My Zombie Novel appears to be a travelog.

[anthorn]

Uh, so as my subject title suggests my Zombie Apocalypse novel which I am calling Dead Country, is appearing to be a bit of a travelog.

They've travelled from County Durham and now to Yorkshire. Zombie encounters have been from a bus.... This is basically the fourth day of the infection.

I've so far seperated chapters with minor interludes including tape recordings of Zombie attacks at the centre of the outbreak. Military P.O.V from infected cities after they've set up quarintine. Newspaper and journal and email clippings...

Anyone who has been to County Durham knows how sparsly populated the areas are around the pennines.

I wonder if it will defy odds to have a Zombie book where the protags manage to get to safety without much trouble. I think I could get away with it as I plan to skip ahead 15-20 years to see how the infection has progressed.

 

[Bowler1]

Anthorn, I'm glad to see you have not given up on your Zombies.

Dude its no travelog, your doing very well. You learn quick. I'm waiting for your next installment so I can pick the bones out of it - bones/zombie - ok.... I need to get out more.

If you do zombies, you have to give the reader gore & fear - and as a writer - have fun!

 

[anthorn]

Might just be me then...
Thank you Bowler
Okay. Well, if you look in critiques you will find one. It's an interlude.

 

[Lenny]

As a Lancashire lad, and a Durham student, I'm doubly perplexed as to why anyone would want to escape Country Durham to Yorkshire (apart from the obvious emptiness... unless the sheep are also infected!), but what the hey...

On the subject of zombies, the most powerful zombie stories I've encountered are those that deal with the survivors, and use zombies sparingly - a brilliant example is The Walking Dead (the television series, at least, as I've not read the comics). The fear of attack is often frightening than running for your life (at least, it is if running doesn't become a regular occurrence. Finding out that your safe haven is not as safe as you think it is can crush the soul).

Whilst my above comment seems to suggest that travel is bad, what if a "safe haven" isn't a boarded up old hut, but rather the expectation that constant movement keeps you one step ahead of the pack? A dawn attack by a travelling herd can shake the confidence just as much as seeing your plot of land being overrun. In both cases, there are going to be some sleepless nights, and the onset of extreme exhaustion.

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A zombie novel set in Durham is giving me visions of the student population turning into a 16,000 strong horde, stripping the city bare (which, amusingly, is how many locals seem to view us anyway). There's also the potential for returning to the days when the spur was the great stronghold! Destroy the bridges, and barricade the side not bordered by water, and you have yourself a defensible position. Imagine the scenes if the horde broke through and on to Palace Green, splitting your group between the Castle and the Cathedral, and the bloody battle that will take place as they try to meet up in one of the two places!

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Short answer: a travelogue isn't necessarily a bad thing, just make sure there's a reason for it. Remember that no genre has set rules that must be followed.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Most zombie stories are about the travelling, the character's always trying to escape the zombies by going somewhere they think they'll be safe from them but never are, so they leave again, going somewhere else, if just to keep one step ahead of them.

Maybe you could expand the story around their stay in each area? Have more of a reason for them to stay in one spot. Introduce some dramas between the characters that have more to do with their new lifestyle than fighting zombies? Reality is never just about going from one zombie fight to the next, the characters will still try to make the best life for themselves as they can during the downtime between battles.

Lenny makes a good example with mention of The Walking Dead.

 

[anthorn]

Yeah.... I do have a good reason for them travelling which is the evacuation from catterick garrison to the south.

I also have military presance in Durham (they're set up in the market places around the statue.) Newcastle (Eldon Square with the bus route-Underground Trainstation bordered off.) And Bishop Auckland around the hospital.

 

[Dave]

As a Lancashire lad, and a Durham student, I'm doubly perplexed as to why anyone would want to escape Country Durham to Yorkshire (apart from the obvious emptiness... unless the sheep are also infected!), but what the hey...

A bit of advice, don't go to Hull. They are already infected.

Continuous travelling isn't a good idea. It is tiring. You can't stockpile supplies of food, water, fuel for the lean times as you need to carry everything. You therefore have to constantly spend time looking for supplies. You don't know the area and never will know it well, so you are at a disadvantage to anyone you meet. You could be ambushed, or break down....

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I don't read zombie stuff, but I do see it everywhere, and your title intrigues me. It seems like everything else has been done in zombie style lately, so why not a travelogue? I think it would be hilarious to turn it that direction! In fact, not travelogue (that's an account of the traveling, right?), so much as a travel guide.

There's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, why not Zagat's and Zombies?