You and Your Best Friend: Writing a Book About Your Pet
Something about your pet just captures your imagination, whether they make you laugh or tug at your heartstrings. But writing a book about them takes more than sharing anecdotes.
To tell a story about your furry, feathered, wiggly, scaly, winged, or hooved best friend, you need to treat it like you would any other kind of story. Take a few pre-writing steps before jumping into the meat of the story, and build up the character of your pet to the best of your ability. Be ready to put in the work of making the reader care about your pet as much as you do, and you’re off to a good start.
Prepare to write your book
A great pre-writing step you could take is to get acquainted with animal stories. Consume books and movies that involve animals. Pay attention to how the theme unfolds, how the story of the human intertwines with the story of the animal. What do you like about the story? What do you think could you have done better? Which parts would have required research?
Make sure to do your own research as well. What’s the background of your pet’s species and breed? What are the sounds they make? What’s their body language? What are their behaviors that are common to or different from those of their kind? What’s the best way to care for them? You might have to join a community of pet owners to have these questions answered and gain insight into your pet.
Expand your research outside the home too. If you adopted your pet, research the history and operations of the shelter they came from. What are the challenges that they face and the issues that need the cooperation of the community? What are their success stories? It’s good to situate your pet in the big picture so that the reader can be made aware of the joys and pitfalls of pet ownership. If your pet used to be a service animal, you can also include information about the work they used to do and the organization that used to employ them.
You should also pick photos and videos that exhibit your pet’s personality, from the time they were little until their later years.
Humanize your pet
Even if you’re writing about a Mexican red-knee tarantula or a sulphur-crested cockatoo, it’s the human element of your story that will resonate with the reader. To help your book connect with your audience, you need to pay close attention to character development—both yours and your pet’s.
First, establish your pet’s character by observing them and noting their habits, interactions with other people and animals, and quirks that they show. Try to catch their characteristic mannerisms, whether they’re at play or at rest in their favorite spot. If your pet isn’t with you anymore, try to free-write your best and worst memories. You can also augment them with tales from family members.
Then, reflect on your own journey. What adventures have you had? What trials have you overcome? Sketch your character arc, complete with internal and external conflicts. Afterwards, review the material you’ve gathered on your pet and try to look for possible stories that mirror your own. Pinpoint opportunities for drama by observing how you and your pet change throughout the story. Make sure both of you have clear goals, as well as strengths to muster and flaws that threaten to undermine you. This is a free-writing exercise for now—nothing is set in stone yet, so don’t be afraid to explore all possible directions.
Find your theme
Now that you know how your pet’s presence has influenced your life, you can figure out what the theme of your book will be. Common themes for books about pets include family, identity, loneliness, friendship, childhood, coming of age, love, and hope. Your theme will serve as a guide for what’s important in your book, a compass pointing toward the moments that will engage the reader and deepen the significance of your story.