This week I brooded on the question: why do werewolves bite children? It’s central to the plot of my novel and to understanding the protagonist. I buried this in the first draft, but one beta-reader (rather stridently) declared that the werewolves weren’t believable because they should kill humans, rather than biting them. Well, that set me off…

It became clear to me that I wasn’t getting across my conception of werewolves, which allowed this particular reader to substitute her ideas. Readers bring their own baggage to a story. The writer’s task is to make her own ideas clear enough to override what readers think they know. Worldbuilding, in other words.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been writing myself little background essays on werewolves. These are a mixture of folklore, historical detail and invention, certainly not polished writings, and the historical details are often cribbed from Wikipedia. What’s useful for me is the intersection of my characters and the “facts.” This often sparks dialogue or actions by the characters.

Chapters 2 through 5 were revised this week with this in mind. More to revise! I have a beta-reader who says she will read the next draft. This gives me a deadline of the end of December to get this all together. Deadlines are good, no?