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[Blade2.0]

I believe I've come up with a concept that hasn't been tried before. If it has, I haven't heard about it.

Concept is: A group of people going through therapy after being revived from a zombie outbreak. Scientists discover a cure for the walking dead, but the problem is, those that were zombies remember everything they did while a zombie, so the core concept is them coming to terms with their ZTSD (Zombie traumatic stress disorder). I think I'd title it "Life, After Dead" A play on life after death and night of the living dead.

I feel it could be a winner (if my writing isn't atrocious). But I wanted some second opinions.

If it does already exist, I haven't heard of the series, but I mean, what hasn't been done before?

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[AJUMP23]

Probably not.

 

[Blade2.0]

Probably not.

ok :'(

 

[West Texas CEO]

I would read it .
I'm a sucker for anything zombie related.

 

[kanjobazooie]

I don’t read books because I don’t have a brain, but I’ll gladly read the synopsis.

 

[West Texas CEO]

I would read it .
I'm a sucker for anything zombie related.

In fact, I have an idea for a zombie themed clothing store.

I would call it , AberZombie & Fitch.

 

[Blade2.0]

Another concept "The Unbread" People start turning into undying bread and all they want is to make sandwiches out of the still living.

 

[NeoGiffer]

*sorry blaze. just bantering. good luck.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Another concept "The Unbread" People start turning into undying bread and all they want is to make sandwiches out of the still living.

This idea is so good, I'm likely to steal it..

 

[eddie4]

I'll wait for the woke blockbuster, thx.

 

[Blade2.0]

This idea is so good, I'm likely to steal it..

Just give me like 30% of the profits so I don't sue you into oblivion and I'll let you keep the other 70%.

 

[Bulletzen72]

Sounds similar to something that has been done before

A BBC (UK) TV series called "In the Flesh", which was pretty decent.
Synopsis from Wiki -
"The show, set in the fictional village of Roarton, Lancashire, though filmed in Marsden, West Yorkshire,[7] depicts life several years after "The Rising". This period, in (fictional) 2010, was a time when thousands of people who had died in 2009 suddenly re-animated as mindless, homicidal, brain-eating zombies world-wide.

However, by the time of the series, normality has begun to return. A full-fledged zombie apocalypse has long since been prevented by armed resistance from the living, especially from armed local militias who patrolled their communities and actively hunted the re-animated. Meanwhile, a scientific solution for the zombie phenomenon has been found, with the development of a medication to restore consciousness to the undead, allowing them to remember their time alive and who they once were. The surviving undead, not killed by the militias, have been rounded up, forcibly medicated, and entered in a government rehabilitation programme in a plan to reintroduce them to society. They are provided with contact lenses and cosmetics, to help them conceal their deceased status, and maintenance injections of medication to keep them from relapsing into a dangerous or "rabid" state. They are officially referred to as sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS), though anti-zombie hardliners prefer the pejorative term "rotters". Many of the risen are haunted by memories of the atrocities they committed while rabid. In the village of Roarton, PDS sufferers face prejudice from the villagers upon their return."

 

[Artoris]

I believe I've come up with a concept that hasn't been tried before. If it has, I haven't heard about it.

Concept is: A group of people going through therapy after being revived from a zombie outbreak. Scientists discover a cure for the walking dead, but the problem is, those that were zombies remember everything they did while a zombie, so the core concept is them coming to terms with their ZTSD (Zombie traumatic stress disorder). I think I'd title it "Life, After Dead" A play on life after death and night of the living dead.

I feel it could be a winner (if my writing isn't atrocious). But I wanted some second opinions.

If it does already exist, I haven't heard of the series, but I mean, what hasn't been done before?

It sounds a lot like this

In the Flesh (TV series) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[killatopak]

I find concepts to just be a guideline for what an author find interesting and have knowledge delving into.

The content is where its at. There's a lot of mundane book concept that's actually made interesting due to the content it has.

I guess the difference is how it magnetizes a reader to actually read your book. An interesting concept will at least pull in people to read your book. A boring concept won't even make it past being glanced at.

Zombies are definitely mainstream so that gets + points. PTSD as important as it is, is not. You'll have to make a pretty good book title to compensate.

 

[Blade2.0]

It sounds a lot like this

In the Flesh (TV series) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Well, as they say, every story has already been told. I just need to do it better.

 

[Blade2.0]

Sounds similar to something that has been done before

A BBC (UK) TV series called "In the Flesh", which was pretty decent.
Synopsis from Wiki -
"The show, set in the fictional village of Roarton, Lancashire, though filmed in Marsden, West Yorkshire,[7] depicts life several years after "The Rising". This period, in (fictional) 2010, was a time when thousands of people who had died in 2009 suddenly re-animated as mindless, homicidal, brain-eating zombies world-wide.

However, by the time of the series, normality has begun to return. A full-fledged zombie apocalypse has long since been prevented by armed resistance from the living, especially from armed local militias who patrolled their communities and actively hunted the re-animated. Meanwhile, a scientific solution for the zombie phenomenon has been found, with the development of a medication to restore consciousness to the undead, allowing them to remember their time alive and who they once were. The surviving undead, not killed by the militias, have been rounded up, forcibly medicated, and entered in a government rehabilitation programme in a plan to reintroduce them to society. They are provided with contact lenses and cosmetics, to help them conceal their deceased status, and maintenance injections of medication to keep them from relapsing into a dangerous or "rabid" state. They are officially referred to as sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS), though anti-zombie hardliners prefer the pejorative term "rotters". Many of the risen are haunted by memories of the atrocities they committed while rabid. In the village of Roarton, PDS sufferers face prejudice from the villagers upon their return."

Guess I'm moving onto "The Unbread" then.

 

[jason10mm]

I, Zombie tackled some aspects of this as well.

Doesn't really matter if it has been done before, the important thing is that you concoct a solid, internally consistent reason for zombies and stick to it throughout the book. Easy enough to have lots of horrific attacks (plenty of erotic expressions of this, as well as comedic, tragic, gory, or melancholic variants as well) to keep it exciting, but when dealing with ZTSD you probably should have a good grasp of PTSD and how it is managed, how it is expressed, and not fall into tropes and stereotypes. As a novel, instead of just a series of unconnected "bad zombie shit happened and now I have to deal with it" stories, maybe have then occur through time to slowly reveal how the HUMANS responded to zombies throughout the event, from the initial shock and horror, to near defeat/extermination, to resistance, to triumph, and then to the inevitable reintegration and discrimination/retribution. Naturally you will want some that preferred being a zombie, try to replicate it, human cults built around it, etc. IIRC World War Z kinda had this documentary/history type structure.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I mean, what would their quality of life be, considering their flesh was rotting before being cured? Would they be mangled? How would it be believable for them to survive? Would time as a zombie be taken into account?

I always thought it would be super terrifying if, as zombies, they would shriek out in pain, and tell you how sorry they were and how they didn’t have control of their bodies while shambling towards you. They would tell you to run from them, get away and such. Maybe tell you they ate their family and such.

 

[Wildebeest]

What if Zombies had to use unicycles to move around, but none of them were really any good at it and kept on falling off?

 

[Blade2.0]

I mean, what would their quality of life be, considering their flesh was rotting before being cured? Would they be mangled? How would it be believable for them to survive? Would time as a zombie be taken into account?

I always thought it would be super terrifying if, as zombies, they would shriek out in pain, and tell you how sorry they were and how they didn’t have control of their bodies while shambling towards you. They would tell you to run from them, get away and such. Maybe tell you they ate their family and such.

My internal system would be that if you were too rotten when the cure was administered, you would simply just die after returning. So only those that were in good condition (not dead for too long, in areas with less environmental damage such as northern climates, or just evaded people from killing them) were actually helped by the cure. Those that survived, I would probably give them scars that would make them more easily identifiable. I've only thought about this for a day or two, but that's probably how I'd establish it.

It makes for two things survivor's guilt from those that were lucky enough to return (why am i still here but my parents were eaten by me) and animosity from those that had loved ones that survived zombification but were not in good enough condition to survive the transition back to life (why is my daughter dead and this asshole alive?)

 

[ResilientBanana]

My internal system would be that if you were too rotten when the cure was administered, you would simply just die after returning. So only those that were in good condition (not dead for too long, in areas with less environmental damage such as northern climates, or just evaded people from killing them) were actually helped by the cure. Those that survived, I would probably give them scars that would make them more easily identifiable. I've only thought about this for a day or two, but that's probably how I'd establish it.

It makes for two things survivor's guilt from those that were lucky enough to return (why am i still here but my parents were eaten by me) and animosity from those that had loved ones that survived zombification but were not in good enough condition to survive the transition back to life (why is my daughter dead and this asshole alive?)

Sounds like the infection can’t start killing them right away, maybe starving or destruction of vital organs is what starts the actual decaying process.

It makes sense, I’m sure suicide rates would be up, considering the state of the world at that point.

Doesn’t sound like a terrible basis. Sure you get my vote.

 

[Azelover]

It's an interesting idea. I think it would work better on film, rather than a book.

I think you should try it.

 

[DKehoe]

Sounds like you have an angle on it so why not go for it? Seems like there could be some interesting material to explore but your opinion on it should be more important than mine or anyone else's when it comes to it. Write what you think is cool rather than writing what you think other people might think is cool. The craft is in the execution rather than the concept. So see where it takes you.

 

[bitbydeath]

Well, as they say, every story has already been told. I just need to do it better.

I’m writing a story that hasn’t been done before.

Editing is such a bitch

 

[SJRB]

I'd never read a book about people's therapy sessions, regardless of the circumstances.

 

[Artoris]

I'd never read a book about people's therapy sessions, regardless of the circumstances.

Not a book, but sopranos has it

 

[Artoris]

Here is an idea

The zombies have regained their consciousness and have been sent to university to be educated they will be taught gender equality and critical race theory wile wearing a face mask and as they don't need to sleep or eat it will be 24/7.

 

[Blade2.0]

I’m writing a story that hasn’t been done before.

Editing is such a bitch

So the Simpsons already did it?

 

[jason10mm]

Here is an idea

The zombies have regained their consciousness and have been sent to university to be educated they will be taught gender equality and critical race theory wile wearing a face mask and as they don't need to sleep or eat it will be 24/7.

Being forced to sit through gender and race theory is how the zombie outbreak STARTS.

 

[Husky]

Write the book just to see if you can. It doesn't matter if anyone's interested, or even if anyone sees it. If you're interested in writing, you should just try to get some stories finished, both for practice and to build a habit. Even if it doesn't turn out well, it was a learning experience, and you'll be more prepared for the next attempt. Remember that by reading this post you're legally obligated to dedicate your first novel to me.

 

[yet_another_alt]

You guys are going about this all wrong. The dead outnumber the living. If zombies end up regaining sentience, they would easily become the majority population. Imagine a farmer that's a zombie raising a herd of humans for consumption of the undead masses. But would eating a farm fresh human result in what is essentially the zombie equivalent of reproduction? Your typical undead is basically immortal so how sustainable would human farming be? Would we end up with massive, indutrialized human farms? Would conditions in such places become the subject of Zombies for the Ethical Treatment of Living People? Actually, wouldn't eating a non-zombiefied (yet) human be the equivalent of eating a fetus? I mean they're future zombies when you think about it.

 

[ChazAshley]

j/k.

OP - if you're actually thinking of getting into writing, I encourage you to do it. Even if it doesn't get "popular' - you really do get a lot out of it. You learn the loops of what it takes to publish a book (and learn patience as you watch for your publisher to actually do their work) - but then also the people you meet, the conversation starters, as well as the other potential ideas that pop up as you're going through the writing process DOES make it worth it. I published one book and it is a real cool experience.

If you got the time - go for it.

 

[Tams]

Only if you include us in it.

 

[Rentahamster]

Only if I'm the main character and I eat a steak dinner with a T-Rex and a supermodel in the third act.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I believe I've come up with a concept that hasn't been tried before. If it has, I haven't heard about it.

Concept is: A group of people going through therapy after being revived from a zombie outbreak. Scientists discover a cure for the walking dead, but the problem is, those that were zombies remember everything they did while a zombie, so the core concept is them coming to terms with their ZTSD (Zombie traumatic stress disorder). I think I'd title it "Life, After Dead" A play on life after death and night of the living dead.

I feel it could be a winner (if my writing isn't atrocious). But I wanted some second opinions.

If it does already exist, I haven't heard of the series, but I mean, what hasn't been done before?

Sounds clever, love the title, would read.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Highly derivative of my book titled Post Traumatic Human Disorder. It's about a zombie psychiatrist who treats other zombies who are very disturbed by memories of their past human lives where they weren't eating humans. It's written in Zombie, so the actual title is "Hrrg Grrrmgug Arghhh" but it basically teaches you the zombie language with pictues and shit. It's kind of like a zombie rosetta stone that leads you on a journey through zombie culture.

As soon as my publisher mails my advance check I'm going to start work on my book about the Zombie Space Program titled "Granughgh grr vroombuh"

 

[FunkMiller]

There’s literally no such thing as an original idea these days, just fresh spins on existing stories, so it’s more a question of how you write it.

What do you plan on doing with it? If you’re looking to get it published, zombie fiction is an extremely saturated market (go search for ‘zombie’ on Amazon in the books and kindle sections) so you’ll struggle to get any interest unfortunately. Maybe think of altering the concept so it’s a less saturated topic? Maybe vampires instead?

The main thing is that if you have a passion for writing and being a writer, the first thing you have to do is write and finish a book. No less than 80 thousand words, if you’re talking adult fiction. That’s the biggest hurdle the vast majority fall at.

Also, as you say, what you describe is a concept, but not a story. Do you know who your characters are yet? What arc you want to take them on? Is it a book about their relationships? What’s the conflict that exists? What are their goals? If you can develop all of those things enough to fill out a full book’s length, then you have a story.

Good luck with it

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Strongly suggest you approach this as something you want to do, rather than a possible business venture. There are no shortage of excellent stories and ideas in all genres, but only so much bandwidth for publishers and crucially, reviewers and press, and that's basically what makes the difference - as with all media, reaching the audience is the biggest hurdle, not making the product.

I would definitely look at dedicated writing communities on Reddit, etc. For tips, advice, etc.

Your first draft will probably suck. The first thing you write might suck no matter how many drafts you do. But, if you enjoy it, that's the main thing. Good luck!

 

[KrakenIPA]

Your first draft will probably suck. The first thing you write might suck no matter how many drafts you do. But, if you enjoy it, that's the main thing. Good luck!

Mr Reasonable with the "you suck" take har!

Great advice! I like the story if it has a crossover chapter with a "vampires from the local highschool" twist.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Mr Reasonable with the "you suck" take har!

What I've written is sold advice, people are often completely unrealistic about how creative industries and publishing media works.

Just in case I sounded harsh (I didn't mean to, I just think that creative endeavours, at least the first few times, have to be enjoyable first, rather than something with one eye on the business because that diminishes the chance of success and also changes the criteria for success) the cold hard truth is that nobody's first work is as good as their 5th, and that's not as good as their tenth, etc. What's more those first ten efforts don't often make it to the shelves of your local book store. They're written while people are learning their craft.

The first time any of your favourite authors wrote anything it likely didn't get published. People rarely are excellent the first time they do anything, from making eggs to directing a feature film and everything in between. When a guy who appears to have never written anything ("if my writing isn't atrocious" )says "I'm thinking of writing a book" and people immediately start talking about how to sell it, that's almost certainly a path to disappointment.

 

[Toons]

You wanted advice on a book and went to NEOGAF???

 

[IDKFA]

I believe I've come up with a concept that hasn't been tried before. If it has, I haven't heard about it.

Concept is: A group of people going through therapy after being revived from a zombie outbreak. Scientists discover a cure for the walking dead, but the problem is, those that were zombies remember everything they did while a zombie, so the core concept is them coming to terms with their ZTSD (Zombie traumatic stress disorder). I think I'd title it "Life, After Dead" A play on life after death and night of the living dead.

I feel it could be a winner (if my writing isn't atrocious). But I wanted some second opinions.

If it does already exist, I haven't heard of the series, but I mean, what hasn't been done before?

As FunkMiller said, original ideas are hard to come by, and this concept has been done.

The Cured - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Northeastmonk]

I wrote a story with my mom once, but nothing came from it. Her and I came up with the premise and I added additional details to the plot. The story was about a boy who lives out in England. He plays in the countryside with his dog. One day he finds a locked door out in the woods. The door won’t open for anyone because it has cryptic messages all over it. He happens to open the door and falls through a hole and into a fantasy world. A lot of the characters in the world are toys he has in real life. I was going to make this a sad story where he never really left his world, he was sick, and he passed out in the forest due to his sickness. I thought about making it a “boy saves the world” type of plot, but

I just gave up on the idea, so I’d encourage anyone to finish. I lost focus and stopped caring about it.