Writing a Blind Protagonist

[SimonLayton]

I know it's been discussed in other forums about visual novels that stars a blind protagonist, but would it be too much to ask how to write a blind protagnist. Is it even possible to write a blind protagonist in a novel? Or, really, any other medium that isn't visual. It doesn't have to be VN-style. Tips or techniques, or references like other stories that has a blind main character, or biographies of blind people, etc., would be really great.

[Ophelia]

Why shouldn't it be possible? Also, I don't see* how it might be different from other protagonists. Just drop the 'he saw this, he saw this' and replace them with 'he heard this, he smelled that, he felt this' and done.
Or maybe I'm making this too simple?
I remember reading a book about a boy who got blind and I actually cannot remember how it might have been different than a book with a seeing protagonist, except for the whole conflict because he became blind because of an accident and had difficulties adjusting. But apart from that?

But, what would be interesting is the visual presentation. Would you make the art as if it was a VN with a seeing protagonist? Or make everything nearly black with light sources here and there or just some general shapes? That would be an interesting experience.

[Laiska]

I haven't looked through the links here so I can't attest to their usefulness, but here is a list of links relating to blindness (and also deafness and muteness), for reference:

http://referenceforwriters.tumblr.com/post/72426523589/

[SimonLayton]

Why shouldn't it be possible? Also, I don't see* how it might be different from other protagonists. Just drop the 'he saw this, he saw this' and replace them with 'he heard this, he smelled that, he felt this' and done.
Or maybe I'm making this too simple?
I remember reading a book about a boy who got blind and I actually cannot remember how it might have been different than a book with a seeing protagonist, except for the whole conflict because he became blind because of an accident and had difficulties adjusting. But apart from that?

The story I'm writing is about a boy who's born blind and has never left home until he had an accident and is sent to a hospital, and then to an institution for the disabled. He is familiar with his home, he's adjusted to it, knows where he goes, where he steps, but not the outside world. And I want to describe the surroundings somehow, because there's going to be some things he's not familiar in hearing, smelling, and touching. Or should I make my readers "blind" to the settings as well? Would it frustrated them, for the lack of details of everything?

Maybe I think one of the solutions to this is to have people around him exclaim about what that unknown substance he's sensing but not seeing/identifying. But I don't always want to resort to this method.

I haven't looked through the links here so I can't attest to their usefulness, but here is a list of links relating to blindness (and also deafness and muteness), for reference:

http://referenceforwriters.tumblr.com/post/72426523589/

I checked them all (even the deafness and muteness), and they're quite useful! Thanks!

[Cith]

Or should I make my readers "blind" to the settings as well? Would it frustrated them, for the lack of details of everything?

Don't do that. Blind people are aware of their settings using a different process, so describe that process.

As for the art, I think it might be worth considering using the graphics as a way to graphically demonstrate a blind person's awareness. Maybe if he's counting steps, you can have numbers on the screen, of if he feels pressure you can have art denoting a sense of pressure around him. You know, get exotic with the ideas. *Shrugs* might be interesting.

You might want to read stuff Stephanie Green's written, as well.

http://www.wordgathering.com/past_issue ... green.html

[Laniessa]

Reading this reminded of a certain fanfiction I've read, which led me searching for it. It's of Haruhi Suzumiya and I think it's rather well written, so if you know the fandom, give it a go.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6995020/1/At_a_Glance

I didn't even know of his condition until really close to the end, but if you read the descriptions carefully, you'll notice there's nothing he actually sees, but you can still get what his surroundings are.

If you're not much of a fanfiction reader, basically you can write without having many hints to someone is blind because they can use their other senses to figure out their surroundings. I'd say it's great practice because usually other senses to describe locations really brings life to a scene - use smell to show how foul a construction site may smell or the smell of cigarettes in a club, or the scent of bread in a bakery, say that there's a slope to walk up which is a pain, or steps because the people can feel that.

[SimonLayton]

Don't do that. Blind people are aware of their settings using a different process, so describe that process.

If you're not much of a fanfiction reader, basically you can write without having many hints to someone is blind because they can use their other senses to figure out their surroundings.

I write fanfiction, actually. :P But thank you, Cith and Laniessa, I'll keep these in mind. (And I'll also look up Steff Green's stuff.) On the other hand, I did my own digging/researching on writing blind characters, so I guess I'll put it here just in case there's anyone interested.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2554086/resourceress7
http://thewritingcafe.tumblr.com/tagged/blind
http://fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment.tum ... erences-on

[Deshtat]

If I may, there is a special moment in Katawa Shoujo that may be of use for you.

[Minor Spoilers]

If you are romancing Lilly, a blind character, she will show you how she "sees" by covering your eyes with an handkerchief. The main character will be a little disoriented and hurt himself. Then, she will start to make love with him, with his eyes still covered.

It is a short passage, but I found it very interesting. There is no picture, only descriptions from other senses, but it still works, and it's a very touching moment. Maybe it wouldn't be the same if it lasted for the whole game, though. I just thought it may interest you ^^

Oh, and there is also this : Lilly can "see" people by touching their face, and she can find them handsome or ugly. Maybe you can show some pictures of how your character mentally represents his siblings?

[Greeny]

If it's a Visual Novel with a blind protagonist, perhaps you could change your perspective on the "visual" element.

For backgrounds and sprites... instead of depicting what is seen, you could use shapes and colours to depict what they percieve with their other senses. Using colours to depict smells, for example. Or briefly revealing part of an image (in black-and-white) when the protagonist touches something (or someone). As the protagonist becomes more knowledgeable about their surroundings, you can start to show outlines of objects.

In any case, it would require a certain level of thought, but I think it's possible, and could make for an interesting narrative.

[Juneberry]

When it comes to writing for a blind character or a character with a lacking sense, it's always important to elaborate on their strengths and how they use them. If someone's blind, they may focus more on sounds and smells (so long as they can), and can still feel around for things to feel the general shapes, as others have said. If they have to read things, you can elaborate the feel of the braile if they can use it. Textures, smells, sounds...Even if it's a blind character, they have their own way of seeing the world. Have you ever done an exercise where you blindfold yourself and try to feel the world without sight? If you can try that once in a safe environment, it might give you more insight too on what you did to navigate and react to things. But it's not needed. As long as you can think of how the character generally gets by and copes, it'll help.

And who knows? Maybe they have a friend who tells them about the colors and what things look like so they can try to describe it too. *shrugs*

[Asceai]

The only VN I've read with a blind protagonist is H2O -Footprints in the Sand-.

The approach used there is relatively simple - everything has a washed-out filter over it and the protagonist is described as making guesses about what people look like. One instance is that he meets a heroine and she has a sprite-- upon the protagonist discovering that she wears a hairband, a hairband gets added to her sprite. Now, that sounds very cool (and it is) but in actuality, it isn't handled consistently in a way that makes a huge amount of sense. Examples of the kind of thing I described before are quite rare, generally don't come up at all after the first part of the story and when the protagonist can actually see later (his eyes recover during the story*) the characters don't end up looking any different - which makes sense, because you wouldn't draw two versions of every character, but it's not exactly a watertight abstraction of blindness.

*Actually, this is a good separate point to discuss; this protagonist hasn't always been blind and he doesn't stay blind, so the way he perceives the world would be very different to someone born blind. Something to consider.

In another medium, but relevant (and awesome): Out of Sight

[Phersu]

One thing, for the visual part, you might want to show what the protagonist thinks things look like. Perhaps not what they actually are, but as to what he perceives them to be.

[Near]

Hello, here is something that could help you: https://www.youtube.com/user/TommyEdisonXP
It's a video blogger that was born blind, and he talks about his life, in a very nice way :). Every video I've already watched contains much laughter. :)
He is so adorable, I really like his videos.

[SBG_Eric]

I know it's been discussed in other forums about visual novels that stars a blind protagonist, but would it be too much to ask how to write a blind protagnist. Is it even possible to write a blind protagonist in a novel? Or, really, any other medium that isn't visual. It doesn't have to be VN-style. Tips or techniques, or references like other stories that has a blind main character, or biographies of blind people, etc., would be really great.

Of course it is! A great example of a game that does an amazing job of writing in various forms of protagonist disabilities is Katawa Shoujo. Characters in game include the lead actor (heart deficiency), Lilly (female protagonist, blind), Shizune (female protagonist, deaf), etc. I'm sure most people here are familiar with the game and have played it, however it's always worth looking back to the stories that did the job well. You can learn a lot by simply looking at and analyzing how others wrote their stories.

[Taleweaver]

A great example of a game that does an amazing job of writing in various forms of protagonist disabilities is Katawa Shoujo. Characters in game include the lead actor (heart deficiency), Lilly (female protagonist, blind), Shizune (female protagonist, deaf), etc. I'm sure most people here are familiar with the game and have played it, however it's always worth looking back to the stories that did the job well. You can learn a lot by simply looking at and analyzing how others wrote their stories.

One could argue that the protagonist of Katawa Shoujo is actually the one guy without a literal disability - he only has a heart condition. At no point does KS put the player into the perspective of Lilly, Shizune or any of the girls, which is probably what OP meant by "writing a blind protagonist".

What I'd do to give the feeling of being the blind protagonist in a VN is three things:

1) Write out all non-visual perception in great detail. Blind people often have superior hearing or a great sense of touch.
2) Make the screen mostly black but with depictions of things and people the protagonist knows are there - and show them how the protagonist imagines them. The protagonist's own bedroom would be quite detailed (he knows it very well, knows where everything is), a classroom full of people would be a classroom filled with generic people-shapes except for those classmates he thinks he knows well enough to picture them though most of them faceless, and if he's allowed to actually touch their faces, these "blanks" will fill in.
3) Allow the player to experience how others react (and often over-react) to the presence of a blind person in the same room, like trying to avoid him when he moves because they think he may trip over them, or running to remove obstacles or open doors the protagonost was quite aware of already).