[stylist] advice on hearing blind characters.

Thu Oct 23 04:49:01 UTC 2008

Thanks very much for your reply Angela. The sample is the beginning of
chapter 3. I've written 21 chapters so far. I found when I first
started writing that sometimes it's best to get idea's well establishe
etc before people read as too much critism at the begginging can give
you a bad case of writers cramp. Now I just have to figure out how to
draw the book to an end and work on character improvements. Fine
tuning etc.

What I'm mostly interested to know is what it's like being fully
hearing? rather then what it's like to be blind since I know as I am
deafblind myself. Only being profoundly deaf I  rely on the sense of
touch, smell (although to a lesser degree), and at times a very small
amount of sight although I don't always have that. It varies on the
environment I'm in.  wheras a hearing blind person would rely on
hearing,  touch, and smell. I don't know if I explained myself well
enough the first time round.

On 23/10/2008, Angela fowler <fowlers at syix.com> wrote:
> Fine so far. A couple grammatical errors, but no problem with your portrayal
> of "hearing blind characters" that I can see. I'd have set the scene with a
> little background, who the two major players are and where the team is
> heading, though.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces+fowlers=syix.com at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:stylist-bounces+fowlers=syix.com at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of helene
> ryles
> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 3:20 PM
> To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] advice on hearing blind characters.
>
> Here is a sample of my work:
>
>
>    "Blindness isn't as bad as you think it is Paril.  Once you learn the
> necessary blind skills you will find you can do anything you want.
>  Except for slaying Dragons, unless you have magic as powerful as Myra's
> that is." Hari Murdag, the team healer, explained to his
> colleague Paril Emai.   Paril was struggling to keep up with the team,
> tripping over everything in his path.  Hari, who was also blind, had little
> difficulty detected obstacles he found in the hot sandy terrain.  He used a
> long cane.  Now and again one of his team mates would call out to him with
> directions.  In this sort of terrain he didn't even need guiding as he
> simply followed his team mates by the sound of their voices.
>    "Well I know the sort of things you got up to.  My wife tells me how you
> and your brother used to commit incest right in front of her and the
> children.  Can't you and that infuriating bat get it into your heads that I
> don't need your blind skills as I'm not blind" retorted Paril as he tripped
> over every stone in his path.
>     Hari turned away in frustration.  Paril was forever bring his sexuality
> into the conversation, along with all sorts of lies that his crazy wife
> Savasha came up with.  Despite this,  Hari couldn't help but pity the guy.
> It was clear to everyone else on the team that Paril's sight had been
> deteriorating for months.  It was due to some sort of human ailment called
> retinitis pigmentosa which was quite rare
> for people with demon blood to inherit.   He was also in deep denial.
>  Not only about his sight lose but about his wife too.   She was a
> compulsive liar who showed him neither love, respect, or even common
> courtesy.
>     Earlier Venom had announced that Paril no longer had a place on
> his team.   There had been angry words exchanged and they had both
> resorted to insulting each others various family members.   The
> friction in the air was still quite deadly.  Hari wouldn't have been
> surprised if Venom had put a curse on Paril, instead of which he'd simply
> resorted to cruel and cutting remarks at Paril's expense.
>     Blindness by itself wouldn't have caused Paril Emai's expulsion from the
> team.  There had been whole generations of blind Murdag who all worked as
> healers.
>     In fact Venom had been meaning to give him simple jobs to do until he
> was better adapted to his blindness, but Paril Emai had refused to learn how
> to use a long cane or any other blind skills for that matter.  Venom kept
> trying to send him for some training with Myra, only Paril had refused to
> go.  He wouldn't let Hari teach him anything either.  It was almost as if he
> believed that the total rejection of everything to do with blindness would
> somehow prevent his sight from leaving him completely.  Hari could only hope
> he came to his senses soon.  It was clear to everyone on the team that he
> was now more of a liability then an asset.
>     It was his reckless determination to get into the line of conflict with
> the dragon, that had almost cost the life of another slayer, Shirn Skunki.
> Shirn had risked his own life to push him out of harms
> way.     Venom was particularly furious because Shirn had been one of
> his best slayers.  Shirn's legs were now badly burnt and they had to take
> him to the hospital at Port Nisea for an amputation.
>
> On 21/10/2008, helene ryles <dreamavdb at googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Thanks very much for all your advice so far.
>>
>> Yes, I have read Harry Potter several times in Braille. Tapes are
>> useless to me as I am profoundly deaf now. Disabled characters in
>> fiction aren't the best to copy from which is why I feel it's best to
>> copy in real life in that case. Which I'm researching at the moment.
>>
>> I don't have a problem with interacting of characters as such. I know
>> what a deafblind person can do as I am deafblind myself. But a hearing
>> blind person would also be able to rely much more on their hearing
>> too. I used to be hard of hearing but now I don't have any useful
>> hearing to speak of. So from a discriptive point of view I'm curious
>> what hearing blind people would know through their sense of hearing
>> and what use can be gained. What is realistic and what isn't for
>> example.  So I only can discribe sound from memory and reading books.
>> Although I also struggle when I write from the prospective to describe
>> a scene without using either sound or sight as in the case of a
>> deafblind character.
>>
>> Now I'll go and find a scene for me to paste here.
>> Helene.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 20/10/2008, Judith Bron <jbron at optonline.net> wrote:
>>> Do you read braille?  If not, learn how to do it.  If yes, start
>>> reading fantasy books to see how their characters talk to each other and
> others.
>>> Read as many books as your fingertips can handle.  This is the best
>>> way to see how characters relate to each oth3er in fiction.  If you
>>> can hear enough to listen to books on tape, that is another good way
>>> to hear how characters of this nature relate to each other.  The
>>> ohnly fantasy series I've heard on tape is Harry Potter.  His
>>> characters are not disabled but as far as I could hear, the
>>> differences between the way they related to other "witches" and
>>> Moguls or humans was minimal.  These witches had human emotions.
>>> Keep in mind that relaying emotion in fiction, be it fantasy or not,
>>> is important so that your reader has a better handle on the
>>> character.  Good luck, Judith
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "helene ryles" <dreamavdb at googlemail.com>
>>> To: "NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 3:18 AM
>>> Subject: [stylist] advice on hearing blind characters.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hello. My name is helene ryles. I am new to this group. I am writing
>>>> a fantasy book which has several blind, deaf and deafblind
>>>> characters in it.
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to have hearing blind people in this book and would
>>>> apreciate advice on some scenes that are seen from a hearing blind
> perspective.
>>>> As I am deafblind myself.
>>>>
>>>> The main ones are:
>>>>
>>>> Hari Murdag: He is an intelligent mobile blind person. Although his
>>>> family are very domineering. They expect him to get married and have
>>>> children although he is also homosexual. They also expect him to
>>>> become a healer on the local dragon slaying team like his blind
>>>> father Ali. Although he doesn't want that. He's in the middle of
>>>> taking a degree at medical school when his evil half brother Venom
>>>> comes to press gang him into joining his team. He eventually has to
>>>> drop out of medical school and turns to mobility training and
>>>> establishes his own blind school which is funded by his rich
>>>> grandmother Myra and the money he earns from being the healer on the
>>>> dragon slaying team. Venom does not aprove of this enterprise since
>>>> it eats up rather then raises money which he hopes to one day inherit.
>>>>
>>>> Myra Murdag: Hari's Grandmother.  Very independant blind woman.  She
>>>> also happens to be a witch and a healer.  She is also extremely rich.
>>>> Partly from inheritance but also from a sucessful buisness she runs
>>>> selling potions and human breast milk. She also works as a midwife.
>>>> She is disapointed in Hari because she doesn't approve of his
>>>> lifestyle and his reluctance to get married and produce children. So
>>>> she spends a lot of time trying to introduce him to various
>>>> prospective brides who she tries presurizing him into marrying.  She
>>>> is very conservative in her views. She does however fund his school
>>>> since many of his pupils are from poor backgrounds. She also fund
>>>> intervieners for some of her deafblind relatives and also some
>>>> children from poor families who she considers promising.  she won't
>>>> help Hari's brother Malaz after he leaves the house with his mad
>>>> wife Savasha. Even though he has also 2 young children to care for.
>>>> (For years Savasha was  being kept locked in a room but then when
>>>> Myra gets enough critizm about this she just throws Savasha and
>>>> Malaz out).  She also fails to accept the evil nature of Hari's older
> brother Venom.
>>>> He eventually becomes President Venom Murdag after overthrowing the
>>>> previous dictator. After that she sets up her own boarding school
>>>> for girls which has a blindness skills unit attached. Prior to that
>>>> the former dictator did not permit the education of girls although
>>>> she has had a lot of practice with educating all her daughters,
>>>> granddaughters and great grandaughter. The boys get sent to boarding
> school.
>>>>
>>>> These are the main blind characters although I have several minor
>>>> ones as well such as Hari's blind father Ali who was the team healer
>>>> before losing his legs when a dragon attacks camp. Which is when
>>>> Hari is supposed to take his place. Another minor character is Paril
>>>> who suffers from RP but doesn't want to admit it. Myra goes so far
>>>> as to insist everyone on the witches comitee meeting that she's head
>>>> of (which Paril, Hari and Ali belong to) is to learn braille and
>>>> long cane tecniques wether they can see or not in order to try and
>>>> force Paril to change his ways. There are also a number of blind
>>>> children including a set of blind septuplets which she gets when
>>>> Venom tries to single handedly create his own army of prospective
>>>> dragon slayers by making his wives wear these powerful fertility
>>>> charms. Myra is literally left 'holding the baby'. She ends up
>>>> having to baracade herself, wives, helpers and babies in the nursery
>>>> until Venom 'comes to his senses'.
>>>>
>>>> I hope people will be interested in my work. I'll admit my
>>>> characters tend to be extrodinary rather then just ordinary
>>>> 'normal'. This goes for both blind and sighted characters. since I tend
> to find  'normal'
>>>> characters rather dull. I do however want to create blind characters
>>>> out of the usual 'helpless' steriotypes that they are portrayed in.
>>>> Myra is anything BUT the usual Helpless blind character. She's very
>>>> forceful and domineering but she does have her good side too.
>>>>
>>>> Helene.
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