My new (and finally) idea. And the new problem!

[Writer’s_Magic]

To be honest, I put the Norse mythology idea besides. I found (more or less) another idea. Its construction plan is vampire + school = my story.

Keep calm! Keep calm! One of my sub-goals is that I’m NOT writing a story like Twilight.

But there is the problem. Either my idea sounds like Twilight or Vampire Academy. How can I solve this problem? I don’t wanna be a copycat.

So. I should tell how I know that my story idea sounds like them. Simple. I brainstormed. But I always wrote those iconic stuff. Of course, a vampire should have the iconic look—without sparkling. However, I wrote Royals, too. Royals are in Vampire Academy. (Or shall I make one royal family. And sub-royal families. You know. Count, ladies, etc.)

By the way, my main character will be a dhampir. (half human, half vampire)

But enough beating around the bush! How do I get a new, but familiar story idea for a vampire book series?

 

[Heliotrope]

Write the story.

There are no new ideas. All ideas are copycats of other ideas, just with a different twist. But this is the thing.... readers want it that way. Fans of vampire books like them because they all follow a consistent pattern. They are looking for the same, but different.

Think of it this way.... I'm a fan of romantic comedy. When I choose a romantic comedy on Netflix I expect it to follow a certain pattern. I KNOW that at the beginning the two people will hate each other, then they will fall in love, but they don't want to admit they are in love, so they will separate, but then they will realize they need each other and there will be a happy ending. I like that pattern. It makes me happy and makes for a nice Saturday evening. If I were to click on something advertised as "Romantic Comedy" and it deviated too far from that formula (like a character died at the end, or they don't get together after all) I would be mad. I want the same thing I have come to expect from the genre, but with different people in a different setting and different details.

Vampire fans are the same. They want the same things they have come to expect from Vampire stories... only with a new twist.

 

[goldhawk]

To be honest, I put the Norse mythology idea besides. I found (more or less) another idea.

That's your problem right there: too many ideas, not enough results. Finish your stories. Get into the habit of finishing your stories. Yes, they will likely be total crap; everyone's first stories always crap. But ideas are easy; work is hard. Do the work; finish the story.

 

[Svrtnsse]

vampire + school = my story.

This could be anything.

It could be about one or more young vampires going to a regular school. They could be going to a school to learn to be better vampires, or they cold be vampire teachers preying on regular human schoolchildren.

Vampire + school isn't a story - it's a context (or setting) within which a story happens.

In fairness. It's a pretty good setting, and I can see a whole lot of really good stories being written within this context. It doesn't have to be cheesy or sparkly just because it's teenage vampires struggling to get through school and graduate. You could make it dark and sinister, or humorous and ridiculous.

But enough beating around the bush! How do I get a new, but familiar story idea for a vampire book series?

Instead of explaining how I think you should do it, I'll try and explain how I would have done it. That way, I'm not telling you what to do, but maybe I'll give you some ideas for what to work with.

So...
I know I want to make a story about vampires going to school, and that's about it.

Let's start with the main character. I'll call her Vivienne. She's 17 years old, she's just started a new school, and she's a vampire.
(are vampires sensitive to sunlight in this setting?)

Next up: What does Vivienne want?
Vivienne hates having to go to school. She wants to be done with it so that she can move to New York and get involved with the drama at the vampire court. The vampire court in NY is a lot cooler than going to school with regular humans at the school in Slough just outside London.

After that: What stops Vivieen from getting what she wants?
Loads of things. She doesn't have enough money saved up for a ticket to NY. She doesn't know anyone in NY that will sponsor her entry into the court. Her parents won't let her go. She can't go until she's turned 18 and/or graduated. There's an evil vampire-hating school janitor who wants to drive a wooden stake through her heart.
Those are some options.

...and then: What does Vivienne do to overcome these obstacles?
She's a vampire, so she kills everyone and drinks their blood and steals their money. Except... that's going to get her into a world of trouble, and she kind of likes at least some of the people she might have to kill, especially the chef in the school canteen who always gives her the bloodiest steaks - she couldn't kill him now, could she?

Finally - the big resolution.
This is where things work out for Vivienne and she gets what she wants, more or less, only perhaps in a way we didn't quite expect.

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I have no idea if this is anywhere close to what you envisioned, but keep in mind that this isn't how you should do it - this is how I think I would do it. Big difference. We all go about our craft in different ways, and what works for one person might not work for another. The above is just an example implementation. The important steps are:

1. Start with a character.
2. Give the character a goal.
3. Put an obstacle between the character and the goal.

Also, the character is a vampire and has to go to school. This adds more complications. More complications is good.