As writers of stories, we are often told, “Show, don’t tell.” This means that rather than summarizing, we use the senses and vivid description to help the reader “see” our characters and scenes. But it’s even more important when your reader is blind.

    I’ve had several blind friends growing up, including my writing teacher. Some were friends of my family. Blindness doesn’t mean a person is helpless, it just means they approach life from a different direction than most of us. That different direction sometimes means we must help them along, whether it’s guiding them through a crowded space or giving them something to “see” in their mind’s eye.

    As I’ve begun work on a series for children that I hope to one day publish, I’ve thought a lot about the wonderful teacher who coached me in writing from third through eleventh grade. I credit her as being one of the many people who got me to where I am today and I’ve wanted to keep her updated on my progress as a writer.

    This meant accepting the challenge of describing my artwork for my books accurately enough that she would be able to picture what I was attempting to convey. For me, descriptive writing is easy, but it does take some thought and time. Not all people are fans of descriptive writing. So here are some tips to remember when writing descriptions:

1. You don’t have to go into great detail. You don’t need to explain what types of clouds were in the sky or how many birds were flying through it, or even what kinds of birds they were. Something as simple as “a small flock of birds fluttered through the gray sky” is enough to bring a picture to the mind’s eye.

2. While you don’t have to go into great detail, you also need to be careful you don’t have too little. Balance is important. If you say, “a flock of birds flew across the sky,” you leave a few questions unanswered such as, “What color was the sky, due to the weather?” and “How big was this flock of birds?”

3. Plain colors are boring. Rather than using “blue” or  “green,” play with descriptions: “As blue as blueberries,” “palm-tree green,” or “lavender purple.” While some people born blind don’t even know what colors look like, others once had sight and can envision these colors as you describe them.

Showing instead of telling is an important aspect of story-writing. But with a blind reader, showing is even more important so they can envision the scene in their minds.