Writing has always been my passion since I was a little girl. It has given me infinite worlds to explore. It has also been the place where I can explore and resolve internal issues, things I couldn't figure out for myself, unless I wrote them out, tried to stick them into a story. It has been very therapeutic.
What most people here don't know is that one of my children, my second daughter, is profoundly hard of hearing. Don't send your condolences; she is a beautiful, intelligent, independent eighteen year old, of whom I am very proud. Okay, she's a little scary at times; teenagers are a handful, deaf or not, and she's my hot-tempered child. She keeps life exciting around here.
Many, many, MANY times, I have tried to write a deaf character, as an exercise, as an exploration so that I can understand her world a little better. Of course, you know how that turns out: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think I've got a handle on how to describe how she experiences the world, her coping mechanisms, that sort of thing.
So far, this has been experimental on my part, a writing exercise as well as a way to understand my child better. Now I've come to a place where I would like to use a deaf character in one of my professional stories. It's not motivated by anything PC. It's because a deaf character would be the best choice for this particular story.
My daughter is an oral communicator, and reads lips very well. But she knows and uses sign as well, as do the rest of the family. I'm personally best at SEE (Signed Exact English) and Pidgin (sort of an idiosyncratic, shorthanded SEE), but I can understand ASL when she speaks it.
For those of you who don't know, ASL has a similar vocabulary, but a very VERY different grammar and syntax than SEE or spoken English.
For example: In English (or in SEE), I would say, "Tomorrow I'm going to town because I need to buy milk and eggs, and I need to stop at the bank to get some cash."
In Pidgin, that sentence would become, "Tomorrow Me go town, need get milk, eggs, need money, go bank."
In ASL, that same sentence becomes, "me town future, milk, eggs store, cash bank" or something similar (I struggle with ASL grammar, which is why I stick to Pidgin or SEE). it sounds simplistic, almost mentally deficient, but the written word can't really depict the richness of the language, how facial expressions, body posture, and exaggeration of the signs add layers and layers of meaning.
So how would I write the dialogue for that deaf character? Would I transliterate the ASL? That might confuse my reader; heck, it confuses me sometimes, and I deal with it on a daily basis. But it would be the most accurate.
Would I write the dialogue out in normal English grammar, but italicize them or mark them somehow, to show that they're not being spoken out loud? Add, "she signed," instead of "she said"? It's so much less accurate, but much more understandable to the reader.
Maybe there's another option that I haven't thought of?
Advice?
What most people here don't know is that one of my children, my second daughter, is profoundly hard of hearing. Don't send your condolences; she is a beautiful, intelligent, independent eighteen year old, of whom I am very proud. Okay, she's a little scary at times; teenagers are a handful, deaf or not, and she's my hot-tempered child. She keeps life exciting around here.
Many, many, MANY times, I have tried to write a deaf character, as an exercise, as an exploration so that I can understand her world a little better. Of course, you know how that turns out: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think I've got a handle on how to describe how she experiences the world, her coping mechanisms, that sort of thing.
So far, this has been experimental on my part, a writing exercise as well as a way to understand my child better. Now I've come to a place where I would like to use a deaf character in one of my professional stories. It's not motivated by anything PC. It's because a deaf character would be the best choice for this particular story.
My daughter is an oral communicator, and reads lips very well. But she knows and uses sign as well, as do the rest of the family. I'm personally best at SEE (Signed Exact English) and Pidgin (sort of an idiosyncratic, shorthanded SEE), but I can understand ASL when she speaks it.
For those of you who don't know, ASL has a similar vocabulary, but a very VERY different grammar and syntax than SEE or spoken English.
For example: In English (or in SEE), I would say, "Tomorrow I'm going to town because I need to buy milk and eggs, and I need to stop at the bank to get some cash."
In Pidgin, that sentence would become, "Tomorrow Me go town, need get milk, eggs, need money, go bank."
In ASL, that same sentence becomes, "me town future, milk, eggs store, cash bank" or something similar (I struggle with ASL grammar, which is why I stick to Pidgin or SEE). it sounds simplistic, almost mentally deficient, but the written word can't really depict the richness of the language, how facial expressions, body posture, and exaggeration of the signs add layers and layers of meaning.
So how would I write the dialogue for that deaf character? Would I transliterate the ASL? That might confuse my reader; heck, it confuses me sometimes, and I deal with it on a daily basis. But it would be the most accurate.
Would I write the dialogue out in normal English grammar, but italicize them or mark them somehow, to show that they're not being spoken out loud? Add, "she signed," instead of "she said"? It's so much less accurate, but much more understandable to the reader.
Maybe there's another option that I haven't thought of?
Advice?
And I understood your explanation. 
