Now I will talk about themes, the threads that bind a story together.
As I mentioned in part 1, no single idea will make a complete book. If it’s a good idea, it will spawn more ideas. Let’s assume you have your ten ideas as well as your main idea:
Raymond Brooks was born a thousand years ago, an orphaned boy lost in a foreign land. Growing up during the Dark Ages was no easy feat. Reaching old age was highly unlikely. Surviving to see the turn of a millennium? Impossible!
These are The Journals of Raymond Brooks, a mythical figure from the Dark Ages. Uncovering the mysteries and adventures he experienced during his unimaginable lifespan. The Journals force humanity to face a terrible realization: there are monsters of horrifying power hidden from mortal eyes. They pretend to be sheep when they are wolves, pulling our strings and making us dance…until now.
Could the supernatural creatures really walk amongst us? And if they do, they must preserve their secrecy at all cost. Why then would Raymond commit virtual suicide by revealing their existence? What happens now, when all hell breaks loose?
Rachael Tyrell from Blade Runner. Who hasn’t been inspired by this marvelous film or book?
This will be the first post detailing what I have learned about: How to write a Good Vampire Book. Note, I am not saying a great book. I don’t feel I have written a great book yet, and by that I mean something like Lord of the Rings, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights, Far from the Madding Crowd or Silas Marner. When I do write such a book, I will be sure to update the title of this post. Writing about Vampires? Vampire Santa is a bit of fun, but the rules here apply to all books. My only advice specific to writing about vampires, werewolves or other shifters is not to use common English names; it’s hard to believe in a vampire called John Smith. On the other hand, posh English names including titles such as Lord can work well.