The Wolf in Her Head Is a Grumpy Old Woman
One of my favorite conventions in werewolf fiction is the inner wolf. The heroine shifts for the first time and suddenly there is a second voice in her head, with its own opinions about the hero, usually very loud ones.
Most of the time that voice is young and wild. It wants to mate, fight, or run. I understand why. It gives the heroine someone to argue with, and it lets the author say the quiet parts out loud.
For my current book I wanted something else. My heroine has had a wolf all along, but it never surfaced, and when it finally does, it is irritated. It has been waiting twenty years. It sounds like an old woman who has been kept on the front step in the rain and would like to discuss that.
Writing her has been the most fun I’ve had in this draft. She is dry and impatient and a little proud of herself. She gives terrible advice at times and very good advice at others. She is also the only character who isn’t scared of the Alpha, because she knows something about the bond that nobody else does.
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Here are a few things I’ve learned while writing her.
The wolf needs her own vocabulary. If she talks exactly like the heroine, she disappears. Mine uses old-fashioned words and calls the heroine “girl,” which my heroine hates.
The wolf should know less than the reader wants, at least at first. It’s tempting to make the inner voice a walking explanation of the magic system. I hold that back. She tells the heroine what to do in a fight and says almost nothing about why.
The wolf can disagree with the heroine without being wrong. Some of the best scenes come from them wanting different things. The heroine wants to be left alone. The wolf wants a pack. Both of them have a point.
Keep the voice short. Italic lines in the middle of a scene work best when they are one sentence. Long speeches from the wolf slow everything down.
I’m curious how other readers feel about the inner wolf. Do you like it loud and romantic, or do you prefer a wolf with a little attitude?
