Many of us grew up reading classic dystopian titles like The Hunger Games and Scythe. These stories tear down unjust societies, reiterate the value of the individual, and remind you what life is really about. Now that dystopian books are making a comeback—especially in the YA field—maybe you’re feeling inclined to write one of your own.
One of the first steps to crafting a great dystopian book is worldbuilding. For my dystopian ideas, I usually tackle worldbuilding before developing characters because it gives me a good idea of what I want the themes in the book to be, and I can then create characters based on those themes.
I have a young adult dystopian trilogy called Lone Player that I’ve been working on for a few years now, and the third book will be released in 2025. If you’re writing a dystopian book, this blog lists helpful worldbuilding tips to help you craft a thought-provoking setting for your story. These really helped me out while I was developing Lone Player!
1. Familiarize Yourself With the Meaning of Dystopia
The first tip I have is to familiarize yourself with the meaning of dystopia. I know this might seem obvious, but this is vital for reflecting the genre properly in your book.
At its core, dystopia essentially describes an unjust society. Things are unfair, and there is typically a widespread need for change.
In terms of world-building, you want to establish that this society really is a dystopia. You want to depict a status quo that will be changed throughout the story.
Here are some qualities to consider including in your dystopian society:
- A need for change. If your society doesn’t have a standard of injustice, there won’t be a need for change. This need for change is often a solid external motivator for character development that will be important throughout your story.
- Conformity is expected. While this isn’t the case for every example of dystopian fiction, most works in this genre depict societies where conformity is expected and often enforced in unethical ways.
- The value of the individual has been lost. This is one of the most common patterns I’ve noticed in the dystopian genre, and something I’ve explored a lot in Lone Player. This also happens to be one of the most significant root causes behind the downfalls that cause societies to become dystopian in the first place.
- Dystopia is often disguised as utopia. While this isn’t the case in every dystopian novel, it’s a common idea that can create some pretty interesting and insightful stories.
2. Build Your Fictional World Around a Real Injustice
One of my favorite tips on this list is to build your fictional dystopian world around a real injustice.
By this, I mean take inspiration from real life. Find flaws, form opinions, and write about them. Dystopian is such a great genre for people with points to make, so take advantage of that and write something valuable to you. As an author, you have more influence than you realize, and it’s important to not take that for granted.
For example, in Lone Player, one of the biggest discussions present throughout the book is how unfair the world is for those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Take Lyme, for example (which is what I have and I talk about it in the trilogy): it’s not covered by insurance, treatment is really expensive, and most people are too sick to work and can’t afford to get better, so it’s just this ruthless cycle of needing money to survive, and not having it. In Lone Player, being sick is illegal, so you need to pay for Immunity to be spared extermination. See what I mean?
3. Create a World With Character Development in Mind
A good rule of thumb for dystopian world-building is to build a society that will promote development for your characters.
I recommend building your world in a way that will externally motivate your characters enough to incite substantial internal conflict. For example, if there is an injustice your characters feel motivated to change due to painful past experiences, this can brew the perfect storm in terms of character development.
Because dystopian fiction focuses a lot on society, it’s a good idea to use that to your advantage and create a world that will spark some sort of character arc– positive or negative.
4. Match Technological Advancements With Limitations
Since dystopian is a subgenre of science fiction, many dystopian novels include worlds that have made technological advancements that make life easier.
For example, in Scythe, the world has essentially overcome death. People can be revived and are no longer affected by fatal injuries, illness, or even aging. However, there are limitations to this rule. For example, it’s harder—if not impossible—to revive a body when burned.
While watching one of Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on YouTube, I remember him mentioning how limitations make fantasy power systems interesting. However, you can also apply this same concept to dystopian fiction.
One way to go about doing this is to think of any technological advancements as a power system and provide that system with enough limitations to feel just realistic enough for readers to want to keep reading.
For example, if your dystopian society features machines that can do some seemingly impossible feats, maybe make that technology prone to breakage or failures. Or perhaps it can only be used once.
The possibilities are endless. However, not every “power system” should be. Limitations in all areas keep things interesting!
5. Establish a Public Opinion About Your Dystopian Society
Another significant part of dystopian world-building is the public’s view of that dystopian society.
How the majority views your society will have a major impact on your characters, settings, and the plot as a whole. Whatever your imaginary society might look like, and whatever the public’s view may be, make sure you understand it.
Of course, you can have your book feature conflicting views. For example, in my trilogy Lone Player, some people support the government’s harsh policies while others don’t. Right vs. wrong is a complex argument for my characters, and they often find themselves going back and forth on the subject.
Build your world and thoroughly consider how people will react to this particular world. Do they love it, hate it, or have mixed emotions? It’s entirely up to you.
Find More Dystopian Writing Tips at Writer’s Hoard
With so many excellent dystopian titles out there, it can be tricky to navigate the genre with confidence. As long as you have a strong understanding of dystopia and the point you want to make, I know you’ll write something great.
If you found these tips useful, make sure to subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date on our latest blog posts, free resources, and other fun stuff! And if you need some dystopian inspiration, check out my books!
Happy writing!
Xoxo, Julia
Bree Dawn says
Okay, but this is SO HELPFUL. 👀 I’ve always loved dystopia, and this is a great resource. Will definitely be coming back when I end up writing my weird little fantasy dystopia disaster.
Julia says
Aw yay, so glad to hear this was helpful!! Can’t wait to read your book someday hehe