An imagined world where life is bad — the opposite of a perfect world.

• government often has too much power
• people are watched/controlled
• poverty, fear or violence
• strict rules; people lose freedom

Themes: inequality, control, fear, survival, rebellion, loss of freedom.

Build a bleak, threatening mood. Useful words:

bleak, polluted, abandoned, overcrowded, ruined, controlled, silent, threatening, decaying, towering, oppressive.

• Simile – comparing with like/as
• Personification – giving objects human qualities
• Imagery – description that paints a picture
• Semantic field – words about one idea (fear: panic, terror, alarm)
• Powerful verbs – snapped, screamed, crept

Sentence types

• Short – build tension
• Complex – add detail
• Questions – mystery
• Exclamations – strong emotion

Punctuation

colons ( : ) · semicolons ( ; ) · dashes ( – ) · ellipsis ( … )

• Beginning – introduce the MC and the unfair world
• Middle – build danger; a rule is broken
• Ending – mystery, fear or hope

Why it works

• personification – "the warning screamed"
• simile – "like vultures"
• imagery – "a poisoned sky"
• short & long sentences mixed