Animal Writing

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Animal Writing

Carol Wicks

Following Gut Feelings

You never know what may come of just following your gut feeling. I was burned out of my career running animal shelters and taking time off to figure out just what I wanted to do when I grew up. All my life, when I wasn't trying to save dogs and cats, I wanted to be Nancy Drew ... no, actually, Carolyn Keene. Deep inside, I always knew I'd write "someday" and my gut was telling me "someday" was now.

Since I'd always heard that you should write about what you know, I did an on-line search for "writing about dogs and cats." To my amazement, I discovered there were actually professional associations of people who wrote about pets. Even better, they held an annual meeting almost in my backyard. I returned home all fired up after attending the combined conference of the Cat Writers' Association and the Dog Writers' Association of America held in Houston, Texas, in conjunction with the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) International Cat Show, the feline equivalent of Westminster. I don't know which I did more, learning or fun, but those few days may well have reshaped the rest of my life.

Then I found Writers' Village University, and began to learn the art of writing. I was always good at the craft, writing factual stuff like information sheets and brochures, organization newsletters, grant proposals, kind of boring stuff like that. Now I wanted to tap into that creative side of me and write the stories I've been telling for years; you know, those yarns you spin which make people say "you ought to write a book about that." So I wrote, and rewrote, and rewrote — well, you know how that goes.

I went back to the Dog and Cat Writer's Conference this year both determined to take the next step and much more realistic about the difficulties of breaking into the writing world, especially in a limited market. There might be 60 million dog and 75 million cat "parents" in this country, but most editors don't seem to think animal stories will sell. The old animal shelter director in me spouts figures like this that are ingrained into my brain but you can get current pet statistics by searching sites such as the Pet Food Institute or the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

The three-and-a-half-hour drive home gave me plenty of time to ponder my desire to pursue writing as a career even though it would be a struggle, a tug-of-war between "Are you out of your mind?" and "You CAN do it!" Both pensive and resolute the next morning back at my computer, I found an acceptance for a tale I'd submitted to a call for Christmas stories by T-Zero Xpandizine. YES!

But wait, it got better. Would I be interested in doing a column on Animal Writing? Would I? Do bears...?

I was still tickled pink when the phone rang. It was a woman I'd been referred to by an editor. I had discussed her book proposal at the conference with many of the pet authors who were generous with their time and advice. They had made some strong suggestions about revising her idea, and I had passed them on honestly even though I thought she might be quite cool and non-receptive. I was surprised to hear her thank me for my candidness. I was waiting for the hang up click when she asked would I be interested in partnering on the improved project since it was an area of animal welfare in which I have a lot of expertise.

YES! YES! YES!!! HOORAY!!! I danced around the room and high-fived my dog Morgen who wasn't quite sure what this new game was but eager to play anyway.

Maybe, just maybe, this gut feeling that I can be a successful writer is true. Pet writing is a narrow specialty but there may be a niche combining it with a broader market. I'll keep you posted, and if you e-mail me your comments and suggestions, perhaps together we can convince editors that those 135 million pet families really do want to read about dogs and cats.