Vampires
There are plenty of types of vampires, so how do you make a list of tips to writing about them? You pray really hard and do your best. That and you start off with the disclaimer that you’re working off your own preferences and experience. Let’s get this crazy ride on the road.
- Whatever vampire rules you go by, stick with them until the end. I’m not saying you can’t make exceptions to them for plot purposes, but you need to have a base to work off of. You shouldn’t have so many unique types that nothing is consistent and the entire species feels more like an unorganized convention.
- Try not to have them repeatedly go after high school girls for romance. It’s getting rather creepy and people are realizing the age difference. That and it makes it feel like teenage girls are all into necrophilia.
- Not all vampires are perfect specimens of the human race. Especially if they’re undead, they shouldn’t all be muscular with beautiful skin and hair. You’re still dealing with corpses here, which means you’d need to explain how such things can change or make it clear that vampires only turn those that society dub perfect. Try to at least make them unwise, stupid, or something to make up for the physical beauty. No, a rotten personality doesn’t count. Characters should have flaws and that goes for monstrous bloodsuckers too.
- Try to explain why some vampires are bestial idiots and others are smart survivors. It could be as easy as saying it depends on if a new vampire is taken under someone’s wing or left to learn on their own. The point is that you don’t create a confusing combination of savages and civilized vampires that appear to exist within the same system with no rhyme nor reason.
- Chopping the head off has to do something. Death, incapacitation, slumber until it heals, or even blindly scrambling after the body part. Quick regeneration could be an option, but that brings in a problem. How does one kill a vampire that can regrow its head within seconds? You could say full body destruction, but that’s nearly impossible outside of bombs, massive spells, and other things that are not easily accessible.
- If you’re going to use Dracula and it’s not a comedy then take it seriously. Give the old man his due and stop beating him like a dead horse that owes you money.
- Consider the issue of anachronism, which means your vampire has been around so long that they are behind the times. It can range from having no idea how technology works to being only a generation behind. Most people are unable to keep up with such things and they’re mortal. Imagine someone who has been around for hundreds of years and doesn’t stick around a college or teenagers. They’ll fall behind or feel like things are going too fast at some point.
- Added by popular demand: No sparkles.
Making choices self-publishing choices can feel like throwing darts blindfolded. With all the changes to publishing in the last decade or so it gets even more confusing. For instance, now there are opportunities with hybrid publishers which can open more doors for authors and leave them more perplexed than ever.
