garrettauthor:

the-world-of-the-bestiary:

After reading an exchange here on tumblr today, I just have to say…

It’s not that hard to make a disabled protagonist. I’ve got a couple in the novel I’m writing RIGHT NOW. Not only because it includes people who want to see themselves on the pages, but also because a character who isn’t perfect makes for good storytelling.

It adds backstory. It adds reader interest. It adds obstacles that can be overcome. If you have a world very much like the world we live in, it also adds stories of discrimination which can generate natural sympathy for your character–or not, because some people are dicks, and that’s also good storytelling.

And to summarize some of the other comments, “disabled” doesn’t mean “missing a limb or three.” It CAN mean that. It CAN mean that a character uses a wheelchair or other mobility device or a prosthetic. It can also mean anxiety, or depression, or another illness.

Some examples of disability in media:

Remember House in the show House? His disability was drug dependency, and also the severe pain from a muscular infarct, which added to his character.

There’s also Sunny in the Wings of Fire book series. She’s a Sandwing with no venomous stinger, and seen by the vast majority of other dragons as “useless.” Her friends even coddle her because of it!

Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica. She’s got cancer. It’s killing her. And yet, she still takes on the role as president of the colonies and sees them all through to a new earth.

Pearl in Steven Universe. A severe lack of self and crushing depression that manifests as OCD at times. She has trouble living as an individual and sometimes sees herself as a tool to be used by others to make them happy.

And that’s just four I can think of off the top of my head.

And I’ll admit, years ago when I started telling myself to diversify my characters, it was hard. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was told by many people that diversity killed stories. That people didn’t want to read about a black character struggling with racism, or a character who wouldn’t speak, or a character with a missing limb, because people consumed media to get away from real life.

But it’s not true. People want to read this stuff. People want to see themselves in the pages. They want to experience other people on television or in the novels they read.

And I will keep writing diversity until it’s not controversial when things like Rue from The Hunger Games is revealed as being a little black girl in the movie.

Stop being afraid of characters who aren’t perfect. Write them and allow them to thrive.

Relevant.