Hello, jungle dwellers. Craig here again, and today I want to talk about the pet character. I’m using this term, but it applies to any animals and even things like SIRI or other artificial intelligence characters. For you paranormal fans, maybe it’s Grandpa’s haunted tiki mug.

Firstly, the pet is a side character. They exist in the story for a reason that relates to another character, usually the main character.

I find them useful when you have a loner. Your character is going to spend a lot of time alone, and if they talk to the animal you don’t have to write out pages of internal thought. Without even acting, the pet can serve a purpose.

The pet should act in some way, even if it’s just comic relief. I have a trunk novel where a dog threw a horse turd in the air like a ball as the enemy…