 Fantasy: June 22, 2016 Issue [#7710] |
  Fantasy
This week: Pets/Animals in Fantasy Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Pets and other animals are common within the fantasy realm, with varying roles. Some are sidekicks, others used and some even get to show their point of view. Let's talk about them. |
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Animals are very common within speculative fiction, in particular fantasy. People like to add in aspects to their story that are familiar and pets or other animals can be very helpful in that regard. Plus, many writers have pets so it's something that they have in their own lives as well. There are many options for animals that can be used in speculative fiction but some are more common than others.
Here are three common ones out of many that get used:
Cats - Very common found animal in fantasy stories, both past and more recent published works, along with stories found here on WDC. One of my favorite series in my pre-teen years was written by Tamora Pierce and the female knight in training had a cat. Another fantasy story by Sherwood Smith with similar aspects involved a character becoming a cat. The animal is common as a familiar for witches and other magic wielders in particular but can also be found in other types of stories and connected with different characters.
Horses - Another very common one. Some are in the realm of having pet status, but others are just used as transportation, status symbols and such. It's a bit of an overused element that receives criticism at times because their use, overuse and distance traveled isn't always deemed realistic. While found more in traditional style stories, there might be some interesting uses in other subgenres ranging from steampunk to urban.
Dragons - Another one that can be both overdone or non-existant, depending on the story and the world. Some have common uses with main characters developing connections with dragons, or some transportation usage along with a distrust for the creatures too. They can be both friendly to the characters or a source of conflict. Or, they could be the main characters. Fantasy has a little more room for non-human point of view and star role characters, though there are still limits to varying degrees depending on the intended audience.
Which brings me to the point of view aspect. While there are many animal options, these ones being just three out of the plethora available. Aside from the appearance of animals through fantasy, they can be more than just a saddle to ride or a cat to have sit on their shoulder to silently judge. They can also present options to show elements of the story that the main pov character might not know. This works better in a story that isn't following a single pov style. The more focused on one character's point of view the less it will be recommended to add in others, especially if done just a couple of times.
Then there are the shape shifting characters, ones where the character is human but becomes an animal through various means. How they react will differ than in their human form to a degree and can give an interesting aspect to that part of the story. Not something to do at random, but can be useful if it fits well within the world of the story and the conflict present.
Animals are important in many people's lives and in our fiction is no different. Plus, they help provide conversation pieces on twitter or even at conferences. I went to a women in fantasy type of conference many years ago and on more than one occasion, readers and the authors talked about their cats. Some people even have instagram accounts just for their pets, so it's a nice common sharing ground.
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What type of pet or animal do you have in your story? Is that animal an important character?
Last time, for the fantasy newsletter, I discussed answering the question: what is your story about? Here is a response sent in on the topic:
Comment by Quick-Quill 
I typed a one page pitch, synop, bio and marketing pitch. I sent them out to REAL agents and got no response. I began whining (not really but questioning the process) and found an indi publisher. It was a good lesson learned.
I finally am able to give an Elevator pitch. My story is about a family who disappeared just before Christmas and the Detective who braved a Mob threat to discover the truth. Do you think its enough?
- It's not easy out there when submitting to agents. That does tell the basics on what your story is about. Next just have to find the spark that will grab the person's attention. You want the sentence to make them want to know more. But I'm no agent, so it's hard to say what is enough as it will vary from person to person.
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