Are you writing a dystopian short story or novel?
If you’re still at the idea stage or need a spark of inspiration to develop a plot you have in mind, in this article we’ve shared 13 original dystopian writing prompts for you. Read on to learn more.
1. After several nuclear bombings, most of the world’s soil has been poisoned. Food is artificially created by government companies and distributed to the population as paychecks instead of money. When a mother of three loses her government-issued job and is unable to find a new one, she tries and succeeds growing vegetables and grains in her backyard. This gets her in trouble with the government, as they need to keep the illusion of food being scarce to keep the people in control.
2. Due to global warming, most of the world’s rivers have dried out, and fresh water has become scarce. Corporations have started to drain the oceans and are turning saltwater into fresh water and selling it, making water the most expensive product to buy. A worker at a water plant discovers that they are not using ocean water, but fresh water instead, and that the corporations have merely taken control of the oceans and are secretly keeping tons of fresh water in storage. The worker sets out to reveal the secret and destroy the corporations.
3. The world’s air has become too polluted to breathe. Each time people go outside, they need to wear masks, produced and sold by the authorities, and which people need to replace every month. Houses and any other buildings also use special filters to provide clean air. People are prohibited from venturing too far from their homes and cities. One day, a couple of adventurers decide to go far away from their city. The authorities start chasing them. On their trip, they discover that the authorities are using plants to pollute the air and keep the population in check.
4. After the depletion of the ozone layer, the cities and towns have been encased in domes. Inside the domes, there is no solar radiation. People are prohibited from leaving the domes or leaving one dome and living in another one. One day, a young man meets a young woman who takes him outside of the dome, to a beach full of sunlight. There, she reveals she is the daughter of their current ruler, and that the world has been told a lie – the outside is perfectly safe, the ozone layer has regenerated, but the domes keep the people in line. After they are caught, she sacrifices herself so he can escape and spread the truth.
5. After the depletion of fossil fuel, a series of wars contaminated the atmosphere of Earth with a layer of ash. The Earth began to cool, plants and trees can only be cultivated under domes, and the authorities provide energy and electricity through above-cloud wind turbines and solar panels. One day, a group of kids stumble upon a huge wind turbine and discover that the authorities are using the turbines to keep and spread the ash layer over the earth. They need to fight for their lives to escape and reveal the secret to the rest of the world.
6. In this world, abortion is enforced to create humans with pure genetics. Pregnant women have to undergo tests to see if the baby is genetically healthy and according to the pre-required standards. Any deviation from the standards is considered an anomaly and the baby gets aborted. One woman undergoes the tests and it is determined that her baby is not up to the standards. Wanting to keep her baby, she breaks into the system’s records and determines her baby is healthy, but would not have the right hair and eye color. She runs away to expose the secrets behind the standards for healthy babies.
7. The government has decided to foster a new era of health, and has listed almost all viral and bacterial infections as undesirable. If anyone has a viral or bacterial infection, they are segregated and taken to special facilities where they will live out the rest of their lives. One day, a young man who has a cold, tries to pass it off as allergies to his friend, but his friend rats him out to the authorities, and he gets imprisoned in one such facility. There, he discovers that the inhabitants are being used for genetic experiments.
8. To control overpopulation, the government has issued a ban on having children. If a couple wants to have even one child, they need to undergo a series of background and financial checks to prove that they have the money to take care of it. This process needs to be repeated for each subsequent child. One couple, when applying for a child, keep being told that they do not have the right mindset for it, even if they have the money. Upon investigating further, the woman discovers that there is another, more sinister reason why the government is not allowing them to have a baby.
9. Eradicating mental illnesses has become the government’s main priority. To keep the people healthy, they have created a program where any people who exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, OCD, and more, are taken to special facilities to cure them. However, these people come back as shells of their former selves and are happy to a level that is creepy. They also do not mind any of the other government policies. A woman who gets angry at work gets reported on and is taken to a facility to get cured of her anger management issues.
10. To fight the overpopulation crisis, the government has decided to choose and euthanize a certain number of people once per year. To be eligible for euthanasia, you must be either over 60 years old, or afflicted with an incurable illness, mental or physical disability, or not have a job – as you’re not contributing to society. One day, a young woman loses her job right before that year’s choosing, and gets chosen for the euthanasia. She then discovers the real reason behind the choosing and why she was chosen.
11. Some centuries ago, a virus emerged that attacked only women, eradicating almost 90% of the female population. Even after the virus was eradicated, the population of women has remained very low with more male births than female. Thus, all females are segregated and live separate from men, seemingly pampered and provided with everything, and all that is required of them are reproductive services and carrying babies. One of them discovers that women’s numbers are being kept in check by aborting female babies, so the women’s population would not get equal or bigger than the men’s. (You can also switch genders on this one.)
12. The climate on Earth has turned extreme – with the weather being very hot during the day and blisteringly cold during the night. As such, humanity has taken to digging caves and living inside mountains or underground. Everything is controlled by the leaders of the Organization, and people are not given any choice in terms of their profession or when they can have a child – in order to control the population of the caves.
There are many such dwellings around in the world, but traveling between them is strictly prohibited – only those with special access and clearance are allowed to use resources to travel. One day, a soldier is sent as a bodyguard to an envoy – and when their armored and insulated vehicle is attacked by mysterious raiders, he discovers that the climate outside is not so extreme after all.
13. The world has entered a global war that has lasted for centuries. Countries form and break alliances and fight over resources – from water to land – with no hope for peace. Each person is tested at 15 and assigned a role in the military, or another role to support the military (weapons production, medicine, intelligence, etc.). The protagonist gets assigned to the intelligence section, and there, they learn that most other countries have entered peace treaties, except their own country, and that they are the only ones still waging war to keep their own population controlled.