how should i start a dystopian style story?

hi,
i have to write a short dystopian story but don't know how to start or what kind of structure i should use. i'm use to writing fantasy/romance stories. can vampires fit in?

thanks :)

Dystopian stories are roughly the opposite of Utopian ones, if that helps at all, so think the opposite of The Republic by Plato. 1984 and Brave New World are the classic examples of Dystopian fiction, so I recommend you do a little research into how the themes worked in those two works. You can do whatever you want structurally so long as it feels like a short story and has Dystopian themes, so feel free to be creative with it and if you can, try and have symbolic structures that reflect the Dystopian themes. I've been talking about Dystopian themes a bit and I suppose I should name some if you're not especially familiar. Here's a few: poverty, squalor, and oppression.

I'm sure you can work in vampires if you want, and you can probably have romantic elements in the story, too. Just remember that the goal of a Dystopia is to portray a world where things are not right, so it would be unusual for any romantic incidents to conclude well.

Good luck with your short story!

that helps a lot, thank you