Question about a book I'm thinking of writing
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Question about a book I'm thinking of writing Hey guys, I'm a covert (and sometimes not so covert) stutterer, and have been for pretty much all of my life. I'm 48 now, so that's a long time. ;) I'm also an author of young adult fiction, and have been writing professionally for almost 15 years. There's a lot of focus in YA fiction at the moment about various issues such as transgenderism, which is obviously a very positive thing -- anything that helps kids feel less alone and bolsters greater awareness is all to the good. But there are very few, if any, teenage novels about a main character who has a stutter. I can honestly say now that my stutter is not that big a deal to me anymore, but when I was a teenager and in my early 20s, it was agony. I genuinely think that high school and college are probably the worst, hardest times to try to cope with this disability. There's still so much secrecy and shame around it; stuttering is still largely seen as a joke, almost. I read this sub and my heart aches sometimes. So I really want to write a novel focusing on a main character with a stutter. It's a subject I know intimately, and I think I also have the confidence now to "out" myself to try to help raise awareness of it, in my small way. My question for you guys is that I'm hesitant to write it as an "issue" novel -- you know the sort of thing, where the focus is entirely on the problem (in this case stuttering), and the big happy ending would be going to speech therapy, or managing to act in the school play or something. I'd prefer to just write a novel where the teenage MC has a stutter and the story is about something else entirely (because Christ knows we all just get on with our lives in spite of this fucking problem) -- but then again, it's such a big issue at this age that maybe that's naive. So, fellow stutterers, if you were reading this book as a teenager or young 20s, which approach would you prefer? Would you want to throw an "issues'" novel about stuttering across the room, or would you find it helpful/comforting? Would you think it was awesome to read a story where the MC just happens to have a realistically-depicted stutter, or would that strike you as minimizing it? Thanks, and sorry for the wall of post. You can see why I need an editor. :)