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6/1/2019 4:32:54 AM
29
How to write a blind character?
Good evening everybody! This is Aifos coming to you alive from an undisclosed location! Where I am and what I’m doing is very top secret, very hush hush, so let’s get right to the point!
I’m writing a story, and the protagonist of this story is based on a futakuchi-onna, that is, a woman with a mouth on the back of her head.
I wanted to have another character join her on her adventure, but while she could hide the second mouth in public, hiding it from your adventuring buddy would be a little more difficult.
So, I was left with two options as to how this character could go;
1: They don’t care. That seemed a bit far fetched, though.
2: They don’t notice. The most conceivable way I could think of that working is them being blind.
So, while I plan to do some research on my end, I was wondering if any of youight know anyone who’s blind, who could give me a more personal look at how a person with blindness goes about their day to day life.
[b]Tl;dr? Here’s my point![/b]
I need to write a blind character. I plan to do some research, but in the meantime, anyone know enough about blindness to give me tips on how to write one?
Thanks in advance!
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3 отв.I would assume they just have a heightened sense of spacial awareness and develop certain habits/routines to help them navigate. They'd likely keep things in relative order and develop habits so the 3D space they typically occupy would remain familiar. Basically, stand at the door to your room, close your eyes and try to stand just in front of your bed. How close did you make it? I'd guess a blind person could nail their location every time just because they're so used to keeping track of their surroundings. Better yet, close your eyes and move your hands within an inch of each other without touching. Can you do it? If we're walking through the dark we might think "OK, the table should be about 6 steps to the left". A blind person would likely be so used to it, it'd just be subconscious processing. That's all speculation though. I do know sound is a big thing. Not quite echolocation but studies have shown blind people can estimate the size of a room by talking and hearing how their voice reverberates. Same with some large objects like a dresser or desk (though they likely couldn't make out the exact edges), particulary hard ones. Different materials, of course, could affect this however. Getting around outside, however, where the world is more variable, they often need assistance such as with a seeing eye dog. [b] [/b] What I don't get is why a blind person would be any less aware than a seeing person. If she's hiding the mouth, a seeing person wouldn't notice it anyway. If the issue is speaking, I'm sure the blind person would be pretty sensitive to the sound being muffled and directed away rather than unhindered and projected towards you. If the issue is while she's eating, you have the same problem as a blind person could likely tell something was off based on the sounds of eating from the back of your head would be such that it sound like you were turning away for each bite (sound projected away rather than towards you) yet none of the other sounds of turning away such as the squeak of your chair or rustling of your clothes was present but, when you spoke, the sound would be coming from the frontal mouth. Also, pretty sure the dog would figure it out before anyone (assuming there was one). All in all, I don't think you "need" a blind character. That said, it could open up new plot avenues, such as having a more immediate sense that something was off but taking considerably longer to really put it all together (because you lack the instant reveal of blatantly seeing it).
