Hello, Packhunters, Watchmakers and Arcadians!
Do you hear that? The children of the night, what—! Oh no…We should really be getting home. No, I’m serious! I’m not afraid of witches! Something much worse comes out at this time, because…
This week’s Writing Group prompt is:
Hour of the Wolf
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
You’ve likely heard of the “Witching Hour,” a time between 3:00 and 4:00am when witches and demons are said to be at their most powerful. Now it’s time to give wolves their time in the…moon.
Ingmar Bergman, a Swedish filmmaker who made a film called “Hour of the Wolf” said “The hour between night and dawn … when most people die, sleep is deepest, nightmares are most real. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their worst anguish, when ghosts and demons are most powerful.”
You could write a story like Bergman’s in which there is truly said to be an “hour of the wolf” when horrible things happen. You could use the Witching Hour for this prompt, but use wolves as the vehicle for evil, and/or supernatural activity, rather than witches or demons.
Or maybe the “hour of the wolf” isn’t a specific hour. Maybe the word “hour” is a synecdoche for the night as a whole, or a year, or even a decade. Maybe the kingdom in your story has faced years of unrest, and they refer to it in this way. Maybe future generations refer to the time period in which a beast plagued their town like this.
You could, of course, use this prompt to write about werewolves. The “hour of the wolf” can easily refer to the time someone turns into a werewolf. Your character could wall themselves away, shivering in the corner, fearing the hour of change. Or your character could breathe in the moonlit night air, reveling in the idea of running free and wild as a wolf. You could write a story about a village that has been plagued by (were)wolf attacks each week, or every night, and they board up their windows in anticipation of the hour.
Or perhaps, in your universe the “hour of the wolf” isn’t an evil time at all. In Greek mythology wolves were associated with Apollo. Wolves are often portrayed as agents of darkness, it seems odd for them to be associated with the god of healing and light. The Jungle Book has been praised by wolf biologists for being accurate to wolves’ less villainous, and more familial nature. Perhaps you could explore these angles. Maybe people look forward to the “hour of the wolf” as a time of blessing, not curse. Maybe in your story the “hour of the wolf” is simply when a wolf pack has dinner together.
“The hour of the wolf” has a very fairy-tale feeling to it. My challenge for you this week is to find a myth, fairy tale, or fable about wolves, and use it somehow in your story. You could make your story a retelling of the myth, or you could simply reference it, just some sort of connection. (But be sure to incorporate the hour aspect, even if it’s not present in the original!)
It’s too late now. I hear the music…and I’m ready to join their song.
—Paul, Pearce and Kaylie
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Saturday at 3:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit! Get ready not just to share what you’ve got, but to give back to the other writers here as well.
Rules and Guidelines
We read at least five stories during each stream, two of which come from the public post, and three of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected by a bot, but likes on your post will improve your chances of selection, so be sure to share your submission on social media!
Text and Formatting
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Use two paragraph breaks between each paragraph so that they have a proper space between them (press “enter” or “return” twice).
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name). Do not include any additional symbols or flourishes in this part of your submission. Format them exactly as you see in this example, or your submission may not be eligible: Example Submission.
- No additional text styling (such as italics or bold text). Do not use asterisks, hyphens, or any other symbol to indicate whether text should be bold, italic, or styled in any other way. CAPS are okay, though.
What to Submit
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Write something brand new; no re-submitting past entries or pieces written for other purposes
- No fan fiction whatsoever. Take inspiration from whatever you’d like, but be transformative and creative with it. By submitting, you also agree that your piece does not infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks, and you have full license to use it.
- Submissions must be self-contained (everything essential to understanding the piece is contained within the context of the piece itself—no mandatory reading outside the piece required. e.g., if you want to write two different pieces in the same setting or larger narrative, you cannot rely on information from one piece to fill in for the other—they must both give that context independently).
Submission Rules
- One submission per participant.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 12:00pm CST each Friday.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible. Your reviews must be at least 50 words long, and must be left directly on the submission you are reviewing, not on another comment. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
- Be constructive and uplifting. These submissions are not for a professional market, and shouldn’t be treated as such. We do this, first and foremost, for the joy of the craft. Help other writers to feel like their work is valuable, and be considerate and gentle with critique when you offer it. Authors who leave particularly abrasive or disheartening remarks on this post will be disqualified from selection for readings.
- Use the same e-mail for your posts, reviews, and likes, or you may be rendered ineligible (you may change your username or author name between posts without problem, however).
- You may submit to either or both the public/private groups if you have access, but if you decide to submit to both, only the private group submission will be eligible.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
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