Hi hi I saw ur "So, you want to write ..." post for vamps and zombs would it be possible a werewolf one be made?
Love ur blog by the way makes my brain happy
So, You Want To Write Werewolves....
I had been planning to do werewolves next so I had already been making a list. As always, take the bits you want/need, don't feel you have to answer every question I write, and always always do what works for you and your story.
Werewolves Through History
Lots of myths around the world feature some form of werewolf, or at least people in possession of the ability to turn into animals. Sometimes they're helpful like the Wulver of Scotland who leave fish for people in front of their houses. Sometimes they're malevolent forces like the Skinwalkers of Native American legend.
In Europe, France especially, there was a fear of these creatures and many were killed because they were believed to be one. In some cases, these people were at least partially skinned as it was believed that a werewolf had fur on the inside.
If you want to research a particularly notable case of werewolves, then you should look into La BĆŖteĀ du GĆ©vaudan, France. It was believed a werewolf perpetrated 210 attacks resulting in 113 deaths and 49 injuries. 98 of the attacked were partially eaten. Eye witnesses and survivors of these attacks claimed that it was a wolf the size of a donkey and then came the belief about werewolves for which some people were executed. All these attacks took place within about fifty miles of each other. These attacks were so bad it was brought to the attention of the king at the time, Louis XV, who sent people to deal with the creature.
You might want to make a note of the beliefs about werewolves i.e. their strengths, their abilities, their weaknesses, as these will be useful when you come to design your werewolves.
The Complete Book of Werewolves by Leonard R.N. might be worth reading if you find this interesting.
Before even beginning to design your werewolf you're going to want to decide what genre you're writing in. A werewolf in a horror story will have different qualities and weaknesses compared to, say, a werewolf of in a romance novel. There are usually fewer werewolves in a horror story and larger packs of werewolves in stories where the werewolves are more friendly.
In almost all stories the origins of werewolves as a species are entirely unimportant. This might be something you want to include / explore in your story so I'll touch on it briefly.
Was it a gift or a curse? Was it simply evolution? Have werewolves changed from the time of the first werewolf to the time your story is set? Were they created by a higher power? Was it magic?
Something you might want to look into is the behaviour of real wolves. If your werewolves lose their human mind / have wolf instincts do these follow the patterns of real wolves?
This will help you know how big a territory they might have, what leadership structure they might follow, what techniques they might use to hunt their prey.
Bare in mind, different types of wolves have different behaviours. Does this affect your wolves? Do different wolves of different regions behave in different ways?
So, now the fun bit. You get to make your werewolf.
Are they affected by the moon? When they turn, do they keep their human mind? How much like a wolf do they look? Are they wolflike or do they have wolf qualities but walk upright? Does shifting forms hurt? How long does it take?
Do you have to be born a wolf or can you be tuned? Does silver affect them? How can they be killed? Do they age? Is their aging process slowed? In some stories werewolves have soulmates, is that the case for yours? Do they live in packs?
How quickly do they heal? Are they strong and fast even in human form? What are there sense like compared to a human? If their abilities are better than that of a human, is it the same in both forms or are their abilities weaker when in human form?
Pick the qualities the suit your story / selected genre the best.
Themes of werewolf stories often depends on the genre. In a horror story the themes centre around the struggle between man and beast, humanity and the natural world, secrets, deception, and the illusion that we are in control.
If your werewolf knows others amongst their kind then they will most likely be at least one pack in your story. You need to decide the size of the pack, how they function on a full moon vs when they are humans, how are they funded, their leadership structure. Are their packs strictly werewolf only, or can others be found amongst them?
What threats are there to your werewolves? Is it others of their kind Another species? Are there werewolf hunters? Who knows that they exist? Is it common knowledge or do they keep themselves hidden? How far are they willing to go in order to protect themselves?
