I think more people should make fursonas and I'm dead serious. the process of self-exploration that naturally comes along with creating a funny little critter to represent yourself is SO valuable, as you consider the types of animals you vibe with and what kind of aesthetic/colours/personality/etc suit you and stuff like that (fun fact this process is how I figured out I was transgender lol. not saying that will happen to you but just proving that you can learn a LOT about yourself through this design process and any subsequent design changes)
and then when you're all done, you have a little freak you can do whatever you want with! edit them poorly into memes, commission lavish oil paintings of them to hang in your mansion, use them as a personal online mascot, design a fucked up evil twin for them to fight, soak them in milk and throw them at the wall, anything really. same stuff some people do with fandom characters they really like, except it's 100% yours and nobody can tell you you're doing it wrong! also now you have an animal your friends can associate with you and they'll send you funny pics/videos of that animal that make them think of you. literally it's just wins all the way down for you and everybody you associate with. everyone should have one of these things!!
really warms my heart to see how many ppl have reblogged this with tags or comments about how having a fursona has improved their life in some way, or (even cooler!) how this post gave them enough of a push to start thinking about creating one! i kinda just wrote this post on a random whim and didn't expect such a widely positive response.
for me personally, my sona often fluctuates between being a very personal and euphoric self-insert that i can project ideas and emotions onto, and just sort of a funny little art mascot i can use to represent myself online, so sometimes i kinda forget just how dearly beloved these little personalized critters are by a lot of people. like "making a fursona and having that as an emotional outlet saved my life" type stories. it's cool as hell and i'm really happy for them!
however, a lot of folks who are in the "i don't have a fursona but now i might wanna make one" camp seem to frequently be unsure where to start with this stuff, though, so i thought i'd offer a little advice for that!
first thing is that this process is gonna come down to a little trial and error most of the time. none of your decisions are set in stone, you can always change things up later as you see fit (and hell, you can even have multiple fursonas for varying moods/purposes/etc if you want! people do it all the time. also, lots of folks give their fursonas hybrid traits, like a cat-dragon or a shark-wolf or a griffin or whatever, so that's an option too! mix-n-match)! people are complicated and a fursona always serves as a great canvas for personal experimentation and expression, whether you've had them for a decade or a day already.
focusing specifically on the choice of animal tho, it's handy if you already have a favourite animal for one reason or another (maybe aesthetically, behaviorally, symbolically, or some mix of these) but your favourite animal isn't always gonna be one that you think really represents you personally. that's fine! i adore cats IRL but i could never really see myself having a cat fursona. the important thing is that now you're THINKING about making a fursona, so now you can keep your eyes and ears open to inspiration when it comes along. i originally just picked a bunny because they're cute and cartoon bunnies are pretty easy/fun to draw, but as time went on i picked up loose knowledge about their traits and behaviors and realized "hey, i'm quiet and polite and loud noises make me anxious, i'm happiest sleeping and waking up at unusual hours, i like to feel small and cozy and safe, i'm a little bit mischievous but bad at serious confrontation... maybe this was a better fit than i thought!" and now i can't really imagine myself picking anything else. got it in one. but if i HADN'T lucked into that on the first try, those kinds of observations would've helped me get there eventually. look at animals, learn things about animals, and keep the thought in the back of your mind of "do i feel a connection to any of this?" as you do so. something might just click into place one day!
failing all that, idk, just pick a critter you think looks neat, give it a couple colours and some cool hair or whatever, and see what happens from there! not everyone's fursona has personal meaning to them and that's fine too! also, if you have a friend who knows you decently well (especially if they're an artist) you can usually ask them for creative input and bounce ideas off them. friends are often really good at putting a finger on unique defining qualities that you may not have noticed about yourself, and that can help a LOT with this stuff.
anyways that's all the advice i got, hope it helps! even if you don't end up actually settling on a fursona, or feeling like this is right for you in general, you might still benefit in some way from the process of reaching that conclusion and i sincerely encourage you to give it some thought if it sounds interesting to you. have fun out there!
three more common questions I wanna address:
1. no, you don't have to make a fursuit and go to conventions dressed as your fursona. the vast majority of furries do not own a fursuit (they're really expensive to commission, and take a lot of skill to make yourself!) and lots of them wouldn't really want one even if cost wasn't an issue. fursuiting is a niche within a niche and nobody is gonna bother you about not enjoying/participating in it
2. fursonas, despite the name, don't need to be furry mammals! you can make a bird, you can make a fish (sharks are actually super common), you can make a snake (they often kinda just look like anthro lizards but ppl insist they are snakes and I GUESS it works lol), etc etc. they don't even have to be real animals, or anything specific/distinct (some folks just have a nondescript critter with vaguely-shaped ears and a tail and say "don't worry about it" and that's cool lol). hell, they don't have to be an organic being at all! there are lots of robotic and synthetic fursonas out there - critters made of metal, fabric, rubber, paint, candy, whatever strikes your fancy. get weird with it if you want!
3. if you have ideas or are interested in trying to come up with some, but your main obstacle is "but I can't draw/I'm not good at visual art", my advice is firstly "hey give it a shot anyways, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece, you're just putting ideas down on the page like a kid would do" and secondly: cool! find someone who CAN draw and, assuming they're not just a friend who is offering to help you for free (rare but appreciated), look for an artist whose style you enjoy and commission them! I don't know the exact stats but TONS of furries aren't artists themselves, which is why "furry artist" is so famously a job people can have and actually make a living from. lots of artists offer character design comms and are willing to workshop a design with you and revise it according to your feedback until you have something you're happy with. you can send them references of other furry art with comparable design elements, photos from google/pinterest of the kinda hairstyles and outfits you want, anything to accompany your text descriptions and help them create your vision. hell, I've even had a few people send me a very crude MS Paint drawing to work with and those commissions turned out really nice! so yeah. don't let a lack of artistic ability stop you! work with what you have and then consider reaching out for help from a pro!
alright this post is way too long now, I'm gonna stop adding to it but feel free to send asks or replies if you have more general questions I can answer! I'm not an expert but I DO sometimes design fursonas for my job, so I'll do my best to share any other wisdom I can!
