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Hello, furballs, and welcome to the next part of my little writer's assistance guide! In my earlier guides, you've learned a bit about how to fight your way through writer's block, how to craft deeper characters and intricate settings amongst other things. What we’re going to discuss here now is something that applies to all of the writers who are reading this: the anthropomorphic forms of the furry fandom that we love and hold dear.
First, a reiteration of some core facts about this guide. I am NOT a trained writer. I've done no courses, no workshops. I don't attend any writers groups, and I don't claim to have professional knowledge. I HAVE been writing for over ten years, and I HAVE sought out the knowledge that I can to improve my skills. However, this little guide is going to have little to nothing to do with technical writing, if I have my way. Rather, this guide is being provided as a way to motivate and inspire other writers here on this site. I'm not going to tell you what to write, or how to write. I only hope to provide you with some mental ‘tools' that will allow you to craft your words to their greatest potential. That said, let us begin!
The next lesson is this: Writers show their thoughts through words, not pictures; an anthro without proper imagery is just a human!
This is a lesson that I still struggle with from time to time in my shorter works, the likes of which are commonly found on FA and SF. We all take part in a fandom where we assume so much about our characters, where it’s so easy to simply state that Bill is a ‘fox’ and Harriet is a ‘lioness’ and we understand exactly what that means. It is, I believe, bad writing though to simply assume that all your readers will simply understand the visual intricacies of your characters if that is all you give them to go by.
Why do we write with anthropomorphic characters? It all comes down to personal preference for most people. Personally, I write with anthros because I find that they’re far more interesting and expressive than any human could ever be. Take the expression of embarrassment. A human blushes and looks away. A wolf, however, could splay his ears back, tuck his tail between his legs, and drop his gaze (and we usually add the blush in anyway, as a characteristic response depicting this reaction). The diversity of expression is immense when you delve into anthropomorphic characters, and it is this diversity of expression that finds me drawn so strongly to writing furry works.
Yet the problem I have with my short pieces is a problem I see other writers in the fandom with all the time. We make the mistake I outlined above, where we state the species and little else. We carry on and write, and we leave it up to the mind of the reader to fill in the blanks. While I certainly believe that a large part of the scene of any story needs to be left up to the reader’s imagination to fill, I believe that to use non-human characters without doing their species justice cheapens the work as a whole.
It doesn’t take much to learn what different animals do in nature when they react to certain things. The information is all over the internet, for one, and we exist in a fandom where we can simply go ask other members what certain species behave like. It is through this little bit of research that a writer is able to take their furry character and elevate them above being ‘just’ a fox or ‘just’ a lioness. Description of uniquely anthro and animalistic properties in the characters lends them a sense of realism that deepens the experience of the story. It helps to keep the reader immersed in the world, while giving them a clear view of the characters that are playing across the page.
Take the two scenes below for an example of what I mean:
Terry bounded over towards Simon. The fox grinned wide as he pounced the startled coyote and pinned him down against the ground.
Christie’s hackles raised as her teeth flashed into view, the wolf’s ears flat atop her head as she offered a warning growl. Completely oblivious, Sarah simply grinned wide as her tail lashed back and forth excitedly.
The first little piece works. It’s basic, but it works. We have this mental image in our heads of a fox pouncing a coyote, I’m sure. It’s very, very simple, though. The second example however utilizes the animalistic nature of the character to present a completely different scene. By tapping into lupine gestures, we get a much more vivid view of an angry wolfess. It heightens the reader’s awareness of the character’s nature, mood and behavior when we tap into the core of what makes these characters what they are. I would wager that most of us appreciate anthropomorphic characters for their similarity to animals, not to humans. Why then do we do them the disservice of neglecting their animal nature?
The answer to that question is a simple one: we don’t. Not deliberately, anyway. We forget to add these little details, more often than not because they’re right there in our heads as we’re writing. We know instinctively how the characters are going to behave and what they act like. Those who haven’t done the research on the animals that their characters are based on probably do it anyway; they see the wriggling tail of a feline at play, the tucked tail of a scared canine, and they file it away subconsciously to use later. And because that information is inside your head, it’s referenced when you write. I believe that, more often than not, the failure to integrate this knowledge into writing is simply the assumption that the writer in fact had translated it to the page.
This misconception is easy to make. After all, it’s based on the same principle of why we need to give ourselves time before we make an editing pass on our stories (as mentioned back in my guide on Revision). We simply don’t see these mistakes we’re making, because in our mind we’re putting the pieces together ourselves. We know exactly how things are meant to go, and so those blanks go unnoticed to us. We fill them in automatically. Our readers, however, are unable to. Some make the jump, and don’t even notice how we’ve neglected the subtle mannerisms of our anthro characters. Others, however, will notice.
So, how do we make ourselves more aware of these little nuances? Only with time, practice and effort, I’m afraid. Force yourself to become more aware of the little things that your characters can do to make themselves seem more ‘real’ and you should find, in time, that you automatically will make reference to the actions that make the animal aspect of them seem right, rather than tacked on. We enjoy our literature with anthropomorphic animals in them, not with humans covered in fur who are named after those animals.
But I hear you cry, “Fae, what about dragons and other mythical creatures, or aliens? What do we do about them?” Well, that’s a simple enough thing to cover, too, and it’s done in the same way. A lot of mythical creatures are based on existing creatures (gryphons, the Pegasus, etc), and in that you have easy access to a large base of easily-accessible behavior. Some creatures don’t have much for baseline comparison (dragons are, arguably, an example of this), and in that you have a lot more freedom. Try referencing the mannerisms used by other furry writers for these kinds of characters, and you might find something you can use.
If you’re creating your own race of beings however, things become a little more… fun. As I’ve said, the little behavioral differences between a fox and a human mean the difference between a proper anthropomorphic creation and a human with vulpine ears tacked on. The same holds true for completely original species. First, consider what you’re using as the base for your new creation. You’re probably going to use something that’s gone before as an inspiration. If you’re going down the path of a species that ends up looking (mostly) like an anthro animal, then the process is the same as describing how such an anthro would behave. Just be sure to make references to the little differences between your creation and an ordinary anthro animal, or you risk a lack of differentiation between your species and the base creature.
The real fun comes in when you’re wildly deviating from the norm with your new species. If we assume for a moment that they take a humanoid form (for the sake of argument), then you’re best to focus on fur (fluffing and spiking could indicate fear or anger and aggression), ears (swiveling, twitching, flattening), muzzles (and specifically the display of teeth), eyes (narrowing, widening), tails if they have them (tucking, wagging, lashing), claws (extending, retracting), and the like. If they add more unusual features, use them! Take those aspects that make your species different from others, and use those new features to display how your character feels and thinks.
Creation of a non-human character is a simple process, but translation of the visual ideal of that character can be very hit-and-miss. In shorter pieces that only really see attention inside the furry fandom, we can perhaps be forgiven for our assumption that readers will simply pick up and ‘get’ how our characters look. However, if we consider showing our works to others, a policy of assuming that the reader has never seen an anthropomorphic character before allows us to better show them our vision of the world we’ve created and the characters that inhabit it. It’s the difference between characters that a furry can understand, and characters that anyone can grasp.
So, bullet point tiems nao. What have we learned?
- We write anthropomorphic characters because we enjoy their diversity. Use it in your writing!
- Research the natural behavior of various animals before you write their anthropomorphic counterparts, to better capture their little quirks.
- Don’t assume that the reader is capable of inferring the depth of a character’s physical responses from simply giving their species; show how the character feels with how they behave.
- Practice, practice, practice! Eventually, using those animal mannerisms will become second nature!
- Most mythical creatures have a simple baseline creature used as their ‘template’ of sorts. Understand that, and you understand the myth.
- If you can’t find information from general research, check other furry writers for how they convey emotion through mannerism.
- When creating a new species entirely, reference the base creature you’re basing them on for their mannerisms. Make sure you add new mannerisms based on the unique physical differences of your new species!
With just a little bit of extra effort, any writer can take a simple, anthropomorphic character and create something far more lively and ‘real’ than they otherwise would be. Take note of that which makes your characters unique, use that uniqueness when expressing the character’s emotions, and your readers will praise your attention to detail!
Every story has the main character, a protagonist that is followed from start to end. Every story has a villain, be they another person, a situation, or something intangible, that seeks to stop the protagonist at every turn. The flashy, delicate dance between these two sides is what lies at the heart of any story. Next time, we’re going to dip into my thoughts on hero and villain characters, and what we as writers can do to give them that extra little spark to completely enthrall our readers. Until then though, take care and keep writing!
Faora
First, a reiteration of some core facts about this guide. I am NOT a trained writer. I've done no courses, no workshops. I don't attend any writers groups, and I don't claim to have professional knowledge. I HAVE been writing for over ten years, and I HAVE sought out the knowledge that I can to improve my skills. However, this little guide is going to have little to nothing to do with technical writing, if I have my way. Rather, this guide is being provided as a way to motivate and inspire other writers here on this site. I'm not going to tell you what to write, or how to write. I only hope to provide you with some mental ‘tools' that will allow you to craft your words to their greatest potential. That said, let us begin!
The next lesson is this: Writers show their thoughts through words, not pictures; an anthro without proper imagery is just a human!
This is a lesson that I still struggle with from time to time in my shorter works, the likes of which are commonly found on FA and SF. We all take part in a fandom where we assume so much about our characters, where it’s so easy to simply state that Bill is a ‘fox’ and Harriet is a ‘lioness’ and we understand exactly what that means. It is, I believe, bad writing though to simply assume that all your readers will simply understand the visual intricacies of your characters if that is all you give them to go by.
Why do we write with anthropomorphic characters? It all comes down to personal preference for most people. Personally, I write with anthros because I find that they’re far more interesting and expressive than any human could ever be. Take the expression of embarrassment. A human blushes and looks away. A wolf, however, could splay his ears back, tuck his tail between his legs, and drop his gaze (and we usually add the blush in anyway, as a characteristic response depicting this reaction). The diversity of expression is immense when you delve into anthropomorphic characters, and it is this diversity of expression that finds me drawn so strongly to writing furry works.
Yet the problem I have with my short pieces is a problem I see other writers in the fandom with all the time. We make the mistake I outlined above, where we state the species and little else. We carry on and write, and we leave it up to the mind of the reader to fill in the blanks. While I certainly believe that a large part of the scene of any story needs to be left up to the reader’s imagination to fill, I believe that to use non-human characters without doing their species justice cheapens the work as a whole.
It doesn’t take much to learn what different animals do in nature when they react to certain things. The information is all over the internet, for one, and we exist in a fandom where we can simply go ask other members what certain species behave like. It is through this little bit of research that a writer is able to take their furry character and elevate them above being ‘just’ a fox or ‘just’ a lioness. Description of uniquely anthro and animalistic properties in the characters lends them a sense of realism that deepens the experience of the story. It helps to keep the reader immersed in the world, while giving them a clear view of the characters that are playing across the page.
Take the two scenes below for an example of what I mean:
Terry bounded over towards Simon. The fox grinned wide as he pounced the startled coyote and pinned him down against the ground.
Christie’s hackles raised as her teeth flashed into view, the wolf’s ears flat atop her head as she offered a warning growl. Completely oblivious, Sarah simply grinned wide as her tail lashed back and forth excitedly.
The first little piece works. It’s basic, but it works. We have this mental image in our heads of a fox pouncing a coyote, I’m sure. It’s very, very simple, though. The second example however utilizes the animalistic nature of the character to present a completely different scene. By tapping into lupine gestures, we get a much more vivid view of an angry wolfess. It heightens the reader’s awareness of the character’s nature, mood and behavior when we tap into the core of what makes these characters what they are. I would wager that most of us appreciate anthropomorphic characters for their similarity to animals, not to humans. Why then do we do them the disservice of neglecting their animal nature?
The answer to that question is a simple one: we don’t. Not deliberately, anyway. We forget to add these little details, more often than not because they’re right there in our heads as we’re writing. We know instinctively how the characters are going to behave and what they act like. Those who haven’t done the research on the animals that their characters are based on probably do it anyway; they see the wriggling tail of a feline at play, the tucked tail of a scared canine, and they file it away subconsciously to use later. And because that information is inside your head, it’s referenced when you write. I believe that, more often than not, the failure to integrate this knowledge into writing is simply the assumption that the writer in fact had translated it to the page.
This misconception is easy to make. After all, it’s based on the same principle of why we need to give ourselves time before we make an editing pass on our stories (as mentioned back in my guide on Revision). We simply don’t see these mistakes we’re making, because in our mind we’re putting the pieces together ourselves. We know exactly how things are meant to go, and so those blanks go unnoticed to us. We fill them in automatically. Our readers, however, are unable to. Some make the jump, and don’t even notice how we’ve neglected the subtle mannerisms of our anthro characters. Others, however, will notice.
So, how do we make ourselves more aware of these little nuances? Only with time, practice and effort, I’m afraid. Force yourself to become more aware of the little things that your characters can do to make themselves seem more ‘real’ and you should find, in time, that you automatically will make reference to the actions that make the animal aspect of them seem right, rather than tacked on. We enjoy our literature with anthropomorphic animals in them, not with humans covered in fur who are named after those animals.
But I hear you cry, “Fae, what about dragons and other mythical creatures, or aliens? What do we do about them?” Well, that’s a simple enough thing to cover, too, and it’s done in the same way. A lot of mythical creatures are based on existing creatures (gryphons, the Pegasus, etc), and in that you have easy access to a large base of easily-accessible behavior. Some creatures don’t have much for baseline comparison (dragons are, arguably, an example of this), and in that you have a lot more freedom. Try referencing the mannerisms used by other furry writers for these kinds of characters, and you might find something you can use.
If you’re creating your own race of beings however, things become a little more… fun. As I’ve said, the little behavioral differences between a fox and a human mean the difference between a proper anthropomorphic creation and a human with vulpine ears tacked on. The same holds true for completely original species. First, consider what you’re using as the base for your new creation. You’re probably going to use something that’s gone before as an inspiration. If you’re going down the path of a species that ends up looking (mostly) like an anthro animal, then the process is the same as describing how such an anthro would behave. Just be sure to make references to the little differences between your creation and an ordinary anthro animal, or you risk a lack of differentiation between your species and the base creature.
The real fun comes in when you’re wildly deviating from the norm with your new species. If we assume for a moment that they take a humanoid form (for the sake of argument), then you’re best to focus on fur (fluffing and spiking could indicate fear or anger and aggression), ears (swiveling, twitching, flattening), muzzles (and specifically the display of teeth), eyes (narrowing, widening), tails if they have them (tucking, wagging, lashing), claws (extending, retracting), and the like. If they add more unusual features, use them! Take those aspects that make your species different from others, and use those new features to display how your character feels and thinks.
Creation of a non-human character is a simple process, but translation of the visual ideal of that character can be very hit-and-miss. In shorter pieces that only really see attention inside the furry fandom, we can perhaps be forgiven for our assumption that readers will simply pick up and ‘get’ how our characters look. However, if we consider showing our works to others, a policy of assuming that the reader has never seen an anthropomorphic character before allows us to better show them our vision of the world we’ve created and the characters that inhabit it. It’s the difference between characters that a furry can understand, and characters that anyone can grasp.
So, bullet point tiems nao. What have we learned?
- We write anthropomorphic characters because we enjoy their diversity. Use it in your writing!
- Research the natural behavior of various animals before you write their anthropomorphic counterparts, to better capture their little quirks.
- Don’t assume that the reader is capable of inferring the depth of a character’s physical responses from simply giving their species; show how the character feels with how they behave.
- Practice, practice, practice! Eventually, using those animal mannerisms will become second nature!
- Most mythical creatures have a simple baseline creature used as their ‘template’ of sorts. Understand that, and you understand the myth.
- If you can’t find information from general research, check other furry writers for how they convey emotion through mannerism.
- When creating a new species entirely, reference the base creature you’re basing them on for their mannerisms. Make sure you add new mannerisms based on the unique physical differences of your new species!
With just a little bit of extra effort, any writer can take a simple, anthropomorphic character and create something far more lively and ‘real’ than they otherwise would be. Take note of that which makes your characters unique, use that uniqueness when expressing the character’s emotions, and your readers will praise your attention to detail!
Every story has the main character, a protagonist that is followed from start to end. Every story has a villain, be they another person, a situation, or something intangible, that seeks to stop the protagonist at every turn. The flashy, delicate dance between these two sides is what lies at the heart of any story. Next time, we’re going to dip into my thoughts on hero and villain characters, and what we as writers can do to give them that extra little spark to completely enthrall our readers. Until then though, take care and keep writing!
Faora
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Well this is the whole reason I do this! My hope is always to present ideas that other writers may not be aware of, or to present a new way to look at the writing process. I always feel great whenever I hear that someone's been able to take away from my guides. Thank you for the comment, and I'm glad you could use this!
Faora
Faora 
*blushes* Okay, this actually warmed my heart. I was so worried about presenting examples for the first time in a guide of mine, because I worried that it might convey the idea that, "My way is best and you should follow my example." I'm really glad that you didn't think that, and were able to take something very useful away from the guide! I hope it helps, and you're most welcome for it!
Faora
Faora 
I still struggle a lot with it, myself. The effort does, I think, really pay off in the end when the reader is more fully immersed in the world that you've created. Characters really do deserve every effort we can give them, or at least I believe so. I'm glad you were able to take something from this guide, and you're most welcome to it! Thank you!
Faora
Faora 
Ah, thank you. Possibly the main reason I started with anthropomorphic characters, which led me to being a furry, was the sheer amount of diversity in each and every one. The physical deviation and possibilities make it much more enjoyable for me to write. I take pleasure in describing the more animalistic or anthro based physical characteristics, because readers get an easy picture of what the general humanoid posture is, but the other details enrich the mental picture much more.
Personally, the mental picture makes writing much more enjoyable for me, and how I want everything to play out. If I'm reading an anthropomorphic story and I don't know what the species involved are, or, I don't know which species each character is, it disrupts the immersion of a good story. More anthropomorphic details really draw attention to the bestial side of a character. What's the point of having an anthropomorphic character, if you don't make it known that it's any different than a human?
Personally, the mental picture makes writing much more enjoyable for me, and how I want everything to play out. If I'm reading an anthropomorphic story and I don't know what the species involved are, or, I don't know which species each character is, it disrupts the immersion of a good story. More anthropomorphic details really draw attention to the bestial side of a character. What's the point of having an anthropomorphic character, if you don't make it known that it's any different than a human?
That question is exactly what I asked myself when I contemplated writing this guide. And the answer really is that the character ISN'T different from a human at that point. They're just another man or woman, but tagged as a different species. At that point the tag becomes irrelevant, because there's nothing in the character to make that difference known. This I think is the most important thing to writing anthro characters. If we don't properly do our anthro characters justice in their description, why bother?
I'm glad you like the guide, and it's nice to see someone who enjoys the diversity that anthropomorphic characters have to offer both the reader and the writer!
I'm glad you like the guide, and it's nice to see someone who enjoys the diversity that anthropomorphic characters have to offer both the reader and the writer!
Precisely, and that's why I became an anthro writer. I look at a character, and I see a ton more possible descriptors that can convey the feelings so much more readily to the audience. There's an entirely new side to your character to be tapped. And if you're not using it, and it's irrelevant, not only does it no longer make sense to have it, but it just lies there unused.
I most certainly do like this guide, it's proved to provide a wealth of inspiration.
I most certainly do like this guide, it's proved to provide a wealth of inspiration.
It's nice to see this, because I always go out of my way to include this sort of thing in my stories. Dogs will struggle to keep their tails from wagging when they're excited, cats' ears will flatten against their heads when they're scared, that sort of thing. I'm currently working on a story that opens with a cat teasing her equally feline boyfriend with a laser pointer, and he has to resist thousands of years of instinct telling him to grab the dot before it escapes. n_n
*laughs* I absolutely LOVE the laser pointer thing. Strangely, it's not just cats that do it; my roomie's dog absolutely adores his laser pointer. If we're ever bored and need to distract her, we pull out the pointer. Fun ensues!
It's great to see writers who go out of their way to make that little bit of extra effort for their characters, and I'm glad you like the guide!
Faora
It's great to see writers who go out of their way to make that little bit of extra effort for their characters, and I'm glad you like the guide!
Faora 
*chuckles*
Would you believe that when I started writing my very first story with anthropomorphic characters in them, I actually had the problem that I was using too much of their animalistic forms? Before that story i mentioned, I had written a good number of furry stories thathad actual animals, generally seen as ferals or at least quadrupeds in the fandom, as the lead characters, and when making the switch to using anthro characters, because with their humanoid side you can have them do so much more than actual animals, I found myself stuck on using way too much of the actual animal's forms. For instance; my lead character was a female calico cat who was a driver for an ambulance company. She had no breasts; she had four pairs of nipples, like any female cat has. She had no head hair. And I consistently referred to her arms and hands as 'forepaws', and to her legs as 'hindlegs'. Hee hee, it's a good thing that I just wrote that story for my own amusement and can never post it because it's next to blatant plagiarism of three movies rolled into one, so I don't have to rewrite all of that =~.^=
But, you are definitely right; it's exactly those animalistic characteristics that makes an anthro character so much more interesting, and we should give proper credit to the animals on which our characters are based! Anthro characters are so much more fun to write, because for one, you can diversify so very much more. Sure, there are a lot of races of humans, and every one is unique in their own way, be it through skin color, hair color, eye color, ethnicity, manner of speech, or what have you. But taking all that and applying it to the even wider diversity of the animal world makes for SO much more that you can do! Even if you would only use one single human ethnicity to create a race of, say, cats, you have the choice of over 200 breeds of housecats alone! Each with their own unique traits and looks, which makes for a very varied cast. Of course, if I would stick to the example of housecats, there are several breeds which lend themselves perfectly for application to a certain human ethnicity as well; Siamese for example make the perfect Japanese and Chinese characters (an obvious observation, true). But what makes it even way more fun is when you start to mix and match; I find it quite amusing, for instance, to take a fully white cat, and give him or her a Creole or negro accent in the voice, for example.
And be honest; when was the last time you were cuddling with your loved one and heard him or her purr? =~.^=
You have done a very good job on this guide, Fae! And even though most of what you described, I was already doing, even in my shorter stories, because I actually had to phase out a lot of animal characteristics in my characters since I started out by using way too much of it, I still found this a very interesting read, and filled with a lot of good tips!
*giggles*
I will most certainly be looking out for your next installment, because there is one thing in my writing that I have major trouble with, and that is creating good villains! I'm such a meek and mellow and soft-hearted kitty that I can't vcreate evil, so all the help I can get with that will be valuable!
Keep up the good work! =^_^= And Happy New Year!
Would you believe that when I started writing my very first story with anthropomorphic characters in them, I actually had the problem that I was using too much of their animalistic forms? Before that story i mentioned, I had written a good number of furry stories thathad actual animals, generally seen as ferals or at least quadrupeds in the fandom, as the lead characters, and when making the switch to using anthro characters, because with their humanoid side you can have them do so much more than actual animals, I found myself stuck on using way too much of the actual animal's forms. For instance; my lead character was a female calico cat who was a driver for an ambulance company. She had no breasts; she had four pairs of nipples, like any female cat has. She had no head hair. And I consistently referred to her arms and hands as 'forepaws', and to her legs as 'hindlegs'. Hee hee, it's a good thing that I just wrote that story for my own amusement and can never post it because it's next to blatant plagiarism of three movies rolled into one, so I don't have to rewrite all of that =~.^=
But, you are definitely right; it's exactly those animalistic characteristics that makes an anthro character so much more interesting, and we should give proper credit to the animals on which our characters are based! Anthro characters are so much more fun to write, because for one, you can diversify so very much more. Sure, there are a lot of races of humans, and every one is unique in their own way, be it through skin color, hair color, eye color, ethnicity, manner of speech, or what have you. But taking all that and applying it to the even wider diversity of the animal world makes for SO much more that you can do! Even if you would only use one single human ethnicity to create a race of, say, cats, you have the choice of over 200 breeds of housecats alone! Each with their own unique traits and looks, which makes for a very varied cast. Of course, if I would stick to the example of housecats, there are several breeds which lend themselves perfectly for application to a certain human ethnicity as well; Siamese for example make the perfect Japanese and Chinese characters (an obvious observation, true). But what makes it even way more fun is when you start to mix and match; I find it quite amusing, for instance, to take a fully white cat, and give him or her a Creole or negro accent in the voice, for example.
And be honest; when was the last time you were cuddling with your loved one and heard him or her purr? =~.^=
You have done a very good job on this guide, Fae! And even though most of what you described, I was already doing, even in my shorter stories, because I actually had to phase out a lot of animal characteristics in my characters since I started out by using way too much of it, I still found this a very interesting read, and filled with a lot of good tips!
*giggles*
I will most certainly be looking out for your next installment, because there is one thing in my writing that I have major trouble with, and that is creating good villains! I'm such a meek and mellow and soft-hearted kitty that I can't vcreate evil, so all the help I can get with that will be valuable!
Keep up the good work! =^_^= And Happy New Year!
Actually, I would believe that! It's easy to go overboard, just as much so as it is to go into too LITTLE detail. I figured that the majority of furry writers who could use this advice fell into the too little category though, so that was where I placed my focus. Of course, depending on the setting for the story, that kind of attention to detail could be a great ting, too!
I'm very glad to hear you were able to enjoy the guide! I believe entirely in taking what I've learned and trying to offer writers a new way to look at and consider their writing methods, and it's nice to know that even when I'm teaching something that people know, they can still enjoy the read! Thank you!
Oohh, well you're going to be in for a treat with the next one. Most of the attention will be focused on the task of creating a villain character, as the hero character sort of comes naturally to most. A few little tweaks will be brought up that might help, but otherwise villains are the focus. As they should be! *chuckles*
Thanks for the read, for the lengthy and insightful reply, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work! Happy New Year to you, too, and may it be filled with plenty of great writing!
Faora
I'm very glad to hear you were able to enjoy the guide! I believe entirely in taking what I've learned and trying to offer writers a new way to look at and consider their writing methods, and it's nice to know that even when I'm teaching something that people know, they can still enjoy the read! Thank you!
Oohh, well you're going to be in for a treat with the next one. Most of the attention will be focused on the task of creating a villain character, as the hero character sort of comes naturally to most. A few little tweaks will be brought up that might help, but otherwise villains are the focus. As they should be! *chuckles*
Thanks for the read, for the lengthy and insightful reply, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work! Happy New Year to you, too, and may it be filled with plenty of great writing!
Faora
Yes, I have found it quite easy to go overboard. Funny is that it's much harder to temper that in to an acceptable level. Fot instance; I have aproblem with my characters using pet names for one another. In a story I wrote for a friend, he notified me that he had found the lead character using the word "sweetie" 44 times in a 5-page story; almost at the end of every sentence she said, haha. Luckily I have learned to watch out for that, and the same quite goes for my furry characters; they kind of evolved. I went from using real animals for my lead characters, to real animals with human intelligence, to real animals with human intelligence andthe ability to talk with humans and vice versa, and from there they went to the kind of characters I referred to in my previous post; anthros with way too many animalistic traits, as they were basically just 6-foot animals who walked upright. Good thing that they also evolved the last step; to proper anthros with all the right human traits, whilst not losing sight of the animalistic traits of the secies they're based on, and what makes them unique and endearing.
It's really nice to see these guides, read them, and see how another writer deals with problems and gives tips on how to avoid trouble, or work around obstacles that plague many new writers. I try to do that towards other writers who read my stories and ask me for advice, as I know how important it is since I lacked it myself. My experience comes from 24 years of practice, from learning through doing. But I had to figure everything out for myself, by reading a lot and seeing how others did it, so even for a reasonably seasoned writer like myself, these guides are still really handy! They give me an insight on how to deal with certain things, and even in ways I had never thought of before!
Oooh, and I will now definitely be looking forward to your next installment! =~.^= That sounds very promising! *giggles* I hope you will also have an installment planned on how to device plot, because that is the one thing I suck even worse at that at creating villains =~.^=
And thank you! I hope the coming year will be fruitful for all of us writers and artists here on FA, and I have the idea it will indeed be so for me; at least I will do my best! I'm currently working on a collaboration with a good friend and artist here on FA for a book we will bring out, and I have a plan or two for a couple of volumes of short stories about my most popular characters, so hopefully those things will come to fruitition!
May the new year bring you a lot of success as well, and keep up the good work! =^_^=
It's really nice to see these guides, read them, and see how another writer deals with problems and gives tips on how to avoid trouble, or work around obstacles that plague many new writers. I try to do that towards other writers who read my stories and ask me for advice, as I know how important it is since I lacked it myself. My experience comes from 24 years of practice, from learning through doing. But I had to figure everything out for myself, by reading a lot and seeing how others did it, so even for a reasonably seasoned writer like myself, these guides are still really handy! They give me an insight on how to deal with certain things, and even in ways I had never thought of before!
Oooh, and I will now definitely be looking forward to your next installment! =~.^= That sounds very promising! *giggles* I hope you will also have an installment planned on how to device plot, because that is the one thing I suck even worse at that at creating villains =~.^=
And thank you! I hope the coming year will be fruitful for all of us writers and artists here on FA, and I have the idea it will indeed be so for me; at least I will do my best! I'm currently working on a collaboration with a good friend and artist here on FA for a book we will bring out, and I have a plan or two for a couple of volumes of short stories about my most popular characters, so hopefully those things will come to fruitition!
May the new year bring you a lot of success as well, and keep up the good work! =^_^=
Wow, this is a really great guide for fleshing out furry characters. I know I have trouble remembering some of these unique physical responses, and it's always nice to have ideas on how to dehumanize the characters to an extent.
I become concerned about overusing these physical cues to emotion sometimes, though. I think there's a level where it makes the character more like a caricature of the species it's supposed to represent, and the line between far enough and too far is a bit fuzzy (no pun intended). Especially when you write about worlds with both humans and anthro characters where the intention is to emphasize the similarities between them rather than the differences (in other words, places where the two groups coexist or attempt to coexist rather than being at odds).
Hrm...
I become concerned about overusing these physical cues to emotion sometimes, though. I think there's a level where it makes the character more like a caricature of the species it's supposed to represent, and the line between far enough and too far is a bit fuzzy (no pun intended). Especially when you write about worlds with both humans and anthro characters where the intention is to emphasize the similarities between them rather than the differences (in other words, places where the two groups coexist or attempt to coexist rather than being at odds).
Hrm...
I think you're certainly right that there's a limit to how much you can use those characteristics, but I would argue that it depends entirely on the audience and the setting of the story. The more human the characters seem, the less animalistic details are really necessary. Or, if in Velvet's case above you have VERY animal-like anthros, then the setting must be able to speak for them. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to utilize anthropomorphic characters, as long as one puts in the effort to learn how best to utilize the opportunities they present.
I'm glad to hear you were able to take something from this guide, and I hope you're able to continue to do so with my other works! Thanks!
Faora
I'm glad to hear you were able to take something from this guide, and I hope you're able to continue to do so with my other works! Thanks!
Faora 
Very well written guide! I love the word "cheapens" because that's exactly how it looks when we do assume. That's exactly how it feels, cheap, when I simplify the species of my characters. I also think that this effect of adding description should be applied to all sentences of writing in general.
I believe this lack of character description can all be easily fixed with a rewrite, as my suggestion.
I believe this lack of character description can all be easily fixed with a rewrite, as my suggestion.
You're absolutely write about the solution to it being a rewrite. Often it's just difficult to see it, I think, which is why it goes unnoticed. I do think that any story a writer really cares about should be skimmed for those particular lacks. For such an important detail about a character's physical nature, it can't just be forgotten.
Glad you enjoyed the guide, and I hope it's helped!
Faora
Glad you enjoyed the guide, and I hope it's helped!
Faora
Maybe you'd like to consider this little idea that just popped into my head for your next helpful guide. Tag-teamed assistant writing. Maybe construct a convincing and organized system of two writers seeking each other out to make an agreement to assist each other in a common goad: writing better. Just a loopy idea to throw out to you. ^^
This is a very well thought out guideline, thank you for putting it together.
Although I already incorporate some of the processes you mention, it is still good to hear someone else point them out.
I try to incorporate body language into my characters' development, as it really adds to the level of detail and it kind of makes it easier to give the "scene" finer detail than just saying your character is happy or sad. Instead of saying "John was happy" it conveys more emotion to say "John could scarcely control his happily wagging tail".
Also, I try to do several passes with my "Editor" hat on and imagine that I am a random person reading the story for the first time. It can be a little hard at first, but with practice you can easily see where a detail that was so clear in your mind when you typed it suddenly makes no sense reading it with fresh eyes. That and of course practice with formatting and punctuation (which can be more challenging than people realize).
All in all, kudos on the guideline. I look forward to digesting more installments.
Although I already incorporate some of the processes you mention, it is still good to hear someone else point them out.
I try to incorporate body language into my characters' development, as it really adds to the level of detail and it kind of makes it easier to give the "scene" finer detail than just saying your character is happy or sad. Instead of saying "John was happy" it conveys more emotion to say "John could scarcely control his happily wagging tail".
Also, I try to do several passes with my "Editor" hat on and imagine that I am a random person reading the story for the first time. It can be a little hard at first, but with practice you can easily see where a detail that was so clear in your mind when you typed it suddenly makes no sense reading it with fresh eyes. That and of course practice with formatting and punctuation (which can be more challenging than people realize).
All in all, kudos on the guideline. I look forward to digesting more installments.
Well thank you very much for the kind words, and you're most welcome! I do find that I'm often not alone with my methods, and that other writers often do the same little things as me (though not always in such a wierd way as in my Characters guide!). Kinda nice to know that you're not the only mad one, sometimes!
What you do in Editor-Mode is really something that I wish a lot more people who wrote with anthro characters did. It's not too much to look at your writing as if it's being read by someone completely outside everything you know. The real work comes from accepting what needs to be changed and shifted and rewritten to accommodate those views. Of course, the editing process is a whole other kettle of fish that I still struggle with to this day!
No! Don't try to digest them! You aren't a computer; your body isn't built to properly handle data fl... oh. Oh, I see what you mean. Well, by all means, I hope they meet your standards! *chuckles* Thanks much!
What you do in Editor-Mode is really something that I wish a lot more people who wrote with anthro characters did. It's not too much to look at your writing as if it's being read by someone completely outside everything you know. The real work comes from accepting what needs to be changed and shifted and rewritten to accommodate those views. Of course, the editing process is a whole other kettle of fish that I still struggle with to this day!
No! Don't try to digest them! You aren't a computer; your body isn't built to properly handle data fl... oh. Oh, I see what you mean. Well, by all means, I hope they meet your standards! *chuckles* Thanks much!
Incredible. You have just answered a long standing question in my mind for the past 10 years.
So many anthro writings (and even art) sounds like humans in fur suits. Only one artist I have ever met draws anthros to what I see in my mind; that is sapient animals (which would be E.C. Major)
But for writing; especially mine, it's been a struggle to accually protray that in my stories. I couldn't figure exactly what I was looking for, but your article answered that right off, and including some tips to bring them to life.
Your example; Terry bounded over towards Simon. The fox grinned wide as he pounced the startled coyote and pinned him down against the ground.
Christie’s hackles raised as her teeth flashed into view, the wolf’s ears flat atop her head as she offered a warning growl. Completely oblivious, Sarah simply grinned wide as her tail lashed back and forth excitedly.
is exactly what I've been wanting to do all these years. Of course, I plan on going a bit futher, and I've tried some with my megar postings
Might I add a bit more to your article? In one of my stories, the first one that I actually started to try to work these 'furry details' into my stories. The scene is a home. Human male, 2 Hindvalian does; Hindvalians are gene-engineered deer created in the 21th century by DARPA to be "disposable soldiers" Now in the 30th, they're "people" with full sapient rights, like humans. In this scene, Dawnde (an 8 year old hindvian fawn, injured in a fight with two humans around 10 years old). I think you can figure out the rest :) Sorry I can't post a link to it yet, it's still in editing mode and there's a possibility I can try to sell it.
Not saying a word, he walked to the bathroom, Dawnde was now cleaned up, but her eye was still swollen shut, her nose also swollen as well. But otherwise she appeared to be better. When he walked in, Sandena turned her head, and Broady was taken aback. Her large ears was folded back against her head, her eyes, narrowed, and lips pulled back, in a snarl, that really sort of scared him. Only one other time, did he see her like this. Broady slowly took two steps backwards, but as he did, he could feel; much to his own astonishment, that his hand had reached into his pocket, and was gripping the stunner pistol.
"Dam you to hell, human!" she bleated. She even uttered a few words in Cherokee that he didn't understand, but they couldn't have been love notes. "Dam your hateful, violence ridden ways!" She then darted toward him, emphasizing it, with a loud weesey snort. As he jumped to the side, he could see her tail was raised high. Broady didn't have any choice. Either use his stunner on his own wife, or else back off, and leave. He chose the latter, and left quickly.
Like you said, research the animal to add to the story. In this, I took what real white-tails do in defense and added to Sandena.
In other parts I added this:
"Would you have used the stunner on me?" He looked up quickly at her, and noticed that she wasn't looking at him, but to the floor, in embarrassment, and shame.
"How - did you know?" he started.
"It is logical. I heard your orders to Bob after Dawnde entered our domicile. I could smell the slight distinct odor, the nickel, and titanium alloys emit. Especially the acidic reaction from your sweat upon the metal. Lastly, there is no stunner within several meters of the bathroom.
As usual, he couldn't quite understand what it'd be like to have a culture, and instinct based so strongly upon smell, and hearing, much as humans' culture is based so strongly on visual. But he said nothing for a moment, then said,
and lastly, a physcological aspect
He squeezed her paw, "Sandena, I know my ancestors created yours, for the wrong reasons. However, despite being created, and enslaved, you didn't hate us, but helped us though the lost century. I can't hate you, or even be angry at you or your people. I can only be angry and hateful to my own kind."
Sandena looked surprised at Broady, then shook her head. "Broady do not hate, do not feel anger at your ancestors. I do not. " That surprised Broady. He never really broached the subject before with her. What was her feelings toward humanity? They didn't ask for what happened to them, but it happened. He has asked Africans before how they felt. Even after nearly 1,500 years there was still some anger in their culture toward Caucasians. But Hinds? Zomorphs too?
"You don't?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No, I have no concept of that. That is why I find it so hard to understand humans at times. Why must you hate? Why must your hate last for generations? I am aware of some mental illnesses that will make you humans comitt violence, but it is curable now." she looked at Broady, her black eyes wide, questioning.
Broady sat back in his chair "I don't know..." he just said.
Sorry to be so wordy, but I thought I'd add some of my own aspects to this article. I'm +watching you now :)
- Shado
So many anthro writings (and even art) sounds like humans in fur suits. Only one artist I have ever met draws anthros to what I see in my mind; that is sapient animals (which would be E.C. Major)
But for writing; especially mine, it's been a struggle to accually protray that in my stories. I couldn't figure exactly what I was looking for, but your article answered that right off, and including some tips to bring them to life.
Your example; Terry bounded over towards Simon. The fox grinned wide as he pounced the startled coyote and pinned him down against the ground.
Christie’s hackles raised as her teeth flashed into view, the wolf’s ears flat atop her head as she offered a warning growl. Completely oblivious, Sarah simply grinned wide as her tail lashed back and forth excitedly.
is exactly what I've been wanting to do all these years. Of course, I plan on going a bit futher, and I've tried some with my megar postings
Might I add a bit more to your article? In one of my stories, the first one that I actually started to try to work these 'furry details' into my stories. The scene is a home. Human male, 2 Hindvalian does; Hindvalians are gene-engineered deer created in the 21th century by DARPA to be "disposable soldiers" Now in the 30th, they're "people" with full sapient rights, like humans. In this scene, Dawnde (an 8 year old hindvian fawn, injured in a fight with two humans around 10 years old). I think you can figure out the rest :) Sorry I can't post a link to it yet, it's still in editing mode and there's a possibility I can try to sell it.
Not saying a word, he walked to the bathroom, Dawnde was now cleaned up, but her eye was still swollen shut, her nose also swollen as well. But otherwise she appeared to be better. When he walked in, Sandena turned her head, and Broady was taken aback. Her large ears was folded back against her head, her eyes, narrowed, and lips pulled back, in a snarl, that really sort of scared him. Only one other time, did he see her like this. Broady slowly took two steps backwards, but as he did, he could feel; much to his own astonishment, that his hand had reached into his pocket, and was gripping the stunner pistol.
"Dam you to hell, human!" she bleated. She even uttered a few words in Cherokee that he didn't understand, but they couldn't have been love notes. "Dam your hateful, violence ridden ways!" She then darted toward him, emphasizing it, with a loud weesey snort. As he jumped to the side, he could see her tail was raised high. Broady didn't have any choice. Either use his stunner on his own wife, or else back off, and leave. He chose the latter, and left quickly.
Like you said, research the animal to add to the story. In this, I took what real white-tails do in defense and added to Sandena.
In other parts I added this:
"Would you have used the stunner on me?" He looked up quickly at her, and noticed that she wasn't looking at him, but to the floor, in embarrassment, and shame.
"How - did you know?" he started.
"It is logical. I heard your orders to Bob after Dawnde entered our domicile. I could smell the slight distinct odor, the nickel, and titanium alloys emit. Especially the acidic reaction from your sweat upon the metal. Lastly, there is no stunner within several meters of the bathroom.
As usual, he couldn't quite understand what it'd be like to have a culture, and instinct based so strongly upon smell, and hearing, much as humans' culture is based so strongly on visual. But he said nothing for a moment, then said,
and lastly, a physcological aspect
He squeezed her paw, "Sandena, I know my ancestors created yours, for the wrong reasons. However, despite being created, and enslaved, you didn't hate us, but helped us though the lost century. I can't hate you, or even be angry at you or your people. I can only be angry and hateful to my own kind."
Sandena looked surprised at Broady, then shook her head. "Broady do not hate, do not feel anger at your ancestors. I do not. " That surprised Broady. He never really broached the subject before with her. What was her feelings toward humanity? They didn't ask for what happened to them, but it happened. He has asked Africans before how they felt. Even after nearly 1,500 years there was still some anger in their culture toward Caucasians. But Hinds? Zomorphs too?
"You don't?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No, I have no concept of that. That is why I find it so hard to understand humans at times. Why must you hate? Why must your hate last for generations? I am aware of some mental illnesses that will make you humans comitt violence, but it is curable now." she looked at Broady, her black eyes wide, questioning.
Broady sat back in his chair "I don't know..." he just said.
Sorry to be so wordy, but I thought I'd add some of my own aspects to this article. I'm +watching you now :)
- Shado
First of all, thank you! I'm very glad I was able to answer a long-standing question of yours. These guides are usually designed just to get people thinking about their methods, but it always warms my heart when someone can take a bit more from something I've learned and apply it for themselves.
Secondly, and as an open invitation to any who reads this comment, always feel free to add your own thoughts or musings to these guides! My way of doing things is not the only way, and I look forward to learning from the efforts of others as much as I enjoy sharing what I know of my own writing.
And if it helps? Your examples highlight someone who's put a lot of thought into the anthropomorphism of their characters. It shows through, and (at least for me) it clearly shows a separation between your human and non-human characters. It's a good example of what I've been talking about here; you take it a lot more seriously than a lot of people (myself included) would.
And thanks for the watch; hopefully you'll find much to appreciate here at the FA_Writers group!
Faora
Secondly, and as an open invitation to any who reads this comment, always feel free to add your own thoughts or musings to these guides! My way of doing things is not the only way, and I look forward to learning from the efforts of others as much as I enjoy sharing what I know of my own writing.
And if it helps? Your examples highlight someone who's put a lot of thought into the anthropomorphism of their characters. It shows through, and (at least for me) it clearly shows a separation between your human and non-human characters. It's a good example of what I've been talking about here; you take it a lot more seriously than a lot of people (myself included) would.
And thanks for the watch; hopefully you'll find much to appreciate here at the FA_Writers group!
Faora 
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