Today I am talking to Dystopian Fiction author L. G. Jenkins about writing dystopian fiction. She gives us hints and tips about the genre and reasons why it is so popular. From secreting to character and everything in between this is your chance to find out everything you need to know about the genre.
You can find out more about Lydia on her website
Today I am talking to Dystopian Fiction author L. G. Jenkins about writing dystopian fiction. She gives us hints and tips about the genre and reasons why it is so popular. From secreting to character and everything in between this is your chance to find out everything you need to know about the genre.
You can find out more about Lydia on her website
Hi, and welcome to the writing and marketing show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. it's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast. So it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to episode 175 of the writing and Marketing Show with author, entrepreneur, Wendy H. Jones. And it's a real joy to have you with me here. Again, I love doing the podcast every month. As you know, this week, I'm going to be talking to author LG Jenkins, Lydia, about writing dystopian fiction, and it's not something I know a lot about. So I'm very much looking forward to interviewing her and learning a lot more about dystopian fiction. And again, I'm not even sure what it is. So we'll find out soon. What have I been up to since we last spoke? Well, I've been extremely busy writing, it's been great. I've been fully motivated to write which is brilliant. I've also been busy setting up the final bits of the website with the web designer for my brand new publishing and retreat business, which is called Auscot, publishing and retreats and the name Auscot, comes from Australia and Scotland, because one of my business partners is in Australia and two of us are in Scotland, and more to come about that soon, it should be up and running the website by next week. And if you would like more information about our retreats or courses, you can get more information now at info@auscotpublishing.com. And we've can tell you about our first retreat that we've got set up in the beautiful highlands of Scotland. So if you wouldn't want to come to Scotland for a writing retreat, then next February is the time for you. I've also been setting up my brand new lighting magazine, writers narrative on the first edition, which will come out in August is almost gone to press. So very exciting times here. For me, I'm having a whale of a time. And I'm still writing and hoping to bring my next book out. Well, I know my next book will be out by the end of June. So again, I'm excited about that. It's all going well in the John's household. So if you would like to support the show, you can do so by going to patreon.com forward slash Wendy H Jones. And you can support me for as little as $2 a month and I'm eternally grateful to everybody that supports me because it means that you like the show and you want me to continue and continue. I will that's over three years now. Three and a half years I've been running it and I am loving it. But it does take time out of my writing so all support is gratefully received. So what have Lydia Well, Lydia Jenkins is a Christian novelist exploring soul for soulful stories, as well as her love for sci fi and dystopias. Lydia delves into different genres, character perspectives, and thought provoking ideas, all of which inform and inspire her own writing. She has a particular passion for the lives of young people as they begin to navigate the working world and adult life. Cringeworthy her debut novel is a dystopian adventure about self worth and gruelling working world. Apart from her writing. Lydia is a freelance editor of a bookworm and a keen netball player, and I'm very much looking forward to hearing from her about dystopian fiction. So without further ado, let's get on with the show and hear from Lydia. And we have Lydia with us. Welcome, Lydia. How are you today? Very, very well, thankfully. How are you? I am extremely well, thank you. I'm really enjoying life today. It's lovely and sunny here in Dundee. What's it like where you are? Here in York. It's actually quite overcast and grey. Well, yeah, it's rather disappointing, isn't it? And you've just got back from Dundee you'd have sun if you'd stayed where you were. I should have stayed in Scotland. That's the moral of the story. I think it is. It is, Scotland's an awesome place. Although it's unusual for us to have lots and lots of sun when everybody else doesn't. Although Dundee is the sunniest city in Scotland, there you go. Random Fact. Yeah, that's a fact. Yes, Dundee is the sunniest city in Scotland. God help the rest of Scotland. We'll move on and ask the questions because although it has been sunny this year, we've been lucky. So I'm very, very excited about it. I'm talking about dystopian fiction because it's not something I know a lot about writing dystopian fiction, so a gentle one to start with what exactly is dystopian fiction. So, fiction is a funny one because it can sort of merge into several different things, but the sort of standard wrapping up no form of speculative fiction, and they've quite often portrayed in a futuristic setting. And it's often characterised by an oppressive system, whether that be a chaotic lawn and mow lawns, a corporate one, but it's always characterised by some sort of system or control. And originally, it was born out of utopian fiction, actually, which is more around, obviously, sharing an idealised state or society, which is quite often portraying an author people still have philosophical views or from his name, but then it was likely George Orwell and forgotten the other name. The author of brave new world. Aldous Huxley. They were thought of a the most popular dystopian fiction, and then it sort of morphed into the young adult genre with the likes of The Hunger Games and the Divergent series, and Maze Runner. And then you've also got things like The Handmaid's Tale, but all of those things have the tropes, which are particularly around a society that it's involved by some sort of opprressive control. That's a brilliant description. And yeah, I didn't realise it came out of the utopian fiction, which was actually dystopian, you know? It's, There's always some utopina elements that are utopian. You have a habit of making conflict? You need conflict, or it's gonna be a very boring book. Also, it's not true to life. You know, utopian stuff is not true to life, and you need to be able to it needs to be believable. So I'm curious what inspires you to write dystopian fiction? And what do you find most fascinating about the genre? Yeah, so funny one, really, because I've always enjoyed the genre, always really enjoyed it. I've always loved the creativity around it. And but what inspired me to dig taking fiction originally was actually out of circumstances in my own life. And that was particularly around four years ago, I got made redundant within a few years of my working life after university. So, that bad experience in the sort of, I guess, stress of that, and also the gift shop could not have helped me process what I was actually believing about working on you. And then I felt inspired by God, I believe, to start writing. But I've never considered writing a book. But then I started to think about, well, there's all these things in the working world, negative opinions, we believe about ourselves and the lies we've got to believe. What if that was in a world that was that on a greater, greater scale? Yeah. And that was born out of that. And I always sort of said, from Christians, I thought, why don't I give that don't you think will happen? Absolutely. What happened? You've got you out in a series already. And I believe two more, but we'll hear more about that in a bit. So I know with dystopian fiction, obviously, it's in different worlds to our own. So how do you approach what you're building in your dystopian stories? And just to take that a bit further, What elements do you consider essential to create a believable and immersive dystopian setting? I think the first component is world building, actually things about the background of why a society is the way it is. So, the history in my book, for example, there is a whole history behind why they had certain a certain certain morals, certain principles, and why a majority believes is the way it is. And from those principles and morals from that you can then build everyday details. So for example, one of my one of the majority believes in my society is progressive strength. That's one of the mottos of commands to alter cooperation. And the idea is that you've got to keep working and keep making progress. And if you don't do that, you're leaving work. And that's the majority of beliefs. So out of that comes little things in the world, like they haven't looked to politics, which effectively allows you to safely get anything to give you more time in order to work in order to make more progress. For example, I know it sounds awful Here's what's happening about me, if you were given that, would you take it? Yeah, that's a good point. I don't think I would. I like sleeping. If everybody around you was taking it? I don't know is the answer. It's a difficult one to answer, isn't it? But the essential elements of building a dystopian society really is that oppressive state, that oppressive nature have always been convicted of violence, always having always a bit of social unrest, and political and economic divisions. And quite often technologies involved in a lot of people working together to build this world. Sounds great. And I've never thought about approaching it from the why in the first instance. And that's a really good way of doing it. So as I told you, I was going to learn things and unlearning things already. You know, that you start from the why, why is the world like it is because unless you know the world, why the world is like it as you can't build it? Yeah, that's a great tip, really, to stop in fiction often reflects real world issues and social commentary. How do you use your stories to explore and shed light on contemporary concerns, or concerns or potential future scenarios? And of course, in this case, this would be your case, this would include a Christian viewpoint. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, having explained that my writing came out of my processing of the working world, particularly young professionals, and my books are very much a social commentary around self worth, and self awareness in your work environment, and that actually, culture and society everything is driven towards the best and money and baser. And it's sort of asking the question is, where's the line? When do you start to focus on those downloads that you do for things that actually matter? And, you know, I'm not saying that working with a bad thing works with a good rewarding thing, I believe, as long as you're gonna. And if you're doing and we're mental illness, and we're meant to work really hard. And but it's that juxtaposition between and the balance between work and rapid. And when self worth start to get a bit diluted, because both things are unbalanced. And I brought my Christian viewpoint. I mean, it's sort of trying to say that you're not defined by your work. You're defined by who God has called you to be. But, but from a non Christian viewpoint, it's also are you defined by just your work? Or more than that, by knowing more about your relationships in the family or building more? Whatever is important? Yeah, that's sort of the social commentary that mine. Yeah, I mean, I agree, a lot of us do get so tied up in our work that it almost becomes a dystopian world because we think that is our water, and our worth. Whereas we're all worth so much more than that. And these are the sorts of things that you can tease out in books like this. And you can make people think about, because we're living in a society where people just work more and more and more and more, it's crazy, you know, and they forget that they need to take time for them as well. And that earning money is not the be all and end all. Yeah, then that's absolutely right. And that's what's quite amazing is by writing the book has been mind way of processing all of that. And figuring out what I actually want in my life and what I actually believe about the thing. And I've done that through writing these books, and through the characters, which have been quite an amazing way of doing it. I didn't intend to do that it would not have happened. No, excellent. I mean, they always say don't leave it. Nobody has written on their gravestone. I wish I'd worked harder. No, I certainly won't. That's for sure. So I'm thinking about hunger games here, because that's one of the CDs that I've read, so I know about it. But to stop in protagonists are often faced with moral dilemmas and challenging circumstances. How do you develop compelling and relatable characters within the dystopian genre? Because we all think that dystopia is you know, it's all awful, but you need characters you can relate to? Yeah, yeah, I think to be honest, I don't think it's actually adding different and creating compelling characters than any other novels. Because really, from the thoughts from the start of developing your character, you're thinking about them as a person, and then you go on to them as a person in the world that they're in their lives. Same way. If you were building a character for a 21st century romance, you think about their flaws. You think about their strengths, you think about all of the things that fill This person, and then you think, right, right? Because what is the job? How do they interact with this? Device? What about the simple about it? What? What is making them feel oppressed? What is making them feel like they need to, you know, really go on hamster wheel? Is it to do with their background? Or is it to do with the people around them in the world? And I think it's very similar to how you did organic art. And getting that new car. Yeah. Excellent. So yeah, that's a good point that you just write the same as any other character. It's just that they've got a different set of circumstances in which that character needs to act and relate with others. Yeah, so yeah. So I know that dystopian stories can evoke a wide range of emotions in readers, how do you create an emotional impact through your writing? Oh, well, again, I think that comes back to the character. And you've already said the word when did that word relatable really convey something of themselves, whether they like it or not, in the character of your story. And, and later on, and very complex as well, I remember having one review, particularly on my on my second book, stolen crown, and that somebody said, a guy who's pregnant, is it's quite complex, and they didn't really liked me. And I thought he was really real part of making a character. And therefore when they interact with the world, you end up journeying with them, and you see the journey through that, and how they became change. And that change is what I can do now. And I can relate to that on some level. Yeah. I mean, when we think of emotion, we always seem to think about and I do the same likeable, your character has to be likeable. Yeah. Well, no, no, no, no emotions there. You can evoke negative emotions in people. And I read a series of books that aren't dystopian or crime fiction. But the main and I can't remember who wrote them or the titles of the books, but they are the main character, but the main character literally, and I'm talking about the main detective literally had no redeeming features. And that was deliberate it not a one. And she'd been brought up to drag yourself upon the streets. And when was then adopted by a policeman. But by that point, there was absolutely no way anybody could turn her character around. She was truly awful character. And yet the books were brilliant. And because she evoked emotion, yeah, I'm still read the entire series. So we very often think of it the character has to be likeable know, the character has to be relatable, as you said, you know? Yeah, yeah. And I suppose it's even more so in dystopian fiction, where you have the the people who really are the evil side of it, and then you have the characters who are there. You know, good side of it, because it's good versus evil. Yeah, and I think it's an interesting exploration that because I, with my, particularly in the first book crowned worthy, there's a bit of a play on that because actually, ad and the main protagonists don't necessarily see the corporation as evil. They're actually going from what the corporation wants them to do. And then over the theories, you sort of see that develop, and it sort of journey in with the characters as they start to move down the society they are, they're actually living and rather than what they think it is, yeah. No, that's good. And it's kind of that over a series is brilliant, as well, because it gives it gives a flavour of how thoughts change how the characters develop, you know, so that's good. I like that. I know that dystopian fiction sometimes incorporates elements of other genres such as romance or adventure. How do you blend different genres together to enhance the storytelling in your work? I hope that you can answer that because I'll be honest and say at this point, I have not read your books, because I don't read dystopian fiction, but I do plan on eating. So, my books actually are a bit of a merger. There is a bit of romance in there. As far as I really well. dystopians actually, I still don't download science fiction. And also a bit. I describe it as a thriller in a lot of ways as well. But it goes back again, and I know keep bringing it back. But I think it does go back to the characters as well. And because the romance element of it comes to In the characters that comes through AJ in demo, protagonists, and their relationship and how they interact with each other, how they try are either people or don't prioritise each other. And also, with the thriller element of it, it's all about the decisions that they make. So we get a bit of a backstory. And we see that how the decisions that he made based on that lead to thrilling moments in the novel, if he hadn't made those decisions, that part of the genre wouldn't ever have come out. So I think that, obviously the plot plot within that, and I've driven it a certain way, but there's definitely been times where I've had an idea of where the plot is going to go. And then I've realised No, AJ would never make that decision. Yeah, we would never do that. Because it's a person here. Yeah. Shawn was sort of come out of the character gaming. Yeah, I would agree with you really, because, obviously, I write crime fiction. And they say that every crime fiction book has to have a new element of romance in it. I'm not a romance writer. And if you put too much romance in, it then becomes romantic suspense, which I'm not writing, you know, but it is driven from the characters, because my characters are always busy solving motors, so they don't have time for to go out for candlelit dinners, you know, so it comes through the work that I'm doing and stuff like that. So I think it is character driven, you cannot suddenly have them do a subplot that would have nothing to do with them as characters because it wouldn't be believable.
Unknown:If you think about, you know, popular young adult reposting and both the Hunger Games and Divergent for example, both have thankful romance. Yeah, I'm particularly home fans who know the love triangle. And that's all to do with Tatler and her one her circumstances and getting thrown into the games. And then Peter being the other tree. It's tricky. Yeah. But also in her interaction and friendship with Gail. It's all through her. It's all driven through here, I think your character is not tagged on the random cuboid. And you can, okay, plot driven and character driven?
Lydia Jenkins:Yeah. Now, I would agree with that completely, that there has to be suitable for what your characters would do. And it's just putting it in for the sake of it. And then readers will, readers will pick up on that, you know, and you won't go any further. So, dystopian fiction can be thought provoking and inspire readers to contemplate the world around them. What impact do you hope your dystopian stories will have on your readers? And what messages or themes do you aim to convey through your writing? And we've touched on this a little bit anyway to do with work. a little bit, but I think the film it really is, a to flow down in a world that is really fast. And also the value of rest and take a step back and contemplate, what do we put most value on in our lives? And is that actually what we want the most value on? And so is making money or having a pipeline job really the most valuable thing to us? And if it is, is that right? Is that actually what we want? And yeah, just taking stock of our everyday working life or thinking just making adjustments in order to find more rapid and find more fulfilment and everyday? Yeah, I would agree with that. Because, as writers, I mean, we're the worst. We die all the time. Every day. Anytime you find us writing at three o'clock in the morning, you know, we're up at six o'clock, you know, what the heck we need to sleep as well. I mean, when I say that, these books have been a bit of a almost like a therapy for me. What quite often I'll find myself in a bit of a flat or whatever. And then I realise I'm like, Oh, I'm doing what he was doing in that feeling of cramped living, you know, on Yeah. Back and blow down it. Also, you go out for, you know, coffee or a meal with your friends. And suddenly you've completely zoned out because somebody said one word that you think, Oh, that'd be great. That would be good. And like Wendy, Wendy, are you with us? Are you speaking to us? Well, yeah. Yeah, that's Sorry, I have no idea what you've said. Because I was thinking about my next marketing plan. Cisely Yeah. I mean, the other day, we met up just for coffee and we spent two hours discussing writing in the business of writing. I loved it. It was brilliant. I had a really good time. But you know, what was that about? It went fast. That's for sure. Excellent eye cream. Oh, it was very nice ice cream. I have to say So can you tell us a bit about both of your books that are out so far? And maybe give us a hint about the next two that are coming out? Absolutely. Yeah. So the books are part of a theory called American theory, which is essentially an adventure about self worth, and growing minds in the world. And so it follows the life of AJ Amber, you is a young working professional, and we see him interact with Victor Sophie and society and see him caught between his ambition and his secret. So it's 50 of Chico is based on a meritocracy. And we also feed his girls and start to question the world that he lives in. And actually thought got caught in the middle of all of Agios ambitions for Crown worthy for first, and it's followed closely by fallen crown and the third novel. So there's there's going to be four in the series a third novel is in is in progress. We're getting there. I'm hoping to get that out by the end of the year, and remain immersive and they're scarily close to our reality. And I think actually, you can think about it as the Hunger Games. Meeting modern day working life. And yeah, that's how I sum them up. Excellent, they sound brilliant and I will be reading them. I just haven't got around to it as yet, because I've got like 97 million books in my to be read pile. Yeah. Quite scary and ridiculous. I'm not exaggerating, either. It's crazy. It really is. I don't look at my Kindle library when we've gone through the 99. Please do if you're like, oh, I want to read that. And it's been on there for about a year. I've got one that says you bought this in 2019 auditor. Okay, maybe better read it now. Or whenever Kindle started, you know, because when Kindles first started, we've gone off plot here, but that's what we like, everybody just downloaded the free books because everybody was giving you free books. So you downloaded them all you thought all free books, and you get a bit more, a bit more, you know, select if that's the word I'm looking for. Yeah. So my final question, Where Can my listeners find out more about you and your books. So the best place to go is my website. So that's lgjenkins.com. And there you can find a bit more about Neil keeps a lot of that and also order exclusive signed copies of both my books. Those are two book deals on there actually thing if you buy both at the same time, get it a little bit cheaper. And but you can also find out more about me on Instagram, Tik Tok. And also my books are available from all good bookstores as well. So yeah, excellent. We like a deal. Guys go and get that straight away. Bargain hunters out there. Yes, there's nothing like a deal. And what I say with my books is and even you would want to read both of those because there's a story that carries over but with mine they're standalone books even though they're a series so I just say hey by oh seven you get a deal and you'll can give them all to everybody for Christmas. Exactly. Yeah. Great gift idea as well really especially for those in the 16 to 38 group because I resonate with it quite absolutely and I'm gonna get nasty letters no send you mentioned Christmas and it's only me when I don't care it's my everyone out there every big company out there is already planning their Christmas marketing and shopping for me and so I think the bookshops are already getting the books in for Christmas they're already writing their orders for Christmas that's the way of life to be ahead of the game one step ahead. Oh when I'm when you're writing blogs for people and you've got to do it you know, you're writing a blog for Christmas and it's you're sitting swell and in the suddenly thinking, what's this all about? And I've had to do that I've had to write articles based on Christmas and I've been so same shorts and a T shirt while I've been tuning I was gonna save you put your Christmas jumper on but again, the newbie probably between one day he exhaustion. Even he certainly got air conditioning here. Right on that note, thank you very much, Lydia, for joining me today. It's been an absolute pleasure having you. Thank you for having me. Oh, we've learned such a wide lens such a lot and I'm sure everyone else will as well. So enjoy the rest of your day. Go up Randy. Take care. Bye. Bye.
Wendy Jones:That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy H Jones and you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash Wendy H Jones. I'm also Wendy H Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. keep reading and keep learning