If you're lamenting the fact that you used to be able to shoot through a 500-page novel in like a day when you were in middle school and now you can't, it's worth bearing in mind that a big part of that is because when you were in middle school, your reading comprehension sucked. Yes, mental health and the stresses of adult life can definitely be factors, but it's also the case that reading is typically more effortful as an adult because you've learned to Ponder The Implications. The material isn't just skimming over the surface of your brain anymore, and some of the spoons you used to spend on maximising your daily page count are now spent on actually thinking about what you're reading!

Reading as a kid: "I can tell that this is supposed to be an emotionally moving ending, but I genuinely cannot remember who two-thirds of these characters are."

Reading as an adult: *reads a paragraph* *pauses* *reads the same paragraph again* *flips back and re-reads the preceding page to make sure you didn't misunderstand something* *stares into space for ten minutes as the Implications sink in*

added to this: most of us have a whole lot more going on in our lives as adults than we did as kids, in the sense of having a constant background awareness of Tasks That Need To Be Done, which impacts your ability to immerse yourself in a book. so whereas your middle school self could effortlessly devote their whole brain to reading, your adult brain is equivalent to an overtaxed CPU attempting to juggle thirty open tabs across two browsers, an excel spreadsheet, bloatware, security popups, the trial version of adobe, and a song that won't stop playing because itunes froze

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

Updated with more resources, specifically for characters who are blind in one eye.

Our blessed tumblr

A holy site

Nah nah nah, you ain’t hiding this in the tags

Not one of the 7 deadly sins, but a secret 8th sin

sorry what

(Made by @dethharmonic )

it just occurred to me that I haven't done a proper selkie design for Selkiehua

(also feat. MBJ showing off his catch)

Wow look at how sparkly it is! Yes, keep paying attention to the sparkles. The contents? You don’t need to know that. Just look at those sparkles!

How to become self confident

sleepy thief king commission hehe

wahooooo look at my pet lizard

thank god for the YouTube people who make tutorials on how do do basic things like fry an egg or clean a washing machine and don’t make you feel stupid while explaining it

like when the fuck was I supposed to learn about cleaning grout? why does everyone else seem to know but me?

I was at a gas station called "Crazy Jack's Discount Shit Shack" but all the items were ancient and cursed. Crazy Jack was just some hillbilly guy with and underbite and a straw in his mouth. Had to stop my sister from buying the cursed objects, even though she knew the were all horribly cursed.

This is just the average trip to any flea market or antique store in the South.

It pisses me the fuck off that yoga is actually ancient and really good for you. Part of me still feels like it was invented to extract wealth from white socal moms.

I hate New age shit so much I actually get kinda mad when cleaning my room and drinking water actually improves my mood.

Like what do you mean moderate exercise and disciplined self respect actually improve my life. Cut the bullshit and invent cigarettes that are good for me already.

No one asked but I think the secret to making the enemies-to-lovers trip work is respect. They can loath each other, but they have to loath each other as equals. Like “sorry but no one else is allowed to murder this man but me” + “it’s an honor and privilege to despise you.”

#oh that is KEY #it’s enemies-to-lovers not ‘just some upsetting person-to-lovers’ #they have to Matter to you in one specific direction of which the polarity gets flipped #the other one is also a thing but it’s a different Thing #enemies to lovers is based on them being the most important person in the room - it's just that the reason inverts