It is such a healing artistic process, but our world has put so many gatekeepers in place between us and publication that we need to have very thick skin and take every rejection like it is just one more step in our climb to the top of a mountain. Throughout history, we have been persecuted, mistreated, and even driven out of society. Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Horror: Interview with Kris Ringman. Writing hard of hearing, deaf, or Deaf characters doesn't have to be a minefield; it just requires some thought. Make sure you research the type of hearing loss or cultural group you intend to use, thoroughly. A poorly written hard of hearing character will do much more harm than good, and you run the risk of ostracizing a lot of your readership, whether they relate to deafness or not.
She is the author of two Lambda Literary finalist books: I Stole You: Stories from the Fae (Handtype Press, 2017) and Makara: a novel (Handtype Press, 2012), and the upcoming Sail Skin: poems (Handtype Press, 2022). When we write about the things that are the closest to our hearts, we surprise ourselves and we always end up going deeper into a subject which only invites our fiction to leap off the page and have a life of its own and gives our work the best chance to enter the hearts of our readers. She lives with a French Bulldog and a tortoiseshell cat. This is also a good option for an event that cannot afford interpreters. Writing about deaf characters tumblr videos. As a writer in the horror genre, are there any portrayals of deaf and hard of hearing characters that you particularly like, or dislike, or would like to talk to our readers about? My fascination with horror started probably too young, but has never abated. Consider whether this is something you want to explore in your book.
To better illustrate my point, I am a 30-year-old woman, and I have worn hearing aids since I was 26. While having a conversation, anything in the background works to obscure sound, and my hearing is less reliable as a result. What attracted you to the horror genre, and what do you think the genre has taught you about yourself and the world? We all have readers out there that need our unique perspective on life to cope somehow, get through another day, and maybe to write something of their own or be inspired to do something they didn't think they could do. Writing about deaf characters tumblr blog. Lipreading and Sign Language. One of the best things about including hearing aids or cochlear implants in your book is the fun you can have creating fantastical or sci-fi versions of them. I have a glowing academic track record and intend to get a doctorate. Don't forget about the many different forms of sign language in use, such as British Sign Language (BSL), AUSLAN, or International Sign Language.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Horror: Interview with Kris Ringman. For someone like me, background noise is partly my worst enemy and partly my best friend. Mel is a hard-of-hearing writer from Wales, UK. Don't Forget About Background Noise and Other Effects of Hearing Loss.
Most days, if I am surrounded by family or friends who use ASL to communicate with me, I don't even notice my own deafness, but when I go out in public and have to deal with strangers who get flustered, upset, overly nice, or act rude to me because of my deafness, then those are the kinds of moments I try and bring into my fiction for readers to understand the full experience of a deaf or hard-of-hearing person in life and art. I've loved it when panelists and authors doing a reading have used a huge overhead projector to put the words they are speaking on the wall or a screen behind them. Are there any things that panelists, and other people who are working with deaf and hard of hearing individuals can do to make things more accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing? Plenty of people lose their hearing at an early age, and premature hearing loss is not as rare as you might think. As I write this alone in my apartment, I have music playing quietly, so I don't get tinnitus. This prompted me to write horror plays from then on that my cousins and I would act out. If you're writing a deaf or hard of hearing character, you need to run your work past sensitivity readers. However, in a silent room, I will begin to suffer tinnitus, which is maddening and impossible to shift once it starts. Writing about deaf characters tumblr list. Conversely, were there any particular successes you'd like to share? As a writer in the horror genre, what advice would you have to give to up-and-coming writers? Kris Ringman (she/they) is a deaf queer author, artist, and wanderer. In a fantasy world, your character might use charms or rune stones; and in a sci-fi world, you can develop AI or even cyborg elements.
In real life, we don't always do this well, but in fiction, we can transform our characters in ways that we wish we could also transform, and for me this can prompt intense healing and strengthen me emotionally. If you're referencing cochlear implants, please be aware that many Deaf people consider these controversial and unwanted. Follow our tips to ensure you're writing hard of hearing characters the way they deserve to be written. To what degree does your writing deal with deafness or being hard of hearing, and how does it present in your work? If you're writing a character who identifies as Deaf, they may have these views. Choosing to include characters with disabilities in your speculative fiction is an excellent thing to do, but you'll need to do your research. Get Sensitivity Readers. Horror teaches us that our worst fears are inside ourselves, not outside, but the key to facing those fears is in our imagination as well. Hearing aids don't work in the same way as glasses. The hard of hearing often find themselves subject to stereotyping, such as being portrayed as unintelligent or old. Don't let each difficult step make you turn around and climb back down because I truly believe that we all have something important to say. Don't forget to think about how your lipreading character will understand speech in the dark. However, not all of us do and having a hard of hearing character who can neither lipread nor sign is acceptable. The first longer work of fiction I wrote when I was thirteen was a horror story based on a true account of two fishermen who drowned in the lake I've gone to every summer of my life.
For members of the Deaf community, sign language is a cultural distinction. Her multicultural, lyrical fiction plays along the boundaries of magical realism, fantasy, and horror. Writing changes lives for us as authors and as readers, too. Some cultures still harbor some unpleasant social stigma towards the deaf and hard of hearing. Write Hard of Hearing Characters as Normal, Rounded People. Keep writing anything and everything that you want to read that you have not yet found on the shelves.