New novel idea

I've been wanting to write a monster novel for quite some time now. I've long been a fan of monsters, either zombies, vampires, witches, whatever, and I've written a number of short stories with those types of characters over the years, but only once did I actually write a novel. Well, I wrote the first draft of a novel, then put it away and never went back to it.

I'm kind of glad I didn't go back to that novel, about witches, partly because I think that thanks to Harry Potter the genre is kind of overdone for a while. Same thing with vampires. I mean, we've had the Anne Rice books which were made into movies, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Twilight, True Blood, and countless others in the last couple of decades, so vampires are very much overdone in popular culture. Werewolves don't interest me all that much, and zombies are quickly becoming the new hot item in Hollywood and in video games as well, not to mention Max Brooks fabulous books.

So I'm thinking of going a different route. A cross between science fiction horror set in a future, totalitarian city, and a murder mystery where the murderer is not human, but a succubus. My only problem is that while I've got the first part of the story fleshed out in my head, I'm not exactly sure where I want to take it. Often, I find that the best way for me to get there is to just start writing, but usually I end up going places that in the end I really don't like.

I'm trying to do this book the proper way, outlining the entire story from start to finish, then working out the details, but my brain doesn't always work that way. I know how I want the story to end, but it's the journey -- getting from the beginning, which I really like, to the end that I also really like that I find the most difficult. Guess I need to just sit down and start focusing on it.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Just got my hands on a copy of Sims 3, which is installing now, so I'm going to be busy for the rest of today :)