[stylist] advice on hearing blind characters.

[helene ryles]

There will be more about these 2 characters later in chapter. The
affect I wanted was to wet the readers interest in the characters.
Particularly Hari as he's a major character in the plot. Does what
I've written so far make people want to read further into the chapter?

On 23/10/2008, helene ryles <dreamavdb at googlemail.com> wrote:
> 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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