Think Die Hard - Sharp focus after the take over of the building, to save everyone and his wife's life. Yes it has flaws, but I like all of the ideas suggested here. This is only one of many ideas others have suggested. Use or create what works for you. Cheers, John.
Then why zombies? Why not locusts or inventing a new plot angle? It's getting to the point that when we think "global desolation" we immediately think about zombies, vampires or the theme of the latest video game. Considering we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the the sinking of the Titanic, I'm surprised someone hasn't proffered a book on historic fiction using zombie infestation in the boiler room to be the root cause of the tragedy.
Wouldn't surprise me. I have to be honest with you guys, like anything else I feel that authors form a bell-shaped curve. At one end you have the classics. At the other end you have guys who write cereal jingles. In the middle you have authors writing stuff like, "The Hunger Zombies," or Three Vampires and a Van Helsing," (a romantic comedy), or "The Starship Werewolves." In fact, I'm working on a story I call, "Wicca-Tikka-Tavi." It's a mongoose who kills cobras by conjuring up spells.
How about he's come in as part of the army that's ordered to contain the zombie apocalypse? He's from a town that's uninfected just yet, and then about a third way into the novel, he could hear the shattering news that the zombies are closing in on his home town and he makes it his mission to join the squad that is now being sent to fight the zombies off in his home town area? In so doing, obviously he will probably make it home to find his family is missing - and the rest of the novel could be him looking for them, hoping they're not dead but alive somewhere, trying to find out all the hidden survival bunks that the civilians have locked themselves into underground as well as kill off the zombies... Sounds like I have a story here... I'm just kidding. I'm not into zombie apocalypse stories so would never write it anyway
Other than using the phrase "it's been done to death," I often hear the defense, "Well, it's just like (blank) but different..." Which to me is sayinging, "Well, it's just like 'Titanic' but it's the chick who dies this time." In fact, I don't even buy the idea of a 'franchise.' After one dismal Batman movie came out, many folks felt that they damaged that 'franchise.' After about five sequels have been made it doesn't become a franchise, a sequel, a prequel or an homage. It's about an author that can't think of anything to put on the page. How do you think the term 'cliff-hanger' became a slang term? Zombies rampage and eat brains, they infect others, the doctors vie with the military in never-ending arguments on eradication, and then some hero finds the magic bullet. Put the undead on the Titanic, add vampires, coerce Katniss into killing them to save her sister, have Richard Dawson make Katniss and Schwarzenegger run through a maze to kill zombies and then welcome them to the bonus Feud round, it makes no difference. It's been done to undeath.
But what you're saying isn't fair. By your definition, what the heck is the point of writing anything, making anything ever, anymore? Everything under the sun has been done to death. As the famous Bible verse says, "There is nothing new under the sun." I find your defeatist POV rather damaging and unhelpful. Of course I understand that you're essentially right - everything has been done before - but it's HOW it happens and WHO the characters are, and ultimately how well the writer manages to bond you to the characters and their situation that makes it worth the read, not whether it's original. For example, everyone knows the premise of the Hunger Games is hardly original - but having read all the books, it's Katniss the character I miss. And if an author has managed to make you miss one of her characters because that's how strong and realistic she was, then how can we say that's not a success? How can we say the author's wasted her time and that the book is not worth reading? If you're looking for originality, then you might as well give up and throw your pen out the window because you ain't gonna find it.
Sorry, but fads come and go. In my lifetime I've seen bell-bottom pants come and go three times. Just because there are twenty books and movies out on zombies and vampires doesn't mean the public is also "hungry for brains." It's because someone else did it better and before. A few nights ago on "Sons of Guns" I saw the Red Jacket company destroy an entire field of mannequin zombies because the genre is now considered campy. You know you favorite music is passe' when you hear it as 'elevator music.' Same thing here. To be fair, I should include one element of discussing plots. In many of the threads we discuss making stories better for the purposes of selling a book. In other words, we want to make our stories marketable. Now, if the be-all-end-all of the zombie story in question is just for fun, or you want to publish the book yourself, then by all means, make the story and the premise any way you wish. I'm sure lots of us will help you fix the grammar, punch up the overall tone, warn you of continuity errors, etc. However, once you tell us that getting your book published or handing it off to a screenwriter is your ultimate goal, then you make us one of the "buying public." In that scenario, I wouldn't buy your book on a bet. Case in point, my story dates from a rough draft 30 years ago. Having said that, I have one scene where innocent academy students are killed. (Superpsycho and I are exchanging PMs on this as my post is being written.) My first impression is how do I differentiate that plot point from comparisons to The Hunger Games? BTW, none of my cadets is either hungry or coerced. However, the fact remains, 'kids getting killed.' And taking heat for writing just another zombie story opens that argument.
The story concept is irrelevant. Some, like Tourist, will avoid such a story based on the synopsis. Others will drool over it for the same reason. Still others will pick it up because it's new, and read a few paragraphs at random to see what they think of your writing. The majority will make their decision based on word of mouth. So forget about whether it has been "done to death." The truth is that stories that are "done to death" seem that way because the basic concept works. Enough people like it that writers keep writing it. What matters in the end, always, is how well you tell the story. The appeal of your characters, your mastery of suspense and pace, your use of language - all the details - will determine whether your story triumphs or collapses into a puddle of inky goo.
Tourist, I confess, I really haven't a clue what point you're trying to make... :| I'm not trying to be argumentative, I honestly don't understand? My point was, you shouldn't dismiss a story based on the fact that it's been done to death (although of course we all have our own pet peeves, there're some "done to death" plots that I wouldn't go anywhere near) - but my key point was that just because it's been done to death doesn't mean you shouldn't write it. Now, I don't understand how your reply relates to my point? As for trying to make it marketable - again to say "it's been done to death" and therefore it is doomed if it wants to sell is, well, kinda naive - the fact that you despair of all these "been done and done to death plots" means precisely that such plots keep recycling itself, and you keep seeing it on movie screens and on book shelves - which means what? That it sells, it still sells, whether you like it or not. I hate Twilight and thinks Meyer is a crappy writer and Bella is the most annoying and dumb little spoilt princess imaginable - unfortunately, the world still loves them both. I'll never understand why, but it sure does sell. And how many conspiracy theory books, especially ones related to the Bible and the church have you seen out there? Incidentally I think Dan Brown is another spectacularly terrible writer. But time and again I see another "look at the secrets of the church!" kinda book, and more than one on one shelf. Unfortunately, even plots that's been done to death do sell, and they're not always very good either. But they do sell. I agree 100% with Cognito
While I believe Cogito is being sincere here, let me cut to the chase. Zombie stories are a dime a dozen. We should be looking for the next new thing. But to be fair, have you guys thought of contacting a publishing agent or a publisher themselves and asking what the market is for zombie stories? But like I said, if this is just for personal enjoyment (and I do things like that--I customized a bike in the genre of 1971) then it doesn't matter what I think. Again, I used the term "marketability."
That's a very suspect statement. And yet, imminently, a zombie movie is to be released, which will make $200m opening weekend。
Whether it's zombies or aliens or monsters is really just a minor consideration。 Other factors have far more weight.
"Everything has been done to death" is for people who can't think of anything original. It's impossible to know whether everything has been done or not and its discouraging to be passing around this sentiment like its a law. The bible was written before computers, space shuttles, cloning, and the atom bomb and one day there won't even be a sun. There's always something new. If you don't want to write something new because you can't or don't want to, that's fine. Sticking with what works is a sound strategy and I have nothing bad to say about it. However, "It's all been done before" is an incredibly cliche statement that I hear far too often from a crowd who should be avoiding such things.
While I agree with your sentiment, careful, you'll wind up next to me on The Group W Bench. Personally I think things come in cycles. There is no doubt in my mind that in about ten years writers will discover vampires and zombies and the entire genre will repeat itself. Yin, yang. While I don't think we're going to make much head-way offering originality as a career path, perhaps leading by example might help. Of course, if you and I become instantly successful than we will be copied by the same crowd. After the week I've had, I think the frigid rain and some quiet time with my own story-in-the-works has been more fun than this endless exchange. BTW, what story are you working on now?
You could give your main character some kind of mental illness/ memory disorder. You could have him not remember how or why he is out of town and from there you could have it that hes been split up with his family for a long time and fate (or luck) brought him back to the city to save their lives at this point. Or it could even turn out that his family arent even real and were figments of his imagination the whole time or something. The possibilities are endless! I hope this was helpful!
This was the plot of an old TV series called "Coronet Blue." It got canceled quite early on, not so much for the story idea, but more for execution. Rumor had it that the creator was so ticked off he never shared the real ending, which is often debated even now. Many years have passed. Everything old is new again. Edit: I did find a lot of info on the series in Wikipedia.
It's about two adolescent, elitist brothers living in Tennessee who think they're too good for everything. Nothing groundbreaking, but its my last chance at communicating something to a particular someone. Naturally I have ideas (and plot lines) that I think are fairly original but I'm saving them till I'm ready. Start small and finish big.
The "everything has been done" statement is one of those many statements that need to be explained farther to get the grasp of it. Because everything has been done in the basic form. Period. We've had writing for so long, and oral tales for so very long, it has all be done. But here's the thing, the basic idea/plot/etc of a story is not all there is to it. You have your characters, how you write, the sub plots, the background, all of those things you use to create the story are what makes it unique. As you dig farther into the stories is when you start finding the differences until each story becomes it's very own thing. And on topic, I want a zombie book/show/movie/comic that shows me slave zombies tilling the farms. There use to be a webcomic I followed that was the rebuilding of society, after the zombies destroyed everything. It was awesome.
I don't think computers prove that there's originality out there - only the sheer amount of repeated things that are out there. Perhaps the way we present things can be original - now that I do believe in - but the principle of things behind it all is still the same. Even Shakespeare copied. Peoples have been telling stories since there was the spoken word, which means, well, since forever. I'll bet if you looked, you'll find that everything has indeed been done before. Now whether you happen to know about it, or whether our generation or even the still-living generations remember it, is another matter entirely, and what is old could be spun off as new - because if no one's heard of it, then surely it is new. But now we get onto more abstract matters rather than what is old (eg. existed before) and new (eg. never before seen/thought of/heard of/spoken of/written about). I don't appreciate your tone of implying I apparently don't want to or can't write anything different. Just because everything has been done before doesn't mean I'm not gonna wanna put my own spin on things, making it different, and personal, and therefore there's an element of it that is, indeed, original, because it'd be mine and nothing before or after would be exactly the same. But when I say "original", I mean the basic premise/concept/principles of your story - and indeed I don't think one could think of an original "backbone". But you should not judge how I write when you know nothing of what I do. And in any case, something tells me we may have our wires crossed over what we mean by "original" or "new". And bear in mind, an advance in technology does not diminish the wisdom of the ages and everything else that has been passed down to us in history. Over and out
I'm not sure anybody is saying that. I would ask you to do as I do once in a while--go back and read some of your own stuff from a few years back. You'll want to hide out in shame. I have been interviewed as a younger man. I tried to honest, I tried to make for a good interview. Yikes, I sound like an idiot. If the people here continue to improve because they love to write, and I think the larger portion will do that, someday they will find an old zombie story and be embarrassed alone in room with no observers. Zombies stories have always been silly, and a bit campy, but I'm sure there are some folks who find it good literature--at least they feel that way now. Let them get a few gray hairs, and expose them to some finer books. "When I was a child I spake as a child." Heck, I owned a Honda as a boy.
