Cyberpunk

What makes Cyberpunk work

• High-Tech / Low-Life (essential): Advanced technology coexists with social decay, inequality, or street-level struggle.
• Corporate or Systemic Oppression: Megacorporations, authoritarian systems, or technological control dominate society.
• Hacker / Outlaw Culture: Characters operate outside or against the system — hackers, runners, rebels.
• Cybernetic or Digital Augmentation: Body modification, neural interfaces, virtual reality, or AI integration feature in the world.

Tone and themes

Tone: Gritty, neon-lit, cynical, fast-paced, dystopian

Themes: corporate power, identity, transhumanism, surveillance, resistance, inequality, technology's cost, freedom

Setting guidance

Neon-lit megacities, rain-soaked streets, corporate towers, underground markets, virtual spaces. The aesthetic is high-tech and gritty.

What Cyberpunk is NOT

• [Critical] Must feature advanced technology AND social decay or inequality — not just one
• [Critical] Must not be a generic sci-fi story without the punk (social commentary, resistance, street-level struggle)
• Should not be pure fantasy with a cyber aesthetic

Writing tips

1. Show the contrast between technological marvels and human suffering — that's the 'punk'.
2. Neon and rain are atmospheric tools, not substitutes for world-building.
3. Your characters should be shaped by the system they live in — or fight against.
4. Technology should have a cost — physical, psychological, or social.

Example openings

“The neural jack was cheap, Korean-made, and had already killed three people. She plugged in anyway.”

“Advertisements covered every surface of Neo-Shanghai, promising a better life. Below the ads, people slept in shipping containers.”

“He sold his left eye for a Zeiss optic implant and three months' rent. Best deal he'd made all year.”

Mood keywords

neon, chrome, hack, implant, megacorp, rain, interface, augmented, street, glitch, data, wire

Related genres

• sci-fi — Sci-fi is broader; cyberpunk specifically pairs high tech with low life and social commentary.
• noir — Noir has the cynical tone but not necessarily the futuristic technology.
• dystopian — Dystopian is about oppressive societies broadly; cyberpunk is specifically tech-noir.

Start writing Cyberpunk

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