An Answer to Your Question

So a very nice reader wrote on my entries about Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series.  She asked me a question:

Hey, just saying, that an unknown author wrote a better book than Stephenie Meyer. It was about vampires and it had humor, action, and adventure. Plus it had some of the vampire legends like fangs and no sparkling. Please email me back with your opinion of what should be in a vampire book.

So I emailed her back and here’s what I said:

Hello,

You asked on my blog at wordpress.com what I think should be in a vampire novel.  First I think there are certain elements all novels need to be good regardless of what genre they fall into.  Character development and Plot development are key factors.  Now, you can strike a balance between the two or you lean towards one more than the other.  Some literary and graphic novels are very character driven and the plot takes the back seat. One example of this the graphic novel The Watchmen it was recently made into a not so great movie.  However, the grapic novel is a masterpiece.  The reason the movie was so bad is that the director tried to make the plot the major point instead of focusing on the characters like the comic does.  If you choose to go this route you have to create complete, well rounded people.  No one is one sided, no one is just good or bad.  We’re all multifaceted and have many motives that may lead to a single goal.  If you want to your book to be more about plot or what’s going on around the characters make sure that your plot is strong.  Personally I feel this is more difficult than creating a character.  You have to continually ask yourself why is this happening?  Does this make sense?  Is there anyother way these problems can be solved?  What are the conficts? etc.  Also with a plot driven novel, you still cannot slack on developing the characters, which is what Steph Meyers did.  Her books focus more on the drama and plot, but her writing is poor because her characters are flat. I mean can you name one interest Bella has besides Edward?  No.  Personally the most interesting characters in the Twilight series are Alice and Jasper, and their backstory.  So there’s double work with a plot driven novel you still have to have solid characters and a STRONG plot. But with a Character driven novel a weaker plot can still be successful.  The plot in the Watchmen is very weak, well its very simple and a little washy, but since the focus is on the people involved its still brilliant.

I’m sorry this email is so long.

When you figure out how you’re gonna balance your characters and plot, then your major issues, themes, motifs and other literary devices usually fall into place.  For example I’m writing a book (a trilogy really), and yes it has vampires but that’s a secret that you wouldn’t know until you read to the end of the first novel, anyway  in my book I have very strong plot with very strong and intricate characters.  Eris is a college aged girl, she’s of mixed race, she’s catholic, she has specific interests and talents.  Tristan is her long lost childhood best friend.  He’s white, from a very wealthy upper east side NYC family, his mother is racist and very religious also catholic. Tristan is forced by his mother to stay away from Eris and they lose touch at age 13 & after his mother’s death becomes agnostic.  While at college Tristan learns that Eris has been kidnapped and eventually learns of her death.  Already just from a brief look at only 2 of my characters and just a small snippet of my plot major issues and themes have surfaced.  Race/Racism and Religion are the two most obvious, but there’s a lot more going on in the book that I haven’t put down, so other issues and themes arise like Aging/Death, Sexuality, Gender Roles, Class/Status, and Family

When it comes to other lit. devices like motifs, allusions, symbolism that all depends on your style.  I love to layer meanings, and have clues that point to several different ideas or things at once.  The Watchmen does this too, the little smiley face with the blood means a lot of things!!! Other writers prefer to be more straight forward.  This may depend on your audience as well.  If you’re writing for teens you may not want to get too complicated or let’s say if you were writing a politcally charged novel you might want to code things so they point to what you really mean, but also to something else to avoid offending others or being accused of slander.  I have a lot of symbolism, allusions, motifs, etc.  Example: Eris is the greek goddess of strife and my main character is surrounded by confict.  Tristan’s name is linked to the French word Triste which means sad.  Ryn another character of mine means Dragon.  Also Eris is my character’s name after she changes it.  Her real name is different (not giving it away) but her last name is Leigh, pronounced Lee.  and her Middle name is Annabella. This an allusion to Edgar Allen Poe’s poem Annabelle Lee, which fits my story perfectly.

So I know that’s a long email, but I hope it helps!!! And thank you for reading my blog and commenting.

~Starshine

Oh, One more thing specific to Vampire Novels…sorry I forgot this.

I think in a vampire novel YOU need to create exactly what you think a vampire should be.  Yes, you should research and look back on Vampire legend and folklore, but ultimately what you want to see in a vampire is what counts.  My vampires are created in a very special way, and have different strengths and weaknesses than vampries created by Anne Rice, Steph Meyer, and even those that you hear about in European legend.  I’ve focused on Catholic religion, and Eastern European folklore to help create my Vampires, but if you want them to  fly they can or melt at will they can as long as you can back up why they can do these things.  Unless your book is for young kids, who may be content with not having a why, you need to support why and maybe how your vampires are the way they are because there is already so much information on vampires out there; no Teen, Young Adult, or Adult is going to believe your vampires can melt just because you want them to.  My vampires enjoy food, small amounts of it at least.  I decided this because in most vampire folklore the senses of vampires are enhanced; they can see better, smell better, & are more aware of their surroundings than humans.  So why would their taste be left out?  So I added that and explain why.  Also you mentioned humor and adventure.  My book pulls alot from Gothic literature so my themes and settings are darker, but I put in some humor just so the book is palettable or easier to swallow without being depressing.  So if you want vampires that go on an Indiana Jones like adventure then that’s fine, but again its all about supporting why things are happening.

~Starshine

So that’s what I sent to that commenter.  I’m sorry I haven’t been writing lately I just graduated from college, and before that I was really busy.  I was researching Grad Schools, Planning my Birthday/Grad party, and sadly my PawPaw (my grandpa who I miss so much)  passed away which took up emotions and motivation to focus on other things.  I love to hear from the few who read my blog.  So thanks for checking out my page, Starshine at WordPress.com and plese continue leaving comments.