Like vampires, werewolves have a special place in the hearts of writers and readers alike. If you want to write about werewolves, but you’re not sure of how to get started, look no further! This list of prompts can help you stir up inspiration for your next story, or you could use them as writing warmups, roleplay inspiration, and more!
Writing Prompts About Werewolves
- The local werewolf pack has recently stepped up its outreach program. Now, it’s almost impossible to go to any store without running into a werewolf trying to recruit new members. Ads for becoming a werewolf are now more common than military recruitment ads, and solicitors knocking on doors are more likely to be werewolves than not. Your character is just trying to get through their day while dodging these various annoyances.
- Local police departments and independent detective agencies alike have started hiring werewolves to join their investigations. Your character is a werewolf who just got a new job as a rookie investigator, but they end up in over their head when a simple investigation turns into a much more complicated and dangerous situation.
- Your character is someone who never knew what it was like to struggle. As the child of a wealthy conglomerate owner, they are on track to inherit not only a huge sum of money, but also one of the most profitable business entities in the world. Life could not have been better. However, one night, while out on the full moon, they are attacked by a werewolf and turned. Now, they have to find a way to keep their perfect life while hiding their new, dark secret.
- After a night of prowling around, a werewolf hides somewhere safe to change back into their human form. They thought they were alone here, but another person rounds the corner just in time to witness the werewolf character in all their naked glory. What happens next?
- Your character encounters a werewolf and can’t resist asking questions about alphas and omegas, and whatever else they can think of. Rather than get the answers they were hoping for, however, they get a lecture on stereotypes and the importance of cultural sensitivity.
- A run-in with a stray cat leaves your character feeling a bit… odd. As it turns out, wolves are not the only creatures people can turn into on the full moon—there are werecats, werebears, and all manner of other werecreatures!
- Werewolves can have many forms depending on the story they appear in. Some are simply humans who can become wolves, indistinguishable from regular wolves. Others become monstrous hairy beasts that resemble something between a wolf and a gorilla. Some even have in-between states in which they look mostly human, but have the ears and tail of a wolf! Some can shapeshift voluntarily, while others can only change forcibly during the night of a full moon. Try to come up with your own variety of werewolves. Give them unique traits, abilities, and limitations, and don’t forget to consider how a person becomes this type of werewolf in the first place!
- A jaded old werewolf recently started adopting orphaned and abandoned kids. Only some of these kids are werewolves too, while others are humans, vampires, or any number of other creatures, but it doesn’t matter—once they’re part of the pack, they’re family. Write a scene that shows a regular hectic day in their lives, showcasing the diverse cast of rag-tag kids and how the pack handles their various needs and habits.
- A werewolf character is just starting out in college, but their lycanthropy makes it a little difficult to juggle all their responsibilities and a social life at the same time. They have to keep turning down invitations to parties that happen too close to the full moon, and the course workload is hard to keep up with since they’re always worn out from turning into a wolf every month. Add to that the fact that they have to keep it all a secret from everyone, and graduation starts to seem like an impossible goal.
- Explore the difference in customs and culture between werewolves and humans living in the same area. Would they treat their family, friends, and peers differently? How would their habits and behavior differ from those who aren’t werewolves? How is this different between those who were born a werewolf and those who are forcibly turned later in life?
- Your character has always been a loner. They’ve never really made any friends, and they always struggle to fit in no matter where they are. However, everything changed after they became a werewolf. Now, they’ve been invited to join a pack, and their new friends always make a point to include them in all the cool stuff they do. For the first time in their life, they feel like they truly belong somewhere—but are things as perfect as they seem on the surface?
- Your character is a “lone wolf” werewolf who thought they knew everything there was to know about lycanthropy, but when they encounter another werewolf, they discover that things can differ substantially across different werewolf species. Write a scene in which these two werewolves discuss how their experiences differ, and how they bond (or argue) over these differences.
- Your character is a human who just really really wants to become a werewolf for some reason. Write a story about their various attempts at getting turned into a werewolf, and how each one fails comically.
Angsty Werewolf Writing Prompts
- Werewolves are the result of corrupt human experimentation. However, the project was poorly managed, and the test subjects were able to escape. Now, these werewolves must run for their lives to escape the scientists who want to put them back in a laboratory—a feat that is made much more difficult by their uncontrollable transformations during the full moon.
- Werewolf “dogfighting” has been creeping up as a popular underground pastime recently. Sometimes, these werewolves fight to make money off betting spectators, while others compete to be the “top dog.” However, contestants are not always willing participants, and some are kept as prisoners and forced to fight to preserve their lives.
- Your character is vengefully tracking down the werewolf who turned them—but there’s a problem. They still haven’t actually decided what they want to do once they find their attacker. Will they give in to their anger and get revenge for what happened to them, or do they just want some kind of closure? Will they find what they need along the way, or will they lose themself in the process?
- Everyone knows not to be outside once the sun goes down if they want to avoid the werewolves that prowl the streets at night. Your character has always been so afraid of the werewolves that they make sure to give themself more than an hour to get home after work. One evening, however, their car stalls, and they are forced to try to make it home on foot. They end up outside after dark for the first time in their life—but that’s when they learn the truth. Werewolves are not the thing people should be afraid of. People should be afraid of what the werewolves are protecting them from.
- Werewolves have a shorter lifespan than humans. Write a story in which a werewolf has to explain this fact to their human fiancé.
- A werewolf follows the scent of another werewolf and finds them locked away, held captive by a “private collector” of werewolves. After a daring rescue, the first werewolf decides to help the victim recover and get accustomed to their freedom once again.
- The government has decided that there is a serious werewolf problem, so they start offering huge cash rewards in exchange for proof of a werewolf who’s been killed. This results in not just a large number of armed and dangerous amateur werewolf hunters, but also an increase in scam artists intent on taking advantage of this system.
- Lycanthropy began as a curse that was inflicted on a single person, who then passed that curse down through their children, grandchildren, and so on. Write the story of the very first werewolf, and what exactly happened to get them cursed. What did they do? Who cursed them? Did the punishment fit the crime, or is there an element of injustice to this story?
If you want to write about curses, you could always check out my other article, Curse Your Characters! (Writing About Magical Curses).
Romantic Werewolf Writing Prompts
- A character hires a werewolf to be their bodyguard. Since the two often go everywhere together, they end up growing close, and it isn’t long before their relationship evolves away from its original transactional nature. Keeping the human character safe from harm suddenly has much higher personal stakes for the werewolf.
- A werewolf and a vampire fall in love with each other—but neither one is aware of the other’s supernatural nature. Both characters try to keep it secret from each other, to comedic effect.
- One character loves how much their werewolf partner’s behaviors remind them of a puppy. Maybe they growl when grumpy, spring up when excited, or stick their tongue out when they’re thinking. Write a story about this character admiring their partner and thinking about all the little things they love about them.
- A character who was born a werewolf encounters someone who was recently turned, and decides to teach them everything they need to know about lycanthropy. Through this mentorship, the two grow close, and the new werewolf is invited to join the other’s pack—and meet their parents.
- A monster hunter ends up falling in love, but unbeknownst to them, their new sweetheart is a werewolf like the ones they are regularly tasked with slaying.
- A character’s childhood crush who moved away recently returned to the neighborhood. The character decides to check in on them, hoping to catch up and see what they’ve been up to. However, their old crush shuns them, and refuses to talk to them. Little do they know, their crush has always felt the same about them, but now that they’re a werewolf, they’re afraid of getting close to anyone lest their secret slip out.
- One day, a human character encounters someone they hate (a rival, an annoying neighbor, etc) bloodied in an alleyway, shambling around after a full moon. Overcome with pity, the character takes them in to treat their wounds, only to find out… they’re just as insufferable as always, and don’t even act appreciative of their kind gesture. The characters part ways, only for the same thing to happen again a month later. Soon, the characters fall into a routine where the human character looks after the werewolf character during the full moon. Along the way, they have to begrudgingly accept their growing feelings for one another.
This prompt is inspired by the infamous “enemies to lovers” trope. If you want some additional tips for writing that kind of romance, I suggest checking out my article Writing From Enemies to Lovers: Creating Dynamic Relationships.
Some Parting Thoughts on Writing About Werewolves
Werewolves are a hugely popular trope in fiction, and they have been for a long time. The first story with a werewolf (arguably) appears in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” in roughly 2100 BCE, which means that humans have had an interest in werewolves for over 4000 years! With a history like that, it’s pretty evident that werewolf stories will continue to be a hit well into the future, too.
Good luck, and have fun with these!
