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Writing Challenge/Prompt: Rural Fiction
3 years ago
General
Something struck me just a little while ago: as far as I know, most if not all Cyberpunk stories are set in urban environments. Granted, I'm unsure how well you could stick to the genre if they didn't, but when has something being difficult ever stopped the human race? And when I thought about it further, I realized that the vast majority of fiction is not set in anything like a rural setting. No, I don't think Westerns quite count because those are more of a frontier setting. The difference being that it's like a rural environment, but on the edge or in the middle of unexplored territory. The difference may be slight, but it is there, and I think it's significant.
Which is what led me to composing and posting this journal. I wasn't sure what to call it as it feels more like a challenge than a prompt to me, but there may be little difference between those terms except in tone and difficulty. In any case, I think it could be fun to explore this.
So! Let's set some ground rules and stipulations.
First off, this ain't really a contest, so I can't promise anything if you write a story from this and link it back to me. Sorry if anyone was hoping for a cool prize. Not really happening.
Second, I'd probably take points off if there are Western elements in it, but I might still appreciate it if the story stays out of any major cities or large towns for most of its length. I'd also prefer staying out of the wilderness because I'm looking for settings that have a minimal amount of civilization, but aren't full to bursting of occupants/citizens. Rural doesn't mean nobody lives around the area, just that there ain't a lot of folk to be found. Small towns are fine, though I may throw my drink at you if you mimic Stephen King and put some religious nutjob in the story to serve as an antagonist, or who just makes things worse for no reason other than they might think Jesus loves them the most because... I dunno, reasons. Seriously, King, would it kill you to put a sympathetic Christian in your stories? Good grief...
And third, I'm not restricting you to a genre. Doesn't have to be cyberpunk. There's a lot of genres out there (and TV Tropes has a long list of "Punk" style genres that share similar traits to cyberpunk, but are their own thing), so why should I limit people to just one or two? Granted, I'd prefer stuff that's set more in a sci-fi or fantasy setting of some kind, but people will write whatever they want. Even if it's some fluffy novel set in the timeline next door to ours where things are slightly better but otherwise the same. I don't get the appeal of that, but hey, again, people will write whatever they want.
I'm not really sure how to end this other than to encourage y'all to spread this idea out into the wild. If you're on Tumblr or Discord, share it there. Heck, make your own journal here or on Deviant Art with the same general prompt. You could even copy-paste the text of my journal, though I would prefer if you'd at least give me credit for the words. I could probably take some kind of legal action if you tried to steal my journal entry, so I don't recommend it. Besides, I doubt the reward would be that high.
As for me, I'm gonna go post this link in a few places and see if anyone bites. Take care of yourselves, and God bless.
Which is what led me to composing and posting this journal. I wasn't sure what to call it as it feels more like a challenge than a prompt to me, but there may be little difference between those terms except in tone and difficulty. In any case, I think it could be fun to explore this.
So! Let's set some ground rules and stipulations.
First off, this ain't really a contest, so I can't promise anything if you write a story from this and link it back to me. Sorry if anyone was hoping for a cool prize. Not really happening.
Second, I'd probably take points off if there are Western elements in it, but I might still appreciate it if the story stays out of any major cities or large towns for most of its length. I'd also prefer staying out of the wilderness because I'm looking for settings that have a minimal amount of civilization, but aren't full to bursting of occupants/citizens. Rural doesn't mean nobody lives around the area, just that there ain't a lot of folk to be found. Small towns are fine, though I may throw my drink at you if you mimic Stephen King and put some religious nutjob in the story to serve as an antagonist, or who just makes things worse for no reason other than they might think Jesus loves them the most because... I dunno, reasons. Seriously, King, would it kill you to put a sympathetic Christian in your stories? Good grief...
And third, I'm not restricting you to a genre. Doesn't have to be cyberpunk. There's a lot of genres out there (and TV Tropes has a long list of "Punk" style genres that share similar traits to cyberpunk, but are their own thing), so why should I limit people to just one or two? Granted, I'd prefer stuff that's set more in a sci-fi or fantasy setting of some kind, but people will write whatever they want. Even if it's some fluffy novel set in the timeline next door to ours where things are slightly better but otherwise the same. I don't get the appeal of that, but hey, again, people will write whatever they want.
I'm not really sure how to end this other than to encourage y'all to spread this idea out into the wild. If you're on Tumblr or Discord, share it there. Heck, make your own journal here or on Deviant Art with the same general prompt. You could even copy-paste the text of my journal, though I would prefer if you'd at least give me credit for the words. I could probably take some kind of legal action if you tried to steal my journal entry, so I don't recommend it. Besides, I doubt the reward would be that high.
As for me, I'm gonna go post this link in a few places and see if anyone bites. Take care of yourselves, and God bless.
Haha, oh boy, I got a place to show you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G2-RnH_RkM
I'm really not sure how else to explain it, so if this doesn't help, I'm not sure what to tell you.
One of then got his arms eaten by a horned bear and another adopted a technomantic cougar.
What if the religious nutjob turns out to be right? :P
Honestly? I feel like he may just be a hack, even if he's a popular one. I have to wonder if he could write a decent Christian if he tried.
Talk to me when he can write someone like Michael Carpenter from The Dresden Files. That's much closer to what I'm getting at. Someone who is blatantly Christian in their attitudes and livelihood, but isn't a jerk or nutjob about it. When Mr. King can write that, maybe I'll be interested.
(googles) Father Donald Frank Callahan, that was him.
Also, I suspect most of even his good portrayals get the Faith wrong, even if the Christians shown are good people. Perhaps because King rose to prominence in the days when Christianity was beginning to wane, and people were pushing and questioning it, and even making pot-shots at it. But now the Faith no longer has the prominence or cultural power that it once had in the West, and heaven only knows when or if it will reclaim it. So, taking potshots at it isn't really brave or risky, because so much of the population either isn't Christian or hates those who are. As such, he may just be a product of his time. Putting horrible, self-righteous people into his works was bold and daring back in the day. Now it's just tiring, because even Christians have come to realize there's something wrong in the church, and feel attacked by having the few bad apples held up as examples of a "typical Christian". And that's without getting into how many authors like him like to mix in beliefs from other faiths and religions in an attempt to "improve" or "correct" Christianity... which those of us who are Christian do not appreciate in the least. Stuff like this is usually written by those who don't understand it, and think the Faith should just be abolished.
I've been burned by King. Can you really blame me for being shy of his work?
Also: Wow, how did I miss your reply???
I wouldn't want people like that to be proven right anyway. They're Pharisees. Self-righteous religious types who can't wait for God to show up and punish all those wicked people and lift them up as shining beacons of humanity, like they totally deserve. =P Having those sorts proven right would mean that God is an angry and vindictive God indeed, and Jesus' Gospel of love and redemption was all a lie, a trick of the devil... which hurts me to even type because of what blasphemy it is. I'd throw the book out if I read an ending like that.
Now, if people just think the nutjob is crazy, and said nutjob is just trying to warn them and isn't some self-righteous type, then it might be a refreshing story indeed when they're proven correct. Heck, it's an old trope, I think, or at least old enough that it's been done before. And even if they're still crazy, it doesn't mean they're wrong. Just might have an odd way of looking at the world. (Mad geniuses aren't always evil, after all.) Having them pass along vital information in cryptic ramblings or odd phrases is a nice way to call back to them, and maybe show that the usual way of looking at things isn't always correct.
Wurf. Sorry. Bit long-winded, but I hope that answers your question. =P Tried to word it as best I could.
yes i went there
...which may mean that in the Dresden Files universe, AJ may actually have the magical power of Cassandra's Tears, which allows you to see the future but curses you with people refusing to believe what you're saying :B
And William Gibson's stories had occasional forays into isolated areas, I remember the friend of one protagonist having a ranch house with dogs in eyeless plastic masks, and wasn't the artist who created lethal moving sculpture from Mona Lisa Overdrive out in the sticks? And I think that deal gone wrong where they got railgunned from an airship was out in the middle of nowhere. I'm a little hazy on which books these happened in, or if it was the Sprawl or The Bridge, I just recall set pieces, lol.
I remember the protagonist's friend from the Bridge trilogy was a bit of a cowboy, with silver contact lenses for an allergy, but he got told by an art gallery manager that he just wasn't Southern enough.
Come to think of it, wasn't the hero in Hardwired actually named "Cowboy"? That was it! And he wanted his artificial eyes to have a black and white setting, so he could live in an old Western, but the techies said it'd be too expensive.
I don't want them as places that are visited by the characters. They're supposed to be their homes. I'm unsure where the confusion occurred here.
Shatter was the first comic made on computer, on the first Macintosh, on art software written by the creator himself, printed out in dot matrix and hand coloured. It went for a while, despite some hostility from the industry, mostly other cartoonists who thought that Mike Saenz was going to replace them all with computers.
There was a story called Slave Cylinder, in an anthology of the same name, illustrated by James O'Barr from The Crow, with a protagonist trying to fuck his talking car in the dashboard while driving through mountains and wasteland being attacked by Wile E. Coyote looking mutant wild dogs dressed like bikers riding monowheels, an obscure motorcycle design that puts the rider inside the wheel.
And there's always the rpg/board game Car Wars and the comics they brought out. They were usually set out in the grain belt or the desert.
IIRC, The Artificial Kid by Bruce Sterling had a remake of The Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven as part of its narrative. Wow, 1980? That places it right smack bang in the middle of the Mirrorshades movement hat created Cyberpunk.
Oh, and Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley had a climax in a ruined, half-melted city after a few scenes out in the wilds. I do think the empty places and spaces are a part of cyberpunk, but usually as a retreat by the characters, and a setting for a showdown with the forces following them from the cities.
I'd rather have a story about farmers going on strike against Mega-Corporations for not honoring their deals, or trying to squeeze the farmers for too much. And then said farmers using their know-how and ingenuity to wipe the floor with the cybernetic thugs sent to break up the strike.
Guess I'll have to write it myself. Seems to be the case with a lot of the things I wanna read. =P