The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Story

HOW TO: Writing deaf characters Pt. 1

There are a lot of issues with how deaf people are represented in books, when represented at all. I would love to see more deaf and hard of hearing characters in the books I read - without having to read books specifically about deaf people/HoH people - but when I find them, they're grossly under-characterised or stereotyped. Authors write them in a way that sets signing language characters apart from speaking characters as if they're inferior, and this makes my blood boil.

Some technicalities:

 - You may have heard that 'deaf' is a slur and you should use 'hearing impaired'. Don't I've never met a deaf or hard of hearing person who believed that. And I know plenty. Use deaf for people who are deaf, and hard of hearing for people who lack hearing. These can be interchangeable depending on the person. This is why sensitivity readers are a useful part of the beta process.

 - Sign language is incredibly varied. It develops in the same way as spoken language. Fun fact: in BSL there are at least half a dozen ways to say bullshit, my favourite of which is laying your arms across from one another with one hand making a bull's head sign, and the other hand going flat, like a cowpat. It's incredibly crude, and the face makes the exclamation mark. Wonderful. 

 - There are different sign languages. Knowing more than one would make a character multi or bi-lingual, even if they are non-speaking.

 - Makaton is basic sign language used by children, and it mirrors the very simple language used by toddlers. 

 - Yes, they swear and talk shit about people around them in sign language sometimes, and no, it isn't disrespectful to have signing characters do this. Just remember that they also say nice things, and random things, and talk about fandoms, and TV shows and what they're having for dinner, too. 

 - Each sign language is different from another. ASL and BSL? Nothing alike. Just google the two different signs for a horse. 

 Remember that sign language is a language, equal to spoken word. Therefore, treat it as such. Use quotation speech marks and dialogue tags. You only need to explicitly state that this character uses sign language once, and then let your modifiers and description do the rest. It isn't a form of "sub-speech" or "making hand actions" - sign language is a language all on its own: it has it's own grammar rules, syntactical structures, punctuation, patterns, idioms and colloquialisms. For example, "what is your name?" becomes "Your name what?" with the facial expression forming punctuation in the same way that spoken English uses alterations of prosodic tone (inflections). There is even pidgin sign; a language phenomenon usually associated with spoken language. 

In the same way that you would describe a spoken-English character's tone of voice, you would describe a signed-English speaker's facial expressions and the way that they sign - keeping in mind that these things are their language's equivalent of verbal inflection. 

So please, none of that use of "special speech marks" or italicised speech for sign. If your viewpoint character doesn't understand signed speech, the you would take the same approach that would be used for any other language that they don't understand like French, or Thai etc. "he said something in rapid sign language, face wrinkling in obvious disgust." is a good way of conveying this. The proof that you've done well is in whether or not you can switch "sign language" for French or something else, and it would read the same. 

Don't be afraid to describe how things are said, either. Sign language is such a beautiful and expressive way of talking, and to see a writer do it justice would be truly fabulous. Putting this into practice:

 - "Oh, I love maths!" She said, fingers sharp and wide with sarcasm. She raised her eyebrows. 

 - "I'm sorry." He replied and made his face small, but could not keep the grin forming. She was starting to laugh too.