How furry does it need to be?

[Furcade]

To classify a fictional work as "furry", do you need to simply have anthro characters or does it require a greater emphasis on the anthropomorphic aspect?

I mean, I've started writing my first furry short story (having written lots of stories previously), and I'm having a hard time making it feel befitting of the furry community. My characters are all animals that walk and talk like people, and do people-y things like scientific research and stalk each other but it's not really enough just to do that, is it? I drop the occasional reference to tails and fur and things like that being there and being used in some capacity, but I'm still not sure if it's enough.

How much to you furry writing veterans play on the antropomorphic aspects of your characters, and in what ways does this occur (characteristics, behaviours, etc.)?

Thanks for reading

 

[M. LeRenard]

Oh my. You've touched on one of the hairiest (no pun intended) aspects of writing in the furry community. People go back and forth on this a lot, but what it usually seems to come down to is two general classifications: furry vs. anthro. The former is more what you're talking about, just normal stories about people who just happen (for no given reason or purpose) to be animal-like. The latter is the more stringent of the two, and seems to require either a thematic reason for the use of anthros or a specific story-based reason for their use.
So in short, you can do either. It depends more on who you want your audience to be. If it's just for fans on this website who are already familiar with furry, don't think too hard about why you're using anthro animals and just focus on the writing. If it's for reading outside the fandom, though, you'll want to try the more 'anthro' style so that your readers don't get confused why you're saying everyone has a tail and claws.
Myself, I tend to go with the anthro version, just because I like my stories to have a wider possible audience, and I find it more interesting to write (takes a bit more care and thought), but it doesn't really matter too much what you choose to go with.

 

[Furcade]

Thanks for replying!

I think what I'm producing at the moment would be classified as "anthro" under your definition, not because I'm trying to make it like that, but it just so happens to flow in that way.

But seriously, it's a touchy subject? Seems sort of... inconsequential to me...

 

[M. LeRenard]

Not really 'touchy'... it's mostly just complicated. You start to get into the "value" of certain types of furry works vs. other types (whether or not writing anthro fiction is more worthwhile than writing furry fiction), which is usually a long, pointless debate. You know how these things go.

 

[Validuz]

I'm currently working on my characters backstory. Actually evolved it into several pages. What i tend to do when i got furry characters involved is make refferences to their form. Acknowledging things that humans doesent have. (Paws, Tails, Whiskers, Muzzle etc) And if you do it just a few times when introducing the character. And then once or twice here and there. The reader automatically gets the mindset/idéa of what to imagine.

 

[Furcade]

I'm currently working on my characters backstory. Actually evolved it into several pages. What i tend to do when i got furry characters involved is make refferences to their form. Acknowledging things that humans doesent have. (Paws, Tails, Whiskers, Muzzle etc) And if you do it just a few times when introducing the character. And then once or twice here and there. The reader automatically gets the mindset/idéa of what to imagine.

Yeah, well that's totally what I'm doing. So I've got a tiger, and I say "the fur fell awkwardly out from the collar of his otherwise neat shirt" and stuff like that (except it's first person). So seeing as you guys appear to know what you're doing, I might be on the right track. Practic/se, too, I guess.