When writing characters with mobility aids, how often should the mobility aids be mentioned? Do I need to specify where they put the cane when sitting down/that they pick it up before standing? Is it appropriate to say that he walks across the room without mentioning his cane? I don't want to avoid acknowledging it, but I also don't want to constantly remind the reader, as that feels redundant. Thank you!
Hello! Thank you for asking. I think you are right to want to include it without being redundant.
I think, in general, it is fine to not explicitly mention the cane much of the time. I think it’s more important in the beginning of your story to help get readers used to imagining this character with a cane, but as the story goes on, I think it can get easier and easier to not worry about mentioning the cane every single time unless it becomes important, such as deliberately mentioning that this time he is not using it for whatever reason or something along those lines. Or unless it becomes interesting to mention it, such as when something about it is out of the ordinary, such as the character placing it somewhere different from normal for some particular reason or using it in a way they normally don’t for whatever cause.
I would focus on working it in casually though, especially in the beginning of your story. Think of it the way you would mention a character carrying around a cup of coffee or something. It’s not a huge focal point, but the narrative does still casually mention how the character picked up his coffee mug and went over to chat with some coworkers. It isn’t the subject of the scene, but it is still mentioned in a way that incorporates it casually without beating the readers over the head with it, so to speak.
I personally quite like seeing occasional casual mentions of a disabled characters mobility aid, because it does subtly remind you that the character is disabled and uses a mobility aid and helps you remember to imagine it, but does it in such a way that it doesn’t pull your focus away from the actual subject of the moment by making a big production out of grabbing their cane. I love when I don’t hear it mentioned a ton, but there are little subtle lines sprinkled in the way you would sprinkle in any other object or tool. I love little tasteful lines like these:
She came inside covered in sweat, dropped her cane beside the couch, and flopped down—luxuriating in the wonderful coolness of the air.
“I think we’re done here,” he said, the corners of his mouth pinched and tight. And with that, he stood, retrieving his cane from the corner behind his chair and exiting the room, never once looking back.
This time, she ran. He was hot on her tail and all she could do was sprint through the hotel at top speed, tearing around corners and holding her white cane as far out in front of her as she could manage, the sharp, rapid taps mixing with the sound of her own ragged breaths.
These are all examples of working a mobility aid into a scene in a way that helps the reader remember that the character has one, but also doesn’t make the whole scene about the mobility aid when the scene has nothing to do with it. These can be fun little things to sprinkle in occasionally, especially since a couple of them are scenes in which the character is using the mobility aid in a slightly less typical way from what they probably normally do.
Again though, these are just snippets that you would work in once in a while. You don’t have to write mentions like this into the narrative every single time your character moves. I’d still suggest working in casual lines like this a little more frequently in the very beginning, but letting it settle into assumed used after that and only making casual mention of it occasionally, the same way you would any other object or action that isn’t necessarily the focal point but still adds a little bit of flavor and mental imagery.
Mod Lane
