For over 20 years, I’ve wanted to write a dystopian novel. An idea has been gradually coming together, but now that I’m ready to write it, our reality is encroaching on the dystopian world I’ve created.
Yes, there are much worse things to worry about with this administration than the future of my next novel. We are sliding toward authoritarianism at an alarming rate. Innocent immigrants are being deported without due process. Drastic cuts are defunding health care, scientific research, education, and much more. Inflation is rising and tariffs will further tank the economy. People’s lives, particular trans people’s lives, are at risk.
Write What You Know…?
Is our current political climate a good time to write a dystopian novel? George Orwell finished writing 1984 in 1948, in the aftermath of World War II. His wife had recently died. He was suffering from tuberculosis. Yet, he was determined to finish the book. It was published in June of 1949, less than a year before his death in January 1950.
That’s not what anyone would consider ideal circumstances for writing a masterpiece… or would they? Did living through the rise of fascism and devastation of World War II inspire Orwell to write 1984? Would he have written one of the world’s most well known dystopian novels without the political influence and personal hardships he endured?
Dystopian Novel or Inspirational Fiction
Over the last two months, I’ve wondered what kind of literature will come from these “unprecedented times.” Will more writers explore dark themes or opt to provide an escape with lighter stories?
Personally, I’m torn between the two paths. Writing my Freely Written podcast stories has been a nice break from working on my dystopian novel. But the political news has been a less helpful distraction. A new story idea has also slipped in, pulling my focus with an urge that can’t be denied.
The new story idea may be more on the inspirational side, depending on how I end it. As much as I want to keep writing my dystopian novel, it may take a backseat to the new idea. It won’t be the first time I’ve shifted stories between the front and back burners. I wrote scenes from To the Left of Death while finishing The Insistence Memory. And I wrote sections of Healers and Thieves while finishing To the Left of Death.
Maybe that’s a process I should lean into, shifting between these two ideas until one emerges as my next finished book. In these “unprecedented times,” perhaps we all need to do our best to stay creative, wherever that creativity leads.