How to Write From an Animal's Point of View

First, rid yourself of the idea that it's any more difficult than writing from a human's point of view. Fictional characters are fictional characters. Some will mirror you as the writer and some won't. Not even a little bit. Not even remotely.

Frankly though, my animal characters mirror me more than you'd think. It's often my human characters that I struggle to find a deeper connection with. That I'm in danger of writing as bland or one-dimensional. My animals though . . . I find them more fun, quirky, and therapeutic to write. I can suspend my own disbelief. I can follow them through a tangled wildwood of thoughts and actions that most humans, even fictional ones, wouldn't dare explore.

When I'm stuck, or needing a little inspiration, I can look at my cat, or my horses, or a puppy taking a walk and say, What are they thinking right now? What are they feeling? How do they perceive their whiskers?

The key to writing from an animal's POV isn't imagining all the ways our furred and feathered friends are different from us, but the ways they're similar. This makes them relatable and reachable. And then, the ways in which they are utterly and completely different from us humans can stand out as humorous quirks or shocking traits. At the very least, the reader can relate and say, "My God, my cat does that exact same thing. Maybe this is why."