I'm working on the finer details of my plot and got stuck because I don't know if I should make my werewolves a secret or be known to the human public. There are pros and cons to both and I was wondering what the members of the Writing Forums thought. Which circumstance do you see more in fantasy fiction? Which one tends to work better? What are the pros and cons of both and how do they tend to affect a plot?
I think the only way to really answer this question is by knowing your plot. In general, it doesn't matter if werewolves are a secret or not. Depending on your plot, keeping them a secret might work best. True Blood wouldn't be True Blood if vampires were kept a secret. It all depends on the story.
Hi, I haven't ever tried it, but I imagine its quite a challenge to create a world where the general public knows about werewolves. Not impossible I imagine quite fun to do, but challenging.... How / when did the general public make the discovery? Was their conflict (i would be surprised if not...), how long did this last and is their a lasting mistrust? Does everyone get along? Is their prejudice? Are werewolves considered to be sub human, or super human? Do little children run around aspiring to be werewolves, or is it considered a sickness? What on earth happens at full moon? How many werewolves are there now they don't have to hide? How does the law operate when people are transformed, and presumably don't have all of their wits about them? These are just a few of the things that spring to mind that you might need to consider. It is "far fetched" to an extend, but many good books are, it's up to you to make the reader believe it... Failing that, just go traditional and just have small groups of people knowing. You could try a government department that knows about them? They can kill/track/cover up accordingly all things werewolf related... bazzie
It all depends on your werewolves. Does the full moon turn them into snarling beasts who happily take little children from their beds as a night time snack? If yes then I imagine they would be violently hunted and caged away for what they are. Having hunted werewolves would no doubt impact on the story heavily.
I wouldn't consider this a "finer detail" at all. It's actually quite important and will drastically affect your world, characters, and plot. I think the list of questions Bazzie posted above covers just about all of the bases, and should give you a good starting point to begin thinking about this. If the humans know, you'll have to ask yourself how they reacted to the discovery (unless they've known all along) and how werewolves are regarded (good or bad? Superhuman or subhuman? Man, animal, or somewhere in-between?) as well as all of the anoying little technical details, such as how the law handles werewolves. Can they walk the streets in wolf form? Do they need some sort of license to do so? Who nabs them if they attack a human -- the regular cops, or animal control, or some new government agency? How are such attacks handled by the courts? On the other hand, if the humans don't know, you have a lot less questions to answer but you're not completely off the hook. In the age of Twitter, and Facebook, and YouTube, and smartphones, I would find it very hard to believe that no one has ever caught a lycan on film, unless someone or something is actively covering up their existence. If they're real, you'll have to figure out how they've been kept secret for centuries. "They hide in the woods" or "they keep to themselves" just isn't good enough, in my opinion. If there is a sizable population of them, there has to be a legitiate explanation for why the humans have never seen them.
