Writer Resources

1. Thinking outside the box,

2. Gar Girard, great supporting character with disablity,

3. Essential Reading,

4. External Links,

5. Return to main navigation menu.

 

Thinking Outside The Box:

There’s no right or wrong way to write characters with disabilities. It’s whatever enhances your story.

Your narrative is about putting challenges in the face of your characters. And what could be more challenging than characters who are challenged every day?

Characters with disabilities are just another tool in your toolbox. But like any tool, you must feel confident using it.

Here are some great examples of leading and supporting characters with disabilities.

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Gar Girard:

What makes the character of Gar Girard from The Player so wonderful is there is no discernible reason in the story why this hard-nosed lawyer has a disability. He just does. The way real- life has people with disabilities, too.

But if you try to picture Gar as an able-bodied character he loses something.

This is a great exercise for a writer. As you imagine your characters in your project, flip around in your mind various characters with various disabilities. Give your project the “Gar Girard” treatment.

When you find your Gar, you won’t be able to imagine that character any other way.

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Essential Reading:

Start with Foucault. He has a great way of turning cause-and-effect on its head.

Here are five books to get you started,

1. Foucault, Michel. The Birth of the Clinic.
2. Grace, Nora. Everybody Here Spoke Sign Language.
3. Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
4. Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life.
5. Haj, Fareed. Disability in Antiquity.

For a more exhaustive reading list.

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External Links:

Quick resources for when you don't have time to call the hotline.

Links to follow. - web editor.

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