Urban Druid writing contest: What's behind the dark-side fiction?
While upbeat stories are never out of style, the buying power fueled by teen angst has lead to the popularity of dystopian themed books and films 鈥� from "The Hunger Games" to the latest social media hit 鈥淯rban聽Druid鈥� to the upcoming Batman film, and even some new fiction writing contests.
鈥淭he Hunger Games really did crystalize a moment in time that captures the teen angst that develops,鈥� said Lori Benton, group publisher for the trade division at Scholastic. 鈥淭here are so many themes in the literature that teens relate to the social dynamics of middle school, leaving their parents as they become young adults. The onset of teenage angst is huge. The world is looking like such a rosie place.鈥�
Ms. Benton added that for adults the dystopian theme may be on the rise because, 鈥淚t can be a little bit indicative of the free-floating anxiety that鈥檚 out there in the world.鈥�
While many people would take that sort of anxiety as a聽 cue to watch the film 鈥�Happy Feet鈥� one more time, others choose instead to wallow in the dystopia for a while.
鈥溾�澛爄s a very visual expression that is becoming a popular wallow on social media. The image is that of a black and white, grainy image of a person in a gas mask and plasticine rain poncho, with that looks like a steampunk staff and a bowl helmet with long, slender horns protruding off to the sides.
That image is the checkered flag dropping on the start date for posting submissions for the聽Secure Contain Protect (SCP) Foundation, a tongue-in-cheek free Wiki site, gears-up for a new Dystopian Writing Contest.聽聽The SCP聽聽has no entry fee, is open to members and begins聽Nov. 14, online only.
鈥淔or reference, dystopia is defined by Google as "an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one," the SCP website states as part of its contest rules page.聽
SCP by it鈥檚 own description is a 鈥渃ollaborative urban fantasy writing website.鈥�
Even as Doctor Who Season Eight takes classic sci-fi fans on an intergalactic tour of various dystopian themed episodes, funny time lords appear to be more of an anomaly than de rigueur.
As evidenced by books, films, video games, and writing contests, the focus seems to be on less hopeful characters, more bleak backdrops and outcomes than the good doctor usually offers.
The website devotes a scattershot listing of music, videos, television and film things dystopian. 聽Frankly, it would be faster to list video games not done in a dystopian theme than to run the gambit from Bioshock to Infamous and Sunset Overdrive.聽
There's also a specific emerging dystopian genre known as "Cli-Fi," which is science fiction focused on global climate change.聽
鈥淥ver the past decade, more and more writers have begun to set their novels and short stories in worlds, not unlike our own, where the Earth's systems are noticeably off-kilter,鈥� reports Angela Evancie for NPR.
That鈥檚 because 鈥渨hen novelists tackle climate change in their writing, they reach people in a way that scientists can't,鈥� says NPR.
"You know, scientists and other people are trying to get their message across about various aspects of the climate change issue," Judith Curry, professor and chair of聽Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, tells NPR. "And it seems like fiction is an untapped way of doing this 鈥� a way of smuggling some serious topics into the consciousness" of readers who may not be following the science.
Readers on sites like spend a lot of time discussing the cultural obsession with 鈥渄ystopian and doomsday plot lines.鈥澛�
聽鈥淚 suppose Dystopia tales, along with their cousins, disaster tales, (plane crash, sinking ship, earthquake, etc.) are great ways to take your average person and put them under the pump, becoming either hero or villain,鈥� posted Adam, a Good Reads member in a lengthy public discussion on the topic. 鈥淒ystopia stories just do this on the largest of scales.鈥�
For those who still can鈥檛 quite picture the definition of 鈥渄ystopian鈥� the recipe in films lately calls for a healthy helping of steampunk genre, ash smudged populaces, urban decay, rebel forces driven into the shadows, and overlords 鈥� lots and lots of overlords.
Think of films such filled with the sterile, post-social-apocalypse cynicism and the rise of technology as in: The Hunger Games, Divergent, Interstellar, or V for Vendetta.
For kids, think of Wall-E.
With kids in mind, a slightly less hardcore, more mainstream c which just closed the entries Oct. 16 for 鈥淭he Hunger Games: Mockingjay鈥擯art 1" "Change the World" Writing Contest鈥� designed to draw entries from kids in grades 6 through 12.
At least Scholastic took the approach of shifting teen thoughts from a dark future, toward seeking a solution. The writing prompt was: 鈥淚magine you have the power to fix the biggest problem in the world. In two pages or less, describe what the problem is and what you would do to fix it.鈥�
Another dystopian short story competition is being sponsored by 聽(3,000 words, deadline聽15 April). But for those who are looking for a real challenge, they might want to enter the next Lady in the Loft writing contest, the one about a utopian world (3,000 words, deadline June 15).
