The Do's and Don'ts of Writing Disability
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2018
- SUNDAY SPECIAL LIVE CHAT TOPIC: BOOK CLUB FOR TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN BY JOHN GREEN
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In my novel, the deuteragonist/love interest is a warrior who has lost an arm. I had to do a LOT, like a metric fuckton, of research to adapt his fighting style to what a one armed person can and cannot do. It's not as easy as "oh and how he wished he had both hands only to hold more of her against his panting chest". Like fuck no. Sometimes he misses his arm, sometimes he doesn't even mind it. Every noteworthy action that would require both hands has to be described showing how he manages to do the thing with or without help. I've watched literal hours of footage of one armed people going on about their lives and tutorials of how to do this or that with one hand.
To summarize:
1) a disability is a character trait, not the character itself, and
2) do your fucking research
Hi, I'm interested in making my protagonist with one arm, so I'll appreciate if you could give me a bit of guidance of where to research or things that helped you
As some with a disability who’s writing a story with a disabled protagonist, I can safely say that all of your points are spot on! This was such a helpful & informative video, thank you for sharing your tips!
I would argue that anyone writing about a character with a disability should probably consult someone with that disability.
@@jacobstaten2366 👍🏽
Thank you for making this video. I am autistic and I like writing characters with similar aspects to me. 😊
Faith me too! Do you write on wattpad?
A little, I mainly write on Quotev
Faith I haven’t had much luck with that site. Do you get readers? I can’t seem to
not a lot. I'm planning on adding some of Quotev stories onto Wattpad though. The stories are mainly fanfic at the moment; because I'm in uni and that's all I could.
Faith Hey, I have a Quotev! What’s your @?
Currently writing a short story for the “writers of the future” contest, featuring a deaf girl as one of the 2 main characters. I hope I can represent the community well. I’m doing it for many reasons, it is writing outside of my comfort zone, but mostly I’m doing it to give another character that people with disabilities can look up to, including my grandparents who are both deaf and have helped with the project a lot
I’m writing a comic and one of the side characters is a mute who uses sign language to communicate. He’s the kind of character who’s action speaks louder than his words. A problem my friend pointed out is that conveniently every other character can translate his sign language do others which is unrealistic. He suggested maybe giving him a parrot that talks for him but the mute character is an African American so it’ll look silly. He then suggested giving him a high tech collar that reads his vocal pattern and says what he would say if he could talk but I thought that would defeat the purpose of having him mute at all. He’s not a main character but he still has a role to play in my story.
Thank you for making video. Because I am a writer with who stutters (and I don't see a other of books with people like me,that)but I also writes
Kudos for tackling the topic. It can't be emphasized enough to do research. Reach out to people and ask questions.
Clicked on a video about writing, got an ad before it that straight up told me "Everyone hates writing". Whatever the opposite of a targeted ad is, this is it lol
Thank you! Thaaaank you!
As a non disabled person, it really helps me with my writing and inclusion of different types of groups without generalizing them into one category.
As a writer and a person with several different permanent disabilities (cerebral palsy, glaucoma, and now lymphedema) this is who I am. I am a very feisty, independent woman, and as I get older, I am finding out that this is getting in my way.
it’s much better to take people at face value and learn from their experience if you want to know about a persons disability, find a person with that disability and ask questions. They of course, have every right to say no thank you I do not want to talk to you about my disability. If that happens, find someone else. That as writers we all know the biggest sin of all-never assume! LOL.
Thank you for making this video, I’m currently writing a comedy with a lead who is crippled, so was very helpful. I have another character who is transgender but having experience living as a person who has gender dysphoria I’m aware of the stigma that comes with having a disorder, I can definitely say I relate in a way.
Just a heads up, the word crippled is often frowned upon. By the way, good for you for having diverse characters.
First, ouch! The word crippled is not used these days, nor in my opinion should be. Other than that congratulations on your very diverse world! :-)
I wanna write a book with a disabled female and POC female leads but I need to do a lot of research first.
(But I also don’t want those to be the only thing known about those characters.)
The same year this video came out an Animated series about a young teenage girl who fought in war and lost both her arms. She now has a pair of mechanical prosthetic arms and she works as a typewriter who has to help send messages for people who can't read, write, are illiterate or any other reason.
Hi, I know this is a bit late, but I'm writing a fanfic for The 100 and my character (spoilers for s2, I guess) loses her leg after what happens in Mount Weather. I'm really trying to make it good, accurate, and have as little cringe as possible. My OC gets an infection due to the bad guys trying to harvest her bone marrow and her left leg is amputated below the knee. It was an idea that kept coming back to me and felt like it made sense (honestly don't know how, this stuff happens when I write. Plus fanfic doesn't tend to be very diverse).
I've done so much research on this. Seriously, I've looked at the type of infection, the surgery, the recovery, prosthetics, how they work, how to put them on/take them off, how to look after them, how to look after the residual limb and the body in general, the physical effects, psychological effects, effects on social life and how people behave around amputees, daily life, etc. I've also read a lot of personal accounts and watched videos of people talking about their daily life and experiences.
This is something I really want to do, and I want to get it as right as I possibly can. Obviously I'll pay attention to comments and listen/respond to readers' feedback. The issue is that I don't know anybody both online and in real life who is an amputee. I'd really like to just talk to someone, go over my ideas, and get feedback and advice. If anyone would be okay with that, I'd really appreciate it. :)
I like this topic. I went to school for a bit to become a sign language interpreter (before I figured out it wasn't the right career for me), and one of the things that was repeated often was to not call someone "hearing impaired" or say that they have a disability because "impaired" and "disabled" implies that someone is limited and unable to do as many things as hearing people, when they can do everything we can do except hear. As with blind, deaf was much more preferred :)
Hi! Many deaf people identify as disabled, and you really shouldn’t assume that all people think the same.
Research how prosthetics work please. My prosthetist heart breaks every time I see prosthetics that would not work with the human anatomy or any kind of anatomy.
Do you have any specific references or sources that are credible for this? I have an amputee character with a shoulder Disarticulation amputation and a hip Disarticulation one as well. I’ve done hours and hours of research already but I want to make sure I get it right for him. Thank you in advance :)
Hi there, I know this comment comes a few year later, but I just wanted to say that years ago I wrote a fanfiction where I was the main female character and included some of the real aspects of my own disability, I was born with spina bifida and later on developed hydrocephalus, as I was young at the time (about 16/17) I didn't go all the way, but now I'd like to try again, however, today's world only loves toxic "romance" novels and my own doesn't fit that characteristics
I'm sure you'd be able to find a market for your book/books
girl, i know this is a year late but dont let others novels stop you from making your own, be the change you want to see.
This is gonna help with making dnd characters
Thank you for this video!
One of my characters is deaf so thanks 😊
Please don't use physically challenged, I did not like that one when I was younger even though their were people who were telling me it was an ok way to describe someone. The people who were not born with disabilities are usually the last people to go to for advice unless the store is about someone who became do to injury, and even then I would not trust all of what they say in some cases, you can say visually impaired. Whoever she got that advice is probably someone who went blind or picked it up from an other, however at the same time yes, you could say not totally blind for example. Saying visually impaired matter as it is saying that they are not totally blind as people are stupid and will assume so either way you would have to exmaplane.
In my current story my main character is injured in a fight. She doesn't recover instead she adapts. Does that sound okay
I have special needs and I have hearing loss in my left ear and am developmentally delay and I love avatar Last Airbender is my favourite show to wat
can i ask you a question about your developmentally delay , if this is not offensive?
my main character in a book i'm writing has an older brother who has developmental disability , and she takes care of him , but i don't know how to write it , so if you have tips to how to write it without making it offensive i would be happy to hear , but only if you want to write
I'm disabled myself, and I want to write about a disability- you would think that'd be easy for me, but I'm trying to write about schizophrenia and I have a physical disability
Does anyone that has this or has a relative with it have any advice? I understand what schizophrenia is but I'm having a hard time figuring out what it's like. I'm doing this for my protagonist
This is such an old comment lol but in case this is still relevant, I suggest following some of the psychosis advocates on instagram or RUclips. I also have a blog called acutepsychotic.com where ive written a few pieces on my lived experience and representation of psychosis in media, if that's of interest
@@eliza5059 thanks :D i kinda gave up on writing that because it was really hard to write about something i could never experience, but still
@@thursdayplurbonym-boyporri8921 best of luck with your future writing projects then!
That's so funny, I'm in the reverse place as that. I have a psychotic disorder (and a bunch of other mental illnesses and neurodivergencies) and I'm working on a story with a physically disabled lead
@@haichie1341 oh that is pretty funny, and plus in the 2 years it's been since i wrote that comment i started having some psychotic symptoms as well and had to go to a psychiatrist so it turns out i'm mentally ill too lol. i guess i'm in both positions now. how is the story going? it sounds cool
Thank you the advice. Trying to write a book with a character who is mute and find it hard to represent them properly
The thing for me is, I wasn’t like “oh I want to write a story about a character who’s… Autistic! Or an amputee!” I made a character in my head, and then realized based on the way this character is that he’s mentally disabled. I’m pretty sure he represents somewhere on the autism spectrum. I’m not trying to make the character fit a mental disability tho, I’m trying to do the opposite. He’s clearly mentally disabled, but I’m not sure exactly what it is he has or if I would somehow offend someone when making this project (even without stating he has a mental disorder.) Should i just give up on the idea?
I had the same with my current OC (but she's a bk amputee). I wrote down everything about her in her character profile and planned out the entire plot and the idea kept coming back to me that she'd lose her leg. I've had a lot of experiences where my characters make decisions that I never planned or have something about them that I didn't originally realise. It's like they already exist and I'm just writing what they do. Her injury and amputation happen partway through the story, so the readers will actually see her trying to adapt to such a big change. I've done so much research but what I'm lacking in is the actual advice of someone who is an amputee (I'd really appreciate that, if anyone would be okay with it).
I don't have a disability, so I could be wrong, but I think you should stick to it if you really want to. Do lots of research, talk to people, listen to the feedback you receive. Make it as accurate as you can. There are so many websites out there with advice on all-sorts, so look through as much as you can (not just mental disorders, but just disability in general and how it's treated in fiction). TV Tropes might have some good stuff on what to avoid maybe check that out. Good luck! :)
So I know that's not a disability per se but one of my main characters has cancer that is too widely spread to be cured. So she has the mindset that she would rather "go down blazing than wither away in a hospital bed" and considers her body weak because of the cancer (but it's been established that other characters do NOT think that because obviously it's not true). That mindset really fits her character and motivations but I'm worried that if a person with cancer reads that they'll feel bad about themselves etc. Because my character would rather die fighting than being destroyed by her own body. Is that a problematic thing to write?
I don't think so. People handle experiences differently. I would suggest doing research into the type of cancer your giving this character so it doesn't seem overly impossible.
It sounds like a great premise and I'm happy to see where it goes.
For me, I am planning on creating a comic with one of the main characters being a anthropomorphic dog that has wobbles. This video really helps me and inspires me to do research on this stuff
1:37
Ah there‘s actually a really wholesome story of a guy.
He basically bought himself something like a little elevator for his wheelchair to be able to walk his daughter to the altar, while also being able to look into her eyes.
He was grinning when it was build into his wheelchair and told us that he now could change his size at will and according to the situation, like Antman. XD
He was actually a really funny Dude. Like when his leg prosthetics just swam away in the swimming pool, he just made jokes about it, being playfully overly dramatic.
I have an oc who was diagnosed with a chronic pain disorder as a kid but then he ends up in a lab accident which makes him lose his entire left arm and right leg. Over the course of the story I want to make nonverbal cues showing that yes, he’s constantly wearing his prosthetics but you see him slowly use a wheelchair more and more as a ambulatory wheelchair user throughout the story because he’s finally doing what will help his quality of life be better for himself. I’m not sure if this is a good way to go about this since I am disabled but I don’t have his disabilities. This story goes over the course of about 3-5 years I think.
If anyone has suggestions on how to write his acceptance of needing a wheelchair some days without it seeming like I’m writing a disability and not a whole character like she said in the video I would greatly appreciate any and all advice.
I should also mention when he was younger before the lab accident and after it before he used his wheelchair more, he used cigarettes to cope with the chronic pain he was experiencing which is a big reason it took him as long as it did to accept that he needed to use a mobility aid like a wheelchair instead of an unhealthy coping mechanism.
His story mainly revolves around him finding his passion in life after dealing with shitty parents who never allowed him to do the things he loved like music and mechanical engineering. They had him working overtime and they took advantage of him being their child and his intelligence for physics as well. I know there’s a lot of stories where characters fall into the trope of their story being all about their disability and not about the person behind it. I want to write about him coming to terms with his new life without it being the forefront of his story but it still having an obvious emotional impact for both the audience and for himself.
I really like writing him because I want to write him as an independent character who lets someone care for him when he needs it and it’s something I know I’ll need to tread carefully especially with his mental and physical health conditions. I just don’t think there’s enough media talking about that it’s okay for a disabled person to need help sometimes and that being vulnerable in those moments of need is perfectly okay and a very real thing. While yes, he modifies his prosthetics and builds his own weaponry using his physics and engineering skills. He also has had someone rescue him from the very lab accident he could not physically get out of, he has surgery performed on him to stop the blood loss from losing two fucking limbs and he heals and grows from his experiences. He knows how to fight on his own and makes his weapons accessible for him and his individual, specific needs.
Idk I’m going on a very long tangent here bc I’m obsessed with his character arc and writing him but yeah.
I plan to have the protagonist loose an arm, an eye, part of their jaw, and have brain damage and trauma disorders like BPD and PTSD. I plan to have them have temporary left side paralysis on the same tide that they lost their limb, though it is harder to write as they are a super soldier in a sci-fi setting, an artificial human with different healing capabilities and different anatomy that would make these disabilities different than they would be on a regular person.
How should I go about this?
This is very helpful! I'm writing a selectively mute character for a role playing type game. This is a bit difficult since I don't want them to play charades the entire time. I've given her two people who can translate. I want to have some scenes where the party has been split up and he's left with no one who reads sign language though. It'll be fun and interesting hopefully I'll learn a lot!
(My character normally uses all pronouns Incase anyone's confused)
Interesting concept-one suggestion to make it even more interesting. You might want to consider adding a lot of different types of sign language. remember the world does not run strictly on American Sign Language…. Lol :-)
How might I be able to find beta readers to read my manuscript? Mine in particular is about a violinist coping with losing his hearing due to an autoimmune die
disease that isn’t exactly known in ye old 1870s (he accepts it)
I have a genetic metabolism disability
I have a protagonist who got Crohn's at 13 in my story. The condition made others reject him. Reason that he says he wants to be cured at one point.
Also have a villain who got scarred in a sword fight. But I don't what to have another scarred villain.
One of my WIPs has a young woman on the autism spectrum as my protagonist.
One of my characters was born without one of his legs from just above where his knee should be. Is it ok if i give him a bright red prosthetic leg and have him put stickers on it?
im writing a book snd i wanted one of thr leader charters to be blind. The only problem is im worried that ill do it wrong so im doing my research.however her group is supposed to fall as its a new nation and is attacked by a more established one. She and alot of her subjects survive and eventually make a comeback with a tiny bit of help from another nation (because they need a base) i aas wondering if this is offensive in any way?
I want to talk to people with disabilities to understand their experiences, where should I start in finding them online?
in my story the main character has a brother who has developmental disability , and because of that she basically has to do everything for him . now , i don't know if this is true , but like , she's 17 and he's 23 , and in the story she still baths him sometimes cuz he can't do it himself , but is it like true?-
Your best bet is to do research on what type of developmental disability your character has and about the role of caregivers.
Question for anyone: What about having a character with a made up disability? (It’s a physical disability that prevents him from being able to shape shift)
The advice presented here can be generalized for whatever you need. It might be helpful to use an existing disability as a baseline and adapt that to what your fantastical disability might be.
I have specialneeds and i am globally delayed and i have hereing loss and i love avatar thelastairbender
Watching this cus want write a mute chater
I am writing a book about this blind kid but he isn't blind.....its a curse call the eyes of soul where he lives in the real world but he can only see the world as this parallel world of spirits and the dead and its a fantasy book and he is an avian (bird person) is this wrong????
I think that's a pretty cool idea. It doesn't sound offensive if that's what you're worried about. I'd say go for it! :D
p.s. if you finish the book, pls give me a link! I'd like to check it out.
@@moyrr4686 Thx! And I'll try and remember to send the link but if I don't it will most likely by on wattpad :)
P.s: this is the first book I'm ever finishing so Idk how good it will be lol
Well technically no one has this disability because I made it up! And because I made it up, I can make all the rules. That's what fun about fiction, you can just make up a disability.
i have one more do's , kill the character in the first page so that you don't have to bother with them
How is that a do, not only is it rather ableist but it’s lazy writing!
@@RayDrawzDragonz and that's the fun part
@@inferniep90 Killing characters off is fun but why do you gotta specifically kill the disabled ones???
@@RayDrawzDragonz try to guess, i'll give you an hit, because it's funnier
@@inferniep90 because your ableist?