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The Stories We Tell
Creating a believable Disabled Main Character
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou
An estimated twenty to twenty five percent of the adult population has a disability in one form or another, whether it be mental, physical, emotional, psychological or a combination. With percentages so high it’s astonishing that we don’t have more representation in literature, in media and in
film, so it’s hard to feel represented, if you have so little representation, so early on I decided I would write stories about disabilities.
Creating a Character with a disability is not always an easy task, but there is some advice that can help, first off as with writing about anything do your research, be careful to not make your story sound like something it’s not and remember those with disabilities have all the emotions everyone else does, so don’t make it sound like they are always having a pity party and on the flip side, don’t make it seem like they are in a perceptual state of happiness either.
01:) When writing about disabilities, research different ones, don’t rely on standards.
02:) Research well, and use that research wisely.
03:) It’s important to explore what’s positive about your characters disability. Those with…
