The key to this is research, in my opinion. All kinds of useful research you can get.
There are forums on the net where I’m sure a lot of people would be willing to answer any questions you might have. People usually like to talk about their experiences. Google “deaf forums” or “deaf community” for a good place to start.
Have some interesting links I found
- Deaf Characters In Fiction and Drama
- Deaf In Literature (The following bibliography includes: novels; short stories; poetry; young adult and children’s books; plays; criticism and anthologies; biographies and autobiographies by and about people who are deaf. All of them may be found in theRIT Library.)
- Deaf Characters In Novels and Short Stories
- Characteristics and Charecterization
- Writing Dialogue for a Deaf Character Forum
- Advice on writing dialogue with signing characters
- 10 Things you should never say to a deaf person
- 5 things I like about being deaf and5 Thinds I dislike about being deaf
- How different is the world without hearing
If you have more, feel free to reply or send them to me!
Overall, I think being deaf should not be the only thing your character has or is. There’s always more to people than just their disabilities or problems. People adapt, they don’t let that one thing define them. I personally like the idea of interviewing people willing to answer any doubts you might have, because in the end they know better what it’s like. Also reading good stories on the matter, and overall, learning all you can.
Best of luck,
-Alex
Tag: disability in fiction
It’s hot on the bus, and Bucky’s trying hard to keep away from the people next to him. People are full of strange smells and textures, perfumed with chemicals he doesn’t recognize. They smell like sweat and food, and none of it is like he remembers. He pulls his hat down and watches people board.
A girl gets on the bus and pauses at the front to rummage in her purse for a token. She’s got brightly colored clips in her hair, a denim vest studded with shining buttons, and short shorts that reveal a muscular brown thigh and calf. But that’s not why Bucky suddenly finds himself staring.
He’s looking at the other leg.
The bottom section looks like a piston, one thin metal bar sliding into a mechanism whose workings seem to be mostly hidden where the prosthetic disappears into the girl’s boot. The top is larger, and above the knee joint, there’s a large cylindrical casing almost the volume of the girl’s other thigh. The casing is painted, covered entirely with an astonishingly vivid range of blues, violets, turquoises, sea-greens, creams, and golds. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his memory spits out the name Claude Monet, and water lilies, and an image of a blond-haired boy standing beside him, mouth open in wonder.
Bucky’s heart thumps hard in his chest, and when the girl sits down across from him and pulls out a book, all he can do is stare, because abruptly she’s the most amazing thing in the world: a person who’s made herself whole.
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