Following on from 'Autism Awareness Week' I thought it apt to discuss a plot
element in my forthcoming second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’. Some time ago I was
involved in a discussion online about diversity in historical fiction. You can read
the blog post I wrote about it here.
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photo: visualhunt.com
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Today, however, I want to focus on one factor from that
discussion, which has become entwined in my second saga. When drafting
book two, the conversation I had had with other authors about diversity
lingered in my mind. I wanted to challenge many historical novels I had read in
the past that ignored conditions that have modern names, but would have existed
in the past nevertheless. I needed a strategy that would bring such a condition
into my novel in a way that would be acceptable to modern readers, but also
credible in a 5th Century setting. My portrayal of this character
would have to be true to my genre and my contemporary audience.
“Invisible
disabilities we experience today, such as elements of the autistic spectrum,
would have no name in the 5th Century…”
In choosing to have a character on the Autistic spectrum, I
knew I would be unable to label this condition with terms and phrases we use
today and that those around the character would also lack this knowledge and
vocabulary to describe him and his behaviour. I knew at the outset this would
present me with some steep challenges and I was ever conscious of creating
something too stereotypical and offensive. I knew other characters in the story
would be governed by their spiritual beliefs and fear of things they could not
explain or that seemed to be evil or magical. My character began as a
complicated being with some undesirable and inherited personality traits, even
before I decided he would be autistic. I had to consider these traits carefully
and calculate how his autism would effect or enhance these parts of his
personality.
“Public responses
to these conditions would be ruled by culture and spirituality.”
I drew on experiences from my own life and enrolled the help
of someone with daily, personal knowledge to also assist me. After some deep
discussions with this individual I began embellishing my character and those
around him who would be there to assist or abuse him, because of his outward
behaviours and responses. I wanted to provide him with a very small circle who
understood him and were there for him. I also wanted to explore those who were
scared by him or deemed him dangerous and those who would exploit his behaviour
for their own ends. Once I had completed my first draft, I had the specific
scenes featuring the character proof-read to ensure the content was acceptable
to a modern audience, but that it also contained authentic references and
behaviours.
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photo: visualhunt.com
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Here is a description by his older brother:
‘His brother was ruled by the Dark
Mother. She held sway over the tides of his inner ocean, tossing him on wave
after wave and drowning him in his own emotion. Their Queen had been his steer
board; …adrift on an unrelenting, storm-ridden voyage, [he] heard no one else,
for they were mere morsels of windswept words. Wulfsieg realised he would be
wasting his breath. Like land-locked onlookers crying out from the shore
through wind and rain, [his brother] would never hear him from his lonely
one-man vessel.’
While language used to describe this character is embedded
in the 5th Century, as I wrote I became more aware that attitudes to
Autism continue to challenge wider society; that there exists even today,
those who misunderstand the struggles of being on the spectrum. I found myself
writing provocative scenes, displaying others abusing the vulnerability of my
autistic character and contrasting, deeply emotional scenes revealing the
extreme fragility of my character, despite his roguish outward persona.
I hope
my readers will find reading about him as interesting as I found it to create
him on the page.
And I hope others will be encouraged to be diverse in their
fiction.
Have you tackled a difficult subject in your writing?
How did you decide to include it in your writing?
What were some of the challenges you faced?
