I'm Going To Have To Talk About Webtoons(company) At One Point, And Its... Impact On The Webcomic Sphere

Writing a Blind or Visually Impaired Character

A Multi-Step Guide Written by a Visually Impaired Writer and Blogger

I’m hoping this blog will over time develop its own following, and when it does people will inevitably see my bio and notice what I included: I’m visually impaired.

Yes, a visually impaired writer, and I’ve written with two blind characters before so I have some practice in the field.

So, inevitably, someone is going to ask how to write a blind character.

Or, at least, I hope you’ll ask someone who’s actually blind or visually impaired about writing a blind character before you get too involved with your new WIP.

All parts will be tagged #blindcharacter in my blog, and I will add links to every post as I finish each part. Follow my blog for more writing advice.

Note, this post updates fairly often and old versions are still floating around out there. The most current version of this post is pinned to my blog with any new guides or links you might of missed.

As of 29 June 2022, this is the most extensive and screen reader friendly version of this post.

Part One: Crafting the Blind Character

In which I tell you how to begin making a blind character who is more than a cardboard cutout

Part Two: Narrative Choice, Visual Description, Verbal Description, Social Interaction

In which I give you a basic rundown on how to write from the perspective of a character who can’t see and still make the narration descriptive

Part Three: Tropes and Clichés to Avoid

Your blind readers will thank you for not being the 5000th person to do this and manage to actually finish your story. (Do you have any idea how many stories I’ve noped out of within two chapters because of these clichés? A Lot.)

Part Four: Canes, Guide Dogs, and O&M

Everything I can tell you about 1) how to learn how to use a cane 2) how a cane works 3) how to describe what your character experiences with their cane 4) everything I know on guide dogs

-New- Additional Advice for Writing Sighted Guides–another legitimate form of O&M

Part Five: Small Aspects of being Blind You Never Thought Of

5 January 2021 Edit: This link has been fixed to correspond with the correct post

Or, really, very normal everyday things for blind people, the inclusion of which will make your characters more real and authentic. It’s the tiny details.

Part Six: Should You Cure Your Character’s Blindness? (Short Answer: No)

There’s no way to write a cure for your blind character that doesn’t make blind readers hate you. Sorry. We came here to finally experience a relatable character who experiences the world like us, but none of us are getting cured so seeing this character we learned to love become something alien from us in the end feels like a slap in the face

-New- What about a Temporary Cure to Show the Character is Happy being Blind?

Why I’m Blind and What I See -NEW-

I thought I’d finally make a post explaining the complicated situation about my vision. Includes an explanation of visual snow and exotropia, two of the three causes for my vision issues.

Writing Blind Characters Falling in Love, an Advice Post:

Someone asked what being blind and falling in love have to do with each other. Honestly, blindness changes your perspective on everything and it makes an impact on every relationship you have. This includes some things that you definitely do not want your character’s love interest to be/do.

Writing Blind Jokes (Should You Do It?)

You know those flow charts of “should you do x?” going around? It’s like that, but screen reader friendly. Should you write blind jokes. It’s pretty complicated and there are a lot of possible scenarios and details to consider.

Advice for Writing Toph Beifong -NEW-

In this I discuss what I would like to see done in fanfiction with Toph’s character after ten years of reading Avatar the Last Airbender fanfiction

-New- Some Informal Thoughts About Toph and ATLA World Building based on a Throw-Away Line

A small essay addressing the frequently asked question on giving your blind character a superpower to help them “see.”

It’s became a popular question, so to make the answer easier/faster for everyone to access, I wrote what will usually be my initial answer. Below there are a few links to some notable past questions on this subject.

Mourning My Vision, it’s More than Depression. 

A small personal essay addressing the nuances of the mourning period you experience with a new disability. The mourning period is mentioned in other guides, but this is more detailed.

Dealing with Heightened Senses, a video by Molly Burke with additional commentary by me

While Molly talks about the myths and truths about heightened senses, I talk about the correlation with blindness and neuro-divergency and how co-morbid disorders/disabilities might affect sensory processing.

Satirical Commentary on the phrase “that blank look in their eyes” used too often in fiction to identify a blind character

a:tla, I’m looking at you (and my eyes aren’t blank)

I Found a Lost Piece of Blindness History

My grandmother told me about her blind aunt and how she sent letters. It led me to speculate about all the O&M things people develop on their own but never get a chance to pass onto other blind people. Technology and techniques are lost in history and reinvented, including the white cane ad guide dogs.

Includes a little history on the introduction of guide dogs into the 20th century

The Following are Answered Anon Questions

Making Your Blog More Accessible

Making Links Accessible to Screen Readers

Reblogging to Add an Image Description to Someone Else’s Image

Why I Write Image Descriptions

Terms, Definitions, and Practical Advice

-New- What is the difference between Light Perception and Shadow Perception

Writing Blind Characters

Advice for a Character Who was Born Blind

-New- A More Recent Post about Characters Born Blind 

Over-Protective Parents of a Blind Character, Why They’re Over-Protective and How to Avoid Crossing a Line

A Blind Character in Victorian Era Historical Fiction

Is It Bad Not to Have Guide Dogs in a Fantasy/Historical Setting Without Guide Dogs (short answer: it’s not bad)

Someone Asked About My Thoughts on a Medusa-like Character Blinding Herself to Avoid Hurting Anyone

-New- Someone Asked For Advice Writing a Character whose Eyes were Gouged Out–and Why Blindfolds are Not a Good Idea + Medical Alternatives

Characters Who Have Recently Gone Blind and Avoiding Inspiration Porn

-New- Inclusive Language in Dialogue: Is it appropriate for a blind character to use visual verbs like “I saw” and “I watched”

-New- Thoughts on If Characters Would Drink and Go to Bars

(In one of my original guides I said I was sure most blind people would not go to bars. A few years later, I’ve now realized that sentiment is influenced by my gender, not my disability.)

-New- Researching Blind Historical Figures

I took a disability studies class focusing on Helen Keller’s complicated legacy. My professor gave us the option to get creative with our final projects, so I gathered all the research I had for three blog posts.

How did Helen Keller Navigate her World

My extensive historical research on the accessibility tools Keller had in her lifetime

Who was Helen Keller: Her Passions and Interests

I talk about her writing, her politics as a socialist and suffragette, her love for animals and nature, her brief history as a performer on stage, and how she became the face for Blind Advocacy. This includes lots of photos of Keller with image descriptions I wrote.

The Controversies Surrounding Helen Keller

-This includes:

Her family history as the daughter of a Confederate Captain

Growing up on a plantation that formerly held slaves

How she met Alexander Graham Bell and the negative influence both had on the Deaf community

Her sexuality and falling in love (and why that was so controversial)

Her stance on eugenics and her internalized ableism

The Miracle Worker (1963) movie- how it became the most popular depiction of Keller, why it’s problematic, and how it damaged her legacy

The 2020 TikTok Controversy and #HelenKellerwasfake

Talking about Popular Blind Characters In Media

Does Daredevil’s Echolocation Negate His Blindness

-New- Is it Worth it to Watch All of Daredevil for the Research (It’s Not)

Someone Else was Asked How to Write Daredevil Fanfiction

Blind Characters with Superpowers/Fighting Styles

World Setting where the General Population has a Superpower

Superpowers that don’t involve sight, Five questions to ask yourself if this superpower is a bad idea or a good one

-New- Your character would not use a cane as a weapon, it’s a bad idea

D&D/Roleplaying Blind Characters

-New- Animal Familiars Acting as Service Animals and Advice for Communicating with Your DM

-New- Portraying Older Blind Characters + Causes for Vision Loss with Old Age

“Where should I host my webcomic?”

If you’re making a new webcomic it’s often difficult to decide where to put it, especially since if you need this kind of resource you’re probably just starting out. So, here’s some info I’ve gathered on some popular hosting platforms and their benefits/downsides. I’m not an artist, so this isn’t an inside scoop, but I’ve put some research into this and I know what artists have said about their experiences. All of these platforms are free and public to use unless noted otherwise.

Tapas (aka Tapastic)

Tapas is a website and app that is made for hosting webcomics.

Example - Example

Benefits:

VERY well known, one the most popular hosting platforms around.

It’s mostly set up so users check out as many comics as possible -> easier time attracting readership.

Once you start getting subscriptions it starts figuring out what other comics get similar readership. It’ll start recommending your comic and you’ll get more consistent readers.

It’s very easy to use and smoothly designed. Pefect for new artists.

There’s kind of a social aspect to it? I don’t know how to describe it. Every user has a page you can comment on and there’s a robust comment system on pages/episodes.

TAPAS TIPPING. A brilliant, original system. Users can watch ads for “tapas coins”, which they can “tip” towards their favorite artists! This turns into free real money for you. You can also apply to tapas premium to make a comic or novel that’s unlocked per episode with coins. (novels are only acessible on the tapas app, which it seems to be moving towards)

Downsides:

It’s very reader-centered. Not so much on artists.

In fact it recently tried a really sketchy move where it added a clause to its terms of service potentially restricting where else artists could post even the free comics. It was later removed after sitewide backlash and mass comic removal.

No control over how your website appears. You get to make a banner and an icon, that’s it. This could be a good thing, since you don’t have to worry about it and its theme works very well.

Sometimes it’s a little buggy. I’ve noticed a lot of artists post with links to other platforms and apologies because it won’t let them add an update.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

LINE Webtoon

Example - Example

Webtoons is a free website and app for hosting webcomics.

Benefits:

Similar to Tapas, but with a more high-class feel.

(By that I mean I see very few debut artists and more professionals there.)

It’s about as easy to use, and it’s becoming much more well-known, especially after the mass exodus to Webtoons after the Tapas TOS incident. They also advertise comics on others’ pages with similar readership, but it’s kinda skewed towards comics that already have a lot of readers. I get the feeling that it’s focused on providing a good experience for its users more than reading a lot of comics.

You still cannot control how your site works, but again, what they give you is very good.

Every month the staff chooses some comics to become “featured” artists. Featured Artists make $2000/month as long as they don’t post on any other webcomic sites. As the name implies, they also advertise you more. They really like to mention this benefit.

Downsides:

You might not get any traffic? Mostly the biggest problem is just having to use its framework which is designed for webcomics.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Smackjeeves

Example - Example

Smackjeeves is yet another free host for webcomics.

Benefits:

You get a subdomain automatically, which you can heavily customize the appearance of.

It has a very social format compared other hosts.

Smackjeeves also recommends comics, but not on other comics’ pages. You can explore comics throughtout the site.

Downsides:

I personally find the website very confusing. I can’t imagine it’s much better on the artist side of things.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Tumblr

Example - Example

You’re on it! Tumblr is a social media platfrom that is based on users having one or more blogs to create streams of posts with.

Benefits:

Tumblr blogs already have a “page” format for scrolling through chunks of posts. Just set your post per page ratio to one and voila! Already looks very similar to actual webomic sites.

One of the highlights of Tumblr as a social media platform is being able to manually edit your blog’s HTML. There are even publicly available user-made themes for webcomics.

It’s a social media platform! It’s very easy to interact with your fanbase.

A lot of webcomic fans use Tumblr - it’s well-suited to fandom in particular.

Your updates would in reality be posts on a blog. Readers might reblog them and share your work with other people. It’s by far the best platform for word-of-mouth advertisement.

If you’re reading this you probably already know how to use it.

Downsides:

Tumblr is just … not made for webcomics. At all.

Archiving in particular is very counterintuitive for webcomics. Page urls are not static - “page 2” is the second-most recent update, not the second page. In order to find an individual update you have to actually page back to it or scroll through the default uneditable archive.

How to Join:

Get a free account.

If you already have one, you can simply create a sideblog. But you might want a whole account just for the comic - outgoing likes and asks show up as your main blog, so if you’re using a sideblog it exposes your personal/main blog whenever you interact with fans.

Edit your blog’s theme extensively.

Begin posting your updates.

Custom Website

Example - Example

No external host. Make your own website, just for your comic!

Benefits:

ABSOLUTE CONTROL. You decide how it looks, how it works, and what features it has. Most webcomic sites have similar formats: prominent centered pages (and usually the current update on the “main” page), first/previous/next/recent buttons, an archive, an about page, information on when it updates, etc. But in general everything is 100% up to you.

I cannot stress that ^^^ enough.

No license or restrictions of any kind. Except, like, laws. Obviously.

Many features are easy to add to your website. Disqus (Insertable commenting platform. Sorta structured like Reddit) is getting more and more popular and I haven’t heard anyone mention it costing anything.

You can get ad revenue from your site, and 100% of it goes to you.

Downsides:

Unless you have the skills to make a functional professional website on your own, it costs money. Plus, there’s the relatively small monthly/yearly cost of reserving a domain name.

Finicky and difficult to fix problems. When Tapas eats your update, you wait a day or two before it works again. When the commenting system disappears, you have to call whoever made your website or fix it yourself.

There’s no real way of attracting readership (and ad revenue!) other than word-of-mouth or paying for ads. No handy recommendation system in place. This is ONLY a move for someone who already has a guaranteed reader base. However, almost every popular comic artist eventually gets their own site so it must be worth it past a certain threshold.

How to Join:

Get a domain name and a website.

Post your comic on your new website.

Advertise the heck out of it.

SpiderForest

Example - Example

SpiderForest is a collective of comic artists, not a public service. You must apply to join.

Benefits:

The application process isn’t very strict; it’s there so that it isn’t flooded with low-quality comics. Not sure how I feel about it but it works pretty well for them.

You get the benefits of any vetted group. They advertise you on their main site, and being a member adds credibility to your work.

Even though it is an exclusive group, its policy allows unlimited mirrors, so you can still use anything else you want.

Downsides:

In order to be a member you have to have at least one mirror on a custom site they can link to or host directly on their site. Not much of a downside but still.

Your comic should already exist somewhere else. They generally won’t approve pitches for potential projects, unless you’re already an established creator with previous work to show instead.

It’s not as well known? It’s still pretty high up there.

How to Join:

Apply using the link at the top of their main page.

Be accepted.

Post your comic on your associated Spiderworks site.

Hiveworks

Example - Example

Hiveworks is a for-profit professional organization. You don’t ask to be a member, Hiveworks asks you to join. There’s like a 95% chance you should SAY YES.

Benefits:

Hiveworks gives you a free website (see: custom website benefits)

All Hiveworks sites have a little sidebar advertising other hiveworks comics. They also advertise your comic on their main aggregate site.

They look for good comics, it’s their job. Having their logo on your site is a testament to the quality of your work. You’ll get so many readers and comissions, trust me on this one.

Downsides:

You do have to provide some art to them. They’ll sell merch of your comic (which you get a large cut of!), and you need to provide icons and banners for them to advertise you with. When they do well, you do well, and vice versa.

If you are a member you cannot host your comic any new sites, especially their biggest competitor, SpiderForest. This contract lasts a while. Sometimes you get to keep your existing ones, though.

^^ Contracts. There’s still the tiniest bit of risk, but it’s a reputable organization.

How to Join:

Be asked to by Hiveworks.

Negotiate a contract.

This is all of the things I have been able to learn as a reader. If one or more of them sounds promising for you, try and send a message asking an artist who uses these platforms for what they think. Good luck!

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Creative Writing Tarot Spread

Writers block bogging you down? Use this 7-card spread to help jumpstart your creativity! This prompt can help you generate a very basic storyline.

First, pull a character card! Decide for yourself what this means: will your character carry the traits of the positive meanings of this card? Will your character’s conflicts be brought about by the card’s negative meanings? Will your character look like the figure depicted on the card? Will they wield the item depicted on the card? (Note: if your story has multiple main characters, you may wish to pull a card for each)

Next, pull the plot cards! Pull a card for the beginning of your story, a card for the middle, and a card for the end. Again, let yourself decide what this means. Do these cards describe your character’s emotional state(s) as the story progresses? Do these cards describe internal or external conflicts? Do these cards represent other characters your MC will meet along the way?

Finally, pull your meat cards! These cards are the “meat” of your story. Pull one card for the main or most important setting of your story, one card for the main conflict, and one card for the resolution of that conflict.

Have fun with it! Remember that these cards are just tools, and this spread is simply to kickstart your brain. If you get halfway through the spread and come up with something on your own, or if you start writing and realize your plot is deviating from what the cards gave you, don’t stress about it! You write for yourself, not for the cards. Thank them for their help and continue on with your own imagination.

Deck pictured here: The Essential Tarot by Chloé Zarka Grinsnir

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“How arw you paying for photoshop” im not LMAO

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Male Torso/Chest Study by TIFFASHY

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You guys asked me about my ways of doing things so here it is. I’m sorry for my lame english and crappy handwriting , but I hope it’s understandable! 

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How to Draw a Damn Fine Ass Top Image, Row 5 & 6 Row 2:  Drawing People by Barbara Bradley Row 3 Row 4 Row 5 Bottom Image

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Lips Tutorials Row 1 to 4   Row 5: Left Right Row 6: Left, Middle Right Bottom Image

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friday night tutorial time

this post is massive but i tried to cover both the conceptual and technical side, hopefully it’s somewhat coherent

continued under cut

Keep reading

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