> Another Novel Challenge: Let's Be Post-Apocalyptic Before It Is Too Late
> I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said – 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Percy Bysshe Shelley
No matter how smug those villains in power are, sooner or later their houses of cards will come crashing down. And yet another civilisation will have fallen, become 'one with Nineveh and Tyre.' They go the way of the Harappans, of Great Zimbabwe, of Machu Picchu and the Kingdom of Prester John.
Someday, some smarmy armchair historian will suck on a pipe and pontificate as to where we went wrong. At least, I hope they will: otherwise it will mean we took the planet with us, and that's not fair to the dolphins.
But every apocalypse has its post-apocalypse. Less an afterlife and more a sort of après civilization. So make yours up. Now's your time to populate the ruins with a world of your own design. What will they be? Happy hippies or ferocious cannibals? Yes, we know which one Freewayriding will pick. But what about the rest of yinz?
Will your people speak a strange new language and regard Punch and Judy shows as religious exercises, as in Riddley Walker? Will they inhabit a shopping mall in mindless but short-lived luxury, like the citizens of Logan's Run? Will they spread out among the stars and forget where they came from? Will they hide underground until they learn The Penultimate Truth?
Just whose apocalypse are they post-living in, anyway? Every civilisation that has vanished has had a post-apocalyptic period, and the people in it may not have even realised it. What do you imagine the Britons were like after the Roman Empire receded? Did they still believe themselves to be Romans? Just when did they start doing the Punch and Judy shows, anyway?
There must have been somebody in Mesopotamia grumbling, 'It's been a long time since I've seen a pack train from Aleppo go by.' You get the point: you can pick your apocalypse. Your time period. Your culture. Heck, even your planet.
Can a post-apocalyptic novel be funny? I intend to find out. Can it be warm, tender, emotionally satisfying? I would venture to say that would depend on how addicted you are to martial arts, but hey: prove me wrong. Provoke some thought. Show us your fancy footwork.
And whatever you do, give us some memorable characters. Make us laugh with them, and cry. Make us yell at them to do better, or hope the villains get their comeuppance. In other words, do what you all do best: tell stories.
We'll start sometime in January, if everybody's ready. Artwork? If you can, make your own, or steal things from public domain (I'll have to be satisfied that they are public domain before I can load them.) If you're using AI, please label clearly and we'll make sure no reader is confused about who did what and what's real and what isn't. It has come to our attention that some members of the public cannot tell a real bird from one a robot drew, and we have Concerns.
Any other questions? Complaints? Suggestions? Just want to announce that you already know what you're doing, or have written it in 36 hours and don't know why the rest of us bother since yours is the greatest thing since sliced bread? Either post your comment below or, if you can't manage it for technical reasons, email me and I'll post it.
# Considerations Perspective on history: people living after collapse (e.g., post-Roman Britons, Mesopotamians missing Aleppo caravans) may not realize they’re in a post-apocalypse. Invitation to writers: choose your apocalypse, time, culture, or even planet; experiment with tone and perspective. Tone exploration: post-apocalyptic stories can be funny, tender, or emotionally rich—not just grim or martial. Storytelling challenge: create memorable characters that evoke laughter, tears, anger, or justice.
# Practical details: - Writing project to begin in January. - Artwork encouraged (original or verified public domain). - AI art allowed but must be clearly labeled to avoid confusion about authenticity (“Concerns” about readers mistaking AI for real).