6 Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Blind Characters
Why do we write blind characters? As a blind author, I like to use my disability as my trademark; at some point in each of my stories, a character will either go blind or find themselves in a long-term situation where they’re as good as. Other authors may be trying to spread awareness or perhaps explore what it might be like to live as a person with blindness. Sometimes blindness might give a character a unique edge or flare. And sometimes characters simply fall fully formed into our psyches, disabilities, and all.
Whatever the case, you may not know how to go about portraying your blind character in a way that will do them justice. You don’t want to be offensive, but you also don’t want to glorify something that truly can be a struggle. And even if you find a blind person to interview, the same fear of offending might prevent you from asking important questions and opening a sincere, honest discussion.
Don’t be afraid! I’ve been blind since birth, and I’ve been having these sorts of discussions my whole life. My goal with this post is to help you understand. With the six tips I’ve listed below, you’ll have the basic tools you need to craft a strong, realistic blind character who will be a beautiful asset to your book, its readers, and the blind community as a whole.
1. Blindness Is a Spectrum
This may seem like a no-brainer: we’ve seen people who see with glasses, people who see with magnifying technology, and people who can’t see at all. But there are several levels between seeing large print and seeing nothing. For example, although I’m functionally blind, I can still see bright lights and the occasional reddish or bluish color. Does this modicum of vision do much for me? No. In fact most of the time I actually navigate my surroundings better when my eyes are closed, and I’m not distracted by what I can see. But on a regular basis I find myself mesmerized by a light or a shadow that falls across my field of vision, and it’s likely your character could too.
Another thing to note is that totally blind individuals don’t necessarily see blackness. People born completely blind can’t tell you what they see because they’ve never seen anything to compare it to. And the ones who went blind later in life could be seeing a variety of things. I have a friend who went completely blind a number of years ago, and he sees nothing but white light at all times. This isn’t to say that some people don’t see total blackness, but totally blind and functionally blind people may be seeing an array of things, and in the case of your character it may be wise to determine what that is. Particularly if your character is distractible like me.
2. Blindness Is Not a Personality
This is a common mistake people make, and there’s a clear reason for that. It’s hard to hide blindness. Even if your eyes don’t look odd, you walk cautiously, you grope your surroundings, and occasionally you run into sign posts. And because of that clumsy elephant in the room, no one is sure how to speak to you. They construct a personality out of observations and unasked questions and slap it on you because it seems easier than bridging the gap.
The best blind characters are those who, like real people, are more than their disability. I have a friend who is sweet, empathetic, wise, nerdy, and artistic; another who is aggressive, loud, direct, tough, territorial, and musical; and a third who is quippy, clever, easygoing, sassy, and technically savvy. They also all happen to be blind.
Blindness informs our personalities, but it does not comprise them. And we’ve all learned to handle our disability in different ways. I’m very small and delicate and used to speaking up for what I want. Combine that with my disability and people have a hard time saying no to me. Therefore, I tend to be a bit of a princess. I knew a boy who was the opposite. He was always shy and selfless, and the blindness on top of that caused him to feel like a burden on his friends and family. He did his best to fade into the background so as not to be a bother. Remember, a number of factors contribute to anyone’s personality. Disability is just one of those factors.
3. Blindness Gives Perspective
Similar to the way blindness colors someone’s personality, it also colors their point of view. I encounter people every day who want to help me but who speak to me as though I’m a toddler. Because of this I perceive people as largely well-meaning but clueless. I understand that that cluelessness only applies to my disability, but that’s not always the case with other blind people. My friend sees things similarly, but with the added expectation that people should be doing their best to learn about things they don’t understand. That expectation leaves her very frustrated sometimes, because not everyone has the time or the resources to educate themselves.
I have yet another friend who claims only to encounter jerks on her daily travels. Therefore, unlike me, she doesn’t see people as well-meaning and clueless, but as clueless and rude. She braces herself every time she leaves the house.
Our perspectives as blind people can come from how we are treated because of our blindness or because of how blindness forces us to interact with the world. Salt Lake City, Utah, has become a dirty, dangerous place, but I really like it there because public transportation is everywhere and accessible, making the city easy and exciting to navigate. I don’t often notice the shady characters on the streets. For some, this might sound frightening, but I’m ok with it. And again, based on their experiences, other blind people may be more wary or perceptive than I am.
Your character is going to have lived experiences that will color their perceptions of the world just like anyone else. Blindness is just one such experience, and there is more than one perspective it can give. People are unique. Even two totally blind people don’t view the world a hundred percent the same.
4. Blindness Is Not the Death of Ability
I once sat at the end of a maze at an event intended to educate people on blindness. I listened to person after person exit the maze, each of them blindfolded, asking “How do they do it?”
“I’m never doing that again,” said another. “I could never survive if I were blind.”
Person after person said the same thing. They’d tripped their way through the maze, and it had taught them nothing that they didn’t already know: blindness IS a disability. Those people didn’t actually learn about how to deal with blindness, they only had an insight into what it’s like navigating a structure without being able to see.
I walk around my home without a cane and do chores and cook if I care to. I compose music, write and edit books, and play Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. I use public transportation, travel out of town, and cross city streets by myself. Do I get lost? Sometimes. Do I ask people for assistance? Certainly. And of course, I have to rethink how to approach certain activities so that I can participate in them. But I am not cut off from living a vibrant and fulfilling life because I can’t see. Chances are, your character won’t want to be either.
5. Blindness Is Not a Superpower
The term differently abled has been floating around lately. It’s supposed to describe the disabled. I personally feel it describes nothing. Who isn’t differently abled? Disabled people know that disability is what separates us from any other group. That’s the way it is. Oftentimes people don’t want us to feel bad about ourselves. You’re not dis-abled; there are so many things you can do! And those well-meaning people completely overlook that there are things we can’t. I will never be able to see the stars. True, you could make a tactile star map for me. You could describe the way they glitter across the black velvet sky. But I will never be able to see the stars.
While it’s true that blindness does equip me with a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, and I’m grateful to those who recognize that, some writers and artists can get a little carried away. It’s important to remember that blindness does and should affect people. You can write a disabled character, but if their other abilities in the story completely negate their disability, what’s the point of having a disabled character in the first place?
The prime example of a blind character done correctly is Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The world is built in a way that allows her to become an incredible fighter despite her disability; earth is her element, and she uses the ground beneath her feet to feel the world around her. Even so, there are moments when her blindness really affects her. She doesn’t help her friends in the library because she can’t read. She needs help putting up posters because she can’t tell when they’re upside down or backward. And when she’s fighting things that fly, her friends tell her where to aim. So much thought went into making Toph a realistic blind character and it shows.
Like any group, blind people just want to see themselves represented correctly. This doesn’t mean making blind characters useless, but it also doesn’t mean making them perfect. Nobody is perfect, and nobody likes a perfect character. But everyone likes an interesting character. If you’re creating a blind character, make their blindness matter. It should never define your character, but it absolutely must play a role.
6. Blind People Are Human
The last thing I want to talk about is not something we often tell sighted people. I don’t talk about it because I don’t want you to get the idea that I’m unhappy. On the contrary, I’m very happy, and very blessed. My life is beautiful, and I wouldn’t trade my blindness for any other hardship. That being said, blindness, as well as any disability, is still a hardship. It’s all right to be sad about it every once in a while. If I can’t see to draw the art in my mind, if my blind friend gets passed up for a job because no one thinks she can do it, if a blind mother can’t see her baby smiling for the first time . . . yes, all of that’s sad. And sometimes it’s necessary to feel and process those emotions. We are human.
That being said, we don’t want pity. Just a little empathy. Our momentary sadness every now and then does not mean we’re broken.
I knew a boy in college who didn’t know how to speak to me except to tell me how sorry he was that I was blind. I wanted to smack him. Instead, I confronted him one night and said, “You need to stop. Am I sorry I’m blind? Apart from a small moment every now and then, no, I’m not. My life is full of joy and love and opportunities. Quit being sorry. There is so much more to my life than what you see.”
That was a moment where I really felt like I spoke for most blind people, if not all. Will your character have a harder time balancing the sad or angsty moments with the contented or satisfied ones? Maybe. Consider their sensitivity. Consider how they became blind. Consider their coping strategies—for example, my family and I used blind humor, especially when I was little. Let your character internalize their experiences, let them feel those relatable, human emotions. Don’t be afraid of the light moments or the dark. That’s how you create something real.
