Ever wondered what the secret (or not so secret) ingredients for YA dystopian stories are?

You’re about to find out. Because yes, there is such a thing as the 10 Commandments for YA dystopian stories.

The thou-shalt requirements every dystopian story must contain.

The unbreakable, time-honored rules of the genre.

#Probably #InMostCases #RulesAreMoreLikeGuidelines

Here they are…

Commandment 1: Must. Have. Love. Triangle.

Life isn’t complicated enough, obviously, so let’s toss in a love triangle. That makes everything deliciously more complicated. Terrible for the characters, fantastic for the readers. Er…mostly.

Also, more kissing opportunities.

And potential for drama.

And suspense—who will be chosen as the romantic interest and what will be the fate of the relationships?

Commandment 2: All the gray and grim and grungy.

Yes, preciousss. What is a YA dystopia without a gray and grim milieu? A myriad of gray hues and layers upon layers of grayness across the land. And all the grimness. Plus lots of grungy. Lots and lots.

Commandment 3: Lots of death.

You know, because it’s gray and grim, and in such circumstances, people typically die. See: stories everywhere.

Sometimes it’s side characters or random nameless dudes with guns. Sometimes important characters we may or may not love. But the one thing we do know—it will happen.

Commandment 4: Our world…but not.

There can’t be dystopian stories without some cataclysmic or apocalyptic disaster that first ravages the world as we know it and transforms everything into a “sort of familiar but not really but kind of with some relics of the past but a new world and society and rules.”

In a nutshell, the answer to the question, “What would the world look like post-apocalypse?”

Commandment 5: First person present tense is a thing of beauty.

I am Groot!

via GIPHY

WAAAAIIITTTTT…

Wrong fandom box. Ahem. You saw nothing. You heard nothing.

Or is it…I see nothing? I hear nothing? 😮

Moving right along…

Commandment 6: DAS EVIL GOVERNMENT!

What fun is a story without some baddies in high places, right? Not only does it make for eternal difficulties for the main character, it breeds conflict and turmoil and tension, and appeals to our sense of injustice. Which naturally leads to…

Commandment 7: The resistance! The rebellion!! The revolution!!!

Let’s overthrow DAS EVIL GOVERNMENT! We are the people. We will no longer live in bondage and fear. We want FREEDOM!

Let us fight for our rights, even though we likely will die. But we deserve a better life. Our families deserve a better life. Down with tyranny. Hurrah for independence.

Also, lots of battles.

Commandment 8: Kissing.

Yeah, teenagers these days.

Commandment 9: Angsty, emotional teenager? But of course.

How could the story possibly stand on its own two feet without the whirlwind of said angst and emotions?

via GIPHY

It’s a hard life, okay? Lots of difficult things. Probably some dead family members. And fighting. And killing. Why not give in to suffering emotional trauma, to blubbering, to fretting every third page and crying a reservoir of tears as regularly as the clock strikes twelve? That only ever makes the story 1,000 times better.

So bring on the inundating waves of emotion and angst. We love it. We crave it. We need it. Apparently so do the characters.

Sarcasm level: nuclear.

Commandment 10: Give us a special person.

The YA dystopian version of “The Chosen One.”

*cue dramatic music and lights and ooohhhs and aaahhhss*

via GIPHY

What would the story be without a key person, the engine driving everything forward? Of course, this person gets lots of limelight and attention. As well he or she should.

After all, stuck in the middle of a love triangle. Helping lead a rebellion. Dealing with the tossing sea of emotions. Exploring the gray not our world. Coming face to face with the leaders of DAS EVIL GOVERNMENT! Plotting the demise of the tyrants. Kissing all the love interests.

Like, do they ever sleep? 😮

 ~~~ LET’S TALK ~~~

⇒ Which commandments do you enjoy?

⇒ Which ones drive you up a wall?