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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45698
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This really depends on the type of world you have in mind. It isn't quite clear from your question whether you are talking about e.g. alien planets that are hostile to all life (toxic, radiated wastelands), or whether you are talking about a civilization that has become cold and uncaring (cyberpunk-style).

Since you want to know about stylistic devices you can use, here are some general ideas:

- Short sentences without a lot of adjectives, except the ones that emphasize the struggle. _"He looked around. No water in sight, only mirages produced by the scorching sun. He still knew better than to fall for these."_
- Usually mundane tasks like breathing and walking become vital, so mention them: _"Inhale. Check the Geiger counter. Take a step forward. Exhale. Take another glance at the Geiger counter to be sure. Inhale again."_
- The previous example also uses _repetition_ to emphasize the oppressive situation that the protagonist finds himself in.
- Use verbs that evoke the hostility of the environment. Your characters don't breathe fresh air, they _inhale_ this toxic atmosphere against better judgement because of the small amount of oxygen contained within. They don't blink (which is done easily and without thinking about it), they actively _squint their eyes_ - it's an effort to do so. When they talk, they whisper with hoarse voices and they keep it extremely brief.
- Since you mention an "artificial" world: You want to emphasize that this world was _made_, but that it was _not_ made for human survival. Give an impression of what this artificial world is for, and how it fulfills its function, and how the human characters that find themselves on it are completely unimportant to its designs. _"Whatever it was, it was working. The machines made a deafening high-pitch sound. But she could not see any seams in the metallic surface. No access points for maintenance, no signs that whoever built this was still around."_

Original score: 12