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@scriptspoonie
Heyo, Mod Riley here. This blog (which will hopefully come back to life with the new year) has apparently been labeled as nsfw in this new tumblr algorithm - for what reason I could not tell you as we are literally a blog of text posts. Anyone know how to get @staff how to review and undo such a thing?
This blog is still tagged as explicit, have sent another request to @staff to fix it.
Heyo, Mod Riley here. This blog (which will hopefully come back to life with the new year) has apparently been labeled as nsfw in this new tumblr algorithm - for what reason I could not tell you as we are literally a blog of text posts. Anyone know how to get @staff how to review and undo such a thing?
Hi! I want to write a female character in my book who wears I guess you would call it a hjiab like head covering, but my world is high fantasy without the same religions as our world so I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much trouble if you would mind giving me a list of cultures/religions that commonly use headcoverings so I would know how to describe it? Thanks x.
Hi anon!
I love this question, but I don’t really know that this is the blog for it. I’m not sure there’s a blog in the Script Family that’s suited to answer it with regards to religion and the religious significance of head coverings, aside from maybe @scriptpastor to discuss head coverings worn by Christians or @scriptmyth to discuss head coverings worn in classical religions.
I hope this helps!
Hey! This isn't an illness-related question, but I'm just wondering why it's called spoonie? I'm curious :) love the blog too!
Check out the original article on spoon theory, which can be found at this link!
What sort of precautions might someone who's just been released from the hospital for a severe Crohn's flair-up take in the coming days/weeks after being released? Thanks for all of your help! This blog is such a wonderful resource!
A character with Crohn’s would likely be extra conscientious around the things that tend to cause flares or aggravate their symptoms. For example:
Food:
A character coming out of the hospital post flare will likely stick to safe foods. What constitutes a safe food varies over people with Crohn’s, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation has some fantastically detail info on that here: [Link]. You can determine how this may effect your character as an individual. This will be very important for your character to keep in mind, and they very likely see a nutritionist/dietitian as a part of their management plan. Nutritionists and dietitians work with patients with particular dietary concerns on creating a food plan that will work for them. Your character may have seen theirs while hospitalized, and will likely be particularly careful to stick to their nutrition plan post-flare. (One of my favorite spoonie memes regards being on first name basis-es with specialists!) If the flare included diarrhea, your character will also likely be drinking a lot of water to make up for it. Gatorade is a spoonie’s best friend, but if your character is a person who doesn’t like sports drinks of any flavor, they may have certain other tricks up their sleeves to make up for both fluid and electrolytes.
Stress Management:
There’s a (somewhat controversial!) belief that stress may lead to flare-ups, and at the very least it’s agreed upon that stress doesn’t make symptoms any better. Think about what your character finds relaxing and enjoyable, particularly things that may be low-spoon activities– think about things that can be done in bed like reading or playing video games.
Your character would also very likely be on additional medication to calm the flare, including possibly (and it’s a big possibly) immunosuppressant drugs. If your character is on an immunosuppressant, they’ll be taking care to avoid germ-heavy environments and friends/family members who may be sick.
I hope this helps, happy writing!
~Mod T
Disclaimer
Hi! Love your blog (and all of the Scriptfam)! I have a question - I'm writing about a world where people have superpowers, but I'm wary of running into that trope of disabled people's powers being that they've overcome their disability (Daredevil in particular comes to mind). Do you have any tips for writing about this? Thanks!
Hi anon!
My biggest tip here is to not have the character’s abilities directly “make up for” their disability– deaf telepaths, blind clairvoyants, people with mobility issues and telekinesis, things like that. Being aware of the issue is a large part of avoiding the issue. And honestly, I think the solution is creativity. Get as creative as you want with what people’s powers are! Think outside the box! I got really overexcited about this ask (fun fact: we here at ScriptSpoonie are big superhero nerds), so here are some ideas off the cuff of “superpowers that don’t “make up for” a character’s disability and aren’t any more hazardous as a result of that disability”:
A deaf character who’s pyrokinetic
A blind character who can teleport
A wheelchair user who can manipulate time!
A character with Crohn’s who can fly
A character with diabetes who can manipulate probability!
A character with Multiple Sclerosis and superhuman vision
A character with chronic fatigue syndrome who’s telepathic
A character with PTSD who can change their size at will!
A character with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome who can manipulate disease!
A character with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome who can speak to animals!
A character with bipolar disorder who can see through solid objects!
A character with rheumatoid arthritis who can manipulate light!
A character with Grave’s Disease who can raise the dead! Puns can still be fun when they’re respectful!
A character with lupus who can manipulate color.
A character with major depressive disorder who’s a shape-shifter
A character with Evan’s Syndrome who can manipulate metal!
A character with chronic lyme disease who can manipulate temperature!
A character with chronic pain who can manipulate the weather!
A character with narcolepsy with cloning abilities!
A character with POTS who can create illusions!
All in all, the easiest way to not have a character’s superpower “compensate” for their disability is just to not do that. Once you’re aware of the trope, it’s fairly easy to avoid, so do your research into the disability you’re giving your character and consider whether or not any symptoms associated with that disability feel like they’d be covered up by the superpower. We’d also be happy to help with simple sensitivity checks on that if you’re not sure!
Also, don’t forget that a disabled character - take number one, the deaf pyrokinetic character - can use their super powers as tools to help them with their disabilities without having their powers directly overcoming their disabilities or 'making up' for them. Like the deaf superhero from number 1 could use fire signals with people who aren't fluent in sign language, or the character with PTSD from number 8 (maybe PTSD from a severe fight with their nemesis?) could be battling paranoia about the noises in the house so they grow large enough to take on anything that might be there. These don't make the disabilities null, but it adds another cool element to disabled superheros and what they can do!
Go forth and make many disabled superheros! Happy writing!
~Mod T, Mod Riley
(If anyone writes something using one or more of these characters (number 5 is an OC of mine, full disclosure) and posts it on here, feel free to tag us in it! I would love to see it!)
Hello! I wanted to ask if you know something about Narcolepsy? Or know a place where I can get help with that?
We do, and we’d be happy to answer writing questions on the subject!
Hello! Pls tell me, are questions about amputy characters can be answered in this blog or maybe you can direct me somewhere else? Thanks!
I don’t know that we’re the best blog for amputee characters, as we mostly focus on chronic and mental illnesses.
Does anybody have suggestions on where anon can go for questions about amputee characters?
While they appear mild mannered on the outside, Riley springs into action at the first sound of queer voices raised in distress. By day an average college student, by night - Superenby, queer, smol, and parent to all.
Or, my new haircut gave me the Clark Kent curl, I had that Superqueero shirt, and I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
Heyo, this is Mod Riley. This is my face. And while this is in part to show you all what a giant nerd I am, this is also a useful characterization lesson for all of your spoonie characters.
I’m a spoonie - I have PTSD, Panic Attacks, Depression, OCD, Rhuematoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, and many other mental illnesses and yet to be specifically diagnosed chronic illnesses. I often wake up already missing half of my spoons because of late night panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares. Being careful with my energy is very important to ensure that I can work and preform in my grad classes as best as I can.
But I’m still a complete human being, which means that sometimes the other parts of me take over - like this particular instance of nerdiness. I got this idea in the middle of the night, and the next morning I spent three hours setting this photoshoot up, from tearing my room apart looking for my glasses (which I never found), to learning how to tie a tie just for that one photo (that took 70 minutes and a lot of mental energy and patience), to carefully making sure the pictures were perfectly posed so you could see the hair curl.
Three hours of my morning when I could have been doing something rather useful with my spoons - instead I did this and was exhausted for the rest of the day, nearly causing me to cancel a rather important appointment. It produced just these two photos.
But more importantly, it made me happy. I felt somewhere in the realm of ‘normal’ for three hours.
We here at scriptspoonie aim to help you write your spoonie characters as realistically as possible. But while accurate representation of chronic illness is vitally important, it is just as important to remember that your characters are human beings and that some things - going to a con, staying up late to see the midnight release of a movie, seeing a band at a loud concert, going to a fair - are going to be more important to them.
Don’t let the fact that your character is a spoonie stop them from doing what they love - instead, show how they might do it differently, and show the consequences they deal with later, whether it be increased pain, exhaustion, or missed deadlines. That’s how you write a well-rounded spoonie character.
Unsure how to do that? Well, that’s what we are here for!
I was considering giving one of my characters MS, but I'm not sure what the range of severity of its symptoms is (or much else, really; my research isn't going just great). My aunt has it, and she can barely get to work in the morning, or do anything else, and this character wouldn't be allowed to be doing what he's doing if that were the case, but I can't see him as perfectly able-bodied either. Are there milder flavors of MS, or something similar I could use?
Hey anon!
There are four types of Multiple Sclerosis, and those types have different courses of symptoms in terms of clinical severity and the things that a character with them may or may not be able to do. Even within types of MS, different people living with it may have very different experiences. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has good information on types of MS available here [link] to get you started, and I would suggest looking into Relapsing-Remitting MS for a character who may have a slower progression of symptoms.
I hope this helped, happy writing!
~Mod T
My MC has a (undiagnosed) rheumatoid disease and has had swollen painful joints (feet, hands) for years on and off only treated by over the counter painkillers. What would be the consequences of this going untreated? Will the joints break down or disintegrate? When it's finally diagnosed, is there still hope to treat it?
As this question is about the medical side of chronic illness rather than the day-to-day, this is a better question for @scriptmedic once her ask box opens back up.
Happy writing!
See, the problem with people who aren’t in wheelchairs writing about and/or drawing people who are in (manual) wheelchairs is that the people who aren’t in wheelchairs tend to think that there’s only like four movements that you do in a wheelchair. You can either push forward, push backwards, turn left, or turn right. And the characters do it all while sitting up straight or bending forward so that their noses touch their knees.
But the amount of motions that I go through on a daily basis are actually amazing. And the body language…you could write an entire book on the body language of someone in a wheelchair.
Like right now, I’m more relaxed, so I’m slouching slightly. I’ve got my right foot on its footrest and the left foot on the ground. Every so often, as I stop to think of something to say, I’ll push with my left foot to rock the chair slightly.
But usually, I sit mostly upright with my upper-half slightly leaned forward. When I’m wheeling across the campus, especially if I have somewhere that I need to be, I’ll lean and shift my weight in whichever direction it is that I’m going. It helps make the wheelchair glide that much more smoothly. How far/dramatically I lean depends on how fast I’m going, the terrain, if there’s a turn, etc.
Plus people who don’t use wheelchairs don’t understand the relationship between grabbing the wheels, pushing, and the chair moving. Like I’ve seen things written or have seen people try to use a chair where the character/that person grabs the wheel every single second and never lets go to save their lives. Which isn’t right. The key is to do long, strong, pushes that allow you to move several feet before repeating. I can usually get about ten feet in before I have to push again. It’s kind of like riding a scooter. You don’t always need to push. You push, then ride, then push, then ride, etc.
And because of this, despite what many people think, people in wheelchairs can actually multitask. I’ve carried Starbucks drinks across the campus without spilling a single drop. Because it’s possible to wheel one-handed (despite what most people think), especially when you shift your weight. And if I need to alternate between pushing both wheels, I’ll just swap hands during the ‘glide’ time.
I’ve also noticed that people who don’t use wheelchairs, for some reason, have no idea how to turn a wheelchair. It’s the funniest thing. Like I see it written or, again, have seen people ‘try’ a wheelchair where they’re reaching across their bodies to try to grab one wheel and push or they try to push both wheels at the same time and don’t understand. (For the record, you pull back a wheel and push a wheel. The direction that you’re going is the side that you pull back.)
Back to body language. Again, no idea why most people think that we always sit upright and nothing else. Maybe when I’m in meetings or other formal settings, but most of the time, I do slightly slouch/lean. As for the hands…A lot of writers put the wheelchair user’s hands on the armrests but the truth is, most armrests sit too far back to actually put your hands on. There are times when I’ll put my elbows on the edges of the armrests and will put my hands between my legs. Note: Not on my lap. That’s another thing that writers do but putting your hands in your lap is actually not a natural thing to do when you’re in a wheelchair, due to the angle that you’re sitting and the armrests. Most of the time, I’ll just sort of let my arms loosely fall on either side of the chair, so that my hands are next to my wheels but not grabbing them. That’s another form of body language. I’ve talked to a few people who have done it and I do it myself. If I’m ever anxious or in a situation where I want to leave for one reason or another, I will usually grip my handrims - one hand near the front , one hand near the back. And if I’m really nervous, you’ll find me leaning further and further into the chair, running my hands along the handrims.
Also, on a related subject - a character’s legs should usually be at 90 degree angles, the cushion should come to about their knees, and the armrests should come to about their elbows. You can always tell that an actor is not a wheelchair user when their wheelchair isn’t designed to their dimensions. (Their knees are usually inches away from the seats and are up at an angle, the armrests are too high, etc.) Plus they don’t know how to drive the chair.
Let’s see, what else? Only certain bags can go on the back of the chair without scraping against the wheels, so, no, your teenagers in wheelchairs can’t put their big, stylish, purses on the back. We don’t always use gloves since most gloves actually aren’t that helpful (as stated above, wheeling is a very fluid motion and gloves tend to constrict movements). Height differences are always a thing to remember. If you’re going for the “oh no, my wheelchair is broken” trope, nobody really has ‘flat’ tires anymore thanks to the new material for the wheels but it is possible to have things break off. We use the environment a lot. I always push off of walls or grab onto corners or kick off of the floor etc. Wheelchair parkour should really become a thing.
This is all of the physical things to think about. I could write a thesis on the emotional treatment of your characters with disabilities. But for now, I think that I’ll stop here. For my followers in wheelchairs, is there anything that I left out?
Also why isn’t wheelchair parkour a thing? Somebody make wheelchair parkour a thing.
This is all REALLY GOOD and I wish something like this would be in more art guidebooks and classes.
One thing I’d add is that some of the posture stuff here is specific to wheelchair users who have the right chair; a lot of people (hi, past me) have to use chairs that aren’t at all the correct size, and that’s going to change posture, ease of use, etc. That’s such a broad variable that it’s probably useless to try and cover here, but it’s something to be aware of and research if it seems relevant to a character.
This is a super awesome post for you writers to think about! A ton of spoonies use wheelchairs, either consistently or occasionally for a multitude of reasons. This is a great starting point for those of you who are writing characters who use wheelchairs!
Hello! I thought you should know that one of your posts saved me from doing something embarrassing with one of my characters, so thanks! You're one of my favorite script blogs, by the way :)
We’re very happy to be able to help, thank you for the kind message!
I just saw your PTSD post and that got me thinking about my own OC and I wanna know, is there any difference between the symptoms of PTSD between genders?
This sounds like a better question for @scriptshrink! If you have a question regarding the day-to-day life of a person with certain PTSD symptoms, feel free to send us a question.
Happy writing!
Disclaimer
We are a blog that aims to give writers a realistic view of how a character with a chronic illness or certain disabilities may function within their story, the challenges they will face, and how their day to day life will go.
We are not a real-world advice or diagnostic blog. If you have questions about real life situations, please do not ask us. This blog is intended to help with fictional situations only.
Thank you.
Our PTSD post has been getting a lot of attention, and we want to remind everyone that our posts are not intended to give real-world or diagnostic advice, and are meant strictly as writing advice.
If a character is in a wheelchair, but can sometimes get up and walk around on his own, would it be okay for his friends to sit in it while he's not using it, or is that rude?
The resounding answer from most wheelchair users I know is “no, do not touch their chair, it’s not for you.” A wheelchair isn’t a toy for able-bodied people to play with, they’re medical devices.
That’s not to say it’s impossible your character might be okay with certain other characters occasionally sitting in it so long as they’re just sitting in it, not treating it like a toy. This is a conversation he can have with other characters, and comes down in large part to your character’s feelings about it and the boundaries he sets.
-Mod T
Speaking from personal experience, I am friends with mostly spoonies who also have their energy drained constantly. I use a wheelchair mostly for pain, when my Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia get too bad to walk through the mall or amusement park. But if I get up to browse books or clothes, I have no problem with my fellow spoonie friends taking a seat to conserve some energy - I actually kind of appreciate it because trying to carry items while shopping, keeping a hold on my service dog’s leash so it doesn’t trip me or get stepped on, and trying to keep track of a wheelchair is a lot. I only have so many hands, so for me and only me, I don’t have a problem with my spoonie friends using it as a seat to try to regain some energy, because I know they need it and because they are just sitting in it, not screwing around in it.
For friends who are not spoonies, I do kind of mind, because they often don’t recognize the very real need I have for it, and do not respect it as my spoonie friends do. So for them, I would ask them to just stand by it, not sit in it because I honestly wouldn’t trust my non-spoonie friends not to give in to the temptation of screwing around in it, because they do have the energy to do stupid things in public and risk injury to both themselves and my chair. But mine is a single experience and like Mod T said, the overwhelming attitude of wheelchair users is different for very valid reasons of autonomy and agency of their individual mobility devices.
- Mod Riley.
We hope this helps, happy writing!
I was wondering how negligent and abusive parents affects children as they grow up like my characters has it pretty rough as his mother has locked him in dark rooms as punishment for often nothing(e.g. Closets), does not feed him at times, and locked him in their house, never letting him leave for anything, even school and his father left his mother because of her actions, leaving him behind. He's nineteen now and has escaped that household but how does it follow him now?Thank you for the help!
Please refer to @scriptshrink for this ask. If you decide your character may have PTSD, consider checking out this post [Link] for information on how that may effect his day-to-day living. If you have further questions we can help with, give us a shout!
