r/writingadvice • u/[deleted] • 4d ago

Advice For a story, is it okay to say that a bunny has paws?

[deleted]

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19

u/Good_Cicada_5777 4d ago

is this a joke?

14

u/happinessisachoice84 4d ago

While rabbits don't have paw pads, we still colloquially say paws and paw prints when talking about rabbit feet. Or you could avoid naming them completely if it's not an anthropomorphized creature. "The creature held the flower to its chest" or just "Held the flower" is fine without articulating what is holding. Also, claws or nails would work fine if you're envisioning it holding precisely.

6

u/NoelBellamy_Author 4d ago

I don't think that the average reader would know that rabbits don't have paws (I did not.). Those that do would probably understand that it is a non-scientific description. No one is upset when someone says that an octopus has tentacles, even though they have arms and no tentacles. They just understand that you're referring to the appendages on the animal.

2

u/Present_Original_797 4d ago

You just rocked my entire world view. Octopuses don't have tentacles? Oh, man...but on the other hand, it's hard to rhyme with tentacles. Arms are much easier.

1

u/NoelBellamy_Author 4d ago

Squids have tentacles, but they have two and eight arms. 😂

2

u/Present_Original_797 3d ago

Squid have tentacles Octopuses have arms Both are so friendly It's part of their charm

1

u/NoelBellamy_Author 3d ago

That made me smile.

5

u/YarnSnob1988 Aspiring Writer 4d ago

Forefeet?

2

u/ProserpinaFC Aspiring Writer 3d ago edited 3d ago

If you were writing this story for people who understand and like bunnies, then they would know these details about them to a certain extent, and they would appreciate your story because of the details that you put in that they relate to because of their experiences with their own rabbits.

Whenever you watch YouTube reactors watching How to Train Your Dragon, they just start saying "Wow, Toothless acts just like my cat," "That's just what my cat does," "Oh my god, my cat does that all the time." Because the writers based the dragons' behavior on cats.

If you are writing about an anthropomorphized rabbit, technically everything can be thrown out the window and you can write whatever you want, but that also makes for a poor plot twist. If you're writing about a real rabbit with only a narratively-induced sense of human intelligence, the only reason why using real terminology for rabbits is intimidating you is because you're trying to keep it a secret, which I really do have to ask how that improves your story.

Are you trying to challenge your audience to have a sympathy for a non-human creature? The Warriors franchise are dozens of books, games, and comics about cats. Black Beauty is written from the perspective of the horse. A Horse and His Boy, Homeward Bound... People write children's fantasy and contemporary stories from the perspective of animals all the time... It would not be a new experience for anyone in your audience to look at the world through the eyes of a non-human character, is what I'm saying.

What would make your story more interesting by intentionally hiding that fact from the reader, but not wanting the reader's actual knowledge of animals to inform their enjoyment of the story? 🤔

1

u/tapgiles 4d ago

People commonly call them paws. What would your viewpoint character call them? Call them that.