So You Want To/Write a Cyber Punk Story: Difference between revisions

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* [[Recycled Script]]: ''[[Blade Runner]]'' plots have been done [[Bubblegum Crisis|millions]] [[Armitage III|of]] [[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep|times]] before. This is not to say it can't be done again, but you should make sure you story is not a cliché ''[[Blade Runner]]'' knockoff. If your trenchcoat-clad hero fights runaway robots and doubts his own humanity... you'd better be a damn fine writer, son!
* [[Recycled Script]]: ''[[Blade Runner]]'' plots have been done [[Bubblegum Crisis|millions]] [[Armitage III|of]] [[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep|times]] before. This is not to say it can't be done again, but you should make sure you story is not a cliché ''[[Blade Runner]]'' knockoff. If your trenchcoat-clad hero fights runaway robots and doubts his own humanity... you'd better be a damn fine writer, son!
* [[Tomato in The Mirror]]: People who are interested in cyberpunk are [[Viewers Are Geniuses|usually not the least]] [[Genre Savvy]] [[Viewers Are Geniuses|in the world,]] and will usually spot this from miles away. That is not to say it can be done, but you readers will expect your main character to be an [[Artificial Human]], or at least a [[Cloning Blues|clone]] even before they've read the first paragraph. [[Subverted Trope|Surprise them.]]
* [[Tomato in the Mirror]]: People who are interested in cyberpunk are [[Viewers Are Geniuses|usually not the least]] [[Genre Savvy]] [[Viewers Are Geniuses|in the world,]] and will usually spot this from miles away. That is not to say it can be done, but you readers will expect your main character to be an [[Artificial Human]], or at least a [[Cloning Blues|clone]] even before they've read the first paragraph. [[Subverted Trope|Surprise them.]]
* [[Black and White Morality]]: ''Nothing'' is what it seems like in a cyberpunk world.
* [[Black and White Morality]]: ''Nothing'' is what it seems like in a cyberpunk world.
* [[Summer Blockbuster]]: Consider this: In the entirety of ''[[Blade Runner]]'', only about a dozen shots were fired. [[Action Adventure]] tales these ain't.
* [[Summer Blockbuster]]: Consider this: In the entirety of ''[[Blade Runner]]'', only about a dozen shots were fired. [[Action Adventure]] tales these ain't.
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* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: These are usually [[Big Bad|Big Bads]], because of their access to money, secret research labs and the like, but do they have to be? Maybe [[Punch Clock Villain|they're perfectly ordinary people]], or even heroes?
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: These are usually [[Big Bad|Big Bads]], because of their access to money, secret research labs and the like, but do they have to be? Maybe [[Punch Clock Villain|they're perfectly ordinary people]], or even heroes?
* [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop]]: Remember that not all cyberpunk stories has authority as the enemy. Sometimes the police, or even the [[Secret Police]], are the heroes tasked with cleaning up the mess of the anarchists and hackers and criminals make. ''[[Blade Runner]]'', ''[[Snatcher]]'' and ''[[Ghost in The Shell]]'' were all about government-employed heroes fighting off the [[Designated Villain]].
* [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop]]: Remember that not all cyberpunk stories has authority as the enemy. Sometimes the police, or even the [[Secret Police]], are the heroes tasked with cleaning up the mess of the anarchists and hackers and criminals make. ''[[Blade Runner]]'', ''[[Snatcher]]'' and ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' were all about government-employed heroes fighting off the [[Designated Villain]].
* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]: This was less of a problem before people had cybernetics <ref> Yes, we do. [[Artificial Limbs]], pacemakers, bionic ear implants, bionic hearts, etc</ref>. Nowadays, we know that any implants short of rewiring your brains doesn't cause personality damage.
* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]: This was less of a problem before people had cybernetics <ref> Yes, we do. [[Artificial Limbs]], pacemakers, bionic ear implants, bionic hearts, etc</ref>. Nowadays, we know that any implants short of rewiring your brains doesn't cause personality damage.


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=== '''Suggested Plots''' ===
=== '''Suggested Plots''' ===


* Your High School [[Sit Com]] could include such plots as [[Two-Timer Date]], [[In With the In Crowd]], [[Feud Episode]], and even [[Horrible Camping Trip]].
* Your High School [[Sitcom]] could include such plots as [[Two-Timer Date]], [[In with the In Crowd]], [[Feud Episode]], and even [[Horrible Camping Trip]].
* A fantasy/horror piece that's heavy on Telepathy and [[Mind Manipulation]]? Try [[Fake Memories]], [[Grand Theft Me]], [[Amnesia Danger]], [[Journey to The Center of The Mind]], and [[Something He Would Never Say]].
* A fantasy/horror piece that's heavy on Telepathy and [[Mind Manipulation]]? Try [[Fake Memories]], [[Grand Theft Me]], [[Amnesia Danger]], [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]], and [[Something He Would Never Say]].




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* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (Also check out its progenitor: ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep]]'' by Philip K. Dick.) Ironically lacks most of the features, but the [[Trope Codifier]] in terms of scenery and atmosphere.
* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (Also check out its progenitor: ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep]]'' by Philip K. Dick.) Ironically lacks most of the features, but the [[Trope Codifier]] in terms of scenery and atmosphere.
* ''[[Neuromancer]]'': The ''other'' trope codifier.
* ''[[Neuromancer]]'': The ''other'' trope codifier.
* ''[[Ghost in The Shell]]''
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]''
* ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]''
* ''[[Deus Ex]]''
* ''[[Snow Crash]]''
* ''[[Snow Crash]]''
* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' for a Pre-Cyberpunk movie/book.
* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' for a Pre-Cyberpunk movie/book.


=== '''The Epic Fails''' ===
=== '''The Epic Fails''' ===
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* ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'': [[The Movie]] (though [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on the actual degree of failure).
* ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'': [[The Movie]] (though [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on the actual degree of failure).
* ''[[New Rose Hotel]]'': [[The Movie]]
* ''[[New Rose Hotel]]'': [[The Movie]]
* ''[[I Robot (Film)|I Robot]]'': [[The Movie]]
* ''[[I, Robot (film)|I Robot]]'': [[The Movie]]


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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