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So, You Want To Write Vampires...

Here's a basic list of things to do/consider when approaching this creature.

Source Material

Go back to the origins. Almost every culture around the world has a story or myth containing cannibalism / blood drinking. You may want to base your origin story for vampires on one of these. This can also give you some ideas about what traits and abilities you might want to include that have been written out of modern fiction. It could help you add a unique twist.

2. Vampire Fiction

Vampires have been popping up in fiction for a very long time. Read The Vampyre by John Polidori (thought to be one of the first books written on vampires). Check out Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu (the lesbian vampire story that came out before Dracula). Speaking of, Dracula is a classic.

Look at modern fiction. Vampire Academy, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, A Dowery of Blood, Crave. Read the good and the bad. Learn what qualities you like and which you will not use.

Make a list of things you like and things you don't.

3. Themes

Writing vampires brings a lot of themes surrounding mortality, immortality, morality, and at what point do we draw the line between what is human and what is other. These themes are integral to a vampire story whether you're writing a gothic horror, a paranormal romance, or a YA. There are a lot of links between cannibalism / blood drinking and love, vampires and LGBTQIA+ characters / coding.

4.Pick your traits

Vampires tend to be unique to the writer. The vampires in Twilight work differently to the vampires in The Vampire Diaries to the vampires in Dracula.

By this point you should have a list of possible traits and abilities you might want to give your vampires. My advice: tailor it to your genre. If you're writing a horror go with the traditional vampire abilities, give them the things that scare you. Think Nosferatu. If you're writing romance, then you might want to soften the traditional vampire traits in the way you find frequently in modern vampire media.

What you choose is up to you.

5. Origins

This is often overlooked in vampire stories but how did your vampires come into being? Who was the first vampire? Is this vampire still alive? How far back do vampires go as a species?

This could affect your vampires in terms of relationships with others of their kind, their powers, their strength.

This might not impact on your plot but, in terms of worldbuilding, if you intend to turn your book into a series then this could be very important going forward.

6. Society

Unless you're writing about the first ever vampire you're probably going to be writing about an established vampire population who will have their own laws, their own history, their own leadership, their own customs. This is an important piece of worldbuilding. It will affect your characters relationships, add conflict to the plot, create established enemies and can be used to raise the stakes.

7. Nocturnal Life

If you're following a traditional burn-in-the-sun vampire and they haven't found a way around this then you need to determine the night life of your setting. What is there for your vampires to do at night?

8. Feeding, Hunting, and Bloodlust

This will affect the level of gore in your story as a lot of the bloody parts in your story will take place through feeding and hunting. This will also determine your vampire population.

You need to decide how much your vampires need to feed, how often they need to do so, and what they can feed on. Do they drink animal blood? Is that possible? Do they drink human blood? Can they drink from blood bags? Do they need the blood fresh? If they need human blood do they need all of it?

The less a vampire feeds, the larger a population you can have in one area as it attracts less attention.

What happens when your vampires are hungry? What does their bloodlust look like? How does it affect a vampire? Is the amount of bloodlust a vampire experiences determined by how old the vampire is?

9. Threats

Unless your vampires are well and truly endless there will be ways to kill them and they will have enemies. Do these enemies take the shape of humans, of other vampires, or another species entirely? How can your vampires be killed? What other species are out there?

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Character Development Chart

Source

Basics

Character’s full name

Date of birth

Nickname if applicable

Place of birth

Background

Place of residence

Schooling/degrees

Do they live alone?

Do they own a pet?

What kind of pets?

Income level

Education level

Marital status

Children?

Quality of relationship with child

Appearance

Weight

Body type

Eye color

Do they need glasses?

Skin tone

Prominent features

Any other distinguishing marks?

Face shape

Who does she look like? (Mom or dad)

Any chronic health conditions

Do they live a healthy lifestyle?

Style of dress

Hair style

Do they wear jewelry?

Natural hair color

Speech and Language

Accent or dialect

Pace

Favorite words

Speech pattern

Mannerism

Common gestures

Habits

Describe personal habits

Is he or she prudent?

What is their morning routine?

Describe the workday

Do they enjoy their job?

What do they have for lunch?

What do their evenings look like?

How do they spend their free time?

Do they usually sleep alone?

Any recurring dreams?

What are they really bad at doing?

Hobbies

Their Past

Home town

Was the childhood a pleasant one?

Earliest memory

Notable sad moments

Happiest memory

Amount of school attended

Significant childhood events

Past jobs

First sexual experience

Trauma

Family origin

Parents marital status – together? Divorced? Remarried?

Mother’s name

Mother’s occupation

Father’s name

Occupation of the father

Is the character adopted?

Siblings

Relationship with siblings

In-laws (if married)

Relationships

Best friend

Other close friends

How do they react to friends, strangers, lovers, and spouse?

Are they successful in their career?

Are they jealous of other’s success?

Enemies

Do they have a mentor?

Do they tend to judge?

Are they understanding?

Who can the character rely on?

Beliefs

Is the character a pessimist or optimist?

What’s the characters personality type?

Describe their long term goals

Short term goals

Who inspires them?

How does the character react to change?

Favorite Things

Favorite food

Do they drink?

Do they like to read?

Favorite movie

Favorite show

Do they like to go on social outings?

Favorite music

Do they play any sports?

My own additions:

Favorite color:

Favorite flowers:

Favorite animals:

Favorite books:

[the-writers-small-corner]

hey do you have any tips on plot development? how to do come up with relevant but dramatic things to keep the plot going? i also don’t want to make it too intense?

I actually have quite a lot of resources that I’ve created over the years surrounding plot development. I’ve linked as many as I could find for you:

Resources For Plot Development

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

31 Days of Plot Development

Novel Planning 101

How To Write A Good Plot Twist

How To Foreshadow

What To Cut Out Of Your Story

Tackling Subplots

Things A Reader Needs From A Story

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

How To Turn A Good Idea Into A Good Story

Planning A Scene In A Story

21 Plot Shapes and the Pros and Cons Of Each

How To Outline Effectively

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Writing The First Chapter

Tips On Starting A Scene

Plot Structures

Finding & Fixing Plot Holes

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Zero Drafts and Fast Drafting

A zero draft is similar to a first draft but represents something psychologically different.  Zero drafts relieve the pressure to uphold a certain level of quality a writer might expect in a first draft. Often, zero drafts are written quickly and without completion. In this way, they bridge between an outline and a more refined draft.

For me, zero drafts allow exploration without commitment. I can extend my outline into something more tangible. Through this, I expose walls, plot holes, missing scenes, and extraneous characters. Because I use zero drafts more to test plot and characters, it is conducive to fast drafting. I know any issues I find can be fixed later and the quicker I complete this version, the quicker I can build something from the base I’ve laid.

5 Tips to Draft Quickly

Plan writing time

Writing a lot of words in a short amount of time requires dedication. If you write whenever the mood strikes you, it is unlikely you will achieve your goals. You are allowed to schedule breaks, but avoid taking more than two days off in a row.

Set deadlines

Knowing when the draft needs to be complete is more of a push than just completing is “quickly”. You can set 4 months, 4 weeks, or lengths in between depending on how seasoned you are at fast drafting.

Beyond a project deadline, daily or weekly goals will help you to monitor progress so you can adjust your process as you go.

Plan your story (at least a little)

You do not have to have a Roman numeral outline with 5 levels of depth. However, if you plan nothing, you will likely hit a wall that will break your flow. I recommend planning the following at minimum:

Main character(s)

Beginning

Overarching conflict and/or main antagonist

2-3 intermediate conflicts

Ending (optional)

Write with flow

Write however the words come. You don’t have to describe characters or setting if it doesn’t come in the moment. Likewise, you can describe in excruciating detail and cut it later. You can use placeholders, skip scenes, and write out of order. Anything that keeps you adding to the word count, do it. It can and will be fixed later. The faster you write, the faster you can edit.

Add accountability

Accountability can come internally or externally.

Internally:

Track daily word counts

Reward when you hit a milestone (chapter, word count, page count)

Externally:

Post on social media whether you hit a goal

Tell a friend

Zero drafts are good ways to get ideas out and onto the page as quickly as possible without worrying about smaller details that will be tackled in edits and later drafts.

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Castle Names (French)

Source

Château de la Bergelun

Forteresse de Cholet

Château du Chomomble

Château du Villeurbagne

Citadelle de la Beaussonne

Forteresse de la Montaumart

Château de la Perpitou

Château du Plainesse

Forteresse de l'Angousier

Château de Gorault

Citadelle de Collimar

Bastion de la Beaubonne

Château de l'Auberçon

Bastion de Marves

Château des Béppes

Palais d'Aubersart

Forteresse de Viercourt

Fort d'Argenyonne

Forteresse de Cholun

Forteresse de la Maussy

Fort de la Marirac

Citadelle de la Montaunin

Bastion du Canau

Château de la Chofort

Château des Valenris

Citadelle de la Touroux

Château du Dranne

Château du Sarmont

Forteresse du Vazieu

Palais de l'Aviroux

Château de la Bourmont

Château du Pathune

Fort du Roumomble

Fort des Champilles

Château d'Avillac

Fort de l'Argenlun

Citadelle de Tagny

Palais les Borgues

Château du Fréville

Château de Marisart

Forteresse du Belmomble

Fort des Marmans

Bastion de Roagneux

Forteresse du Plaillac

Palais les Bergelles

Château du Périmiers

Forteresse de la Colbonne

Bastion de l'Antorgues

Palais de Nanmont

Château du Drateaux

Château de Besanlès

Citadelle de la Bougnan

Bastion de Liville

Palais de la Pugnane

Citadelle du Lilun

Château de Bergevin

Château de l'Alenzieu

Château du Vitrosir

Château du Cavers

Bastion de Maulon

Forteresse d'Anticiennes

Citadelle d'Angouteaux

Palais du Roullac

Château les Colgues

Château du Belzieu

Château de Marnin

Château les Besanris

Château les Golès

Palais de l'Avithune

Palais de Périgues

Bastion du Baçon

Palais de Clasart

Palais d'Épisart

Fort du Collun

Château du Borveil

Fort de Gennerac

Bastion de Roanin

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Alternative Words to Say the Word “Bad”

word source

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Please boost this! This is so important! It can save lives

PLEASE DO NOT GO TO DC ON THE 9TH!!!!!!

Please spread to raise awareness!!!!

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reblog to save a life, i didn’t know this

[the-writers-small-corner]

Well I don’t love this.

[the-writers-small-corner]

How to write an Indian Character by an Indian person.

Disclaimer: when i say Indian, I don’t mean native Indian. I mean INDIAN INDIAN. You know from that large asian country that’s shaped like a kite? Yeah, that Indian. 

 1. India is a large country not all Indians are Hindu.

2. Not all Indians are vegetarian.

3. Not all Indians are math wizards.

4. Not all Indian people are nerds who don’t know how to date.

5. Not all Indian people are straight and cis. (if you’re writing about Hijra or Kinner character then please do a lot of research into their culture before you write them, Hijras and Kinners are often misrepresented in Indian society to be evil and such other things)

6. We don’t eat curry, curry is not a real thing. You have to be more specific than just curry. Like please for the love of god.

7. The name of the language of India is Hindi, not Indian.

8. India has many other languages other than Hindi. Eg. Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, Marathi and many households prefer to talk in their native state/city languages rather than Hindi.

9. Indian cuisines vary from region to region. So not everyone in India likes to eat the same thing. North Indian and South Indian cuisines are very different from each other.

10. Not all Indians celebrate the same festivals but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy them all.

11. Many people’s Indian accents are a lot more subtle than you think.

12. Different regions in India have different cultural clothing.

13. Not all Indian people look like your typical brown skin black hair, northeast Indians more often than not have features very similar to Chinese people. (But remember when you write northeastern Indian characters, many of them are discriminated against in mainland India and some of them don’t really believe themselves to be Indian)

14. Most Indian don’t use toilet paper (look into this yourself, I’m not gonna go any further)

15. Indian English is more similar to British English than American. Indian English has its own slang too.  Some Indian English things to know:  - Duffer = slang for stupid  - We a lot of the times have problems differentiating between the pronunciation of V and W. - A lot of people pronounce the G in gesture how you pronounce the G in Grapes instead of pronouncing it like a J  - We say rubber not eraser.  - Schedule is pronounced Shehdule not Skedual.  - Mother promise is a way of saying pinky promise.  - Eating my brain means you’re irritating. Eg. “Stop eating my brain” which means stop irritating me.  - Senti is slang for sentimental  - Dickey refers to the boot of the car (please don’t ask)  - Cheatercock is a person who cheated in a test, or an exam or did something to gain advantage in life (not a cheater as in in the romantic/sexual sense)

16. We have a tendency of saying yaar or na after things. Even when we text.

17. ‘Are yaar’ is an expression that can have multiple meanings depending on the context you use it in. But it usually is a saying of exasperation. 

Indian characters can be very hard to write depending on which religion, region, gender, sexuality you choose for them to be. India is a large country, when writing Indian characters, remember that this is the second largest population in the entire world, not all Indian characters are the same, especially the ones you see these days in mainstream western media. 

[the-writers-small-corner]

*my dumbass trying to think of the name for a turkey baster*

Types into google: "giant eyedropper," "paste beaters"

Then I type in "turkey droppers" and I get my answer. Turkey baster

[the-writers-small-corner]

some mini collections of tips for writers

(based on things that yours truly notices as an editor-in-training. This list is in no way complete, and will probably be added to as I continue to find repeated mistakes) 

Dialogue

Use beats in your dialogue to break it up. Even “said” can make a very effective beat between lines. 

(No beats: “It’s not lethal. Just highly dangerous with a good chance of being mutilated.” // Beats: “It’s not lethal,” he said. “Just highly dangerous with a good chance of being mutilated.”)

Note how the break allows a bit of a pause for ~dramatic effect 

thinking of dialogue, use punctuation and distinct speech patterns! “Life, uh, finds a way.” is an iconic line anyway, but Jeff Goldblum’s signature verbal tic gives it character. 

It’s okay if characters stutter. Don’t let the condemnation of stuttering characters as “cringey” in fanfic put you off. (and on that note, fuck cringe culture. Seriously. It saps all the fun out of creativity and fun is important.)

Start! A! New! Line! Whenever! Someone! New! Speaks!!

DO NOT FEAR THE WORD “SAID” 

Setting & Blocking

 Use the landscape and settings around your character, and always, always remember a scene’s blocking. Where is everything in relation to your characters? Have you left someone holding a coffee cup for the last three scenes? Did you lose a character somewhere along the way? 

using the contents of a scene is also great for fight sequences. 

Similarly, large character casts are hard to keep track of so don’t be afraid to break them up. Sending someone off somewhere else can create some nifty little subplots. 

Keep a personal note of how time passes. Trust me, it’s incredibly helpful to you as a writer and also for future readers. 

Characters

Character growth does not have to be positive. Sometimes characters fail or suffer or get their motivations twisted up, and they finish the book as a villain rather than a hero. 

All that matters is that a character changes throughout the plot in a way that readers can see; the sort of change they go through is entirely up to you. 

scrap the idea that someone has to deserve a redemption arc. They probably don’t deserve it, which is the whole point. So don’t be afraid to make your villains seem completely irredeemable. 

and you don’t need to redeem your antagonists in order to make them complex, sympathetic villains, anyway. Sometimes people get so stuck in their beliefs that they can’t see another way and it goes too far. Not everyone comes back from that. 

Also, motivations and goals can absolutely change. That’s okay. You just need to have something that drives your character so that your readers are rooting for them. 

Protagonists don’t need to be heroic. How you define the protagonists and antagonists in your story is based entirely on the morality in your story-world, NOT the moral ideas in the real world. What counts as a complex protagonist in a world torn apart by biological warfare will be very different than one living in our world. 

Prose & Grammar

simple prose is just fine and you don’t need to fluff it up for pretty quotes.

Remember to vary your sentence structures and length. Start smaller and build it up, drawing your reader’s attention. 

“And” and “But” are very valid sentence starters that are great for communicating the tone of internal narrative. You’re allowed to tweak grammar if that’s helpful for telling the story, it just needs to be accessible. Test out what you’ve written on other people. 

Check that your tenses are consistent!! 

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Writing Commissions

Commissions

Price: $3 per page

Disclaimer: It might take me a bit to write as I have real life stuff to do, plus there are days that I’m not in the right headspace to write. But I will get the commissions written regardless.

Dm me for questions or commissions.

PayPal

Fandoms I’m a part of:

Assassin’s Creed (All but AC1)

Subnautica

Witcher 3

Just Cause 3

Harry Potter

Skyrim

Marvel (Most familiar with Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers)

DC Univierse (Suicide Squad, Batman, and Justice League)

50 Shades of Grey

Things I can write:

Smut

Oneshots

Short stories

reader insert

LGBTQA+ characters and relationships

Heterosexual relationships

Genres:

Fantasy

SciFi

Romance

Slice of Life

Angst

Fluff

Modern

Historical Fiction

Historical

Fanfiction

Medieval

Things I will NOT Write:

Incest

Underage smut

Non Con

IRL Ships

[the-writers-small-corner]

If you use tiktok or really any other social media:

A man in Russia killed his gf on livestream after receiving £800 ($1000 USD) to leave his pregnant gf out on the balcony in sub zero weather in only her underwear. There are clips of it floating around, and I know tiktok users like to share videos of people dying so I'm letting yall be aware of it.

[the-writers-small-corner]

Culinary majors and business minors

I'm working on a story where the main character is in college to get a master's in culinary and minor in business and Google isn't helping me.

What are some classes that ya'll took?

[the-writers-small-corner]

So my bills are due. I only owe my parents $100 a month for both my phone and college loans.

I've been trying to finish my book to get published, but covid has been bad. I've been splitting my time between helping my grandma and helping my mother watch my nephew.

Covid has also taken my mother's clients away so she's struggling to pay her own bills.

If anyone has any donations, it would be appreciated.

PayPal

I can also do writing commission, so please see my commissions post.

[the-writers-small-corner]

Writing Commissions

Commissions

Price: $3 per page

Disclaimer: It might take me a bit to write as I have real life stuff to do, plus there are days that I’m not in the right headspace to write. But I will get the commissions written regardless.

Dm me for questions or commissions.

PayPal

Fandoms I’m a part of:

Assassin’s Creed (All but AC1)

Subnautica

Witcher 3

Just Cause 3

Harry Potter

Skyrim

Marvel (Most familiar with Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers)

DC Univierse (Suicide Squad, Batman, and Justice League)

50 Shades of Grey

Things I can write:

Smut

Oneshots

Short stories

reader insert

LGBTQA+ characters and relationships

Heterosexual relationships

Genres:

Fantasy

SciFi

Romance

Slice of Life

Angst

Fluff

Modern

Historical Fiction

Historical

Fanfiction

Medieval

Things I will NOT Write:

Incest

Underage smut

Non Con

IRL Ships