Hi guys, Sorry for the long-winded post, I'm working on a novel right now and most of my MCs are ill or disabled in some way I wanted to hear your thoughts on them.
The protagonist Naomi is disfigured from an attack when she was 16, her left eye is missing and the entire side of her face is heavily scarred. She is proud of her scars in a way and will not cover them as she feels they enhance the argument for her cause. Her adopted brother James is an alcoholic. He experienced abuse and abandonment in his childhood and is deeply insecure. He uses alcohol as an (obviously unhealthy) coping mechanism, and although it spirals out of control later in the story he has previously hidden it quite well. Finally, my character Evelyn was born with a gene mutation common in this setting, most born with it die in childhood but she went on to be her organization's top hacker. The mutation causes her to be incredibly immune suppressed (gets sick a lot), have brittle bones, chronic pain, and other assorted symptoms. Mostly I'm looking for advice on her. Her illness is treatable and has been mostly eradicated in other parts of the world, it only still exists in their part because of their dysfunctional government (which they're in the prosses of overthrowing). Evelyn does not see herself as a tragedy, and she often has issues with people constantly looking at her like something that should be "fixed" although she doesn't completely disagree. I want to talk about how all the characters are portrayed but especially the trope of having disabled characters be tech wizards, and I'd love some other people's thoughts on portraying Evelyn's illness as something that possibly should be treated. I am chronically ill and physically disabled, but that doesn't make me immune to being problematic.
Again sorry this post was so long, if you made it down here, high five, you're the real MVP
Hi there! I really like what you've come up with, and I was wondering whether you have any real-life analogs/inspirations for Evelyn's genetic disorder? If, for example, her disorder was heavily inspired by SCID (bad example, just the first immunodeficiency disorder I could think of), you could probably find people online who have that disease and how they experience it. It might also help you figure out what sort of pitfalls to avoid when writing it, if that makes sense.
Another question I'd have is how much Evelyn is bothered/affected by the disorder. If the chronic pain and constant sickness severely inhibit her, then it would make sense for her to also want to "fix" herself. I guess it's also related to her character - a more confident character might have an issue with people viewing her as incomplete/broken until her disorder is treated.
(Reading over this I have no idea where I was going with it) (idk I guess I'm not quite sure what sort of response you're looking for) (but yes your ideas are amazing! It's great to see people take this sort of stuff into consideration before they start writing)
@ninja_violinist haha no I totally see where you're going with it. It's loosely based on chronic Lyme Disease (which I have) and EDS (which I was incorrectly diagnosed with). She is mostly quite confident, not really paying any mind to the people who want her to be cured. Of course, it wears down on you and she has trouble blocking it out and struggles with the classic "without the illness I wouldn't be who I am but would I be better? Would my life be even on the same track? Would I be the same person?" paradox that I think most sick kids go through eventually. She agrees that her illness is awful and she, of course, doesn't want future generations to be born with it especially because they often die in childhood but she struggles with working for the cure because it has made her so much of who she is.
That makes a lot of sense! What sort of world are you writing about?
@ninja_violinist Thanks! Well, it's in the future, about 200 years after a nuclear world war. Society has rebuilt it'self and everyone has basically gon back to normal (or a new normal obviously). The story takes place on an island Hasna which was formed during the war (long story). Relatively early on it was taken over as a colony by C.R.O.T a country that's formed in the Southern section of the Continental US. When they took over they implemented pretty heavy censorship laws and a relatively unchecked police presence, this hasn't changed. The generation before our main characters formed a resistance and tried to take back the island as their own, they all were killed and made an example of. Naomi, James, and Evelyn are kind of the driving force behind reviving that movement and trying to make sure their parents didn't die in vain. The illness Evelyn has is a radiation-caused gene mutation that is treated in other countries with relatively basic prenatal care and preventative measures. The fact that their government isn't providing these things or even allowing them to be available is obviously a point used to pull people to their cause.
