Everyone knows what apocalyptic books are by now. (Bear in mind that this is different from dystopian—dystopian has a dictator heading a government and a faulty society, while apocalyptic is simply chaos and death.) Anyway, here's how to write a super-duper awesome and unique apocalypse book, because everyone loves hearing about the apocalypse! And remember, it has to be set in America. (Bonus if you include a tattered American flag) Because the only remaining people in the world are all in America.
1. MAIN CHARACTER:
You can actually have several main characters belonging to a squad. Remember, even though the world is ending, your MC must have a love interest. It's very easy, in a world where 99% of population is dead, to find someone who's your age, of the opposite gender, a Gary Stu (or Mary Sue if your MC is a guy), who falls for you.
2. NAMES:
Shortened, semi-unique nicknames for normal names work well here. For instance, Bree in place of Brianna is a great choice.
3. PLOT:
-Make sure to open with lots and lots of exposition while the MC looks over a field of corpses or something similar.
-Flashbacks
-Vaguely explained phenomenon which caused the world to be ruined
-Virus that turns you into a zombie
-Weird term to replace "zombie"
-Guns
-Factions of survivors
-Aliens
-Bickering scientists
-Scientist who defected
-Dead parents
-Dead everyone
-Helicopters
-MC and love interest have the greatest will-they-won't-they ever
-MC is somehow essential to save the world
-MC is a complete wimp in battle who becomes a total badass (bonus if you dedicate an entire chapter to training)
-Kissing
-Disasters
-Kissing in the middle of a disaster
-Wasting time
-Exaggeration
-Sacrifice
-Dead/near dead person revives miraculously (bonus if you reenact Dwayne Johnson's attempts to revive his daughter in San Andreas)
-Cliffhanger
-Staring into horizons
-Sequel
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