Creating A Disabled Character (Revised)

Is it possible for you to create a believable character if you have this brilliant idea for a new novel, perhaps a young adult novel, a romance, or a thriller? Your main character may have a disability, such as a Spinal Cord Injury, Autism, Cerebral Palsy or Muscular Dystrophy, or perhaps they are amputees, but you don’t have the disability yourself. There’s good news for you, the answer is yes, but put aside any preconceived ideas you may have about what living with a disability might be like.

Do some research, you don’t even need to leave your home. It is easy to access a world of information today.

Make a list of people who motivate you, and reach out to them.

Ernest Hemingway summed it up nicely:

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. ― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

Forget inspiration porn, if your character is disabled and holds a job, you don’t need to place them on a pedestal, it’s not that rare. Go ahead and explore what that person would be like if he or she were an amputee running the Boston Marathon.

Was this character born an amputee?

Was the amputation caused by an illness or injury?

When did they start running?

You get the idea, right?

It is important that you don’t make your characters mechanical. Let the reader feel what your character feels, whether it is joy, excitement, anger, or fear.

Please do not turn your story into something so depressing that it makes the reader want to click away. It is okay to write about the tough topics, and I encourage you to do so. However, make sure you show the good in your characters’ lives as well.

Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters. ― Cassandra Clare

Each of us has quirks, and your character should too. Everyone is unique, disabled or not.

You should pay attention to people’s emotions, study their reactions, and notice the things that make others tick, then use what you learn to enhance your character.

Whenever I worked on a character, mapping him or her out, I usually had a playlist of songs, music that lifted me up, or made me feel something powerful.

If, however, you want to write a character from the ground up, a character who is as real as any person living, yet wholly your own creation, then there are three aspects you need to know in depth: the physical, sociological and psychological.

— mooderino, quote from The Three Dimensions of Character

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Get to know your character as much as you can.

It’s important to develop the personality of a character. I’m more of a pantser than a planner, but my characters tell me who they are, and if I ignore them, then my writing reflects that.

Don’t let your characters’ disability be the only focus of your novel. Everyone had hopes and dreams, so show us what theirs is.

You don’t need to “heal” your disabled character; in fact, some find it offensive since it implies that the character’s life is somehow less valuable. On the other hand, a newly disabled person can grieve, so don’t be afraid to express it.

As a final thought, I think it’s great that you have this fantastic idea for a disabled protagonist. However, make sure your character is authentic, and don’t forget that not everyone who lives with a disability is the same.

Copyright Michelle R Kidwell

August.31.2022

Revised August.15.2023