 |
Writing Lycanthropy
By  Jeff Burke
I guess I don't need to ask why you're reading this article: You want to know how to write better lycanthropes. I don't know if I can help, but I know that I can at least open up your eyes to the vast choices that need to be made before you begin a story about lycanthropy. It should be noted that "lycanthropy" technically refers to any form of man/animal shape shifting. I shall, however, focus on wolves. Why wolves, you ask. Why not werelions, weretigers, or werebears (oh, my!)? Two reasons: tradition, and I just like dogs more than cats. Deal with it. Throughout this essay, I shall focus on three things. Any journalism expert out there will recognize them; they are the staple of that job: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. The where and when don't matter so much for the topic of explaining werewolves, so that leaves Who, How, and What. For no particular reason, we'll go in reverse. Ready? Let's go, Kiddies!
Part 1: What...
...animal?
Lycanthropy is a fairly broad subject. If it breathes, moves, photosynthesizes, or flies, men have probably written stories about being it at one time or another. This makes the first step very logical: pick your organism. I recommend that you restrict yourself to the Animal Kingdom. Plants, fungi and microorganisms really don't make for good stories, do they? Within the animal kingdom you should be okay if you pick anything warm-blooded. For simple reasons: Cold-blooded animals are very sluggish. They tend to have very peaceful lives, hardly moving, only regulating body temperature when they do. Sounds like fun, eh? Not too exiting or captivating, so I don't recommend cold-bloods. Other than that, you're pretty much free to chose any animal you like. Lions, tigers, and leopards (I'll bet you thought I was going to say bears, didn't you?) are all fair game. I like wolves, but I also do a race of shapeshifting dragons (They're warm-blooded, not reptiles at all), so really anything is up for grabs. That is, of course, assuming you mean to keep the supernatural at a minimum. If you're going all out with the Hocus-Pocus then feel free to have were-mushrooms or were-amoebas. The same should be understood for the rest of the essay. I don't condone throwing logic and common sense out the window, but it's always an option open to you.
...causes the transformation?
This could technically fall under "How" - -as in "How does your shape-changer work" - -but that's already pretty full. What makes your lycanthrope tick? There are basically two choices that make any sense: Magic or disease. Magic is easy to explain: A man gets bitten (or however he becomes lycanthroscopic. I'll use bites for tradition's sake) and magically turns into the animal. Nice and clean. However, magic has its drawbacks. One: many people, myself included, feel cheated if something is merely chalked up to magic. We need more reason than that. Two: If you're trying for a modern horror story, then you want to keep the supernatural from encroaching too much. After all, if werewolves exist because of magic, what else also exists? Vampires? Demons? Dragons? If you really don't want all of those in your story, then don't use magic. But if you're doing high fantasy, then you're all set. The other "school" is my personal favorite: disease. A pathogen is carried in the saliva of the lycanthrope. When the person is bitten, the pathogen enters the victim's bloodstream, infecting him. As an explanation, it has a lot more "oomph" than magic; more plausibility. Which is why this works better for horror stories: it keeps the werewolf exclusive. It clearly identifies the cause of the werewolf; magic tends to leave it kind of wide open. The disease method is more than a little restrictive, though. If werewolf-ism is a biological thing, then many myths go out the window. How does a virus add ultra-fast healing powers to its host? This means that anything, not just pure silver, can kill a "virus-wolf." It also restricts the agility of the werewolf. When there is nothing supernatural about the monster's origins, how can it have supernatural running speed, jumping height or anything like that? Lastly, a "virus-wolf" is not cured when he bites someone else. The logistics of getting every pathogen out of his body by bite are absurd. I your plot demands that biting someone else cures the wolf, then disease is not for you.
..kind of were-animal is it?
There are basically two different kinds of werewolf. Wolf-men - -man/wolf hybrid - -and what I shall call "true werewolves", or men who change completely to wolves. The only real distinction is the level of transformation that takes place. Wolf-men are fairly self explanatory. Think of any werewolf movie you've ever seen. That's a Wolf-man. They all have relatively human frames, stand upright, have clawed hands, lupine heads, teeth, fangs, fur, and sometimes tails. Some movies do them better than others (consider the Wolf-men in Van Helsing to the overgrown weasel that Remus Lupin becomes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), but they all are about the same. The best Wolf-man I've ever read belongs to Stephen King's The Cycle of the Werewolf. True werewolves are, I believe, a relatively new development in literature, and one that you don't see often. As best as I can tell, the first to use them was Tolkien himself. In Tolkien writing, a werewolf was a man trapped in a totally lupine body. For a better than average example of this kind of wolf, find a book called The Blooding, by Patricia Windsor. The book isn't as good as King's story, but it is defiantly a new approach to werewolves. I've found that this is a really fun way to do things, if a little different. This choice is basically up to you. Neither has any real advantages or disadvantages that I can see. Take your pick, but be sure you have the right one for you. I prefer true werewolves, but popular culture demands Wolf-men, so it's in the air. Be warned, though: True werewolves are - -by definition - -hard to identify as werewolves. A character is probably not going to suspect that a true werewolf is just that. They would logically assume its just a normal wolf. Not much suspicion of supernatural is going to occur.
..triggers the transformation?
This is entirely up to you. I'm a purist in the sense that I like the full moon, but I've done it by will power before. My dragons can change at any time they want. In another story of mine, the rising and setting of the sun causes changes. Wolf by night, man by day. I even read one story where it was allergies that made a girl into a cat. Take your pick, but keep with it. It should be able to fit easily into your plot. That's the key: Your plot should define it.
...does my were-wolf act like when not shape-shifted?
Well, there are basically three choices, just like everything else. Traditional werewolves are men with a lot of hair, pronounced incisors, supernatural healing ability and a pension for raw meat. And option to change this is to add a pack that the man hangs out with. Another, really new idea is that the disease doesn't affect the man's normal life much, if at all. He goes to work, eats dinner with his kids, heals at normal rates, has normal strength. Just your average Joe - -who happens to grow furry at the full moon. There's also a combination of the two. Add relatively normal looking people into a large pack to hang out together. Whether or not to give them supernatural powers is up for grabs.
...does my were-wolf act when shape-shifted?
Here's a touch subject. There are so many possible answers to give. About the best one I can give is this: realistically and with originality. For some reason, people seem to think that a werewolf must - -by definition - -have a "pack." This is painful to hear again and again. Here's a thought: in the early legends of werewolves, they were extremely solitary; territorial even. In every story I read I see the lines "run with the pack" in some form or another. I'm sick of it. I just don't like the idea of this big fraternal werewolf society. It's overdone. My two main werewolf characters have something similar packs, but one is an honest-to-goodness-natural-born wolf (he turns human with the rising of the sun.), and the other has a family he hunts for; A wife and four children. A far cry from this hidden society that recognizes each other by sense of smell, or what ever the devil they use for identification. . The other end of the spectrum is logistics. A werewolf can't have every power you want it to. Superhuman strength? That's okay. Heightened senses? Sure, real wolves have much better senses than humans. Ultra-fast regenerative abilities? Um...why not, I guess. Might be useful for plotting. Climbing up sheer walls? No. I have no idea how that came to be part of the lycanthrope repertoire, but it's embarrassing to see people doing it. Have you ever seen a man climb a wall by his hands? Me neither. Ever seen a wolf do it? Then how the bloody hell can a monster who's part wolf, part-man do something that neither can do? Claws dig into the walls, you say? Have you ever tried to hang by you fingers? Hard, isn't it? Now try hanging by your fingernails. Good luck. Now do it from a ceiling. And I'll stand here and laugh when the ceiling panel collapses from your weight. See what I mean? If you want to give some supernatural abilities to your beastie, then make sure that they are at least logical for your animal to have. If you want to hang from the ceiling, use a were-gecko, or a were-anole (it's a lizard). I've seen that thing hang from just about every surface there is. Were-geckos don't fly, though. Were-eagles do. You get the point: your were-animal should not be able to much the actual animal can't do (supernatural stuff aside, of course).
Part 2: How...
...does my werewolf think?
The main choice here is whether or not you want blind bloodlust. Tradition demands that werewolves are near mindless killing machines, but there are other options. I'll not deny that the bloodlust is a very useful plot device. It allows you to vilify the werewolf easily. It explains how why it kills things: because it doesn't really know what it's doing. Another neat trick is to make a reluctant werewolf, a harmless person turned murderer. This allows you to have an extreme maxim of guilt. It adds to character development in your story, even if it is a bit overused. There is another way, though. Meet Fred. He's a werewolf. According to tradition, he goes out and kills senselessly every full moon. Take that away, and what do you have? Fred: a lost, confused, scared little wolf who has no idea what's going on and probably thinks he's dreaming. This method is much better at helping you elaborate on a character. The bloodlust generally has only three emotions: murdering frenzy and satisfaction/guilt (that choice is dependant of your character). Without the bloodlust you go through a couple of distinct phases in development. Fear, confusion, denial, acceptance, experimentation, enjoyment (possible), murder (optional as well) and probably denial again when he wakes up in the morning. Which allows you to show more about Fred as a person? It's definitely worth a try. You have to be careful, though, if you choose this option. Since the character is always "himself", he can't do things he wouldn't normally do and chalk it up to being a werewolf. For example, a humanitarian would not go around killing people just because he's a werewolf. He'd probably hunt deer, squirrels, et cetera. The character must be true to itself at all times.
...does my transformation take place.
This is, without a doubt, the most important part of this essay. The main reason I read werewolf stories is not for the werewolf itself, but for the process by which the man becomes wolf. As such, this shall be the only section of the essay to have written examples from me. The process by which a man becomes a wolf is one of the most crucial aspects of a werewolf story. Throwing in a slight blurb does not work.
"Fred stepped out into the moonlight. His teeth lengthened into fangs and fur spread over his body. Now a werewolf, he lunged at his victim."
Kind of weak, huh? Sure, it does a well enough job of stating that the man is now a werewolf of some kind, but so many questions are left unanswered. What did it feel like? Sound like? Look like? If you write changes like that, listen up: it sucks. It alienates the reader. "How important could the change be if it only took up a single sentence?" they'll say. It would take a hell of a good plot and absolutely stunning characters to make me keep reading after something like that. It needs elaboration. It needs importance. There are two basic ways to do the changes, with lots of variations on each. They are: "Graphic" or "Obscured." Graphic transformations are long, elaborate descriptive chronicles of the changes that rack the werewolf's body. Probably, the best examples of this kind of transformation are found in the Animorphs books by K. A. Applegate. Let's see if we can't try this on Fred, shall we? Let's say that Fred is a Wolf-man type werewolf whose fur is black, not the traditional gray. Wolves have other colors, you know. No bloodlust, no victim. Freddie's too nice for that.
"Fred stepped out into the moonlight. Immediately, his skin began to itch, to burn. He glanced down at his arm and watched as the normally thin hair darkened and spread. He had to resist the urge to scratch at his arm as the fur grew; it bloody itched like hell! Even as he watched, his entire arm thickened, muscles growing upon muscles. His shirt grew tight as the normally flabby muscles on his chest and stomach expanded to twice, three times their former size. His shoulders broadened, stretching the extra-large shirt to the seams before it the strain tore it to shreds. The lower half of his face thrust itself forward, his nose shrinking and darkening into a proper snout. Teeth multiplied and lengthened to fill his new snout. He ran his tongue over them, feeling their sharpness. There was a loud grinding noise as the base of his spine lengthened into a tail. Three inch long claws erupted from the tip of each finger on his otherwise unchanged - -if large - -hands. Fred rose on to his toes, now soft pads, as his foot lengthened to become part of his leg, the ankle now the a third leg joint. A slight rustle reached Fred's sensitive ears, and he whirled around, dropping onto all fours. A small squirrel trying to hide in the branches of the trees squeaked. Fred laughed; a low, bestial sound. It thought he couldn't see it!"
Ah, that's better. That's how to do graphic transformations. I've done a transformation like that that took an entire page. Single-spaced. They're just so much bloody fun to write! And it's very satisfying to read. The reader gets a very vivid picture of the changes, and it makes the transformation mean something. Note: it does not need to be quite that descriptive. I just wanted to show you an extreme example of how this technique can be done. That was a relatively "G-rated" transformation. Let's see what happens when we add a little pain to the process, shall we?
"Fred stepped out into the moonlight. Immediately, his skin began to itch, to burn. As the burning intensified, a low whimper escaped his throat. His skin was on fire! He glanced down at his arm and watched as the normally thin hair darkened and spread. Fred winced as his arm began to throb, to contort. Even as he watched, his entire arm thickened, muscles growing upon muscles with sickening squelching noises. His shirt grew tight as the normally flabby muscles on his chest and stomach expanded to twice, three times their former size. With loud cracks his ribs expanded to hold their new muscles. He screamed as his shoulders dislocated, expanding outward, stretching the extra-large shirt to the seams before it the strain tore it to shreds. The lower half of his face thrust itself forward, his nose shrinking and darkening into a dog's nose. A wolf's nose. Teeth multiplied and lengthened to fill his developing snout. Some grew too long too quick, stabbing into his jaws and impaling his tongue. His screams were choked off as his vocal chords stiffened, hardened. There was a loud grinding noise as the base of his spine lengthened into a tail. Three inch long claws erupted from the tip of each finger on his otherwise unchanged - -if large - -hands. They looked like knives sprouting from his fingers, but that about how it felt. Like knives slicing into his fingertips. Fred collapsed onto the ground, crying, waiting for the terrible, painful changes to stop. And then it was gone. The fire on his skin, the knives cutting into his fingers...all of it gone. Fred laid there for what seemed like hours, just fighting to get air into his lungs. Slowly, carefully, he staggered to his feet. He glanced down at his furry hands and flexed them, careful of the knife-edged claws."
Does that sound like it was pleasant for Fred? Certainly not. Which brings me to one of the main drawbacks of this style: it is, well, graphic. People with squeamish stomachs might not be able to read it. It is also very long. While this isn't generally bad, if you've got a word limit you have more important things to worry about. Like character development and plot. If you don't think that you or your reader can stomach it, then you're better trying the second option. The other way is the "obscured" format. This is where you don't actually describe the transformation to the reader. What goes on is "behind the scenes." This is useful if you want to keep the confusion level high. If the reader didn't know the character was a werewolf, for example. This method doesn't exactly give it away until you're ready to. Let's how Fred handles this. Note: In this example he's a true werewolf.
"Fred stepped out into the moonlight. Instantly, his vision blurred. He dropped to the ground white-hot lances of agony shooting through him. Colors swirled in front of his eyes, horrible grinding noises reached his ears. Loud sobs escaped his throat as pain racked his body. He closed his eyes and prayed for the pain to pass quickly. When it was gone, he opened his eyes, the night no impediment. Rising to all fours, he tentatively sniffed the air. He'd never get used to that."
See how there's almost nothing about the actual changes to his body? This type of transformation focuses on its effects on the character's perception rather than his body. It's a great way to confuse the reader. It also accomplishes its goal - -to illustrate the change from man to wolf - -in a few short paragraphs. Great if you're under a word limit. Personally, I favor the gritty queasiness of the first style. It just makes you feel as though you're there watching it happen. But that style requires a fairly good knowledge of anatomy to pull off well. If you don't have the patience to type something that long, use the second style. Or just use it because it works for you. That's really the point. Do what you can do. If you can't write confusion, don't use a serious story to practice. If you don't like the first way, use the confusion. Whatever you prefer. Or you could try to combine them. I can't do it, but you might be able to. Who knows? Which brings us to the final chapter of my little essay.
...does my werewolf die?
Everything has a weakness. There are no exceptions. Does this mean you are requiredto kill it? Certainly not. But just make sure that it's not all-powerful and immune to all attacks. The traditional weakness of werewolves is silver, but originality is a good thing. Just make sure that there is a weakness of some kind.
Part 3: Who...
...is my werewolf?
A person, first and foremost. Get this straight and never forget it: "Your character is a werewolf. The werewolf is not your character." Fred was an accountant before he became a werewolf. Guess what's changed since then? Not much. He still goes to work every weekday morning, comes home to his loving kids and his not-so-loving wife. Lycanthropy should never be the main focus of the character. If it becomes the character's defining point you've got the same old clichés all over again. The mean-spirited blood-happy psychotic who kills everyone and enjoys it. The guilt-stricken man who hates what he is and what he does, cries at the slightest provocation, and arranges for his own demise. Blah, blah, blah, I've seen them all before. It's why werewolf stories are generally so cliché: The characters all act the same. What about the kindly stay-at-home mother who becomes a werewolf and slaughters every woman in the town who she thinks wants to sleep with her husband? What about the child werewolf who's lost and scared? What about an elderly decrepit werewolf who's barely able to move, let alone attack anyone? What about a werewolf who doesn't kill humans, but actually enjoys what he is nevertheless? The social reject who finds lycanthropy to be a miraculous escape from the pain other people cause her? What about the Woman who thinks she's a werewolf but really isn't? You get the idea. Remember: your character had a personality before the lycanthropy, and the lycanthropy should not change that. A joker should not start crying every time someone mentions the word "wolf." He should crack jokes. An optimist should not despair when he becomes a wolf, he should hope for a cure. Someone who hate humanity should find lycanthropy a wondrous escape. Read this and take it to heart: no matter how cool your lycanthropy is explained, how awesome the transformation, how original the plot , if your characters are cliché, you've just got another werewolf story on your desk. So what.
Well, that's about all I can say about the subject. I've got my limits, you know. Seven pages, five hours, and a lot of classic rock later, I've told you all that I can think of. Now it's up to you to show me if you learned anything. I know that I really didn't make anything clear. If anything, I've just thrown more and more choices at you; muddied the waters, so to speak. But I've found in my reading that these questions have to be answered - -and answered sensibly - -or the entire story is moot.
Animorphs copyright to K. A. Applegate
Fred copyright to me. No rights reserved. Use him if you like, I don't care, not like there's a whole lot to him...
FARP Article Guestbook
| Date | Name | Comment | | | 20 Jan 2008 |  Bec | This is really helpful. I sometimes have trouble discribing lycan characters. This really helped! | |
| 24 Jan 2008 | Liz | Comment to Linzie. I also have hereditary werewolves. They cannot interbreed with humans because of bieng a different species like you said. They can change at will, which solves any sudden transformation problems. This might not work for you but I hope it gives an idea of what would. | |
| 30 Jan 2008 | Werewolf killer | you guys are all noobs werewolves dont exist and im sure im the only non virgin on this site | |
| 17 Feb 2008 | Max | to Werewolf killer : did you ever tried to write something ? Its called fantasy you "noob"... do you think im going to climb on the roof to howl at the moon... | |
| 17 Feb 2008 | Max | mhmm tried or try ? Im a French writer so... anyway you got the idea. Next time before insulting everyone get a text online, so we can know if you ever felt the feeling of writing. | |
| 20 Feb 2008 | Manderlaydreams | Enjoyed tutorial - was very helpful  | |
| 14 Mar 2008 | WereJayLeno | What do you mean they don’t exist? Of course they exist. Look around you. Also cat people- and i me | |
| 14 Mar 2008 | WereJayLeno | What do you mean werewolves don’t exist? Of course they exist- also cat people exist too- and i mean literal cat people (you know, part human part cat). A lycanthrope can be a Werewolf, Wereowl- you name it- any animal it all and add a Were to it and you’ve got a lycanthrope- although it’s not just limited to animals anymore...there are other things too. What do you think I am? | |
| 14 Mar 2008 | WereLeno | What do you mean they don’t exist? Of course they exist. Look around you. Also cat people exist too- and i mean literal cat people not just those people who love cats. Basically- take any animal and put a Were before it’s name and you have a lycanthrope but it’s not just limited to animals anymore....they’ve got other things. Take a good look at my name, what do you think I am? | |
| 9 May 2008 |  Alan "Atom" Benoit | Yo, lycanthropy comes from the greek words lukos wich means wolf and anthropos wich means man. A lycanthrope is essentialy a man-wolf! | |
| Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 |
 Back to the FARP main page.
 The collection of art and writing tutorials in the Elfwood Fantasy Art Resource (F.A.R.P.) is a part of Elfwood.
The FARP logo was created by  Miguel Krippahl (The muscular guy in the FARP-logo) and  Thomas F Abrahamsson (The text and general graphic design). Those sections written by volunteers are copyrighted to Thomas Abrahamsson and the respective writer. Elfwood is a project created by Thomas Abrahamsson. All rights reserved. Unauthorized Reproduction of the graphics, writings, and materials on these pages is absolutely prohibited! You may consider all material on these pages protected and copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. You may NOT use the images found at the FARP or Elfwood pages on your home pages! All of these images are copyright protected! Everything you see here represent the collaborative effort of the Elfwood community and Thomas Abrahamsson. Please read the Legal Disclaimer for more info on warranties/etc for these pages!
|
|
