Dystopian World Orders Writing Prompt
November – December 2025
Word Count: 750–2500 words
Submission Deadline: 15 December 2025
Magazine Publication: 31 December 2025
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Poster art: He`s Watching You by Glenn Grohe, ca. 1942 NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-208-AOP-119) |
Our November-December theme is Dystopian World Orders.
A Dystopian World Order refers to a fictional or speculative society where the governing system exercises control over its citizens, often at the expense of freedom, individuality, and human rights.
In such worlds, the law, technology, and/or social structures are designed for a purpose. While it may claim to create peace, stability, diversity, or equity, the system typically results in anger, fear, conformity, and loss of personal autonomy.
This prompt can explore how humans adapt, resist, or succumb. Common tropes are the loss of individuality, technology as both savior and captor, the rewriting of truth and history, the human cost of “peace”, what rebellion looks like when every thought is watched. Explore these tropes or create something new.
Good science fiction has always explored the human condition, and some of the most influential dystopian works include George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise. These authors create oppressive or controlled societies to examine power, freedom, and the consequences of social and technological change.
PUBLICATION
Nebula Magazine seeks original, unpublished stories for inclusion. If accepted, your submission will be published online as part of Nebula Magazine’s Dystopia World Orders writing prompt. By submitting your work, you grant Nebula Magazine the non-exclusive right to publish your story on our website and associated digital and print platforms. You retain full copyright and all other rights to your work, and you are free to publish or license it elsewhere at any time.
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Please read Nebula's submission guidelines, any submission deviating from these guidelines will not be considered.
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