I know everything is influenced by something else. I'm aware of this... however...
For the past two years, I've worked on a post-apocalypse storyline in a world ravaged by the undead (I don't use the z-word). This collection is a series of first-person narratives that I used to practice telling stories from that perspective. The stories are very militaristic and go into great detail about the logistical response to such a world-wide event, but at their heart, I believe them to be action-based stories about the undead.
Anyway, I just discovered "World War Z", and picked it up this past weekend. I had never heard about it before.
Sigh.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
Oh, what a drag. How many of us have that exact same fear? Work on something then someone else beats you to the punch.
World War Z has been out for a few months, at least. Catchy title. So catchy I almost spent some crucial cab fare to buy it at an airport.
Posted by Symphonyofnames (Member # 8283) on :
Max Brooks does good zombie work. The zombie survival guide is quite good as well. And that feeling does blow. I go think of something great and someone else steals it retroactively.
Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :
One thing is to tell the stories differently. If one is from a military point of view, like actual soldiers, One could be from the point of view of a civilian "drafted" into the military. If one is the over encompassing world at war, one can do a story from small sections. As I was typing that, I thought of where one must wave a weapon a certain way to prove you are alive. the undead cannot do that. The idea is to tell a story, even if it were a different emphasis, different than what is out there.
Of course, the only real problem is that with every successful book, is dozens of copy-cats sent to the publishers.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Zombies seem to be everywhere lately.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
Picking up on rstegman's line of thought, if the story has strong and motivated characters for the reader to follow, the millieu becomes a backdrop for the story and similarities to the backdrop of other stories diminishes in importance. The concept of people fighting zombie-like foes after the collapse of civilization is not all that fascinating anymore. But who they are, why they fight, how they fight, and what happens to them; can be. If those elements are all working, very few people will care that your "world situation" resembles another. Just think of how many stories have WWII as a backdrop, for example. If the emphasis is: "look at this cool world situation", then there might be a difficulty.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
quote:Zombies seem to be everywhere lately.
Indeed.
Posted by micmcd (Member # 7977) on :
This thread reminds me of one not too long ago where someone was describing a plot that sounded exactly like Dexter.
Finish your book, and get it out there. It'll be perfect timing to say "in the vein of World War Z...my novel tells the tale of a military genius tackling the problems presented when the undead begin to awaken and take over the world."
You're golden! It's a perfect time to tell zombie stories, IMHO. They're not yet overdone (like the vampire sub-genre which is a little heavy right now.)
Good luck!
Posted by jayazman (Member # 2818) on :
I only have 53% chance of surviving a zombie attack. I'm toast.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Thanks for the encouragement, KayTi. I enjoy the series too much to abandon it, and you never know where it could lead.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I gather Max Brooks is the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Since few things cheese me off like finding out somebody who got a book published is the "son of" somebody famous, this is likely why I didn't buy it or read it.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Added thought: I think World War Z has been out for a couple of years...let me check...well, the paperback came out in 2007, so the hardcover was probably 2006...also his The Zombie Survival Guide came out in 2003...
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I had heard of the survival guide, but not 'Z' up until recently. I did not know he was the son of so-and-so. Still, despite that, he's not a bad author, he's just very slow at times... at least in 'Z'.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I thought the best statement on zombies came from an episode of "The Simpsons":
[walking through a cemetary]
BART: Grandpa, do you ever think your dead buddies get up and walk around at night?
GRANDPA: If they're anything like me, they have to get up twice.
