[stylist] writing about blindness

Tue Nov 11 23:14:45 UTC 2008

Giving your characters the same kind of life as a sighted character would 
probably be the way to approach it.  Give them a love interest, place them 
in a school setting, a business setting, make them a computer wizzard or 
something else that many in the sighted world can identify with.  Don't 
constantly tell the reader that the character is blind.  Let them live a 
normal life doing the things that all people do.  We all live like that. 
None of us live in dirt, eat  pet food or run around naked.  Keep your plot 
interesting with all the components that comprise other novels.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Angela fowler" <fowlers at syix.com>
To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 5:45 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] writing about blindness


>I wonder if writing about blind characters who are just ordinary people,
> maybe even having a minor role in the story and publishing it mainstream
> would help to transcend that divide?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Judith Bron
> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 2:37 PM
> To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] writing about blindness
>
> If you are going to write about a minority, be that racial, ethnic or
> handicapped, you  might want to try publishers or periodicals that are
> dedicated to that particular genre.  Yes, there are times that you can
> transcend the divide, but you have to write with the audience you are
> writing for.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 4:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] writing about blindness
>
>
>> Jim,
>> You make a couple of good points here.  I am very conscious that, if I
>> intend to market a short story, having it be about blindness may turn
>> off a publication.  I do have several ideas that I've been sitting on
>> which are about the ironies of how blind people are viewed and
>> treated, but, as I say, I'm sitting on them.
>> Donna
>>
>> --
>> For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
>> http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>
>> Apple I-Tunes
>>
>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244
>> 374
>>
>> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>> www.padnfb.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> James Canaday M.A. N6YR wrote:
>>> Aziza,
>>> that's one problem we're up against as blind people in this society:
>>> very very few examples or role models in the media, the books, etc.
>>> whether to write a character as blind or not is honestly not the
>>> first thing on my mind because I'm more interested when I have an
>>> idea, I want to write a story about some particular struggle, some
>>> puzzle to be unravveled.
>>> it is also important to remember that sometimes having a major
>>> character who is blind makes your story harder for some readers to
>>> get into, have the verisimilitude, because they don't experience
>>> blindness and don't know a blind person.
>>> so there is also a catch-22 about it.
>>>
>>> ***
>>> personal update:
>>> by the way I seem to be getting sicker with more of the flu-like
>>> symptoms getting very bad: headache; other aches; stiffness; etc.
>>> apparently I will get worse before I get better.  last thursday I
>>> started the once-a-week shot to treat my autoimmune disorder.  thank
>>> you for praying if you do.
>>> jim
>>>
>>> Jim Canaday M.A.
>>> Lawrence, KS
>>>
>>>
>>> At 01:14 PM 11/11/2008, you wrote:
>>>> I suppose I could write about blind people better, but I read a lot
>>>> of fiction books, and most of them have sighted characters. I draw
>>>> from those descriptions, also in class, you don't see the teacher
>>>> teaching many texts with blind people in them. I think I can write
>>>> about fiction sighted characters as well as I can blind fiction
>>>> characters. I may of course be wrong.
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Angela fowler"
>>>> <fowlers at syix.com>
>>>> To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 12:07 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] writing about blindness
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I guess it depends on your frame of mind at the time of writing.
>>>>> While blind fiction writers can depict blind characters obviously
>>>>> far more accurately than sighted fiction writers, we limit
>>>>> ourselves if we stick exclusively to blind characters or blindness
>>>>> issues.
>>>>> As for articles, I've been writing about a lot of blindness related
>>>>> stuff lately. Its funny, I went into my historical research and
>>>>> writing class vowing I was going to write about anything but a
>>>>> blindness issue, and ended up writing about the way the ADA effects
>>>>> blind people. Go figure.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>>>> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aziza
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:00 AM
>>>>> To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
>>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] writing about blindness
>>>>>
>>>>> I don't write about being blind either. I mean unless it's my 
>>>>> articles.
>
>>>>> But
>>>>> when I write storries, all my characters can see, and have other
>>>>> problems they must overcome in their lives.
>>>>> I don't think it's denial at all.
>>>>> Aziza
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Judith Bron" <jbron at optonline.net>
>>>>> To: "Stylist" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:51 AM
>>>>> Subject: [stylist] writing about blindness
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not in denial nor do I ignore the fact that I do have a handicap
>>>>>> that I have to overcome on a daily basis.  However, when I am writing
>>>>>> I seem to go into a different world.  I write about people who are
>>>>>> ill, some of my characters die and others fall into the clutches of
>>>>>> bad people.  If I say that blindness bores me, you might come out 
>>>>>> with
>>>>>> an arms length of causes for my symptoms.  However, a person does not
>>>>>> necessarily want to write about those things they live with and rise
>>>>>> above on a daily basis.  I am fat.  Writing about being fat falls
>>>>>> under
>>>>> the same category as blind.
>>>>>> Live with it.  Fight against it as much as possible, but it shouldn't
>>>>>> dominate every facet of your life.  Again, you may think I'm in some
>>>>>> kind of denial, but I'm not.  I won't drive a car into a crowd, try
>>>>>> sewing a garment while it is on the back of my would be victim and I
>>>>>> won't pretend to read the paper when I can't even make out one 
>>>>>> picture
>>>>>> in the blasted thing.  Judith
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
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