How to Write Post-Apocalyptic Books

Apocalyptic literature is a sub-genre of science fiction concerned with the end of world either through plague, nuclear war, or some other tragic disaster. Post-apocalyptic books are set in a civilization after such a calamity. The time frame can be immediately after the disaster, focusing on the psychology of survivors or considerably later, normally including the theme that the existence of pre-disaster world has been forgotten.

You start with the main character that has either lost everything and everyone they care about, or a character that will soon lose everything and everyone they cared about. This character needs a few basic skills that will make it logical for him or her to have survived while every other person died. They may be immune to Viruses, are Special Opts or an Ex-Seal, have a bunker with several years of food and water-just in case, are living out in the middle of nowhere and do not even know the civilization has ended-yet, or has an excellent leadership skill that will allow him or her to Take Charge.

You then focus on the protagonist and follow them around as they are fighting off evil hordes, search for water, food and shelter, met the occasional good character, protect the handful of survivors that they have decided to protect, and perhaps try to rebuild the civilization.

As a general rule you should be vague about what caused the end of the civilization.

How the civilization ends does not really matter, just that the civilization as we know it ends. Because most of the readers are pretty fond of the civilization, putting an end to the story is a very emotional experience. Even worst post-apocalyptic books usually get this part right. The hero wanders around, wearing rags and starving. He walks into grocery stores, only to find the store empty or filled with decomposing food. He goes to a clothing store, only to find the outfits ruined by weather and time. He looks at empty farm lands, only to realize that the fields have gone feral and he does not know how to plant, or how he can defend the farm from them.

The hero in post-apocalyptic books will virtually always be on some kind of mission. Whether this is an actual mission given to him by super powers like in Dream Caster or it is a pointless waste of time mission like The Boy and The Man heading for the coast in 'The Road.' Give the characters something to do apart from sitting around and waiting for the end.

There are 2 main choices here, let the character go in search of something like other people, food, Sanctuary or create a stronghold and destroy the evil things left roaming the world like it is in 'The Last Man On Earth'.

In post-apocalyptic books what matters in the stories is that the heroes face a new civilization unlike the old civilization. The readers share the end of their civilization with them. Readers mourn the loss of fast food, family, cars, new clothes, clean water, and so on so forth. The readers face the prospect that their hero might have to kill a person to survive and they can ponder what all that means and what they would do in a similar situation.