Many authors I know pull from events
or people from their own lives for inspiration or storyline. I’ve never been
that way personally. I’m an extremely private person by nature, so its very
unusual for me to use any of myself in my books. That is actually my favorite
thing about writing, I’m able to fully create worlds and people out of thin
air. It allows you to become whoever you want for the moment. I usually create
a main character who is nothing like me because it allows me to be and do all
the things I’ve always wanted to.
I’ve had a very eventful life. Those who know me well always
ask why I’ve never drawn from my real life for a novel, since my life is pretty
much a lifetime movie. The idea of writing anything close to home has always
been completely horrifying for me. (Super private remember?)
I
have a pretty unique situation where I lost my hearing at eighteen years old.
(You can read more about it in my letter to the reader in Silent Song.)
Deafness is one of those subjects that most people think they understand…but actually don’t. There is so much more to deafness than
not being able to hear. There are levels (decibels) of sound that is so
intricate that it is much more than just you can hear or not.
A
few years ago I read a book that had a deaf main character. The book was
amazing, but there were so many things that weren’t
accurate. It wasn’t glaringly obvious unless you were deaf, but it really
bothered me. I had brought up the issue to a good author friend of mine and
I’ll never forget what she said to me.
“The only way to fix this problem Jaci, is to set it
straight. That means you are going to have to write the story of a deaf person
from their perspective. Show people not only your world, but help them
understand the deaf world. Who else will?”
I
instantly shut her down. Theres no way I’m
writing anything close my life. A few months went by and then I had to explain
a few things about deafness to people that they just never knew. Like just
because you speak English doesn’t mean deaf people can write in English without
struggle. Almost every hearing person I talked to didn’t know that American
Sign Language is NOT english. It has its own structure and rules like any other
language. ASL is my second language, but it’s the main one I use at home with
my husband. It’s hard for my brain to switch back and forth between ASL and
English. Because of this I tend to change tenses when I write, which is very
frowned upon in writing. I’m pretty sure I’ve driven every editor I’ve ever had
to drink over this little fact.
After
having to explain this to several people over a very short amount of time I
finally came to terms with the fact that I was going to have to write a story with
a deaf character.
I
decided to go home and just see if I even had a story in me. I don’t outline, ever. I just start writing. I usually write the
end first, then the beginning and fill in the middle. (Yeah I’m weird.) So I
went home and just started writing to see if I even had a story in me…and I
couldn’t stop. I wrote through he night, and all weekend long. By the time I
took a break I had almost written half of the book. This is the only book I
didn’t have to re-write or revise. It was trapped deep down and apparently
ready to be freed. I cried more while writing this story than I have probably
ever cried in my life. But it was also the most cathartic thing I‘ve ever done.
This
story isn’t my own, but the feelings are
completely mine. The pain, fears and passion is all mine even though the story
belongs to Barrett alone.
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