This doesn’t have anything to do with the book “Pride 
and Prejudice and Zombies”
I got the book for Christmas. The cover drew me in and the mash-up between PnP and Zombies grabbed me! I read it at night to help me fall asleep 😉
Nope, this post is about something different.
This is something I tried out to get a handle on good story construction. Aka, “Plotting”.
Since it’s a stripped down, bare bones, missing brain and flesh, outline version of PnP, I figured “Zombie Deconstruction” sounded good. I love Zombies, they’re very relatable right now, too. Although I could have just as easily gone with a “Borg Deconstruction”, I think I’m gonna commit to this one…because I’ve got this nice picture to go with it.
Here, for your writing exercise pleasure, My Zombie Deconstruction of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:
1) Building Anticipation for Meeting The Bingley aka “5 THOUSAND a Year!”
2) Rich People Don’t Country Dance: Lizzy’s first introduction to Darcy
3) A Fork in the Road: Wickham or Collins? Hmmm. Is there a door number 3?
4) Netherfield Ball: a) Darcy Piques Lizzy; b) Lizzy Picks on Her Family
5) Two Covert Ops: a) Operation Evacuation: Netherfield. b) Lizzy’s Operation Rehabilitation: Jane
6) Lizzy Goes on the Lamb: a) A Glimpse of The Darcy (aka, 10 THOUSAND a YEAR, Mr. Bennett!) in His Natural Habitat; c) Yeah, He’s Pretty Much Still a Jerk; d) Surprise! He Wants to Marry Me… But Can I Ditch My Family First; e) Lizzy Reflects, Conclusion? “Although I loathe him… he HAS a point.”
7) Circle the Wagons: a) Jane’s Melancholic Determination and Lizzy’s Frustrated Convicted…ness; b) When Frustrated In Love, Go Stand On a Really High Cliff…Hey, what could go wrong?
8) The Second Round: Lizzy Vs. Darcy; a) Is the Beast Really a Prince? b) Darcy 2.0: Romantic Reboot; c) Uh-Oh. Silly Lydia and Her Whoring Around “Will Ruin Us All”
9) All’s Well That Ends… a) Miraculous Intervention! b) Bingley aka “5 THOUSAND a Year!” Prevails; c) Darcy 2.0: Successful Reboot.
10) (Because all good blog posts must have 10 points) Two Girls, One… Marriage Ceremony.
Well, that’s it. My “Zombie Deconstruction” of PnP.
I had fun working on it, and it really helped me see good plot construction. Now I’m going to apply it to my current NaNoWriMo novel which is eating my brain right now (Bad Zombie!) I hope this technique will help.
JuliaDAlexander 