One of the difficult things about Crossing Bedlam was deciding how to throw the country into chaos. There are many things to factor in that ranges from geography to psychology. Not to mention technology, sociology, anthropology, and tons of -ologies. You really have to take the world and rewrite it in a way that will work for the story and work off your own view of reality. So every author will focus on something different like resources, rebuilding humanity, madness of the survivors, or whatever will get their story moving.
- How would you write the end of the world or a country?
- What would you retain from the old world after the collapse?
- What is your favorite aspect of post-apocalyptic/post-disaster worlds?
Legends of Windemere 
I am going to have to check back to read other people’s comments on this one as this is a topic that plays in a WIP. But I will say that I believe pretty much any speculation is plausible at this point (which is a tad scary to admit) just based on the interconnectedness of all things.
LikeLike
True. The options are almost unlimited. 🙂
LikeLike
My favorite thing is seeing the struggle to survive. It’s innate in all of us.
I would retain creativity. Without it, nothing is accomplished.
My favorite aspect is hope. The idea that all is not lost.
LikeLike
Creativity is very interesting in such a setting. You can see how it’s used for good and evil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually did end the world in one of my trunk novels. I went through all the possibilities and settled upon one that wasn’t man made. The influenza virus. (History shows it as the most deadly pandemic.) They retained mechanical technology, but electronics all failed when the grid went down. What I liked about it was the freedom that was suddenly available to the characters.
LikeLike
Influenza is scary when you have it in the post-apocalypse. I’ll admit that it gets brought up in my story. Nice that mechanical tech stayed since that tends to be either forgotten or treated like magic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Things like trains and heavy equipment don’t just crumble to dust. A fine wristwatch might. As the writer, you get to pick and choose.
LikeLike
I’m always surprised those things are re-purposed in post-apocalyptic stories. Reminds me that I need to figure out what happened to the Shattered States’ rail system. Kind of got abandoned in most places.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How would you write the end of the world or a country? I think I would write a slow virus that is a mutant as a result of too much use of antibacterials. This would give me an opportunity to tell a number of stories.
What would you retain from the old world after the collapse? There would be a new being who had evolved immunity from the chaos. They would be dirty school aged kids who never used antibacterials.
What is your favorite aspect of post-apocalyptic/post-disaster worlds? I like the idea of coming across normal things like stores and such and helping one’s self to whatever one needs.
LikeLike
1. The dreaded Super Bug. Very realistic in a way. Especially considering we seem to have a new epidemic every year.
2. A race of Pig-Pens? Awesome. It does make a lot of sense too.
3. As long as the owner isn’t there with a shotgun. It’s interesting how the stories have prepared us to loot in such a world without much thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the idea of Gold and money having no value and a can of beans is king.
LikeLike
Trade is a smart way to go with such a world. Though I can see there being some people who try to hold onto the wealth of the old world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hard habits to break
LikeLike
My answers:
1. How would you write the end of the world or a country?
Rather than the total end of the world, I like the loss of technology (I like the premise of the Kate Daniels series for this reason–http://www.ilona-andrews.com/kate-daniels/) coupled with the paranoia of groups who build borders around their communities.
2. What would you retain from the old world after the collapse?
The land would be there, but in a back to pioneer days way. Various communities and states would have their own governments.
3. What is your favorite aspect of post-apocalyptic/post-disaster worlds?
I like dangerous crossings stories where the hero (male or female) has to go across country for some reason. I’m tired of the totalitarian government scenario that many YA books have (along with the requisite love triangle). Screen Junkies’ Honest trailer of The Maze Runner had a good commentary on that scenario.
I also like alien invasions. Though I’m tired of the body snatchers scenario. I like The War of the Worlds type of invasion where the aliens aren’t messing around.
LikeLike
1. I can see the loss of technology being the end of the modern world. Imagine the chaos and how much information will disappear. People will have to relearn a lot of stuff too.
2. Do we get the raccoon tail hats? 😀
3. So you’ll definitely enjoy ‘Crossing Bedlam’. 😀 I’m kind of tired of the aliens in general only because of Falling Skies, Independence Day, and a few others. Though Mars Attacks is always fun. Kind of feel sorry for ‘The Maze Runner’ since it came so late to the party.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Raccoon tail hats are a must!
Mars Attacks is fun!
Glad to hear it about Crossing Bedlam! 😀
LikeLike
1. I did ‘end’ the world in the novel I wrote last year,by a random event on the planet regarding nature, that humans interpret as a ‘new god’. Sounds kinda crappy to me even, but that’s not the important part of the book.
I was writing something new where I would really have to wreck it.I’d probably go for mega aggressive aliens and turn it into a psycho drama of people hiding in holes and slowly starving to death. Thanks for the idea, Charles!
I am more of a world builder than destroyer, so these are kinda hard for me.
2.In the book I wrote, I kept everything, but everything modern is not used as it is intended in our world. Even in a dystopia, it is always weird to me that nobody from survivors reinvents electricity from materials available and similar.
So, I guess what I would always keep is common sense, critical thinking and no sudden memory/history wipeout loses!
3. Reading people’s reactions to the new situation.
LikeLike
1. Curious what that event was if people are praying to it. I’m betting at building than destroying too, which is probably why Bedlam is a decade after the collapse. Aliens are always a fun way to go. 🙂
2. That was something I thought was odd too. Nobody tries to rebuild things or they do it with a sinister agenda. It’s like all the engineers and scientists died or went evil.
LikeLike
Oh, and I forgot! May I have a raccoon tail hat,too? I always wanted one!
LikeLike
I had one when I was a kid. Pretty sure it was fake though.
LikeLike
I’ve thought about an apocalyptic world cause by an electromagnetic pulse, knocking out everything depending on electricity. What would remain is an eighteenth century world (gee, ISIS would probably like that!), I think it would be a challenge to survive such an event unless you were a survivalist or a farmer, but the reorganization of society would be interesting to imagine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there was a show like that called ‘Revolution’. Never saw it, but I think it was electricity or technology was destroyed. Electromagnetic pulses seem to only show up in spy movies as the big threat that never goes off, so it’d be cool to see a story where it happens.
LikeLike
Given I’ve written about this very subject for over three years, I’ll leave it others to answer the questions. Suffice it to say the end of my world involves zombies, a healthy mix of dread and a dash of urgency. However, the lights remained on, so that’s a good thing.
LikeLike
A very successful three years too. 🙂 I thought the same thing about keeping the lights on. Figured people would find a way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, thanks, Charles! Yes, keeping the lights on makes the story easier to write. Less conflict, more options. Yet, more conflict from the human side of things as opposed to environment.
LikeLike
That human element can be scarier than the other threats at times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the idea of a super virus that attacks all our technology, with our dependence on it to run everything, a sudden shut down would be a horrendous event. I watched a British short entitled “When the Lights Went Out.” it was an amazing study of how humans coped or didnt and how they changed. The twist in the end was that the lights were only out for 30 days. Also I think the world banking collapse, money been not worth the paper it`s printed on, I have a old deutchmark that I was given from my Uncle, it was for 3million and he said they were burning these at the end of world war two in Germany, I guess he was telling me never to rely on money as the sole means of survival. And I also like the journey onward, a band of survivors thrown together, different characters and opinions. I absolutely loved Falling Skies, I cried after it was finished. But there you go plenty of options there.
LikeLike
Loss of technology seems to be popular with this topic. Makes a lot of sense too considering how automated everything is. Good point on the money too. Humans are odd there. A living thing needs food, water, and shelter to survive, but we put bits of paper and metal above all of that. Not a bright species if you think about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope we`re not so bright, if we were we`d still be bartering goods. Perhaps we should all tell the world bankers to go -bleep themselves- lol
LikeLike
I think that happened in one country after the economic trouble.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In Hindu mythology it is said the world will end not in fire, but in apathy.
LikeLike
As a species, we seem to think ‘end of the world’ is the death of planet Earth. In reality, it would probably be more the death of mankind while the planet continues. Apathy factoring into that, as well as current mindsets on environmental changes, makes sense to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person