
- Bureaucratic control-Relentless government rules and regulations.
- Corporate control-Large corporation(s) control people through the media or products.
- Religious control-An ideology enforced by the government controls society’s beliefs.
- Technological control– Science, robots, or computers control society and the people that live there.
A FABULOUS example of a dystopian society that is under technological control is our very own Paul Moscarella’s Machinia available here: Machinia : Moscarella, Paul A., Goubar, Alex: Amazon.ca: Books
Happy writing, and as always, feel free to submit your work for consideration to pandapublishing8@gmail.com