Concept: An Apocalyptic Or Post Apocalyptic Tv Show Centred On A Group Of Disabled Protagonists

Concept: an apocalyptic or post apocalyptic tv show centred on a group of disabled protagonists

Must include:

-enough details about how they survive that no one can call it “unrealistic”

-mental and physical disabilities 

-a character who isn’t necessarily contributing to the survival of the group, but is not abandoned or looked down upon

-at least one character whose disability is actually less of a problem for them now that the world is ending/ended (example: autistic character who used to be constantly overstimulated but no longer is)

Optional features:

-abled person says “the only disability in life is a bad attitude” and gets told where to stuff it

-creatively weaponized mobility aids/assistive devices

-character who abled people think isn’t worth helping because of their disability, but actually has at least one skill essential to the survival of the group

-every time an abled person says something ignorant, all present disabled people look into the camera like they’re on the office 

Blogs to Follow to Help Develop Your OC

On top of having this blog to encourage creating OCs, I also want to give people access to resources that can help you out in creating your OC! Here is a compilation of blogs to follow, as well as a few other links to help further your development!

maxkirin - Novelist blogger who offers many great pieces of writing advice, as well as videos!

about-your-oc - Writing prompts and resources for OCs

character-prompts - A collection of short character prompts

develop your oc - A collection of prompts and questions for your OCs

faceclaims-rpg - A blog dedicated to finding “face claims”, or irl people to represent your character’s appearance. They include a large array of tags and a directory of faceclaims, including POC.

tasksweekly - A blog dedicated to bringing more advanced prompts to get your creative juices flowing. Check out their info page and just snoop around.

dear-indies - A blog dedicated more specifically towards RPers with guides, tutorials, masterposts and face claim help.

howtofightwrite - An excellent resource for tips and tricks on writing combat and fight scenes, as well as what not to do.

The Script Family - This is a link to a separate masterpost, all of the blogs listed being absolutely excellent resources for writing and research. Just reach in and take a look, there’s answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.

writing-prompt-s - Short prompts to write stories off of

tiftswritingcorner - Prompts and challenges

helpfulwritingstuff - Reblogs of random resources and tips for writing.

heywriters - Writing tips, inspiration and resources

writingwithcolor - A blog dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial & ethnic diversity

fixyourwritinghabits - A collection of resources and tips for writing

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment - A hub of information for character creation, development and writing

writeworld - A blog dedicated to prompts/inspiration to get writing via pictures, art and music

promptsandpointers - A blog dedicated to bringing advice and inspiration for writing

yourocs - Questions to flesh out your characters

writing-questions-answered - A blog dedicated to answering questions about writing help

I visit almost all of these blogs quite regularly, and I highly recommend going through these blogs for help and inspiration. These are just my personal recommendations, there are definitely more blogs out there you can dig for of course!

Are you ever just browsing for words? Or looking for something hyperspecific?

Great sources I've found so far:

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/ targeted towards kids so it only goes to 12th-grade level words, but if you subscribe to the "why use a 5 syllable word when 1 syllable will do" this isn't a problem. SO INCREDIBLY USEFUL. Wow. Good if you have no idea the word you need but you know what category you're looking for. (My most common use case.)

https://www.wordnik.com/ good if you already have a word in mind that you need synonyms for, related words, or want to see lists with this word in it, which may give you lots of words with the vibe you're looking for. You can't just search for lists though like you can't go "verb list" and get lists of verbs. Has way more things for the words than I listed earlier, including rhymes and a reverse dictionary which is cool, there's just SO MUCH.

I'll probably do more research and add more cool resources in various reblogs, but PLEASE if you have more, reblog with them/add in the notes? I would super appreciate it.

story outlining methods, pt. 1:

take off your pants!! (“take off your pants!: outline your books for faster, better writing” by libbie hawker)

this outline starts with a character — specifically their biggest flaw — and leads to five points that will make up the core of your story. it’s best for plots and subplots that focus on overcoming the flaw!

this outline doesn’t just have to be used for coming of age novels. it is just as important in your dystopian, fantasy, or thriller novels that the main character learns something or has changed by the end.

STEP ONE: think about your character

your main character — what is their name, and what are their important features?

what are your character’s flaws? what about their FATAL flaw? ex: hubris, overconfidence, stubbornness, etc.

STEP TWO: think about the end of the story

the story (whether the main plot, a subplot, or a facet of the main plot) is the journey lead to overcome the flaw. now that you know the character’s flaw, you know what lesson they need to learn.

the end of the story = the flaw mastered, the lesson learned.

STEP THREE: think about the external goal

the external goal is the plot, the outer motivation to push the character to the end of the story where the goal is mastered. if you remember my post on quests, you know that a quest has two reasons to be there: the external factor (shrek saving fiona for his swamp), and the real reason (the lesson learned)

the external goal should provide a chance for the character to recognize their flaw and begin to change. how does your plot tie into their character development?

STEP FOUR: think about the antagonist

thinking about the external goal should reveal who the antagonist is. the antagonist should want to achieve the same goal or a goal that impedes with the protagonist’s goal. the antagonist should be the biggest obstacle to the character.

STEP FIVE: think about the ally/allies

the character(s) that is capable of forcing the protagonist down the correct path. where your protagonist most likely will resist changing and confronting their flaw, the ally will help force them to do so anyway.

STEP SIX: think about the theme

so what’s the point of your book? if you are struggling to boil it down to one sentence, you might want to think about it a little longer. this is what keeps the story feeling coherent. what are you trying to tell us?

STEP SEVEN: think about the plot

each main plot element should somehow relate to the core of the book, aka the character’s development in overcoming their flaw

OPENING SCENE - set the stage. address the flaw or the theme

INCITING EVENT - what forces the character out of their everyday life and into the story?

REALIZING EXTERNAL GOAL - what makes the character begin seeking their goal?

DISPLAY OF FLAW - if the character’s flaw hasn’t been made blatantly clear, now is the time. make it known to the reader.

DRIVE FOR GOAL - what is your character’s first attempt to reach their goal?

ANTAGONIST REVEAL - how do you first show your antagonist’s opposition to your character?

FIRST THWART - what happens to your character that keeps them from reaching their goal?

REVISIT FLAW - show the character’s flaw again, even if they themselves aren’t aware of it yet.

ANTAGONIST ATTACKS - what does the antagonist do that makes things worse?

SECOND THWART - where your character fails most likely due to the attack

CHANGED GOAL - the character finds a new goal or focuses on the external goal in a different way

ALLY ATTACKS - what does the ally do to force the character to see the flaw?

AWAKENING - the character knows what they must do to reach the external goal. how will you show that the character has also awakened to their flaw? how will you show them changing?

BATTLE - the final showdown with the antagonist!

DEATH - the character’s flaw dies here. how will you show that the character truly is different now?

OUTCOME - show whether the character won or lost the external goal, reveal the theme of the story.

naturally, you don’t have to follow that outline exactly, but it can be a good place to start ;)

Guide: Naming a Town or City

There are many things to keep in mind when naming the town or city in your novel:

1) Genre/Theme/Tone

It’s very important to consider the genre and theme of your story when choosing a town name. Take these names for example, each of which indicates the genre or theme of the story: King’s Landing (sounds fantastical) Cloud City (sounds futuristic) Silent Hill (sounds scary) Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat) Bikini Bottom (sounds funny) Radiator Springs (sounds car-related) Halloween Town (sounds Halloween-related) Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related) 2) Time/Place It’s also important to consider the time and place where your story takes place. For example, you wouldn’t use “Vista Gulch” as a name for a town in Victorian England. You probably wouldn’t use it for a town in modern day North Carolina, either. Vista is a Spanish word and would normally be found in places where Spanish names are common, like Spain, Central and South America, the southwest United States (including southern California), Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Florida. 3) Size/Settlement Type An isolated town of 300 people probably won’t be Valley City, but a sprawling metropolis of 30 million could be called Windyville, because it could have started out as a small town and grew into a large city. 4) Geography Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island. Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water. 5) History Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name. 6) Combination of Words

person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek

group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge

descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill

person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville

landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville

Word Lists: Types of Settlements

Geographical Features

Place Words

Common Suffixes

Other Descriptors

Try a combination of two words from any of these lists. :)