How to write a good story about animals?

[srebak]

There have been many stories about animals over the years, but what are the different ways to write them? What are the key points that need to be recognized?

 

[Penpilot]

From my experience, I don't think there are key points to an "animal" story. IMHO, it's should be more about the type of story archtype you're trying to tell that happens to involve animals as characters in some way. Regardless of it's the anthropomorphic stories with characters like the Thundercats or the more realistic Old Yeller, it's not about it being an animal story. It's about it being a hero's journey, or a coming of age story, or a quest story, or tale of survival, or etc.

I think if you think of the story along those lines, you'll get a lot further than trying to pinpoint what all animal stories have in common.

 

[CupofJoe]

I agree with Penpilot... start with the story.
The only thing I would add is to get your facts right... if you are using Rabbits as your character stock... don't have them eating meat or flying south for the winter [without a really good explanation.]

 

[wordwalker]

One thing you can do with animals is build the story partly around the animals' natural tendencies, if you can understand them. Watership Down is very much about rabbits being weaker than most things in the wild and struggling to survive. The story still mostly forms a traditional refugee tale, but it meshes very well with them being animals.

Of course, many writers don't do this at all; another thing to do with animals is tell a completely human tale with animal faces just to make it colorful (Bugs Bunny) or discreet (Animal Farm). And in any case, almost any animal-centered story goes only so far before they starts following human patterns after all.

 

[Letharg]

If you are going to do a story about animals, where the animals actually acts somewhat like animals and not humans on four legs, you will need to do a lot of observations and research. Even if they can talk to each other in some fashion and even are intelligent they will be much more instinct driven then humans are. In many situations they will just stop thinking and doing what they are pre-programmed to do.

Depending on what type of animal you are writing about you should observe them. For instance I could pretty easily write a story of a dog as I've grown up around dogs and had one for most of my life, I know how they work. A cat on the other hand would be much harder to portray as I've only been around cats for short periods of my life when one of my friends or girlfriends had one.