Kody Keplinger is the author of several books for teens: The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend), Shut Out, A Midsummer's Nightmare, Lying Out Loud, and the upcoming Run, as well as a middle grade novel, The Swift Boys & Me,. Currently, Kody lives in New York City with her guide dog, a very upbeat German Shepherd named Corey. When she isn't writing, Kody teaches writing workshops and spends a lot of time eating Thai food and marathoning Joss Whedon's TV shows.
What’s so wrong with the Beautiful Tragedy trope? Why is it wrong to emphasize the supposed irony of a person with beautiful eyes who can’t see or a good-looking person “confined to a wheelchair” (another horrible, tragedy evoking phrase) or the like?
Blind characters seem to always go too far in either one direction or the other—either completely ruled by their disability, or completely unfazed. The truth is, I hate both, because neither is honest.
The notion of people faking disabilities is not at all new or novel–and, like many, many disability tropes, it’s a harmful one.
Which are our contributors’ least favorite disability tropes?
A mistake I see a lot of writers who write about disability make is asking only one person for help. I’ve heard so many people say things like, “I have a cousin who is blind, and she read the book and said it was good at portraying blindness.”
What kind of tips do our contributors have for authors seeking to respectfully write disabled characters?
That’s the thing about disability, I think. You’re a normal person, you experience normal things, and then, every once in a while, you hit that wall. That reminder that you aren’t quite like the majority of your peers.
How do our contributors define the dreaded concept of “inspiration porn,” and how do they feel about it?