I'm making a dystopian story, and I am really having trouble putting my idea into words. I'm not a native English speaker so maybe that's why. Basically what I'm trying to write is about white walled buildings and sleek interiors, but I don't know, it just feels a bit weird. It is somehow similar to the Black Mirror episode Nosedive where it is obviously futuristic but still had the 'present' feel to them. Any tips?
I have a lot of the same issues. For example, when I try to describe something like a city skyline or building, I always make it feel so shallow and pretty boring, actually. What I do to get over it is look up images of things similar to what I picture in my head and take some time coming up with descriptions for that thing. Cause when you actually see it it's easier to describe it. A place you might want to look at for this is Andalucia white villages. It might seem weird since you're not describing a small Spanish village I'm assuming, but it might get you somewhere by helping you visualize images outside your mind. Another way to come up with less straight forward, bland descriptions or something like that would be to personify the things you describe. I don't know if I'm even answering your question, so tell me if I'm not. I'll help again if that's the case.
Your question concerns Setting Development, not Plot Development. My suggestion is to try your level best not to render literal, flat, paint by numbers descriptions. The episode you mention, Nosedive, in Black Mirror, think about the contrast in that narrative, how everything seems so picture-perfect, so Instagramable, and all of it utterly, completely fake. At the end of the episode, where the woman and the man are confined, screaming crazy obscenities, slurs, and other rude things - it's all the worst things, and yet it's a release for both of them, it's cathartic. They are being real for probably the first time in their whole lives. The architectural and design value of the setting in Nosedive is not the main attraction. It's the falseness, the plasticness, the complete lack of truth in favor of politesse. So my question to you becomes: What do you want the reader to feel from your description? Describe that.
Thanks for the great help! That must've been what I'm missing. Okay the Andalucia comes a biiit close. I probably should look up more photos to get more solid ideas. Oops, sorry bout that. Probably why my writing seemed a bit emotionless. It's pretty hard since I'm making an interactive game so it's up to the players on what to feel about that, but I'm just trying to convey calm and the feeling of content so I should just focus on that. And since it's still on chapter 1, I'd try to make it an ideal home, well since, not every dystopian city is full on evil and rules and orders baaah!! Again, thanks for the responses!
