fiction workshop
29 Aug 2014 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennickelsIn a futuristic society, religion controls everything including when and if people can have children. Hospitals are in churches, doctors and government officials are Reverends, Brothers and Sisters, etc. Everyone is required to attend church. Just you typical dystopian theocracy except things to be running pretty smoothly for Michael and Margaret. As far as I can tell they believe in it all and their lives are pleasant.
At the beginning of the story they are having a meeting with Reverend Smith about their application to raise a child of the One True Lord. Their DNA is taken and a baby is created from that based on what the society needs. They are given a boy named Samuel with an EDA for April 19. No sex needed. They then lease the child for two years and must make satisfactory progress with the child (as in the child must grow correctly and learn what the Church wants it to learn to their satisfaction). If they don't meet standards they are barred from having any more children. Otherwise they can renew the lease. Ultimately the baby belongs to the Church and the One True Lord.
Anyway there's some plot that happens although I have worked out all the details.
I was just wondering what kinds of questions the authorities would ask of applicants?
So far I've got things in mind like:
jobs--Michael must have a good paying job. Margaret much either be a housewife in good standing with her local Church or employed in a woman-acceptable job and willing to leave the job to dedicate her life to raising the child.
health--they do a medical background check going back four generations to screen for deadly (Schedule X) diseases and go over their personal medical records to look for inconsistencies (like multiple illnesses and stuff--there is no such thing as doctor-patient confidentiality with the government).
relationships--before being allowed to apply for a child lease a couple must have courted (haven't decided the length), been married for five years and gotten recommendations from just about everyone--the biggest one being their Church leaders. They also have to disclose any past relationships. Margaret was in another courtship before Michael but called it off which is unusual. I'm pretty sure divorce is impossible in this society.
transgressions--basically anything illegal or morally unacceptable by their standards. Michael has to disclose that he drank alcohol at 17 which could ruin their chances of having a child. But it was before an official Amendment banning alcohol in all states went into affect so it is overlooked. They must pray for forgiveness (which is a formalized ordeal performed in their Churches)
Any other ideas? What other things would some ultra-conservative fundamentalists (perhaps a blending of all fundamentalist religions together) want to control?
I've decided they control how people are allowed to dress with women having to wear long skirts (from just below the knee to ankle length--there is some room for personal choice), gloves, hats. Basically they dress like the proper 1950s Leave it to Beaver delusions. Accept colors are controlled. The government/church has decided that optimal colors are blues/greens in the summer months because they bring calm and yellows and oranges in winter because they brighten the dreary days. All paired with drab gray or brown.
They've gone back to a strictly patriarchal society but they hold everyone accountable for sins. So a man that beats his wife is jailed. A man that cheats is punished while the wife is not. So the society isn't all bad. They actually do follow the good parts of the Bible such as helping the poor and sick, etc. Although most of it is mandatory and controlled. There is still crime but it is dealt with harshly (stonings anyone?)
I know there have been other books/stories written like this, but the idea has taken hold.
Most of this won't even end up in the story since it has to be so short, but I might develop it more later even if just for my own amusement. Any ideas are welcome.
Also any ideas for names of government departments or church names. Churches are monstrous things that house courts, chapels, hospitals and schools. Some specialize in one or the other, but in small towns they are all combined on one campus as the Church controls everything. I'm trying to come up with the official name of the Church/government although their god is most often referred to as the One True Lord. I like the really long complex names I see on smaller churches--just for the humor of it.
I'm not trying to make the society seem completely corrupt and horrible. It actually works fairly well except no one has much freedom and there are of course people that don't like that. Most likely if I expand the universe Michael and Margaret will end up on the wrong side of the church--I'm thinking because they don't want to give up the baby at the end of their lease when they are Excluded from parenting.
Ack, now I'm trying to determine exactly what the short short story should encompass. I need to have a full beginning middle and end with character development and growth. How the fuck do you do that in 5-10 pages?
At the beginning of the story they are having a meeting with Reverend Smith about their application to raise a child of the One True Lord. Their DNA is taken and a baby is created from that based on what the society needs. They are given a boy named Samuel with an EDA for April 19. No sex needed. They then lease the child for two years and must make satisfactory progress with the child (as in the child must grow correctly and learn what the Church wants it to learn to their satisfaction). If they don't meet standards they are barred from having any more children. Otherwise they can renew the lease. Ultimately the baby belongs to the Church and the One True Lord.
Anyway there's some plot that happens although I have worked out all the details.
I was just wondering what kinds of questions the authorities would ask of applicants?
So far I've got things in mind like:
jobs--Michael must have a good paying job. Margaret much either be a housewife in good standing with her local Church or employed in a woman-acceptable job and willing to leave the job to dedicate her life to raising the child.
health--they do a medical background check going back four generations to screen for deadly (Schedule X) diseases and go over their personal medical records to look for inconsistencies (like multiple illnesses and stuff--there is no such thing as doctor-patient confidentiality with the government).
relationships--before being allowed to apply for a child lease a couple must have courted (haven't decided the length), been married for five years and gotten recommendations from just about everyone--the biggest one being their Church leaders. They also have to disclose any past relationships. Margaret was in another courtship before Michael but called it off which is unusual. I'm pretty sure divorce is impossible in this society.
transgressions--basically anything illegal or morally unacceptable by their standards. Michael has to disclose that he drank alcohol at 17 which could ruin their chances of having a child. But it was before an official Amendment banning alcohol in all states went into affect so it is overlooked. They must pray for forgiveness (which is a formalized ordeal performed in their Churches)
Any other ideas? What other things would some ultra-conservative fundamentalists (perhaps a blending of all fundamentalist religions together) want to control?
I've decided they control how people are allowed to dress with women having to wear long skirts (from just below the knee to ankle length--there is some room for personal choice), gloves, hats. Basically they dress like the proper 1950s Leave it to Beaver delusions. Accept colors are controlled. The government/church has decided that optimal colors are blues/greens in the summer months because they bring calm and yellows and oranges in winter because they brighten the dreary days. All paired with drab gray or brown.
They've gone back to a strictly patriarchal society but they hold everyone accountable for sins. So a man that beats his wife is jailed. A man that cheats is punished while the wife is not. So the society isn't all bad. They actually do follow the good parts of the Bible such as helping the poor and sick, etc. Although most of it is mandatory and controlled. There is still crime but it is dealt with harshly (stonings anyone?)
I know there have been other books/stories written like this, but the idea has taken hold.
Most of this won't even end up in the story since it has to be so short, but I might develop it more later even if just for my own amusement. Any ideas are welcome.
Also any ideas for names of government departments or church names. Churches are monstrous things that house courts, chapels, hospitals and schools. Some specialize in one or the other, but in small towns they are all combined on one campus as the Church controls everything. I'm trying to come up with the official name of the Church/government although their god is most often referred to as the One True Lord. I like the really long complex names I see on smaller churches--just for the humor of it.
I'm not trying to make the society seem completely corrupt and horrible. It actually works fairly well except no one has much freedom and there are of course people that don't like that. Most likely if I expand the universe Michael and Margaret will end up on the wrong side of the church--I'm thinking because they don't want to give up the baby at the end of their lease when they are Excluded from parenting.
Ack, now I'm trying to determine exactly what the short short story should encompass. I need to have a full beginning middle and end with character development and growth. How the fuck do you do that in 5-10 pages?
