Too Nasty About Characters

I have no close family who would or could take care of me if I became disabled with long covid!

no financial safety net either!

I own and operate a fitness business that employs 17 people, I need to stay healthy to do that

my pals with long covid and others like them deserve to be in public without risking reinfection

if I have asymptomatic covid, I would not want to pass it on to others

I am less easily identified in public with a mask on

strangers don’t make casual conversation with me when I’m running errands

I don’t have to have any specific facial expression

I don’t have to put any makeup on the lower two thirds of my face!

- SARS-CoV-2 remains prevalent and it is damaging everyone’s immune systems making other illnesses more severe.

- I don’t believe in the unnecessary and incessant spread of disease especially in the U.S. where we have no robust or reliable social safety nets and where hospitals are likely to get you sick while you’re seeking necessary care. I refuse to be part of the problem and also refuse to harm myself or the people around me.

- I am officially diagnosed with autism and ADHD, so I’ve had lifelong struggles with executive dysfunction and my brain already produces less dopamine than neurotypical brains. SARS-CoV-2 depletes your brain of dopamine - I can’t afford to malnourish my brain of dopamine further than its natural state or worsen my executive dysfunction.

- SARS-CoV-2 causes brain damage even with “mild” or asymptomatic infections. I don’t want cumulative, degenerative brain damage; that should be a no-brainer (pun-intended.)

- There is no sterilizing vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 as it stands. We also don’t have proper clean air infrastructure. And the working class cannot afford to be sick or suddenly disabled. Even when we do get a sterilizing vaccine I will continue to mask in public spaces and around people who don’t mask in public spaces because I don’t want other illnesses and I’m through with the normalization of spreading disease in a country that was founded on genocide / by colonizers who intentionally spread disease to indigenous peoples.

"I'm an art collector, and not a pervert" well I'm both so move aside.

It's insane to me that Namor was for the gays & always had been, but we will never have a pansexual Namor in comics bc comics are still struggling with queerness.

1. Slow down at emotionally important moments.

Big emotions need space to land. If a scene feels rushed, pause the plot briefly to show how the moment affects the character.

2. Add reactions, not explanations.

Instead of explaining what a character feels, show it through physical responses, hesitation, or small actions that reveal emotion naturally.

3. Ground every scene in the senses.

If a scene feels thin, add one or two sensory details—sound, texture, smell, or temperature—to make the moment feel lived-in.

4. Let thoughts interrupt action.

A line of internal thought can deepen a scene without slowing it too much. Thoughts show stakes, fear, longing, or conflict beneath the action.

5. Expand consequences, not events.

You don’t need more things to happen—you need to show what matters. Focus on how events change relationships, decisions, or self-perception.

6. Strengthen setting where emotion peaks.

The environment should echo or contrast the emotion of the scene. Setting is not decoration—it’s emotional reinforcement.

7. Add specific details instead of general ones.

Underwriting often relies on vague language. Swap “they argued” for one sharp line of dialogue or a specific breaking point.

8. Let dialogue breathe.

Short dialogue exchanges without pauses can feel flat. Add beats—silence, gestures, interruptions—to give the conversation weight.

9. Show transitions between scenes.

If scenes jump too quickly, readers feel disoriented. A brief transition helps establish time, mood, and emotional continuity.

10. Clarify stakes early in the scene.

If readers don’t know what can be lost, scenes feel empty. Make sure the character wants something specific and fears losing it.

11. Use the “what are they feeling right now?” check.

After each major beat, ask what emotion is dominant in that moment. If it’s missing on the page, the scene is likely underwritten.

12. Expand scenes that feel “too clean.”

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

A one-day event with fifty free ebooks that have been nominated for the Indieverse awards!

I haven't had time to make a complete list of queer books, but at a quick glance, there's:

This Delicate Flame by Avery Carter - sapphic

Into the Fiery Woods by Riley Taylor - queer F/M, I think bisexual

Glimmer in the Dark by Cozy Dubois - M/M, trans man, I think bi/aroace

Let The Fall by Simone Holiday - polyamory, sapphic

Honeysuckle by Aubrey Taylor - M/M

Insolence by Gwin Savage - polyamory (FF+), sapphic

I've probably missed others - let me know if you find more!

Books Read in 2026

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey