post-apocalyptic story ideas needed

[bibliophile birds]

in November i'm participating in a writing event called National Novel Writing Month. the goal is to start writing on November 1st and complete a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. so, from now til November 1st, i'm compiling my research material and story outline.

i'm writing a post-apocalyptic story. an outbreak (viral or bacterial) wipes out most of the country/worlds population in a matter of days. infrastructure is basically destroyed almost immediately. a small group of survivors set up a community on a large farm. they face numerous challenges and must protect themselves against marauders and whats left of the government.

Characters
Main
Woman: mid-late 20s. The farm was her familys property. She had been living in a city on the other side of the country with her boyfriend but had returned for a visit, and to tell her parents she was pregnant, when the outbreak hit. Her parents were infected and died, leaving her as the only surviving family member. Her boyfriend was sick when she last spoke to him but she has no idea what happened to him after the phones stopped working.
Man: mid-late 20s. He lived on a nearby farm and grew up with the girl. They were very close but never romantically involved. They are the only survivors from their town. His family property was sold years before and he had been working in a factory a few towns away.
Boyfriend: late 20s.

Government Assigned Refugees
Student: A young woman, late teens- early 20s. She had been a college student studying political science.
Girl and Boy: A girl, 16 or 17, and her young brother. Orphaned by the outbreak.
Soldier: A man, late 30s-40s. Former career military, dishonorably discharged for being gay. Very tough exterior but a gentle man inside.
Nurse: A woman, early-mid 30s. A nurse.
Teacher: A man, 30s-early 40s. A high school history teacher.

Other Refugees
Professor: A woman, early 60s. She had been a distinguished Anthropology professor. Found living in a library in the city, she decides to come back to live at the farm.

Government
Acting Head of the Government. Formerly the Secretary of Agriculture, he is the highest ranking government official who survived the outbreak. Very conservative, pro big ag. Widely disliked during his term. Now working to make all remaining agriculture government owned and controlled.
Representative: Woman, 40s. Very bureaucratic and difficult.

so, what i need are some scenarios. they are going to have cows, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, ducks, the whole shebang. the farm they will be running will be around 400-600 acres, plus access to the surrounding smaller farms that are now abandoned.

so, you guys are creative, informed, and farmy, which means you're perfect for this exercise!

 

[i_am2bz]

Oooh, I like it! Can we read it when you're done??

I'm thinking this sounds something like "The Colony" on Discovery Channel, only transplanted to a farm. Will you have a quarantine area, to make sure refugees aren't infected? Will there be electricity? A water source? Are there weapons available?

I can imagine the pregnancy issue will lead to all kinds of drama...

 

[bibliophile birds]

The Colony is actually one of my inspirations. another is the BBC show Survivors. i love both, but they are centered around urban/industrial areas and i just kept feeling like so much was missing. i mean, in that sitituation, wouldn't you immediately head for farms?

no quarantine area, at least at the moment. the electricity is out at first, but they are going to build a windmill to get some basic electrical things running agian, like the fridge and maybe the stove. being a farm, i'm thinking it will have a well but i've got to look into the logistics of how a well pump really works (no electricity could make it an issue at first). there will be a lake on the property and a river nearby. they have access to your garden variety farm guns and a reasonable amount of ammo. i'm thinking that they might come across a more safisticated gun collection to satisfy the soldiers security requirements.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i also wanted to say that i really really don't want this to be all doom and gloom like more post-apocalyptic stories. so ideas that are funny or happy or just normal day-to-day SS stuff are welcome. i'm also looking for ideas on some character sketches for some of the roving survivors that they will encounter.

 

[i_am2bz]

The Colony is actually one of my inspirations. another is the BBC show Survivors. i love both, but they are centered around urban/industrial areas and i just kept feeling like so much was missing. i mean, in that sitituation, wouldn't you immediately head for farms?

As members have discussed in other threads here, the basic assumption is that when TSHTF, survivors will flock out of the cities & head to the country...presumably in search of food/water...so yes, I would agree with that setting.

 

[patandchickens]

If you want to get a draft completed in a month, even of a short novella, I would very very strongly recommend staying AWAY from anything dependant on detailed technological/scientific/geographic/historical accuracy (which requires painstaking research and planning).

Pick part of the situation you already know enough to write about, think of a good "plot hook" (dilemma, situation, character-driven plot, whatever) and go with that. You will still probably find a few technical details you need to sort out, but far far less.

Otherwise what you're describing is a multi-year project

Also start writing NOW, don't wait til you have a plot. Type out mundane conversations between characters, descriptive scenes, whatever. Gotta get the mill grinding

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[i_am2bz]

i also wanted to say that i really really don't want this to be all doom and gloom like more post-apocalyptic stories. so ideas that are funny or happy or just normal day-to-day SS stuff are welcome. i'm also looking for ideas on some character sketches for some of the roving survivors that they will encounter.

Okay, so you're not remaking "The Road"......that's good, it'd be nice to have a happy post-apocalyptic story!!

The possibilities I immediately think of...are things like "city slickers" interacting with the farm animals (getting chicken poo all over your shoes, being chased by goats, etc) & having to "do without" TV, computers, take-out Chinese, 24 hour grocery stores, etc. Also outhouses/latrines, washing your clothes by hand, etc. I can see all kinds of humor in situations like that.

 

[bibliophile birds]

the goal is really just 50,000 words. they encourage us just to write, not to revise or worry about things that are wonky. so i'm looking at details and technicalities, but i'm not letting myself get too concerned about them. the idea is that you just write and write and write as a creative exercise and then you can spend all the time in the world editing later.

as for starting writing early, one of the only rules of NaNoWriMo is that you come into the month with no actual writing done: outlines, character sketches, research are all fine but you can't use anything you've written before Nov 1 in your final word count.

so far, i've got 10 pages of random scribblings, character ideas, plot points, random events, and i've even started charting major plot points on a calender using the first day of the outbreak the starting point.

Okay, so you're not remaking "The Road"......that's good, it'd be nice to have a happy post-apocalyptic story!!

The possibilities I immediately think of...are things like "city slickers" interacting with the farm animals (getting chicken poo all over your shoes, being chased by goats, etc) & having to "do without" TV, computers, take-out Chinese, 24 hour grocery stores, etc. Also outhouses/latrines, washing your clothes by hand, etc. I can see all kinds of humor in situations like that.

exactly! i mean, of course there is going to be sadness and confusion and fear of new situations, but people are remarkably resilient and i want to highlight that kinda of emotional resilience where they would start to laugh and have joy again.

i definitely foresee some interesting temper tantrums!

 

[hillfarm]

according to my mother and her mom. Gma lived threw the depression, and had many many kids. I asked mom why would she make babies when she couldnt care well for them. This was wrapped in a discussion about the swollen belly babies in Africa on a commercial. I was maybe 9 or so.

My mom explained that when you have nothing, just your wits and your love for the other person, children make things seem normal. And sex is a very reassuring activity to remind you you are alive. So without readily available birth control, kids were a natural progression.

I dont know how long the time period for your story is, but I would harken back to how families had 10 and 12 kids. It was a necessity and inevitable really. Show how people would turn to physical comfort for protection and emotional strength. That sort of outlook. It would be positive and IMO an intresting study.

 

[bibliophile birds]

those are good points. i'm not planning to take an really extended look, just about 1-2 years, but i have been thinking about relationships and how familes are really created.

to expose a big plot point, the boyfriend wasn't sick with what caused the outbreak, but they didn't know that before the phone lines failed. he doesn't even know if she's still alive, but he sets off to find her because he has to be sure. we don't know any of this, of course, until he shows up at the farm months and months later. in that time, she's thought he was dead and, while still being in love with him and mourning him, she's fallen in love with her old friend and given birth. when the boyfriend shows back up, she naturally still has feelings for him but that doesn't change how she feels about her old friend. so, where do they go from there? i've been joting down all kinds of scenarios that could happen between all 3. i just want to explore what love and family would look like in such a society.