[Laer Carroll]

My ShapechangerTales series (http://shapechangertales.com/) deliberately avoids most of the werewolf stereotypes. I generally write sci-fi. So my changers do not instantly change their skeletons, for instance. That takes weeks or months for most of them. They most especially don't become animals!

The animalistic aspect of werewolves, I suspect, is a big reason why werewolves are popular. It speaks to something primal in human nature. Freedom from social constraints is one appeal. The fear of savage creatures is another.

The readiness to rut is another, though it seems to me that this side of werewhatevers is more mythical than actual. Those of you who have much contact and study of animals likely know better than I. And humans are not exactly Sunday-school pure - even those who go to Sunday school. If anything the loudly religious seem to be more promiscuous than the rest of us!

Supernatural werecritters are stereotypically much faster and more powerful than ordinary humans. They can heal much faster and better, too. That is much of their appeal, as well.

If we write werewolves I think we must add some original spark that lifts our books above cliché, lest we bore our readers with too much of more of the same.

I think it also helps if we give much thought to how their nature would effect them individually and their acquaintances socially. That helps make them seem more real. It also helps give us more conflicts, which is an essential to all compelling fiction.

What about you? Is there a weresomething in your future? And how are you going to make yours stand out from all the copycats?

[Ornery Wyvern]

I've been thinking about this recently and I thought, make them provide the wolf. Sure we loose alot of the mythos, but I'm looking to disregard a lot of traditional supernaural stuff. So the idea would be that a werewolf is a combination of man and wolf, explaining the increased size and strength savagery, etc.

There is a couple near me who walk what seems like a small pack of wolves. I'd have asked them about it but they scare the bejesus out of my wimpy Airdale, Rupert. But werewolf couple - essentially wizards with a specialty - with a small wolf pack, maybe puppies for the kids? :D

[virangelus]

I understand what you are saying about the shape shifters, and I agree whole-heartedly. I also think that werewolves get a bad wrap out of Hollywood (and other media) because vampires appear to be so much more "beautiful" and "elegant" than their shape-shifting counterpart.

I have been working on the idea of the shape shifter (called the Werekyn in the novel series they hail from) as an elegant guardian of nature (perhaps that's been over done) but still have plans to retain their "wildness" as well. Hopefully they will be quite different but I suppose it would behoove me to get out there are read about them first.

[tmso]

You know, I just read a novella by Euan Harvey (Wotan's Bloody Spear - very bloody - R rated) that was AWESOME! It had all the cliches and was AWESOME. I think as many of you have said here before, the dressing doesn't really matter, it's the character. As long as the author makes us care about the character - then most readers will accept the story details no matter how mundane or over-used they become.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't think I have a were-anything in my future, but in my first trilogy one of the characters was a werewolf. There were no advantages to it. Instead, it was a a source of guilt and self-disgust. He felt it was punishment for some secret sin. And the rapid healing made it difficult for him to disguise the truth about himself, since he had to hide every little scratch so that no one could see how rapidly it disappeared.

This was more than twenty years ago, before the current crop of werewolf stories.

[Laer Carroll]

As I drifted up from sleep this morning my thoughts turned to several of yesterday's events. That included this thread. And one thought came. WHY WOLVES?

Why not one of these?


dog - coyote, collie, shepherd, mastiff, great dane, doberman, labrador, rottweiler, saint bernard
cat - lion, leopard, tiger, panther, jaguar, cheetah
ape - gorilla, monkey, chimp, baboon
bear
kangaroo
hippo
elephant
moose, deer
giraffe

All those are mammals, and land-based. But we also have water animals, including


seals
beavers
porpoises & dolphins
whales

Even more possibilities include these.


snake
crocodile
eagle

[Teresa Edgerton]

You mean why do current books about shapechangers concentrate on wolves, or why wolves in general?

I've read stories about people who turned into bears, and seals who turned into humans (selkies), and there are folk tales about were-leopards and were-tigers.

[JT Billow]

You mean why do current books about shapechangers concentrate on wolves, or why wolves in general?

I've read stories about people who turned into bears, and seals who turned into humans (selkies), and there are folk tales about were-leopards and were-tigers.
What about the were-beavers?

[Ornery Wyvern]

Other weres just aren't as cool imo, there is something about wolves. I've been considering dogs, but I'm inclined to think most dog weres would look silly and almost necessarily loose the ferocity and wildness. At the end of the day I think most people would rather read about werewolves than weredeer.

[JT Billow]

Other weres just aren't as cool imo, there is something about wolves. I've been considering dogs, but I'm inclined to think most dog weres would look silly and almost necessarily loose the ferocity and wildness. At the end of the day I think most people would rather read about werewolves than weredeer.
I would read about werebears.....but it sounds just too funny to repeat several times throughout a book