Young Writers Society

Okay, I usually never stick with plots, but I've really begun to like this one. I'm not going to write the scenes sequentially, which is something new; I usually stay on the beginning for 5 million years or so and then go on. Anyway, I haven't written anything down yet, but, as I said, I'm definitely sticking with this.

Alright. So, here's my fabulous idea:

PLOT:

Andy is a victim of conversion disorder, a psychiatric disorder where people show emotional distress through physical conditions. The symptoms range from inability to feel pain to inability to speak, yet Andy managed to get one of the worst ones: inability to see. Stuck with her blindness since age twelve, she's been unable to realize what has caused this terrible condition. Although lacking one of the most important senses, Andy continues to work through her adolescence as if she can... see perfectly fine. Not letting her handicap get in her way, and working through certain obstacles with her undeniable wit and fortunate intelligence, Andy has been able to have a relatively normal life for the past three years. Very, very few people know of her condition, and she plans to keep it that way until whatever illness she has can be sorted out.

CONFLICT:

Althought she's been fairing well for the time she's been blinded, this is one of the very few situations where she has begun to despise her handicap. On a relatively normal day with her closest friends, she comes across a new friend who she has currently been craving the personality of. She can't get Jared out of her mind - his charm is addicting, his flaws are adorable, and they become closer friends with every meeting. Inevitably she falls for him, and they get closer than Andy can actually handle. She desperately wants to tell him the her darkest secret, and he's quickly realizing the truth. How will he react when the fact that she's blind becomes blatantly obvious? Will he treat her differently when he knows? Will he ever be able to feel the same way as he without feeling pity instead? If only she weren't left in the dark.

~*~*~

Tell me what you think! And what I like so much about this story is that I'm writing it from first person, which is going to be pretty challenging. Any tips or critiques will be very helpful =] Thanks!

~*Sara*~

Seems great. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. How did they manage to go all that time without anyone knowing they're blind though?

It seems like an intriguing idea, but you have to be careful about hiding Andy's blindness--something like that is very, VERY difficult to hide. I mean, she'll have to read books for school, watch movies with her friends, et cetera et al...

Just be careful, because you might stretch things to the point of ludicrousness here. Is it possible to give Andy a slightly less debiliating disability? (like, say, deafness)? Just a thing to consider.

I agree with the above posters. The storyline as you have it sounds fascinating, but the technicalities of hiding a blind person's disability seem too complex to even attempt. I mean, even just getting around without some kind of guidance would be near impossible. Deafness might work, since she could've learned to lip-read. Personally, I've always liked the inability to feel pain as a disability (and as a superpower) since it opens up all sorts of interesting angles - why pain is necessary, what numbness represents, the inability to feel both physically and emotionally, and desensitization.

Thanks for the suggestions, although deafness is definitely out of the question. She may be able to see, and how things look is a large description of any kind of short story, but hearing is one of the most significant part of this. Also, I like my advantage where I can spend more time on how things feel and smell and how they sound - it'll make the story much more interesting.
And I'm working on avoiding obstacles, like how she "fell down stairs" and "walks with a limp" so she has an excuse to use a cane. And she wears contacts and tinted "prescription glasses" so people won't see the difference in her eyes (she does take them off at times, but . And she "walks her dog" a lot, and she's definitely home schooled, which saves me a crap load of trouble. And it is incredibly difficult, and people may get suspicious, but how likely is it that a person comes up to you and asks if you're blind? So, haha, I got this =]

I love the story line in its entirity. Im eager to see how this turns out because of the descriptions you will have to make using the other senses! )