# Story from Scratch Questions ^^;;;



## BakuWolfie (Feb 1, 2012)

Hi all. I have decided to take up the pen and write a story of my own, finally putting to use my imagination for once. I have the story that i am wanting to write about and i have been drafting it in a notebook before typing it up onto my computer, that way i record everything just in case i choose not to use it at that point. I have run into a number of questions that i am hoping that could be answered.

This was an unusual one i ran into. When does a paw become a hand ? For instance, if i was to use humans in my story and they came into anthropomorphic creatures they would refer to their hands as paws. Would that mean if two anthropomorphic creature were to talk to each other, would they refer to their paws as paws or hands ?
Since im choosing to not include humans in the story i would have to invent my own language as well right. I ask this one because if i get into a part where two of the characters are having an argument and start flinging bad language at each other i cant simply just use some of the common English words. So this question is how do i go about creating a language.
Don't worry this is the last one . Since i am setting it in a new type of world i cant refer to them as the types of animals that they are, i can say what kind of animals they look like to describe them for the audience, but i would have to create a name for their race right ?

Well i think thats all i have to ask for now . If anyone could help me out with any of those i would be really grateful. 
See you later everyone


----------



## Zenia (Feb 1, 2012)

I think referring to a hand/paw should work like this...

If the anthro has mainly human looking hands... call it a hand.
If the anthro has a hand that has stubby digits and pawpads... I'd call it a paw.


----------



## BakuWolfie (Feb 1, 2012)

Zenia said:


> I think referring to a hand/paw should work like this...
> 
> If the anthro has mainly human looking hands... call it a hand.
> If the anthro has a hand that has stubby digits and pawpads... I'd call it a paw.



Hmmm, i guess it would be a good idea to do a little concept art then to clear this matter up for myself then ^^;;;. I just always assumed that anthros had paws over hands. 
But thanks for getting back to me on this one very quickly.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Feb 1, 2012)

BakuWolfie said:
			
		

> When does a paw become a hand ?


The words 'paw' and 'hand' pretty much have the distinction that one has a thumb and one does not.  But if your audience is mostly furries, this distinction probably doesn't matter as much.  So in short, do whatever you think makes the most sense and would make the most sense to your audience as well.


> So this question is how do i go about creating a language.


I actually made an old thread in which I had a lot to say about authors who make up bullshitty fake-o cuss words and why it's unnecessary.  The general gist was that I feel like if the characters are speaking English, they should just speak English, because anglophones are already quite familiar with the meanings (implied and literal) of English cusswords.  Making stuff up just reduces the effect of the words and hence the impact of the argument in question.  Of course, this is just my opinion.


> Since i am setting it in a new type of world i cant refer to them as the types of animals that they are, i can say what kind of animals they look like to describe them for the audience, but i would have to create a name for their race right ?


I think here, you just want to make sure you retain clarity.  If you're especially clever, you can get away with never actually naming the common animal names, but if you attempt that you need to be careful not to be so mysterious about it that the reader never is able to understand that a Vorklmatzba, or whatever, is actually a kangaroo.  To be honest, though, I find it's very difficult to simply describe features and have the reader make the connection.  This type of setting is usually where a fish-out-of-water main character comes in handy.  If you don't feel like taking that route, though... well, good luck, I guess.


----------



## BakuWolfie (Feb 2, 2012)

M. Le Renard said:


> The words 'paw' and 'hand' pretty much have the distinction that one has a thumb and one does not.  But if your audience is mostly furries, this distinction probably doesn't matter as much.  So in short, do whatever you think makes the most sense and would make the most sense to your audience as well.
> 
> I actually made an old thread in which I had a lot to say about authors who make up bullshitty fake-o cuss words and why it's unnecessary.  The general gist was that I feel like if the characters are speaking English, they should just speak English, because anglophones are already quite familiar with the meanings (implied and literal) of English cusswords.  Making stuff up just reduces the effect of the words and hence the impact of the argument in question.  Of course, this is just my opinion.
> 
> I think here, you just want to make sure you retain clarity.  If you're especially clever, you can get away with never actually naming the common animal names, but if you attempt that you need to be careful not to be so mysterious about it that the reader never is able to understand that a Vorklmatzba, or whatever, is actually a kangaroo.  To be honest, though, I find it's very difficult to simply describe features and have the reader make the connection.  This type of setting is usually where a fish-out-of-water main character comes in handy.  If you don't feel like taking that route, though... well, good luck, I guess.



Well thank you for all your input Renard, i found it quite helpful. I think the last point is the main issue that im having to deal with but i will get around to that problem when i start to edit it. Thanks again Renard ^^


----------



## BakuWolfie (Feb 4, 2012)

Oh yeah, just another question. I want to put the my imagination into the story as much as i can, but I'm not sure if I should put a limit on how much time i should focus in one place. I have started to type out my story (grammar is OK i believes) and i feel that i may end up spending too much time in one place of the story. From what i feel so far, most of chapter one is going to be set in one place, thats because of the detail i am putting into the story seems to be stretching that point out. Is it a bad think to put in too much detail.

Oh yeah is there other places more dedicated, to story writing. I am wanting to improve myself and my writing because i enjoy it. Not sure if i would ever sell anything i write, but meh i just write for the fun of it . Its not that i don't think FA  is a great site, i just would like to know if there is any furry writing dedicated sites out there


----------

