10 Golden Rules to Write ADDICTIVE Animal Characters

Do you have an animal in your novel? If you don't, you should add one. And this video goes over 10 ways to integrate that pet or animal into your novel in a non-cringey way.

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Timeline
0:00 Beginning
0:47 Use Animals to Progress Your Plot
1:42 Use Animals to Characterize Your Humans
2:55 Make Animals Provide Character Motivation
3:55 Use Animals to Tug at our Emotions
5:25 Create Leverage for the Antagonist
6:37 Use Animals for Comedic Relief
7:36 Animals as Symbols
8:42 Animals as Metaphors
10:32 Animals as Spiritual Guides
11:31 Animals as Mirrors

[Nyzahnewton]

There’s a talking turtle in my book. Originally, I thought he’d just crack jokes and fill space but instead he ended up becoming one of the most human, most real characters I’ve ever written.

[ThereIsNoAntimemeticsDivision]

Next video: 9 mistakes when writing a plants

[IneedCoffe]

„9 mistakes when writing gods“ gonna be wild

[orcanerdc]

I would add "write an animal you've dealt with on some level.". I recently read a book with a dog with unpredictable aggression and would bite people. The intent was for the dog to be "protective, " but the actual effect was that of a dog that's just vicious and poorly trained.

[lindapenttinen]

Next video: 9 mistakes when writing teens

I try to write a series where main characters are about 14 at the beginning. Mystery/fantasy/crime with a astrologial twists.

It has been years since I was a teen myself and even then I was an old soul.

I need tips how to write beliable teen characters 😊

[kirabowie]

I had a fun time writing a guide dog just being a dog in a "fantasy" setting. He helps and protects a poor orphan girl who lives on the streets, when her sighted friend isn't around. In that short story, the dog is out and about without the girl during a town-wide festival, enjoying the smells and stealing food when he's hungry, just basically living the life of a stray, even though he does have a home of sorts and an owner. In another series of short stories that I've written, there's a boy who gets a horse at 12, he lives with his father and younger brother in a single-parent household (Mom passed away when he was 4). This kid loves this horse and takes responsibility for looking after it, and when he's older, he even gives riding lessons. The horse is as much a character as his friends and because he's living in a semi-rural area, it's easy for me to show that at 5:30 before school, he's up and heading to the barn/stable to care for in all kinds of weather. One of his favorite things to do is riding with his best friend/girlfriend to the river where they like to go swimming and have picnics.

in the same "fantasy" setting, it actually takes place in our far flung future where we would be considered by the people there as the Ancients. (It's a shared world and fun to write in.) Anyways, my friend and I wrote a chapter story about this guy who goes missing from his "tribe" and his sister and friends go looking for him. He's a descendant of hippies and other free spirits and they live off the land like stereotypical Native Americans, down to their naming conventions. That group of people, known as Elves (they're named after the fantasy beings) all have animal names that reflect a bit of their personalities.

Anyways, sorry for "novel" but I enjoyed this video and it got me thinking about somethings I had written.

[theaprentice]

I watch “Where the Red Firn Grows” when I was really little. I don’t remember it because I was two young, but when the movie ended, my smart aleck brother said “now you may cry”. And apparently I proceeded to ball my eyes out. Lol

[ShadowProject]

One of the best man/animal dynamics I’ve enjoyed came from the Witcher games with Geralt and Roach.

That horse has been there for years for him and he always talks to Roach and we finally get to see them communicate and understand each other years later in a DLC.

It was so gratifying to see Roach finally be able to converse with Geralt in things even if it was temporary 😂

[Sarcasmses]

Animals are useful for changing the pace of the story, if only for a short while.

One of my favorite uses of an animal is Laska from Anna Karenina. Laska is the hunting dog of Levin, one of the two main characters. There is one scene where Levin, having earlier propsoed marriage to a girl and been rejected, is out hunting with his friend Oblonsky and his friend brings up the subject of the rejection. While Laska is out rounding up the fowl for them to shoot, they are busy talking about Levin's rejection.

When Laska returns she looks up at them like she is annoyed, and I remember thinking, "Laska's not happy that you're about to miss the birds and waste all her work!" And then the book shifts to Laska's point of view as she expresses her dismay that the two are so busy talking that they are going to miss the birds and waste all her work. It was a nice laugh out loud moment for me among a serious conversation, and Laska has a few more moments like this later. Among all the stress Levin goes through later, sometimes it's nice to get Laska's POV with a happy dog that is content with a warm house and the satisfaction of having done a good day's work for her owner. It contrasts well with the stresses of human life, and that contrasts helps characterize those humans.

[Septic-Hearts]

One example I really liked in literature was Buttercup in The Hunger Games. Within the first few pages, Katniss is talking about how she tried to drown him as a kitten and only kept him because her sister begged her to keep him. It really set the tone for how dire their world is, the sort of realist that Katniss had to be, and the love she had for her sister, Prim. Prim is their one connection and they were otherwise the most apathetic of survivors throughout the series' events imo.

Then, of course, there's the end of the series, when their relationship changed completely. Iykyk.

[peterknutsen]

2:52 I recently read about how Andy Serkis had done extensive research on gorillas for a motion capture movie role, and he came to the conclusion that each gorilla had a very distinct individual personality. That they were extremely people-like.

[SpanishEclectic]

My first thought was Old Yeller. Tear-jerker from way back. I did wonder if including the cat in my story was a good idea. Using her at the beginning so my character has someone to talk to, rather than herself during moments of reflection...a way to get the character out of her own head a bit. The way people treat horses is also very different now (for the most part) than it was in the 1800s. While they were usually the only mode of transportation, the way a character treats them can vary from taking them for granted, cruelty when they misbehave, to deep love and understanding. Treating animals (and waitstaff) poorly definitely tells us who a character is.

[JRMcCarroll]

"Animals make waves." Dolphins, for instance, are very good at this.

[heathersumner]

I have a theory that teachers read Where the Red Fern Grows to check out who is normal (and is now ugly sobbing) and who might be a developing psychopath

[ga]

Animals struggling through addiction is not a genre I was expecting on this channel. Time to take notes

[landesL]

Honourable mentions:
Of Mice and Men - The old dog has a role in showing the harshness of the world to those who have outlived their usefulness and foreshadowing a certain someone's death. The bunnies being too fragile for care by Lenny, and of course the book's name sake telling of how mice may make plans all they like, sometimes a shovel just cuts things short.
Odyssey - Argos the dog, representing Odysseus's home, he is infested with fleas (the suiters), his death is also the most heartbreaking in all the epic cycle.

[mv_]

Can we get a video about how to write sensitive topics with respect and without coming off as a bigot? Things like racism, homophobia, violence, religion discrimination, different morality, sexism and all things similar, either present in a society or as a character trait. I feel that many genres and stories wouldn't work with a "sunshine and rainbows everywhere" setting, but if there is a description of prosecution of some sort against other people you want to portray it well and respectfully without using it just as a plot device or to be politically correct or to preach about it. That would be really useful and appreciated, especially in this day and age.

[GrimmInDarkness]

"Where the Red Fern Grows" is an amazing story and movie. It has always been my dad's favorite. I grew up watching it so many times I know it by heart 😅

[muteplays]

2:55 if i remember correctly the reason why the old school Doom Guy descends to hell and makes every living thing there wish ascension to heaven is because the demons kill his bunny. Suddenly everything makes sense.

[DutchIsraeli]

The last part reminded me of the "His Dark Materials" books by Philip Pullman. The people's souls are little animals running around outside their bodies. Such an amazing concept 🧡