dystopian narrative essay

Writing Prompts

56 Dystopian Writing Prompts

Escape to a dark, disheartened world with these 56 dystopian writing prompts .

Mass poverty, cruelty and fear cover a dystopian world. From the shelter-like homes to the dark, broken streets. Life is hard. When writing a story set in a dystopian world you need to describe the harsh reality of this world in great detail. Make the reader fear this world. Think about the leaders who have control. This control might be significant, where harsh rules are made to keep the peace. Alternatively, there could be a rebellion, where leaders have no control and civilians are running havoc. See our master list of world-building questions to help develop a believable dystopian world.

A dystopian world is a world in shatters and ruins. How did it become this way? What rules and regimes do civilians follow, if any? What type of crime is most prominent in this world? These questions will help you create a realistic and powerful dystopian world for your readers.

Looking for some name ideas for your new world? Check out this world name generator . You might also find this list of Earth day writing prompts and this list of over 110 sci-fi writing prompts .

Dystopian writing prompts

To help you create a powerful story about a society in crisis, here are our 56 dystopian writing prompts:

In the year 2,121, sea levels have risen at an extreme rate. 98% of the Earth is now underwater. The remaining 2% is made of small islands scattered across the Earth. With resources at a scarcity, the islands must work together if they are to survive.
A virus has wiped out 95% of humanity in the future. The only survivors are machines and a group of secret underground warriors who rebelled against technology for centuries.
In the future, a virus has caused some humans to mutate into ravenous troll-like beasts. While the remaining humans have to learn to survive in the world with these beasts.
The life expectancy of people has dropped drastically in the future. At the age of 18, humans start to deteriorate and slowly pass away. The ruler is an arrogant 14-year-old kid.
Scientists have combined robotics with human tissue to increase the life expectancy of humans. Apart from the vital organs, such as lungs and heart, as well as parts of the brain, humans are mostly robotic. Eventually, humans start losing control of their bodies to machines.
From the moment a human is born to the day they die, humans are connected to the internet. Everything they need to know about life is on a screen to which they are connected. One day, a technology outbreak completely wipes the internet. Humans are switched off. What happens next?
Scientists have found the secret to endless happiness. They create a new pill that needs to be taken once a day to remain happy. But is this new pill all as it seems?
To promote equality in the future, humans have to dress the same and talk the same. Any inappropriate English and slang words are banned. All around the world, everyone must speak English. If these rules are broken, the rule breaker will be sentenced to prison or even death.
With the brand new Cloner 3000, cloning is just a button press away. Clone your cat, your dog and even yourself if you dare. What are the potential dangers of cloning yourself too many times?
Law and order is destroyed in the future. People are free to do whatever they want without any consequences. Until a group of vigilante heroes decide to recreate the law.
There are two types of people, the rich and the poor. The rich have an extreme amount of money and power. And the poor are living on the streets and undergrounds, struggling to get by. A poor orphan girl is adopted by a rich family and discovers a deadly secret about how the rich become rich.
The excessive use of technology and social media has meant that 95% of the world suffers from extreme social phobia. The slightest human interaction results in mass panic attacks. One brave human decides to create a group where people can meet face to face regularly to help them overcome this fear.
Crime has become such a huge issue in the future, that every home in the world has become a prison cell. Prison guards patrol the streets and provide prisoners with the essentials. One guard feeling guilty that his family is locked behind bars, tries freeing them, and soon things get out of control.
Oxygen is the new currency in the future. Instead of money people buy, earn and sell little canisters of oxygen. Continue this dystopian story…
Desperate to create the perfect world, the government provides every person with a free virtual reality headset. Once worn, the person is transported to a tranquil utopia. Meanwhile, the government secretly has other plans in the real world.
A virus has turned every tree, plant and flower on earth into flesh-eating monsters. The only way to survive is to kill all plant life on Earth, but how will the planet survive?
A new mobile app in the future tells people when to eat, sleep, drink and essentially live. Without the app, humans would be lost, confused and clueless. A group of cyber hackers, hack this app to gain control of all humans.
Being the main cause of social disorders and suicides, the internet is banned in the year 2,098. With the ban of the internet, people slowly resort to the old ways of living before the internet ever existed. Until a group of individuals find a way to bring back the net.
Bored of old-style video gaming, humans resort to sticking chips inside prisoners. Once a prisoner is chipped, they can be controlled like a video game character.
Desperate to be beautiful and young, rich people resort to stealing the actual skin and facial features of ordinary people. These extreme surgeries soon start to have a weird effect on humans.
The Earth has been destroyed by a huge asteroid. A few humans that survived by living underground finally emerge to start a new life on Earth.
With the Earth’s population at an all-time high, it’s time for every human to prove their worth. After the age of 16, humans must take a test every year. If they fail the test, they are killed immediately. One young adult scores incredibly high on the test making them the ‘chosen one’.
Due to the lack of resources on Earth, all luxury items have been banned. People survive on basic rations of bread, rice and beans each month. No vanity items, such as jewellery or make-up are allowed. One day a group of civilians discover that luxury items do exist, but only the leaders can use them.
For the sake of human evolution, scientists have turned the small town of Whitefish into a huge science experiment. No one is allowed to enter or leave the city unless they are told so. Every now and then, a new stimulus is introduced, so that scientists can record the human reactions for a research paper.
Write a story about the aftermath of World War 5. Who was at war and who lost it? What devastation did the war create on Earth?
In the far future, robots are responsible for creating human life. They carefully program each human when they are born to do certain tasks in life. One human realizes that they don’t need to follow the orders programmed in them and fights for freedom.
After a huge asteroid hits Earth, the last two survivors have to find a way to recreate life. It’s a modern, dystopian Adam and Eve story.
World leaders ban religion and talk of God in the future. A man discovers a secret church up in the mountains where people secretly believe in God.
Due to animal cruelty, people are no longer allowed to have animals as pets in the future. All pets live out in the wild without any human masters. One homeless teenager finds a hurt dog in the wild and takes care of it. Eventually, authorities find out about this forbidden friendship.
A bored scientist dedicates his whole life to recreating popular monsters like vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein’s monster in real life. He finally masters the procedure and offers it to rich people at a price.
Tired of the rat race and busy city-living, people move to the country to live a peaceful and calm life. Eventually, cities like New York City become a playground for criminals and runaways.
When the human population on land reaches an all-time high. One man goes on a quest to create the ultimate underwater city for humans. Continue this story.
In the year 2,121, 100% of the population becomes vegan. Eating any sort of animal product is considered cannibalism. Farm animals realize that humans will no longer eat them, so decide to plan their revenge.
Cyber-pets become a huge thing in the future. Technology advances so much that people would rather buy robotic pets inside of real ones. This results in more stray animals on the streets. With no human love, the pets turn into savages attacking both humans and the cyber-pets.
Humans have left Earth for a better life on Mars. One day, thousands of years later, a space astronaut from Mars lands on Earth to find…
In the future, the majority of jobs have been taken over by robots. The only way to earn money is to take part in a series of games and challenges created by the rich for their entertainment.
Everyone on Earth has experienced some sort of mutation in the future. This mutation has made humans powerful and troll-like. As the only pure human (with no mutations), your character’s daughter is kidnapped by a group of mutants who want to use her blood to make humans human-like again.
Imagine you are the last human survivor on Earth. What would you do alone on Earth?
Describe a future where all humans are either deaf or blind.
You and your family live underground away from all the technology. Write a series of diary entries about life underground.
Sugar is banned completely in the future. Even fruits that taste sugary are no longer available. You are the leader of a secret underground group that creates your own homemade sugar. However since humans haven’t tasted sugar in a long time, the results become very dangerous.
Since Earth has been destroyed, every family lives in their own spaceship homes floating around the galaxy. Every now and then you need to protect your home from space invaders, pirates and of course black holes.
Write a story about one boy, his dog and a group of robots living on Earth as the only survivors.
Lying dormant deep at the core of the Earth, dragons finally awake. After a series of powerful earthquakes, they burst through the ground one by one.
With surveillance cameras watching everyone. A new TV show called, ‘Did They Really Do That’ airs across the nation showing the most embarrassing moments of civilians living in your area. You then go on a mission to destroy all surveillance and destroy the TV show.
One man’s dream to swim with the dolphins is taken to extremes, as he genetically modifies a group of humans, so that they can swim underwater. Unknowingly these humans turn into monstrous mermaid-like creatures.
Huge floating islands are created all over Earth to cope with the increase in the human population. These floating islands become new countries on the map with their own rules and way of life.
In the year 3,021 world peace is finally achieved. Everyone lives in perfect harmony. But how was this world peace achieved? One curious civilian makes a shocking discovery.
Write a news article about the latest riot happening in your town in the year 2,899. Why did this riot happen? Who was involved? Where did it happen? What exactly happened before and during the riot?
You are a lab assistant for a company that creates genetic make-up for humans. The make-up keeps humans looking young for their entire lifespan of 180 years. One day you discover something shocking…
Cats and dogs have evolved into human-shaped beings. They now rule Earth and treat humans like pets.
Due to natural extinction and the threat of disease, all animals are gone in the future. You and your family have created a secret underground zoo, which holds the last remaining animals on Earth.
Write a story from the perspective of a servant robot who wants to be the mayor of the city.
Scientists have learned to extract emotions from humans and contain them in jars. At a price, you can remove negative emotions like anger, sadness and fear. You can also sell and buy positive emotions like happiness. To obtain a new emotion, you simply inhale the emotion directly from the jar. In a special clinic, over 10,000 jars of emotions are contained, until one day…
The Earth is a massive video game for advanced aliens living on a distant planet. They randomly spawn monsters whenever they feel like, and can control any human they like. One day the aliens are so bored that they create a big scary boss monster for a town of people to fight.
In an effort to create a better world, all humans must take a personality test. If your personality does not meet the criteria set by the government, then you are sent to work camps. People at the work camps live a horrible life of abuse, torture and endless hard work for 18 hours a day. Imagine that your main character fails the personality test, and is sent to one of these camps.

For more gritty ideas, check out our guide on what is dieselpunk plus story ideas .

What do you think of these dystopian writing prompts? Which one is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Definition of Dystopia

The sweetest and most heavenly of activities partake in some measure of violence

Examples of Central Themes in Dystopian Literature

Examples of famous dystopian novels, common examples of well-known dystopian movies, difference between dystopia and science fiction genres, examples of dystopia in literature, example 1: the handmaid’s tale (margaret atwood).

There is more than one kind of freedom,” said Aunt Lydia. “Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.

Example 2: Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it. Peace, Montag. Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change.

Example 3: 2BR02B (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)

The law said that no newborn child could survive unless the parents of the child could find someone who would volunteer to die. Triplets, if they were all to live, called for three volunteers.

100 Dystopia Essay Topics & Ideas

🏆 best dystopian titles, 📌 simple & easy dystopian title ideas, 👍 good dystopia essay titles, ❓ dystopian discussion questions.

Saunders’s “The Red Bow”: The Dystopian Reality of Totalitarianism This essay will consider the relevance of the topic introduced by Saunders and provide actual historical examples that support his hypothesis.”The Red Bow” starts with a group of men going out for a dog hunt […]
The Brave New World Dystopia by Aldous Huxley The primary assertion in the novel is that the cost of this stability is the loss of individuality, creativity, and genuine human connection.
“WALL-E”: Dystopian Narrative In addition, genre conventions, along with the rules of science fiction, promote the engagement of the movie with the issues of programming and consumption.
‘Se7en’ by David Fincher: A Film Steeped in Dystopia A professional model is found dead in her bed with her nose cut off, a container of sleeping pills in one hand, and a phone in the other; her death was the result of a […]
20th Century Dystopian Fiction and Today’s Society The author considers the fiction works of that era as an attempt to convey the destructive nature of violence and everything related to injustice.”The tone of dystopia is of despair and the feel it gives […]
Gender Issues in Dystopian Film “Children of Men” The significance of this source is validated by its contribution to the argument of the relevance of the dystopian genre in cinematography for unfolding social issues.
Dystopias in “Animal Farm” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” In this regard, the aim of literary dystopias is to caution and warn society against the blind following of ideologies that lead to the breakdown of social order.
Dystopia in “Gattaca” and “Never Let Me Go” Movies When people think about the future, in the majority of cases, they believe that science and technology should help to change the world. One of the goals of a utopia is to remove the overwhelming […]
The Dystopian Societies of “1984” and Brave New World The three features which are discussed in this respect are the division of the two societies into social strata, the use of state power and control over citizens, and the loss of people’s individualities.
Dystopias “Brave New World” by Huxley and “1984” by Orwell The modern world is full of complications and the moments when it seems like a dystopia the darkest version of the future. In the novel, promiscuity is encouraged, and sex is a form of entertainment.
Genre: Science Fiction Dystopia The western genre is the most common movie genre used to highlight the dominance and development of both American and European cultures and economies to the rest of the world.
Genre Assessment: Dystopian Genre Review Based on the Film “Children of Men” The current proposal implies the creation of a review that explores the key features of dystopia as a cinema genre and based on a prominent example of such a film.
Unhappiness of Society in Orwell’s 1984 Dystopia His character is a strong individual who will not transgress the ideals of his party and is fully committed to him.
Welcome to Your Nightmares: The Dystopian Vision of the World It is quite peculiar that both Orwell and Huxley chose the same tool to express the tension and the absurdity of the situation that the people of the future were trapped in, creating the abridged […]
Dystopias by Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Silverberg The feature of the story The Pain Peddlers is in the fact that the situation in it reminds bureaucratic procedures in reality.
Utopia Versus Dystopia: Discussion However, the practical realization of Communist concepts in Russia, had resulted in millions of citizens loosing their lives and in those people, who managed to survive, during the course of Communist “social purges”, becoming the […]
The Concept and History of Dystopian Fiction Thus, the goal of this paper is to study the phenomenon of DF based on the examples of Orwell’s and Huxley’s fiction and determine the presence of the themes that overlap with the contemporary social, […]
Dystopian Fiction for Young Readers First of all, it must be noted that the article of the current analysis is devoted to the impact of dystopian fiction on young people.
Dystopian Future in the “Blade Runner” Film The foremost aspect of how the urban landscape is being represented in Blade Runner is that the director made a deliberate point in accentuating the perceptual unfriendliness of the environment, in the foreground of which […]
Dystopia Idea in the Movies and Novels If considering the rebels in the novel and the movies the “vermin” instead of the “prey,” the idea of the stories will change slightly.
A Dystopian State: Astutopia The education system reinforces the essence of the dungeons, and the aim is to instill fear within the children so they can adhere to laid down teachings and doctrines.
Popularity of Utopian/Dystopian Young Adult Literature The box is entrusted in the Mayor’s care and a tradition of passing it from one Mayor to the next is established.
Dystopian Social Contract The Hunger Games series 1 is a science-fiction drama that delineates the situation of enslavement among the citizens of Panem to the governing class that reside in a city called Capitol.
Subversive Literature/ Dystopia in science fiction novels In the endeavor to place a case in support of this line of argument, the paper considers the key traits of dystopian literature then showing how Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep possesses them in […]
Utopia and Dystopia in The Future City
An Analysis of Feminist Dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Our Society is Becoming More Like a Dystopia Than a Democracy
Integrating Research for Water Management: Synergy or Dystopia
American Dystopia; American Spaces and Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’
The Brave New World’s Dystopia And Assimilation
Gattaca and Fahrenheit 451 – Technology and Dystopia
Dystopia: Science Fiction, Exaggeration, Or Imminent Reality
Thoughts on Feminism and Dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale
Censorship in Dystopia in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
The Dystopia in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
Dystopia Caused by the Massive Boom of Technology in The Hunger Games
The Theme of Feminist Dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale, a Novel by Margaret Atwood
Somewhere Between Utopia and Dystopia: Choosing From Incomparable Prospects
The Causes of the Island’s Changes from Utopia to Dystopia in the Novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Cowardly Current Dystopia In Aldous Huxley’s Novel “Brave New World”
Searching for the Meaning of Life: Beckett’s Dystopia in “Endgame”
Comments on: Totalitarian Government: Discovering Dystopia in Matched
How Does Orwell Create a Dystopia in 1984
Utopia, Dystopia or Anti-Utopia? by Choloe Houston
Humanity And Dystopia In Anthem, By Ayn Rand
The Contrast Between Utopia and Dystopia in the Novels 1984 and The Dispossessed
The Role Of A Good City Thinking: Utopia, Dystopia And Heterotopia
Concept of Dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale, a Novel by Canadian Poet Margaret Atwood
Similarities Between Dystopia and Harrison Bergeron
The Portrayal of Dystopia in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
The Beauty Of Dystopia By Aldous Huxley
Utopia and Dystopia in Harrison Bergeron and The Lottery
Utopia and Dystopia in the Futuristic Novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley’s Dystopia As Relating To Society Today
Utopia and Dystopia in The Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
The Handmaid’s Tale: Dissecting the Feminist Dystopia
Self-Repression and Dystopia: The Bumpy Road to Freedom in “Never Let Me Go”
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Modern Dystopia Warnings
Utopia and Dystopia in Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Art of War: The Ancient Chinese Classic Adapted for Dystopia Circa 2032
The Evolution of Dystopia Fiction in Some Works of Literature
The Horror Of Dystopia Revealed By Neuromancer
Similarities Between Utopia and Dystopia
Contrastive Utopias: The Role of Nature and Technology in the Concepts of Utopia and Dystopia
The Dystopia of William Gibson’s Neuromancer
Analyzing Technology and Politics in The Blade Runner Dystopia by Judith Kerman
The Concept of Dystopia in Harrison Bergeron, The Giver, and Uglies
Utopia or Dystopia: The Future of Technology
Religious Dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale
Dystopia As A Literary Genre In A Handmaid’s Tale
Identity: Fighting Dystopia’s Cookie-Cutter Molds
Dystopia in the Novels of Ray Bradbury and George Orwell
Free Handmaid’s Tale Essays: The Handmaid’s Dystopia
What Are Dystopian Novels?
Which Writer Creates the Most Disturbing Dystopia Future Vision?
Why Are Dystopian Novels So Popular?
What Is an Example of a Dystopia?
What’s a Dystopia Society?
What Are the Five Characteristics of Dystopia?
What Are the Four Types of Dystopia?
What Are the Nine Traits of Dystopia?
What Is Another Word for Dystopia?
What Is Utopia vs. Dystopia?
What’s the Opposite of Dystopia?
What Is a Dystopia Person?
How Do You Recognize a Dystopia?
Why Is It Called Dystopia?
How Do You Survive a Dystopia?
What Happens to an Individual in a Dystopia Society?
What Type of Government Does a Dystopia Society Have?
What Is a Feminist Dystopia?
Who Invented Dystopia?
Is a Dystopia Society Possible?
Why Dystopia Fiction Often Paints a Frightening Picture of the Future?
Why Dystopia Literature Often Presents the Individual’s Quest for Meaning in Hostile and Oppressive Worlds?
What Are the Issues With Human Progress in Utopia and Dystopia Fiction?
How Does Individualism Manifest Within Utopia and Dystopia Novels?
What Are Dystopia Societies and Progression Towards Equality?
How Do Dystopia Novels Convey Humanity and Individualism?
Fahrenheit 451 Titles
The Handmaid’s Tale Research Ideas
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Research Ideas
The Matrix Essay Topics
Harrison Bergeron Research Ideas
Totalitarianism Questions
Socialism Ideas
The Lottery Topics
Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Cat — Rosemary: A Catalyst for Change in emThe Giver/em

Rosemary: a Catalyst for Change in Emthe Giver/em

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

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Rosemary's introduction and role, symbolism of rosemary, impact on the giver and jonas, rosemary as a catalyst for change.

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100 dystopian writing prompts

November 23, 2023 by Richard Leave a Comment

Imagine chilling futures where emotions are suppressed, memories are hacked, nature is walled-off, and totalitarian regimes control everything from relationships to the weather. Welcome to our 100 dystopian writing prompts.

Let your creativity run wild envisaging sinister agencies, social manipulation, banned contraband, restricted freedoms, underground resistance, and daring escapes.

Buckle up for a thrilling ride into menacing speculative worlds where you’ll encounter thought police, memory black markets, mandated cryogenic freezing, sinister surveillance, climate totalitarians, and other dystopian threats.

In this comprehensive prompt collection, you’ll find 100 disturbing, tantalizing scenarios captured through cliffhanger “write about…” cues guaranteed to spark new realms of suspense, conflict and tension.

From emotion-suppressing drugs to memory-recording devices gone wrong, mandated matchmaking by genetic compatibility to expiring at a certain age, these prompts zoom in on rebellious individuals fighting corrupt power structures for a second chance at passion, self-determination and a future they define.

Let these dystopian sparks ignite stories of defiant resistance, dangerous flaw-exposing exposés, tense psychological operations, off-the-grid escapes into the wild, and other bold tactics to undermine oppression. Can truth and justice prevail? That’s for you to decide…

Now, enter these speculative dystopian worlds and let your imagination run wild! Where will these 100 dystopian writing prompts take you?

A device is invented that allows the government to control people’s thoughts and actions. Write about someone trying to escape this fate.
Strict laws are passed limiting how many children families can have. Tell the story of a family faced with an impossible decision.
A catastrophic event wipes out most of humanity. Write about a small group of survivors banding together.
All books and writings from history are burned. Write about an effort to preserve or recreate knowledge.
A virus spreads causing infertility. Follow individuals desperate to have children in this dire world.
The population is segregated into zones based on genetic engineering marks. Write from the perspective of someone yearning for the outside world.
Water becomes extremely scarce. Write about the lengths one teen goes to in order to save their community.
A company develops AI androids used for manual labor. Tell the story of an android developing forbidden aspirations for freedom.
Citizens’ use of language is restricted and simplified. Write about a group secretly communicating in metaphors and code.
Memories and dreams are recorded as digital data. Write about a hacker who accesses people’s intimate memories illegally.
The government mandates that certain emotions must be suppressed. Write from the perspective of someone struggling with this.
Time travel is invented but strictly forbidden. Write about someone risking it all to change past atrocities.
The population is herded into city centers while the wildlands are off limits. Write from the view of someone escaping to experience natural life.
A virus spreads that removes facial features. Write about the fear and identity issues that arise in afflicted society.
The government replaces school with endless VR propaganda simulators. Write about an underground effort to preserve free thinking.
A strict rating system quantifies each citizen’s worth. Write about someone striving to boost their rating or hide their true selves.
The population is forced to take pills that alter perceptions of reality. Write about someone slowly realizing the deception.
Strict beauty standards are set by genetic modification. Write about someone pursuing dangerous underground procedures for a boost in status.
The elderly are exiled once past working age. Write about someone hiding an elderly relative.
A curfew is set banning unauthorized night activity. Write about a group of youths planning secret late night events.
Population growth is restricted through mandated cryogenic freezing at certain ages. Write about someone fighting the system or going on the run as their freeze date approaches.
A pandemic requires protective gear covering the body and face, removing unique identifiers. Write about someone desperate to see a loved one’s uncovered face before they are frozen.
The government tracks every move of citizens through mandatory chips. Write about a man who tries to live off the grid, undetected.
A tiered citizenship system is based on serving in civil or military duties for years at a time. Write from perspective of a low-tier citizen dreaming of elevation in status.
Failure to take your mandated medications results in banishment to lawless outlands. Write about someone hiding mental clarity without chemicals.
The natural landscape outside congested urban centers is off limits behind walled boundaries. Write from the perspective of someone who escapes to experience freedom in nature.
A company owns the patent to a synthesized formula needed for human health and jacks up the prices, causing suffering. Write about activists trying to recreate it.
The government controls the weather and all climate conditions. Write about a group that wages weather terrorism demanding natural variability.
Corporations run sovereign city-states. Write about a skilled worker trying to break their never-ending contract.
A virus makes most animals extinct. Write about underground efforts to save remaining species.
The government mandates matchmaking based on genetic compatibility. Write from view of someone struggling when they fall for the “wrong” match.
The ability to reproduce has become allocated to only certain designees. Write about a black market for illegal conceptions.
A pandemic requires everyone to live in isolated pods. Write about someone fighting sensory deprivation to stay sane.
Lifespans are significantly cut short at a certain age through mandated termination procedures. Write from view of someone approaching their expiry trying to fight it.
Write about the invention and consequences of a device that can record and play back memories.
Only ultra high-IQ individuals are allowed in leadership roles. Write about identity struggles for a character judged unintelligent by mandated measurements.
Write about teams competing in a post-apocalyptic city for scarce resources needed to survive decaying conditions.
Write from the perspective of a hacker who works to take down an authoritarian technocracy from the inside.
Write about someone forced to become an “information specialist” manipulating news and data feeds to serve ulterior motives.
Write about a pandemic leading to development of advanced robotic caregiver technology that goes awry.
Write about a protest against emotion-suppressing drugs led predominantly by teenagers seeking freedom and passion.
Write about a survivor banding groups together to restore culture in a controlled dystopia that has erased past artifacts and identity.
Write about black market dealers who smuggle banned physical books to those yearning for lost knowledge and history.
Write about a student who discovers long-suppressed writings revealing troubling truths about their society’s history.
Write a conversation between an elder and a young person who yearns to experience fundamental rights and choices stripped from society, like childbearing.
Write about a small group that escapes into the wilderness and attempts to build an equitable utopia outside dystopian constraints.
Write about someone fighting the system through graffiti symbolizing hope and metaphorical messaging to incite revolution.
Write a debate between a rebel faction leader and authoritarian regime loyalist on freedoms vs order.
Write a prison narrative about inmates alternating virtual reality experiences to mitigate their sentences through psychological manipulation.
Write a tale of genius inventor who creates wondrous technology in secret that could undermine authoritarian control or elevate freedom if revealed.
Strict sleep quotas are enforced via brain implants that monitor REM cycles to maximize productivity. Write from the perspective of someone suffering from sleep deprivation who secretly changes their schedule.
In order to improve worker compliance, the government has developed a chemical to make citizens enjoy menial labor tasks. Write about a janitor who loves their job a disturbing amount.
A powerful caste system has formed among humans after rampant genetic experimentation. Write from the perspective of an oppressed “inferior” caste dreaming of a better life.
Most animals have gone extinct except for those pets approved by the Environmental Ministry. Illegal pet ownership is severely punished, but a thriving black market exists.
In a bid to reduce crime, the government now requires parents to screen embryos for a variety of physical and psychological illnesses. However, many families now feel pressured to produce the “perfect child”.
Due to food shortages, restaurants and grocery stores have been outlawed. All meals are now supplied by the Nutritional Distribution Bureau’s ready-made, cost-effective food products. However, a speakeasy dedicated to actual cooking has opened.
In an effort to increase efficiency and national unity, a universal language with strictly monitored vocabulary and grammar standards is imposed. Those who fail language tests are penalized by social restrictions.
The Life Extension Agency provides age rejuvenation treatments, but primarily to the social and financial elite. The poor struggle with shortened life expectancies, leading some to join radical insurgent groups.
An innovative new Direct Neural Interface allows people’s brains to connect directly to a vast online network. However, hacking into someone’s mind is now disturbingly easy.
In order to prepare youth for the harsh, dangerous streets, local Fight Clubs are organized to systematically toughen up teens and channel aggression effectively.
Due to rampant unemployment, the government now drafts citizens into mandatory civil or military service positions for 10-15 years. Failure to accept an assignment results in imprisonment.
In a bid to improve public safety, petite auditory assistants called “Shoulder Angels” are issued to all citizens to provide helpful guidance. However, their advice is not always ethical, wise or in one’s best interest.
In order to improve citizen health and longevity, the ingestion of all non-synthetic foods and beverages is highly restricted. However an underground movement of “Whole Food Rebels” persists.
Due to widespread infertility, prospective parents are only allowed children via cloning, therefore insuring a continuous labor force. However, a generation of identical offspring creates disturbing identity issues.
In order to eliminate homelessness and unemployment, all citizens must work as general labor at massive collective Farms that supply the nation with food and textile materials. The division of labor is demanding but fair.
Rigid rules dictate what colors, textures and styles of clothes that citizens may wear depending on their age, profession and social status. Fashion diversity is forbidden, with black market clothing trends continuously emerging.
Due to rampant hacking, personal data devices have been outlawed and removed. However an illegal group of elite hackers known as “The Archives” still uncovers and leaks confidential information.
Write about a future in which a volcanic eruption blots out the sun for years, killing crops and plunging society into chaos, violence and despair.
Write about an agency that pushes invasive brain implants that allow video recording of memories and forced data sharing against people’s will.
Write about a future where dreams can be bought and sold on a black market operated through tapping into people’s minds as they sleep to steal visions.
Write about a divided territory where selected wealthy elite live safely in utopian cities while the remaining majority survive dystopian wastelands of pollution and scarcity.
Write about those battling a law requiring registration with Social Harmony Agency that tracks emotions and punishes discord deemed damaging to psychological unity.
Write about resisters fighting against authoritarian rules forbidding casual relationships, friendships or non-approved personal connections in order to boost productivity.
Write about an uprising against an enforced caste system that assigns professions, living quarters, resources access and more based on DNA-based hierarchies.
Write about rebels secretly trying to instill history, art and free thinking in younger generations raised in a neutered, whitewashed and overly structured world.
Write about someone from an agency assigned to manipulate records to maintain historical propaganda narratives confronting their buried conscience.
Write about teachers secretly providing banned materials, intellectual freedom and emotional nurturing despite rigid restrictions on permitted lessons and development.
Write about twin siblings torn apart by diverging citizenship tiers granted to each one, leaving the other in oppressive conditions they try escaping.
Write about time travelers tasked with altering past mistakes and unintentionally fracturing reality through over-corrections of history.
Write about nature rebels trying to preserve plant life needed for clandestine botanical experiments to undo genetic disasters humans have caused through manipulation.
Write about librarians archiving confiscated artifacts, art and documents on the black market struggling to preserve cultural history for future generations.
Write about a hacker leaking scandalous secrets of upper-crust elite, revealing their criminal hypocrisy and oppression behind friendly public facade.
Write about investigators tracing early warning signs of current totalitarian injustice back many generations to disturbing past historical events.
Write about rebels secretly planning targeted infrastructure sabotage or disruptive hacks of controlling surveillance systems to enable societal chaos that disrupts tyranny.
Write about scientists furtively trying to revive extinct species in a controlled environment before authorities crush their unauthorized genetic efforts.
Write about youth experiencing forbidden cultural artifacts like non-digitized photographs, physical vinyl records or ancient paper books for the first time, feeling awakened.
Write about a team planning a high stakes escape mission to lead refugees from border detention camps to safe international territory.
Write about hackers digitally falsifying citizen records to manipulate assignment of soul-crushing undesirable labor mandates.
Write about activists utilizing hidden shortwave radio signals, coded language newspaper ads and other old-fashioned techniques to secretly coordinate resistance.
Write about rebel scientists planning risky psychological experiments challenging theories that current authoritarian rule is an inevitable consequence of innate human society dynamics.
Write about smugglers obtaining prohibited goods like sugar, caffeine or alcohol from foreign black markets to cater to restricted domestic population demands.
Write about resisters launching independent radio broadcasts challenging state-sanctioned news propaganda to circulate suppressed truths.
Write about rebel journalists using old-fashioned typewriters, printers and paper materials to publish and distribute banned insider exposés anonymously.
Write about a team capturing footage of dystopia oppression via hidden shoulder cameras to make viral videos awakening outside world to atrocities.
Write about citizens banding together under pretense of harmless community sport team as disguise to enable secret seditious coordination.
Write about defectors and infiltrators leaking confidential information regarding government-sponsored experiments trying to control or manipulate citizens’ minds.
Write about a duo discovering shocking classified files revealing orchestrated crisis events used as pretext to justify implementing incremental totalitarian measures.
Write about activists utilizing public wall art, performance protests, symbolic clothing and defiant slang phrases to express seditious messages under the radar.
Write about rebel families harboring unauthorized pregnancies in concealed rooms or underground spaces, despite harsh penalties if newborns are discovered.
Write about defiant hackers digitally attacking key infrastructure in Vendetta-like psychological operations to expose regime corruption, undermine authority and awaken masses.

I hope you enjoyed our 100 dystopian writing prompts, and I hope they inspire you to write something great. If you write something you want to share, please leave it in the comments. Also, please remember we have many other writing prompts on our site you might find helpful.

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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Home / Essay Samples / Literature / Literary Genres / Dystopia

Dystopia Essay Examples

The dangers of a dystopia.

Dystopian literature often foreshadows the future, revealing what life may be like if current societal issues are not appropriately resolved. Characterized by injustice and mayhem, a dystopia is a flawed society in which citizens are considered an extension of the dysfunctional environment that they live...

Real World Dystopia

Utopianism has slowly made its way into a literary genre by authors comparable to Thomas More. More’s book, Utopia was written to show his disdain about the political corruption that happened in Europe during his life. Comparing the word “Utopia” to both a good place...

Dystopian Short Story: Comparison of Bradbury’s and Shur's Works

A dystopian text is an imagined world in which the illusion of a perfect society is maintained through technological and authoritarian power. This is one of the dystopian short story essays where we will analyse some of the dystopian short stories. The first one is...

Different Approaches to Utopia: Problems and Innovations

This utopia essay aims to discuss and examine the ideal order, system, life and society ideas that the human world is always in search of. It will address the impact of multiple interactions between society and the future state management systems. The problems and innovations...

Representation of the Problems of Contemporary Society in Ender's Game

The concepts and proposition put forward by an author present to the audience relevant problems which might be embedded in today’s society. Sci-fi novels occasionally portray our world as a dystopian environment within the future, emphasizing problems of contemporary society. These novels allow authors to...

Nineteen Eighty-four: Dystopia Story

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” ― George Orwell, 1984 Nineteen eighty-four (1984 ) is a Dystopia story - what could be regarded as the worst possible life,a political satire novel written by George Orwell. The story is...

Fahrenheit 451 is the Dystopian Novel

Fahrenheit 451 is the dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury in 1953. The novel is set in a future American society in which books are burned once they are found by fireman. In the novel Bradbury uses the art of symbolism to help strengthen the...

Dystopian Society in the Lord of the Flies

While the serenity of the island may have hinted towards an edenic utopia, William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies quickly deviates to a dystopian society as the boys become inundated with Their animalistic instincts. Golding uses imagery of the dense jungleto express the sense...

The Elements of Dystopian Society in Anthem by Ayn Rand

The novel ‘Anthem,’ by Ayn Rand is an example of a dystopian society. A dystopian society is one that is as dehumanizing and as unpleasant as possible. In the dystopian society that Rand has created people must only be referred to as ‘we,’ rather than...

Depiction of Violence and Harassment in Ender's Game

In the book, Ender’s Game, written by Orson Scott Card and the movie, there is a lot of violence and harassment. This violence seems to be brought on by older figures, like the adults. The forcefulness transfers from the adults over to the children, so...

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About Dystopia

A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopia or simply anti-utopia) is a speculated community or society that is undesirable or frightening. Dystopias are often characterized by rampant fear or distress, tyrannical governments, environmental disaster, or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

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