Adam Bolander's Blog - Posts Tagged "werewolves"
Why I Like Werewolf Stories
Here’s something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time: why I like werewolf stories so much. I’ve only written one (or, I am writing, I should say), but I also love to read them. Now, let me set one thing straight: NO, I do not like Twilight. Or Shiver. Or any of those other horrible paranormal romances that for some reason have made their authors rich. I won’t read a story about werewolves simply because it has werewolves in it. The same rules still apply for this genre as they do for any other. It has to actually be a good story, or I won’t even bother.
Anywho, I think one of the main reasons I love werewolves so much is because shapeshifting has always been #1 in my Superpowers-I-Wish-I-Had List. I remember being absolutely obsessed with Teen Titans when I was a kid, all because of one character- that’s right, Beast Boy! He had the power I’d always wanted to have, to be able to turn into whatever animal he wanted whenever he wanted. Seriously, it was like a package deal for superpowers. Turn into a bird and you could fly. Turn into a gorilla and you have superstrength. Turn into a cheetah and you can run really fast. Turn into a dog, and everyone will want to pet you. Actually, scratch that last one. I totally never wanted that... But even that wasn’t the real reason I wanted BB’s morphing powers. It was his ability to see the world from an infinite number of perspectives. As humans, we only ever see the world from a human’s perspective. The closest we can ever get to seeing the world through the eyes of anything else is through our imaginations. Beast Boy didn’t have that problem. He could fly through the skies or swim through the seas. He could experience the amazing senses of a dog, or from the agile balance of a cat. If he wanted, he would never have to see the world the same way two days in a row. As strange as it might seem, that was what made me envious of him.
But we’ve gotten off track from werewolves- or have we? What are werewolves if not shapeshifters? The difference is that they only have one alternate body they can shift into, while Beast Boy has hundreds. So, if shapeshifting like Beast Boy is the type of power I’ve always wanted, why did I limit myself to werewolves? Honestly, because it was easier. If I’d written a story where the main character could turn into anything he or she wanted, it would quickly stop being something special. You can only turn into so many different animals before you run out of new things to experience, and the reader would expect you to keep those shifts quick and short so you could move onto something new, leaving you with no time to truly explore what life as any particular animal might be like. Since a werewolf can only turn into one thing (a wolf), it doesn’t allow me to include a whole wealth of other scenarios I’d love for the character to experience, but it gives me ample time to describe their experiences as a wolf.
This leads me into the type of werewolf story I enjoy. While ones featuring born-and-raised werewolves can be fun, the ones I love the most are the stories featuring main characters that have just recently been turned into werewolves. Somebody who has been born a werewolf is completely used to everything that goes on in their life, and so will feel no need to actually explore their condition (for lack of a better word). If they’ve just been turned, though, everything will be new to them. A story about someone adjusting to a new life, to me, is always more interesting than a story about somebody who has always lived that life. You can tell the audience what they’re thinking and feeling the whole time. Their first transformation, learning to be around other werewolves, learning to cast away their human side, if only for a night, and give in to the animalistic instincts every human wishes they could express. And it doesn’t limit itself to just their wolf side, it carries over to their human lives as well. How do they deal with their newfound lycanthropy? How do their family and friends deal with it? Do they even know? How do they balance their old life with their new life? There are so many things to think about, and therefore to write about, that it never gets old.
And that’s why I love werewolf stories. What about you? Why do you like (or dislike) werewolf stories? I suppose this would also be the appropriate time for me to tell you about my werewolf story, Amber Silverblood. Remember everything I just talked about? Pretty much all of it is in that story. It’s an urban fantasy, appropriate for teens and up, that you can read for free on WattPad and Fictionpress. I upload one new chapter every Saturday. I’ll provide links below. You know, if you want to read it or something... *whistles innocently*
http://www.wattpad.com/story/17582958...
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/316964...
Anywho, I think one of the main reasons I love werewolves so much is because shapeshifting has always been #1 in my Superpowers-I-Wish-I-Had List. I remember being absolutely obsessed with Teen Titans when I was a kid, all because of one character- that’s right, Beast Boy! He had the power I’d always wanted to have, to be able to turn into whatever animal he wanted whenever he wanted. Seriously, it was like a package deal for superpowers. Turn into a bird and you could fly. Turn into a gorilla and you have superstrength. Turn into a cheetah and you can run really fast. Turn into a dog, and everyone will want to pet you. Actually, scratch that last one. I totally never wanted that... But even that wasn’t the real reason I wanted BB’s morphing powers. It was his ability to see the world from an infinite number of perspectives. As humans, we only ever see the world from a human’s perspective. The closest we can ever get to seeing the world through the eyes of anything else is through our imaginations. Beast Boy didn’t have that problem. He could fly through the skies or swim through the seas. He could experience the amazing senses of a dog, or from the agile balance of a cat. If he wanted, he would never have to see the world the same way two days in a row. As strange as it might seem, that was what made me envious of him.
But we’ve gotten off track from werewolves- or have we? What are werewolves if not shapeshifters? The difference is that they only have one alternate body they can shift into, while Beast Boy has hundreds. So, if shapeshifting like Beast Boy is the type of power I’ve always wanted, why did I limit myself to werewolves? Honestly, because it was easier. If I’d written a story where the main character could turn into anything he or she wanted, it would quickly stop being something special. You can only turn into so many different animals before you run out of new things to experience, and the reader would expect you to keep those shifts quick and short so you could move onto something new, leaving you with no time to truly explore what life as any particular animal might be like. Since a werewolf can only turn into one thing (a wolf), it doesn’t allow me to include a whole wealth of other scenarios I’d love for the character to experience, but it gives me ample time to describe their experiences as a wolf.
This leads me into the type of werewolf story I enjoy. While ones featuring born-and-raised werewolves can be fun, the ones I love the most are the stories featuring main characters that have just recently been turned into werewolves. Somebody who has been born a werewolf is completely used to everything that goes on in their life, and so will feel no need to actually explore their condition (for lack of a better word). If they’ve just been turned, though, everything will be new to them. A story about someone adjusting to a new life, to me, is always more interesting than a story about somebody who has always lived that life. You can tell the audience what they’re thinking and feeling the whole time. Their first transformation, learning to be around other werewolves, learning to cast away their human side, if only for a night, and give in to the animalistic instincts every human wishes they could express. And it doesn’t limit itself to just their wolf side, it carries over to their human lives as well. How do they deal with their newfound lycanthropy? How do their family and friends deal with it? Do they even know? How do they balance their old life with their new life? There are so many things to think about, and therefore to write about, that it never gets old.
And that’s why I love werewolf stories. What about you? Why do you like (or dislike) werewolf stories? I suppose this would also be the appropriate time for me to tell you about my werewolf story, Amber Silverblood. Remember everything I just talked about? Pretty much all of it is in that story. It’s an urban fantasy, appropriate for teens and up, that you can read for free on WattPad and Fictionpress. I upload one new chapter every Saturday. I’ll provide links below. You know, if you want to read it or something... *whistles innocently*
http://www.wattpad.com/story/17582958...
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/316964...
