I have completed outlines, discarded them, and repeated this process several times since I first started writing years ago. The only thing that has remained constant was that my protagonist would be a werewolf. My protagonist, a 19-year-old, African-American, female werewolf, would live in contemporary America. But that's it. Aside from these few facts, the plot itself, as well as the main setting have been changed multiple times. There are a few things that are withholding me from moving forward with the plot. The first is the setting. I live in a city that I can't imagine setting a story in, and was thinking of creating a fictional place in a real state in the U.S. Either that, or use some fictional historical event to kind of wipe the slate clean, creating a series of fictional places. I'm not sure what to do. The second is world-building. I can't decide whether to only have werewolves and humans populating the world. Or if I want to use various nonhumans such as witches and wizards, which would collectively be known as magicians, vampires, and fae. But can I do this if the let's say the fae have no direct impact on the plot itself, and serve more as background for the world itself? For a while, I had this concept that magicians existed, and the reason they have been so thoroughly integrated with human society was that their powers were useful. Werewolves were treated like pariahs and there is a lot of tension between the two groups. And the story would revolve around this rebel werwolf faction as they fought for equality. But I started to think that idea was too cliche. The third is overall plot. Like I said, my initial concept was that my main protagonist would work as a mechanic by day, and work under her alias in the rebel faction by night. This group would fight the authorities and steal supplies, food, etc from the elite to distribute to the other members of the werewolf community. The whole plot would center around this cycle of hate and the consequences of their constant warfare. But I felt this too was cliche. Of course I planned to show that the black and white view on the conflict was the heart of the problem, and the protagonist's character development would follow her change from a coldly logical and anti-hero attitude to that of someone who could see the whole picture and see things in shades of grey. But basically I'm stuck and don't know what to do. I can't decide what sort of story I want to write. What kind of stories do you usually see werewolves in? What stories would you like to see them in? And are there any idea joggers someone could give me to help me get started?
The question is, what kind of story do YOU want YOUR warewolf to be in? That's part of the fun of writing fiction! You have the power to do whatever you want. Just start daydreaming - then write. Don't like it? Start again. But you should give some consideration to the fact that if you keep throwing away this idea because it doesn't inspire you to finish it, maybe you should re-think the idea itself. Just my two cents!
Before you do anything else, you must ask yourself: what do you want to accomplish through the story? What is the theme of your story? Is it forgiveness? Hatred begets hatred? How the 'odd one out' fits in without others discovering her? That theme is going to be the core around which you build your story. With the story in hand, determinations about plot become easier. After all, since you've willingly acknowledged the existence of werewolves, magicians, vampires, and the Fair Folk, then the audience will buy the idea of a fictional setting within the United States. You can determine the direction of the plot and the players involved. Is your MC trying to find others of her own kind? Is she trying to get away from this 'rebellion' of sorts? Heck, you mentioned how there was a great deal of tension between wizards and werewolves: I sense a background set amidst the Civil War!
I tend to create the setting, plot, and characters in that order, so I can be of little help in this case. However, I advise throwing in more insanity or details. Cliches can be quickly averted with more absurd creations. You could perhaps add another character, a human cop, and turn this into a romance as she is imprisoned and gradually empathizes with the wolves. Still a cliche, however. Perhaps you could have a faction decide to entirely wipe out the wolves in one strike. The other magical creatures that have been integrated into society (mages, vamps, fae) might be a single faction along with the humans, or perhaps you separate the humans from them, or perhaps even the magical creatures would be separate and warring factions until they decide to unite and help their wolf (or human) brothers in their rebellion (or crusade). You could even have some of them be mentally disturbed and are a threat to everyone regardless of their species. ex. Vampire/wolf/mage psycho who gives his people a bad name and then his people are forced to search for him and turn him in or risk civil war between them and the humans. I hope my ideas helped. Just add more crazy stuff and polish them later.
