[Watch a video version of this post.] You are itching to write a ghoulish story. Against your best judgment, you tell your friends about it. They get excited too and tell you to write something like Bram Stoker's Dracula or Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire . A few minutes into the conversation, you begin to feel that your great idea is not so great after all. There are hundreds of vampire stories out there, with every plot imaginable. Does your new idea even have a chance among all these other stories? Know the Monster in your Backyard Remember, there is nothing new under the sun. All horror stories run along a similar line: A monster terrorizes a group of people, or an individual. Regardless of the theme of your story, whether it is historical, romantic, dramatic, or pure horror; a scary monster is the reason why you have the story in the first place. So before you give up, ask yourself: What kind of monster do I need? Consider the vampire - something that looks beautif...
An indigenous writer who writes in English.