NaNoWrimo Prep: Resources for Writing A Characters With Different Physical Abilities
Most of the resources I was able to find deal with writing a deaf character. I’ve split the different links into categories of deaf, blind, and missing limbs. I’m still looking for detail-oriented posts that are work for writing paraplegic and quadriplegic characters.
Disability in general:
Stephanie Green’s Writing About Disability
Adam Pottle’s Five Rules For Creating Disabled Characters
Dannie Morin’s How To: Writing Characters With Disabilities
Fuck Yeah Character Development’s On the Handling of Disabled Characters
Gimpunk’s Writing tips: How NOT to write disabled people
Amputee/prosthetic limbs:
The Trolliest Critic’s Roleplay Guide 025: Prosthetic Limbs (Character Guide)
Blindness:
Elsa S. Henry’s So, You Wanna Write Blind Character?
Fuck Yeah Character Development’s Do you guys have any idea on how to write a blind main character?
Deafness:
AbsoluteWrite’s Writing Dialogue for a Deaf Character forum thread
Fuck Yeah Character Development’s Advice On Writing Dialogue With Signing Characters
NimblesNotebook’s Any tips/resources on writing a deaf or hearing impaired character?
Rosamund Lupton’s Writing A Deaf Character
Disclaimer: I am an able-bodied adult and I’m not trying to say writers who do not have to deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis are entitled to tell these stories. We’re not. But since there are writers who want to add accurate representations of what life is like with a physical disability to fictional literature, we should at least do our best to understand the most realistic portrayal. If something I wrote is insensitive, offensive, or wrong, please tell me so I can fix it.