What kind of fantasy to write?

Shana Noelle · Apr 27, 2009

Big dilemma for me. I have an idea for a story, but it contains vampires. With the current vampire craze, I feel that writing a vamp story could be really cheesy at the moment. What do you think? Should I bother? If not, then what other fantasy genres are a better bet right now (i.e. fairy, supernatural powers, witchcraft, etc.).

Cyia · Apr 27, 2009

If your story is about vampires, then write it about vampires. Trying to force it to be something else will show. If the book is good, then it won't matter.

Clair Dickson · Apr 27, 2009

Also, it takes years for a book to go from agent to published. In two or three years, Twilight will be but a memory. Write on!

Shana Noelle · Apr 27, 2009

Oh, Cyia, I love your signature. I love peeps. Lol. Okay, back to the subject of this thread. Thanks. I am a vampire lover and have been since I was little. So I really want to take a stab at this idea, but didn't know if I should attempt some other fantasy right now or not.

TheIT · Apr 27, 2009

Don't you mean "take a bite out of the idea"? :e2teeth:

Writing a novel is like running a marathon. Pick an idea and characters you can relate to for the long haul.

Good luck in whatever you choose!

scarletpeaches · Apr 27, 2009

If you try to force yourself into a werewolf-shaped hole (for example) when you're a vampire writer, you'll only be betraying yourself and fooling no-one.

Izz · Apr 27, 2009

Write the story the way you want to write it. Don't worry about anything else. Then polish the story to gleaming. Don't focus on market trends. Just focus on your writing.

motormind · Apr 28, 2009

Shana Noelle said:
Big dilemma for me. I have an idea for a story, but it contains vampires. With the current vampire craze, I feel that writing a vamp story could be really cheesy at the moment. .

Vampires have always been cheesy, but that didn't keep others from writing about them--or even from making a lot of money with it.

Stijn Hommes · Apr 28, 2009

As long as you give the story your own unique twist, the fact it is about vampires isn't gonna matter.

ChaosTitan · Apr 28, 2009

Stijn Hommes said:
As long as you give the story your own unique twist, the fact it is about vampires isn't gonna matter.

Exactly. The paranormal and urban fantasy genres are still hot sellers right now, and are likely to remain that way for a while. Trends within them come and go (vamps are out, zombies are in, for example), but it's all cyclical. By the time your idea is written and edited and ready for submission, vamps may be hot again.

seun · Apr 29, 2009

motormind said:
Vampires have always been cheesy

Dracula is cheesy? 'Salem's Lot is cheesy?

When they're treated with the respect they deserve as a staple of horror fiction, vampires aren't cheesy.

ETA: To answer the OP's question, your thinking shouldn't be which type of fantasy is a better bet now. It should be what's the best story I can write?

motormind · Apr 29, 2009

seun said:
Dracula is cheesy? 'Salem's Lot is cheesy?

The Swiss variety. Even as a kid I had trouble to take vampires seriously. I know I'm part of a minority though and there definitely is a market for vampire stories. Although, now the genre has practically been shred to bits in the Twilight series I am not so sure anymore.

seun · Apr 29, 2009

Emo/romantic/sexy/Anne Rice vampires are cheesy. When vampires are portrayed as frightening, there is no cheese.

ChristineR · Apr 29, 2009

The problem with vamps (in my humble opinion...) is that if they really existed, they'd either be wiped out quickly, or the whole world would be turned vampire in a few years. Unless they were incredibly rich and lived in a remote castle in a remote village in remote Romania and weren't doing anything interesting beyond luring the occasional juicy British realty agent in to visit. Even then you wonder why the terrorized villagers didn't just up and leave and take the realty agents with them. So almost all vampire-centric series get bogged down in cheesy reasons why the vampires (especially the "good" vampires) aren't found out and staked in the daytime. Like they pretend to be actors, or they actually only sparkle in the sunshine, or they secretly control the president, who protects them.

The good stuff ends with Dracula dead, and there is no sequel.

Apologies to those of you who actually write vampire-centric series....

badducky · Apr 29, 2009

Why do you even need the word "Vampire"? It's such a loaded word.

And unnecessary. I never use the word Vampire when I'm writing about them. It's like in "Let the Right One In" (movie) where the creature exists and no one really names it for what it is, and that's part of what makes it so powerful.

badducky · Apr 29, 2009

This is actually not a problem with vampires. No one is claiming they are real. We are claiming they could be excellent entertainment in book form.

ChristineR said:
The problem with vamps (in my humble opinion...) is that if they really existed, they'd either be wiped out quickly, or the whole world would be turned vampire in a few years. Unless they were incredibly rich and lived in a remote castle in a remote village in remote Romania and weren't doing anything interesting beyond luring the occasional juicy British realty agent in to visit. Even then you wonder why the terrorized villagers didn't just up and leave and take the realty agents with them. So almost all vampire-centric series get bogged down in cheesy reasons why the vampires (especially the "good" vampires) aren't found out and staked in the daytime. Like they pretend to be actors, or they actually only sparkle in the sunshine, or they secretly control the president, who protects them.

The good stuff ends with Dracula dead, and there is no sequel.

Apologies to those of you who actually write vampire-centric series....

Mr. Anonymous · Apr 29, 2009

See, this is where I completely disagree (and this is completely off topic.) What Rice and a few other writers have done with vampires is humanize them. Sure, why not make them very good looking? I think that makes the story even more horrifying, because we tend to associate something that is superficially appealing with good and something that is repulsive with evil. What I think is cheesy is when the monster always looks like a monster, always acts like a monster. /rant

hammerklavier · Apr 30, 2009

Maybe your story would still work with some kind of twist. Like instead of real vampires, a vampire cult that makes people think they are real vampires. Or a psycotic who thinks he's a vampire. Or worse, a psycotic who thinks he's a vampire hunter.

What kind of fantasy to write?

Shana Noelle

My wings are sore.

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

Shana Noelle

My wings are sore.

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

scarletpeaches

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic

motormind

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...

ChaosTitan

Around

seun

Horror Man

motormind

seun

Horror Man

ChristineR

What happened?

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

Mr. Anonymous

Just a guy with a pen & a delusion

hammerklavier

It was a dark and stormy night