We all have limitations in life, physical or mental or both, but most American fiction is written from the viewpoint of an average, or above average, able-bodied, mentally-stable perspective. Of the stories that aren’t, many of them are written about or for children and teens. By adding adult characters with disabilities to our stories, we can give adults living with life-long limitations characters they can relate to in stories that value those characters’ contribution to moving the story forward. Among many other benefits, by writing about or from the viewpoint of a disabled character, we can learn new skills, gain new insight into existing characters, jumpstart a storyline, and generally diversify our fictional worlds. George RR Martin, John Irving, Robin Hobb, Dean Koontz, Nicholas Sparks, Lisa Genova (Still Alice), and Patricia Wood (Lottery) are all American writers who regularly include adult disabled characters in the worlds they create.
Writing characters with limitations takes practice. Before you have a specific character or disability in mind, you can still sharpen your craft by imposing limits on your writing. Try writing a scene without sound in a crowded marketplace. Try it without sight instead. Write a sex scene using only the senses of taste and touch. Write about showering on one leg or while using only one arm. Even seemingly minor and more common limitations like someone being hard-of-hearing or taller than average can yield interesting perspectives that add insightful dimensions to a story.
If your work is milieu or theme-based, a disabled character can serve the story, just like any other non-limited character, to illustrate your world or theme. If your story is character-driven, it’s about the character, not his limitations. That said, having a major plot point result from a benefit of his limitation isn’t a bad idea. Likewise, if you’re adding a secondary or one-off disabled character to a work in progress, consider making her limitation the reason she can contribute useful information to drive the story to the next plot point, rather than having her contribute despite it. Don’t overuse this technique or, vice-versa, harp on a character’s limitations, without purpose. For most of the story, disabled characters who aren’t wrestling with their disabilities as the main point of their appearance should be just living their lives like everyone else.
Being open to writing disabled characters can further define our concept of a story or save a plot point. The story itself can help us choose which limitation or multiple limitations to give those characters. For example, maybe you need a deaf footman to become the holder of a delicious secret in Victorian England because only he can lip read. In your house of horrors, who could discover a reappearing bloody handprint beneath a low shelf? How about a wheel-chair bound housewife with obsessive-compulsive disorder related to cleaning? We can also use disabled minor characters to reflect main characters’ personalities or prejudices or reveal something about them that becomes significant as the story progresses.
Unless you’re writing about a disability you live with everyday, creating a character with limitations requires research and education. Don’t rely completely on what can be learned of your character’s disability online. Seek out experts to help you with your portrayal. Use your critique group. Ask your friends and acquaintances for help finding a reader with the disability you’re portraying to provide you with knowledge about their daily life and give you valid feedback.
Broadening our fictional worlds with the inclusion of characters with limitations not only adds realism to our stories, but may make a reader’s day when they see someone just like them portrayed in a well-educated way. Please share your thoughts on, or your experience of, writing disabled characters. Join me on the first Friday of each month for exploration, discovery, and discussion of the writing life.
Wanda Luthman
I wrote a children’s book (I know this is about adults with disabilities) about a little girl whose face was droopy on one side from birth. She is adopted because her Dad can’t take care of her without his wife and due to his overwhelming grief. She feels loved in her orphanage but overhears people talking and discovers her Mom died in childbirth giving birth to her and she feels responsible and her face now is a reminder of that. I had to work and work on making her believable and not over-the-top sad. It was a challenge and I enjoyed it. I worked with 2 editors to help bring her to life. I was told that children can’t have a droopy face from being pulled out of the womb, however, I stuck with my story because well, it’s fiction anyway. But, one day, I heard Sylvester Stallone being interviewed and that is exactly why his face is a little bit droopy on one side.
Elle Andrews Patt
Kudos, Wanda, for the work you put in to create a believable character. Thanks for sharing your experience!
David-Michael
Excellent, Elle! Wonderful ingredient for adding depth & texture to both character & story. Your piece brings to mind TV/film characters like Raymond Burr’s Ironside and LeVar Burton’s Geordi, of Star Trek fame – characters whose disabilities could advance the story, afford another layer, or provide subtle background color, all with equal enthusiasm. Many thanks!
Elle Andrews Patt
Great examples of beloved characters, David-Michael! I’m glad this post resonated with you 🙂
Richard Conrath
Thanks for posting the essay developing characters with limitations! Great idea. It also helps us to appreciate the special limitations that some people have to deal with. Some of my favorite movies have included characters with major limitations: Audrey Hepburn in “Wait Until Dark” and James Stewart in “Rear Window”.
Thanks, Elle. Great post.
Elle Andrews Patt
Now I’m going to have to watch “Wait Until Dark”, I don’t know that one! And yes, exactly—”Rear Window” is a great example of limiting your boundaries as a writer to reflect your character’s limitations. Thanks for sharing!
Ken Pelham
This is a writers’ topic I don’t think I’ve ever seen discussed with such insight, Elle! It really would force the writer to think in depth about viewpoint. Thanks so much for sharing this.
I highly recommend Dalton Trumbo’s JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN as homework for imagining disability in the extreme.
Elle Andrews Patt
Oh my gosh, Ken, never thought of Johnny Got His Gun, but yes, that’s a great rec! I’ve only seen clips of the movie. I was surprised not to find it at gutenberg.org, but for anyone interested, google.books.com has it available as a free read since it’s in the public domain: https://books.google.com/books/about/Johnny_Got_His_Gun.html?id=LnnMLLk2uU4C
Ken Pelham
It was published in 1938, and Trumbo died in 1976, so it’s not in the public domain. That Google link is for a preview only.
Elle Andrews Patt
You’re right, I thought there were more than two links since it was broken up in sections. Reading the first two sections gives a good idea of the POV and writing style, though. I don’t know what source I skimmed through trying to find a used non-annotated copy of the book gave me the impression it was public domain 🙂 That’s what I get for rushing a search to see if I could buy a copy somewhere 🙂 Barnes and Noble has paperbacks for $18.00 and Amazon has them used for $4 up and new for $29 and up if anyone’s interested. It’s going on my birthday list 🙂
Heather Dewey Pettet
I finally got around to reading this. That was well done, Elle!! I don’t know if I’ve
mentioned to you that the novel I’m writing has a character with ADHD. I picked this limitation for her to have because I have personal experience with it. Unfortunately, I think for a while I was too close to it and had a hard time with writing the story because of that. Sometimes, it’s not fun to deal with. It was hard not to delete most of this comment…
Elle Andrews Patt
Good for you, Heather! And yes, the drawback of writing what you’ve been through is that writing is an emotional act anyway and reliving your experiences from a character’s POV can churn up a lot silt you thought had settled :HUGS: On the other hand, some reader out there will be so relieved to find that not only are they not alone, but someone understands their reality in a form that they can share with others. I’m glad you didn’t delete anything!