I’m Not A Furry!
I’m Not A Furry!
Write a short story or poem from the perspective of an animal. The goal is to fully immerse yourself in their experience—not just what they do, but how they think, feel, and perceive the world.
Your animal narrator might:
Be a pet trying to understand its human.
Be a wild animal navigating its natural (or unnatural) environment.
Be an animal with human-like thoughts, or one that operates purely on instinct.
Have a humorous, tragic, dramatic, or surreal perspective on life.
The challenge is to step outside the human experience and craft a story that feels genuine, creative, and engaging.
Short story: At least 500 words
Poem: At least 8 stanzas
The narrator must be an animal.
The story must contain conflict and character development.
The animal’s perspective must feel distinct and believable (even if you choose a more human-like voice).
Think about how they experience the world.
Do they rely more on scent, sound, movement than humans do?
How do they interpret things they don’t understand?
How do they view humans? As gods? As clumsy giants? As strange hairless apes?
Decide on the level of consciousness.
Is the animal’s thought process logical or more instinct-driven?
Does it understand time, names, emotions like a human, or does it live purely in the moment?
Find the conflict.
A stray dog searching for a home.
A cat plotting to escape the vet.
A wolf torn between the pack and solitude.
A zoo animal longing for the wild—or realizing it wouldn’t survive.
A pet trying to understand why their human is sad.
Use humor, tragedy, or surrealism.
What if a raccoon finds a phone and learns to text?
What if a goldfish slowly realizes it has the memory of a god?
What if a dog is convinced the mailman is plotting world domination?
The “Seekers” series (bears on an epic journey)
The “Warriors” series (cats at war—basically Game of Thrones but fluffier)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (told from a dog’s perspective)
Watership Down by Richard Adams (rabbits with politics and mythology)
Animal Planet documentaries (see the world through an animal’s eyes)
Babe (film/book) (a pig defies expectations and changes his world)