Wednesday 20 March 2013

How Do Writers Deal with Disability?



As most of you know, I have been a keen dancer for nearly two decades. A few years ago, my dance of choice was modern jive and I went to as many classes and dances as I could. At these dances, it is customary to swap dance partners during the evening and my favourite dance partner (let’s call him Ken) was in a wheel chair.
 
This might seem strange to hear but he was a very popular dancer: he had perfect rhythm, he led the moves beautifully – making sure his partners didn’t catch themselves on his chair, did a mean spin on his back wheels and was friendly and courteous (something that couldn’t be said for all the dancers)
 
I never knew what confined Ken to his wheel chair, in the same way as I didn’t know most of the other dancers' professions or where they lived.– we were all just there to dance and Ken would always be the person I would seek out as he made dancing a pleasure for his parners.
 
This brings me to the question of how we deal with disability in our writing. Do we, as authors, include enough characters with disabilities in our writing? Should we write about someone with a disability as just another character in our plot (as Ken was just another dancer at the jive dance) or should we should weave the story around the disability.

Ruth Hunt is a writer with spinal cord injuries who has written a thought provoking guest post, on the subject of disability and fiction, called 'Do You Dare to be Different' over at author Marianne Wheelaghan's blog. Please do visit her there and join in the discussion - she would love to hear from you.
 

16 comments:

  1. Hi Wendy, thanks so much for highlighting Ruth's blog post here and for telling us about your great dance partner, Ken. I had no idea it was possible to "jive" while being confined to a wheel chair. It is not what I'd expect, which just shows you what I know! Thanks again :)

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  2. I think my readers will find Ruth's post very thought provoking, Marianne.

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  3. I sometimes do include characters with disabilities in my writing. So far I've only done that in short stories but I'm currently working on a longer piece with a disabled mc.

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    1. I have only written one story with a character with a disability.

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  4. Years ago I subbed a story about a disabled woman; her disability was the twist. It was comprehensively rejected! And now of course I've lost it ....

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    1. I think years ago that probably was the case. Unfortunately attitudes towards people with disabilities has only changed fairly recently. However now it is commonplace for books for young people and children to have a disability focus and bit by bit mainstream fiction is accepting and welcoming books. If you have a story or novel, I want to pass on a tip. Get it reviewed by one of the leading disability charities.......

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    2. That's a shame your story was rejected, Frances. I wonder where it is now?

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    3. This is very good to hear Carmen and Miranda and thanks for the tip.

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  5. An interesting post. I'd hadn't really thought of this before. I guess maybe we write about characters and attributes we're familiar with. Dementia has cropped up in my stories a few times and I think that's because of my own family experiences.

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    1. I think Ruth's post has made us all think a bit, Tracy.

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  6. Very interesting, Wendy, and I like the sound of Ken! I've only used disability once, in my tween book, Summer of the Eagles, where one of the girls has a little sister with Downs - she's just incorporated naturally into the group in those scenes where the all the young people appear. The main character, Stevie, has also been left slightly lame after the terrible accident that killed her parents.

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  7. I think your little girl with Downs syndrome is an example of how Ruth would like people with disabilities to be incorporated naturally into a story. Ruth has told me, over on her blog, that she has been reading this post but hasn't been able to leave acomment so I hope she would agree with this.

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  8. Hi Wendy,
    You are spot on! As I've friends who are published writers, and novelists( and disabled) we've put together a five point plan to help in getting published. It's on the blog. Carmel and Miranda is me, Ruth! Thanks for your help here Wendy!
    Best wishes, Ruth

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    1. Sorry, meant Carmen and Miranda! My typing needs to improve!

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    2. Hi Ruth. Sorry. I hadn't realised it was you! I hope everyone reading this blog will go and have a look at your five point plan - thanks!

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    3. Hi Wendy
      Really appreciated your help in promoting the post. Your story about Ken and thoughtful comments made my day. Good luck with you writing!
      Best wishes,
      Ruth also known as Carmen and Miranda!

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