My zombie idea

Okay guys I know I have a lot of refining to do to make the sentences flow better and sound legit, but this is a summary for a zombie novel I believe has a plot that takes a different approach. It is going to be a serious novel with a host of struggles and very graphic depictions. You can tell me if it sucks and if I am wasting my time on something that nobody really finds interesting, ALL CRITIQUES ARE WELCOME

TITLE: Poppy Seeds
AUTHOR: E.N.
SUMMARY:


A woman at the mercy of her own addiction and the maltreatment of the people responsible for her eventual meltdown land Amy into a government sponsored drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic six hours outside of her hometown. Her stay in the facility is fraught with struggle and devastation when she takes the opportunity to have one last fix only to fall back into her never ending self destructive cycle. Following her retreat from recovery she begins a search for a reliable connection within the rehabilitation clinic all the while successfully avoiding being caught by the abusive faculty and the monster all the patients know as Doc. Her behavior grows noticeably worse and the precipice of her addiction collides with fate as the heroin she is dependent on simply vanishes and she is forced into withdrawal. Amy loses her will to recover, and she prepares an escape from the clinic. Following her search for her poison Amy is enveloped in the largest devastation in human history.

While looting her old dealer’s home just outside of her hometown she notices the empty sky and a piercing scream is heard coming from the adjacent city. Her quest for heroin is interrupted when a crazed man with only the outline of a human attempts to corner her. Amy is pushed to make a life changing decision consequently saving her own life which up until then had never been of any real value to herself or anyone else. The events explaining the empty world frighten Amy to the marrow and the man she had escaped from was a mere glimpse of her trials to come. Her survival is mandatory as her seven year old son Tristine is unaccounted for. Amy’s tainted path through life is destroyed and it is only her motivation that can save her, but her courage is put into question when the facts behind the disaster are revealed and Amy’s new perspective is warped into an abstract reality she must overcome in order to find her son and find help in a new world that shows no inevitable ending and lacks any grain of hope.

You need to link the rehab story to the zombie story somehow. From your summary, it sounds like the rehab incident can be skipped altogether. So unless you're omitting some crucial link I don't see how this would be a good novel.

I won't lie, I'm not a fan of zombies. And not just zombies in literature -- in video games and movies too. I find it to be one of the most overused themes that it's hard for me to take anything about zombies seriously. But if you're passionate about the theme and want to pursue it then go for it. My gripes about the theme are only subjective.

Good point, I need to refine the story structure already, that shows a little about how often I write. Thnx though, I will rewrite and hopefully have a solid summary

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Originally Posted by EBPoncho

Good point, I need to refine the story structure already, that shows a little about how often I write. Thnx though, I will rewrite and hopefully have a solid summary

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If you don't write often and want to start then I'd suggest writing short stories rather than going head first into a novel. Short stories, I'd say, are more difficult to master than novels -- there are some things you can get away with in novels but not in short stories -- but require a lot less perspiration and time than writing a novel. Short stories are great training grounds for novels because they force you to pay critical attention to every word you write. Eventually you slip into a groove, which doesn't mean your writing will automatically be good, but writing will be an instinctive discipline for you then.

Would you consider forming this into a short story instead? When you're finished writing it, save it in a folder on your computer (like I do) or whatever method of organization seems fitting to you so that, once you hone your craft and you feel inspired and capable, you extend it into a novel then.

I hope I'm not sounding like a know-it-all, but you implied you don't write a lot so I'm just giving you some advice from my experiences.

Thats why I love the whole fantasy genre. where else can you have redemption through zombies.:D

I can see the clinic device is important to take her out of the world while it changes.

I think you are on to something.

That last line got me thinking, I read it wrongly and thought you meant that there was no longer the inevetability of death (due to the effects of zombification.) and the hope of peace beyond. Interesting!

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Originally Posted by JacobF

If you don't write often and want to start then I'd suggest writing short stories rather than going head first into a novel. Short stories, I'd say, are more difficult to master than novels -- there are some things you can get away with in novels but not in short stories -- but require a lot less perspiration and time than writing a novel. Short stories are great training grounds for novels because they force you to pay critical attention to every word you write. Eventually you slip into a groove, which doesn't mean your writing will automatically be good, but writing will be an instinctive discipline for you then.

Would you consider forming this into a short story instead? When you're finished writing it, save it in a folder on your computer (like I do) or whatever method of organization seems fitting to you so that, once you hone your craft and you feel inspired and capable, you extend it into a novel then.

I hope I'm not sounding like a know-it-all, but you implied you don't write a lot so I'm just giving you some advice from my experiences.

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Thanks again for the input. Short story is a possibility, but I really have no determined length for the story, it will be finished when I am satisfied with every page. I don't type my stories on computers I write in a notebook then I transfer them over so length will be a rough estimate. I have four other projects I am working on so I can divvy up my inspiration amongst them, and none of them are zombie stories, I just had to write a zombie story because I love them and the idea seemed good.

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Originally Posted by EBPoncho

Thanks again for the input. Short story is a possibility, but I really have no determined length for the story, it will be finished when I am satisfied with every page. I don't type my stories on computers I write in a notebook then I transfer them over so length will be a rough estimate. I have four other projects I am working on so I can divvy up my inspiration amongst them, and none of them are zombie stories, I just had to write a zombie story because I love them and the idea seemed good.

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Oh ok, well all I have to say then is good luck and I hope to see part of the story soon :) It sounds like you are pretty dedicated to the idea.

How about maybe starting at her escape then use flash backs as a form of showing how she got there ?? and use the flash backs at exciting points like when she gets cornered by the zombie

well i am a fan of zombies.. so thats what attracted me to this thread.
i think you are definitely on to a good, possibly great, storyline...
just a suggestion, i'd love to see experimentation on humans, such as genetic engineering that causes the zombifications. also id like to see different types of zombies... like in the game left 4 dead. i want to see the story as it comes along... p.m. me about the story for further discussion...