North Korean storyline, mysteries, secrets

[Theory5]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this forum, I signed up a few days ago. I love Science Fiction books, my favorite sub-genres are Dystopia, Space Opera's, and Apocalypse. I have dabbled in writing, but I could never finish a story, it always seems to just collapse and I loose interest.

Anyways I am trying to write a book and I've decided to focus on the near future. lately I've taken an interest in North Korea, history, news, livestyle etc etc. I suppose I'm interested because they are so secretive. A while ago I read World War Z, a zombie book, and I remember the part where the book simply says that the entire North Korean population retreated to vast underground cities.

I want to build on that. The vast underground city's, not the zombies, except these cities will be more like military installations/Vaults. Think Fallout 3 Vaults crossed with Military installations built with present day/slightly advanced technology. The whole premise is that North Korea has vast underground military and manufacturing capacity which is not known until they attack South Korea, or something like that.

I was wondering if there were authors who have written stories built upon North Korea's paranoia and secrecy or have any ideas or comments on the whole subject?

 

[The Judge]

Don't know any stories about North Korea myself, so can't help you there. It's certainly a good backdrop for a cracking yarn, though, but don't forget that the most important part of a book isn't its setting but its people. So although you must research the topic thoroughly, as you seem to be doing, you must spend as much time getting to know your characters.

It may be that the reason you've given up on stories before is because they didn't mean very much to you. Once you find a tale and characters whom you love, it will be much easier to maintain the necessary commitment to write a book -- which can takes years for a first draft of a first novel.

Anyway, good luck with it -- and welcome to the Chrons! If you pop across to Introductions, you can be officially welcomed by all the usual suspects!

 

[Theory5]

Don't know any stories about North Korea myself, so can't help you there. It's certainly a good backdrop for a cracking yarn, though, but don't forget that the most important part of a book isn't its setting but its people. So although you must research the topic thoroughly, as you seem to be doing, you must spend as much time getting to know your characters.

Anything I write always seems to be lacking in characters and dialog. Even banter seems to me to be two-dimensional and fake. Do you have any ideas on how to enhance my dialog as well?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Know your characters thoroughly (and I don't mean make charts of their likes and dislikes, I mean get inside their heads and hearts), and sometimes they will write their own dialogue.

Cut back on the banter and allow your characters to say what they are really thinking and feeling. The banter may seem false because it doesn't fit the characters or their situation.

 

[Dravidd]

Good luck with that, are you going to use real names?
Why not set it in 3333 AD a country sunk in obscurity.
Dravidd

 

[Theory5]

Know your characters thoroughly (and I don't mean make charts of their likes and dislikes, I mean get inside their heads and hearts), and sometimes they will write their own dialogue.

Cut back on the banter and allow your characters to say what they are really thinking and feeling. The banter may seem false because it doesn't fit the characters or their situation.

Great idea, thanks for the help.

Oh, and Davidd I do not want to change the time period too much because my story is going to be based off North Korea as it is now, with a fictional addition that elevates their current level of paranoia and secrecy to levels that exist mainly in the imagination. In the first few pages I hint that North Korea has made a scary leap in their military technology, one which nobody in todays world would have thought possible.

You see, in today's North Korea the government's paranoia has almost made it to a 1984 level, without the technology. To travel any decent distance takes not only hours and hours (whereas in America it would take a fraction of that) but you also need papers showing that you are supposed to be traveling. Many military bases, silos and storage facilities are deep underground, and there are even a few underground airstrips. Most of this stuff however is built with older level technology and nobody knows the extent of these underground complexes.
Most larger countries are also afraid of what North Korea might do with their nuclear weapons they've tested.

I aim to build off of that secrecy. Any great leap into the future will ruin that tension and feeling.

 

[slack]

Do you have any ideas on how to enhance my dialog as well?

A useful technique for making your dialogue interesting is to make it oblique. In other words, try to make it something other than a question-and-answer session. In real life people answer a question with a question, or their response is only vaguely relevant. For example:

SHE: Hi, how are you?
HE: Oh, I didn't see you.

 

[Spy_on_the_Inside]

Studying North Korea is also an interest of mine. There's so much to cover, I don't know where to start, however. If you want to see the everyday life in North Korea, however, I can give you links to some documentaries. Now keep in mind that there are two different kinds of documentaries: the ones made with government approval and the ones made without.

The ones made with government approval only shows the very best of society, which can still seem quite poor and scary to Americans. The ones made without government approval are just plain terrifying and need to be seen to be believed.


With
Welcome to North Korea PG-13
A State of Mine PG

Without
Inside Undercover in North Korea PG-13
Korea: Out of the North PG-13
Kimjongilia PG-13
Suspicious Minds PG-13
North Korean Camps PG-13