Writing about moral villains/vampires

Hi. Yep, it’s yet another post about writing humanistic villains. And you’re probably sick and tired of hearing all the reasons because it’s been done over and over again. But just hear me out this once.

Although I consider ‘moral vampires’ to be rather an oxymoron (I‘ll save my thoughts on that one for another post), I do write my immortals fairly human like and here’s why. First of all, I think it makes the story/novel more interesting if you write about sentient beings. Yeah, non-sentient creatures can be very scary (Zombies creep me out, yuck!) as they are coming at you to kill you but there they akin to being a ‘force of nature’, almost things rather than people. So, while you can write great action sequences, most of your story needs to concentrate on the humans and what they’re feeling. Because once you make your villains non-sentient, you can’t write about their personalities. And that makes can make your story less complex and interesting.

OK, so now you’ve got your sentient villains. But why make them ‘good’ instead of ‘evil’? Since I’m a math/science person in my day job, I’ll explain it first in terms of that. Statistically speaking, writing very human villains, you, as a writer, get more ‘degrees of freedom’ out of your character. So what does that mean? Simple. If your character is ‘good’ on the outside, you can still layer him/her with some interesting stuff on the inside. For example, as you probably know from reading my work (if not, please consider reading my first novel “Vampires at the Opera”, click link on my user page to buy), I write a very romantic and fairly moral Dracula character. His soul mate is Mina and he is both loyal to her and to her son, Quincey who is the biological son of Jonathan Harker.

However, I still consider Dracula to be Dracula in that most of the historical stuff written about him (killing all those people) really happened. So, in my work, I have the ability and the freedom/flexibility to slowly strip off the layers of my Dracula character (or pull them off all at once) to reveal some less moral sides of him. I can have him do some unsavory acts and it will be logical (and unsettling as well) to the reader for him to have done these things. Because yeah, after all, he is Dracula.

Some people write the opposite way, that is, they write a very evil character that every once in awhile shows a flash of good. But for me, I’d like my readers to be able to sympathize with my immortal characters and feel like they know them. In this way then, when the character acts badly, the reader will be left unsettled (which is not a bad feeling for one’s reader to have in my opinion at times) and will need to think further about different issues, philosophies, etc that are raised in the stories/books. I think one can get the reader to feel close to the characters (make the reader feel disturbed at what the vampire has done) if you start out writing the character as a villain. In other words, if you write the character as evil, there is no way to go but down. If you start off writing the character as moral, you get much more flexibility in your character and subsequently, in your universe as well since there are many directions he/she can go. Therefore, then, I believe that a ‘moral’ villain is a more complex one and can make your stories/novels more interesting to your readers. And you can also write about their relationship with their kids. Which is what my second and third books in my series will be about.

Take care all,
Christine

Rah, Rah for Vamps

Hi all,

In the past twenty years or so, there’s been an explosion of vampires in film, in literature and on tv. However, the challenge for me, as a huge vampire fan, has been to find that which supports and promotes vampirism as being a positive thing. You know, the joke around my writing community is the phrase “you say vampire like it’s a bad thing”. But I digress…..

So, yeah, I read vampire stuff, I write vampire stuff. At my core, I am pro vampirism. And the important question I have to keep asking myself as a writer is “Why?”, that is, I have to keep challenging my beliefs and try to dig down to explore just why I think it is at least equal to being human. Which is what you should do in general. Every now and then, challenge yourself to think about why you believe certain things that you do.

This can be a problem because there has been so much written that is negative about vampirism. From the simple change in dietary habit to the forever damned loss of a soul idea, vampires seem to have it rough. So why do some vampires, particularly those in my universe, like being vampires?

For me, this is a complex question with a many faceted answer. I feel like I’m cheating in that I’m not going to write the answer to my question here. But really, I can’t. It isn’t simple and can’t be done in one page. Or even, in one book for that matter. I see the answer as being not only multi-layered but also being different from vampire to vampire. So, really, to write a response would actually be cheating here in that the ‘answer’ would not be the ‘real’/’true’ answer.

Now, on the flip side, I don’t think being a human is necessarily superior to vampirism. Well, some of my characters do but then, they are them and I am me. Right now, as a writer, I feel they’re both about equal.

I guess then, what I want to do with my universe is to explore the upside as well as the downside of vampirism. What makes vampires tick or not (in my universe, their hearts don’t beat). And exploring that issue is what makes writing fun for me. And hopefully, enjoyable for my fans to read.

They always say “Life is not a destination but a journey”. I think you can apply that idea to writing as well:)

Take care all,
Chris

PS--Up next: My thoughts on writing moral vampire characters.

Another ‘little’ overlooked aspect in writing: The Set

Hi all,

Awhile ago on this blog, I talked about characters and their traits, that is, to keep the character’s physical attributes consistent. Know whether they’re left handed (Phantom, Dracula) or right handed (Mina, Christine). Also, be careful of hair color, eye color and height of the characters (even the ‘minor’ ones) and make certain they stay the same throughout the course of not only your novel but also of your series of books, if you’re writing one (like I am at the present).

So now you have all the details of the characters. But you’re missing an important aspect. Scenery. Huh? You might be saying to yourself now. I’m not doing a play, I’m writing a novel. Well, yes, but that detail is as important for one as it is for the other. If you’re still confused, let me explain.

One of my favorite authors is a beautiful descriptor of scenery in her books. She describes everything. What the characters are wearing, what the furniture looks like. Even the patterns on the drapes hanging in one of the rooms. Wow. But yeah, she’s an amazing writer and that’s why this woman is one of my favorite authors. But I digress.

Describing scenery allows the reader to place the characters in his/her mind in a ‘space’ in their imagination. The more detailed the description, the more ‘real’ the scene may feel for the reader reading it. Now, one can go overboard with too many descriptions but my post was not about that so I won’t mention that aspect. However, I should just say that describing one’s scene should help set the tone for the story and enrich the action/emotion for the reader reading it. Too much description can remove the reader emotionally from the story. But yeah, description of the scene is a good thing.

Now, you’re done writing several scenes of the book, maybe even completed the first novel. And in the second novel, story, you have to revisit one of those scenes. The most important piece of advice that I can give my fellow writers in this situation is to make certain that the scenery and the furniture does not change. In other words, if there is a brass bed in the room, in the second book, unless the characters went shopping, the bed stays brass. And if there’s two chairs in the room in book one, there should be the same amount in the second book. Particularly, if you described the room or the furniture in detail. Again, at least IMO, it is important to stay consistent not only within the book but within one’s series.

So how does one keep track of all those ‘minor’ but very important details? A writing notebook. I have one where I keep a list of all my characters, short physical descriptions, short bios of each character and also, the rooms that I use for the scenes. In that way then, I can use my writing notebook as my ‘encyclopedia’ of information for my Dracula-Phantom universe and can ‘look up’ any detailed information I may have forgotten. I also suggest that you draw a picture of the setup of each ‘scene’ so that you can see the placement of the furniture in the room. That way, a character can stand with the chair on in right both in book one. And later then, in book five. Do you have to be so exact with the details? Well, no but IMO, it shows that you’re not only worrying about the ‘big’ picture of your novel/universe (characters, plot) but also, about the ‘little’ things in one’s book/universe. And in doing so, your longtime readers will appreciate you for it. And keep buying your books. Which is always a good thing:)

Until next time, take care all,
Chris