30 Days Writing Meme -- Question Twenty Eight

28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.

Not in any of the published books, no. It just hasn't sat right with any of those stories.

I've seen the issue brought up in several places over the past few months though, especially in relation to mental illnesses. It seems such a pervasive issue these days -- or, more likely, those issues are being addressed and acknowledged, instead of simply being ignored and brushed under the carpet -- and I completely agree. I understand and appreciate the desire to see more characters with such issues portrayed both sensitively and as real people. Mental illness can be so lonely and isolating, and knowing someone else — even a character in a book — has been through the same or similar issues can be a great help.

Honestly, at this point in time I feel it's a subject I'm just too close too, for various reasons. And it's so easy with a subject that's close to your heart to turn into a screechy, preachy know-it-all, or, alternatively, to alienate others. The experience is so unique to every sufferer, that while your portrayal might resonate with some, others can/may take offence, which is the very last thing I'd want to do. And those without experience of it at all might even think it was overdone for dramatic effect. Who was it that said fiction, unlike reality, has to make sense? These conditions often appear to make no sense to the uninvolved onlooker, and translating that to a book that requires at least some logical progression and explanation of motive, is tricky. There is no `getting it right` any more than you can with any other demographic. You can just be as respectful as humanly possible.