#disabledcharacters

Naomi Wirthner as Molly Doran in s2 & s3 of Slow Horses

Writing disabled characters as a disabled person is both liberating and painful. Having those experiences of chronic pain makes it easier for me to describe how my MC feels about his pain. For example, how it feels like burning knives are stabbed into his leg over and over. Or how you’ll push yourself to do something, you know very well you don’t have the energy to do. Pulling from these experiences has been more liberating than I thought. It has helped me deal with some of the trauma, and also come into this acceptance that I’m still as badass as anyone else. Which is why I think writing disabled characters is just as important as writing queer characters. Everyone deserves to feel themselves connected with a character, and to live vicariously through them. This it what fiction is made for, to have these stories where our minds can run free.

But, what to me is also an important point, don't just include them to say "Oh yeah, my book is so diverse". Make them have a purpose. Make them the main character. The love interest. The villain. Make them someone who matters. Make them just as complex, strong and driven as any other character, because they are.

And, for the love of God, don't have them magically be "fixed" at the end of the book. Don't make it seem as if there's something that even needs to be fixed. Make them be proud of who they are, make them the hero of the story.

So far I've only come across very few books that featured disabled characters and even fewer books in which it was done well.

For example the Throne of Glass series: One character, Chaol Westfall, is injured and paralyzed from the waist down. Now I love his character and I absolutely loved that he got an own book and a real storyline so we can see the way he deals with his trauma and all of that. And I really think that it was done well - except for the end. While he's not completely healed, they find a way to make him walk again for most of the time. Idk about you, but I didn't really understand what the problem is with just letting it be. Especially since he had come to terms with it so well and had healed emotionally as well. I didn't understand it.

Another book series that has become my absolute favourite is the Six of Crows duology. In it, there are two characters with disabilities. Kaz, the leader of the group, has a limp and walks with a cane. And Wylan, one of the members of his crew, is dyslexic and can't read. Both of them are in no way reduced to just being a disabled person and they are so layered and complex.

Basically all I want to say is that people shouldn't be afraid to write about things that haven't been written about before. In my opinion the saying "Write what you know" is complete and utter bullshit. No author has ever been to Faerie or the future. Writing is about using your imagination. And if you're afraid of offending someone by portraying something the wrong way, just ask. Inform yourself. Read about the topic. But write.

Cyndra awakened a power she doesn't understand. Zorin needs that power to survive.  https://amzn.to/2kZmFxz