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Vampires are in these days. It's debatable whether they ever really went out-I mean, who hasn't at least gone through a phase where they were entranced by vampires? Vampires are sexy, strong, and forbidden-what could be more fascinating than that? And there are so many vampires worlds to choose from now: Twilight, House of Night, Vampire Academy, Vampire Diaries, Vladimir Tod, True Blood, Blue Blood, the Van Alen Legacy, Blood Ninja, Blood Coven, and even Buffy and The Lost Boys, who never get old.

It's no wonder so many people want to play in those worlds by writing fanfiction. Here are a few tips for writing vampire fanfiction.

Vampires aren't just people with odd eating habits. Being a vampire changes something in the formerly human nature of these beings. You can certainly have vampires with positive human characteristics, such as the compassionate Carlisle or the loyal Stevie Ray, but those characteristics are tempered and tested by their essentially blood-craving nature. No matter what your fandom, there's something different about vampires.

Know your fandom. Do you know the difference between a drudge, a friend, and a mate? A coven, a tribe and a family? A legal vampire and an illegal one? Don't assume that all vampire worlds follow Bram Stoker's mythology, because they don't. Some vampires sparkle, some are allergic to garlic, some have mystical powers, some are masters of seduction, some drink synthetic blood, some are tattooed, some fall in love with humans and some regard humans only as dinner, some can turn into animals, some can enslave you and some can be enslaved. If you're writing fanfiction, the whole idea is to write within that world, so you have to follow the rules of the world.

Know the difference between AU and AU-Human. This is, of course, where you get to break the rules, but even in AU, you have to do it right. Alternative Universe is where you take the basic canon and you change something from canon. What if Bella hooked up with Jacob (or Jasper or Emmett or Alice) instead of Edward? What if Vlad and Henry discovered an attraction to each other? What if Zoey remained human but still fell in love with Erik? In these stories, you change an element of what the author has given you. AU-Human is a little different; in these stories, the vampires aren't vampires. So, Zoey really is a human, Taro falls in with ninjas who are just ninjas, and Edward is a brooding, dark young man, but doesn't want to drink Bella's blood. Both of these can make fabulous stories...but stick as close to the canonical world as you can, so that the change is even more powerful.

All the rules of good writing apply. Just because it's fanfiction, doesn't mean you don't have to make it the best story you can. Keep your vampires hot and dangerous, your worlds true to canon, your dialogue sharp and witty, and your plots realistic (within the fantastical world of the story). Get a good beta to double check your chapters so that you don't have spelling or grammar errors. Always respect both your original author and your readers...and the vampires you all get to share.

There's so much variety in the fictional worlds of vampires, but they all seem to draw us in and make us want to explore them more. The next time you want to spend more time with a vamp, follow these tips and write for yourself the story you always wanted to read.