Furry Writers' Guild Forum

The Quintessential Furry Writing: Introducing Others to the Genre?

A friend asked me what I would recommend to their writer buddy. The writer is furry-curious, and would like to try their hand at writing it, but would like recommendations of what to read to get a “feel” for what writing furry entails.

I’m asking for suggestions.

What I would prefer would be things that are online and things that are relatively short, mainly to allow for a lot of quick lookthroughs and no real monetary investment. But if there’s stuff in print that captures anthro animals really well and reflects what we want in writing, I’m all ears. Also I would prefer writing within, not outside writing that is of furry interest; in-fandom writing has more emphasis on the anthro experience. They don’t have to be awesome stories, just encompassing what we want to see.

It does not have to be clean, but noting this in your post would be helpful.

Actually this is a good opportunity to create this list for anyone, and have it for future reference for others who may want to dip their toe into the fuzzy side.

I’m gonna rec Allasso (volume 2: Saudade; volume 1: Shame). It’s designed to have appeal both in and out of the fandom, and it has a good spread of subjects and genres, with furries from full-anthro-no-explanation to regular pets with an inner monologue and everything in between. And nothing too filthy, so your friend’s friend won’t be frightened off just yet! (And yeah, I have a story in vol. 2, what of it? :slight_smile: )

Also, here’s Pavlov’s House by foozzzball, short, free, and published just yesterday.

Another short, one of my in-fandom faves: Best Interests by Whyte Yote (he can write clean stuff sometimes, apparently).

Anything by Chipotle/Watts Martin - particularly Dreams are for Vixens and Travelling Music.

All highly subjective, of course, but I tried to give a good mix of drama and humour, and all are what I think of as ‘proper furry’ stories.

Normally I’d suggest anthologies – Best in Show (reprinted as Furry!) for a good background in terms of the earlier days of furry fiction, and then the Different Worlds, Different Skins anthos, Roar, etc., for what’s been published more recently. But for stuff that’s free online, I’d probably second Allasso just for being a good variety in one easy-to-read place. (And supposedly issue 3 should be out later today.)

I also second Allasso, and, in fact, Allasso 3 did come out today! I had the chance to read the proof copy a month or so ago, and it has a lot of really strong pieces.

Allasso, Volume 3: Storge