I have a mute character in the story I’m writing and one of my beta readers suggested I use italics when they sign so that I don’t have to keep peppering “they signed” or “their hands flashed” throughout the piece.
But like…I always read italics in a different tone like they’re thoughts. It seems quieter than using normal quotations which makes what they say look less significant on the page than other character’s dialogue.
I really don’t think my audience needs me to use completely different punctuation around a mute character. There’s no need to act like they’re speaking a different language since their muteness isn’t a focal point in the story.
So really this reader’s comment has done the complete opposite of what they intended. Now I’m actively taking out as many of my “hands flashed” notations as possible and just writing in normal body language because, clearly, the other characters understand them and my audience doesn’t need to be coddled.
As an HOH reader and writer I can affirm that once the signing has been established it can just be treated like “said”.
You can add little things for emphasis though, like how fast or flippant a sign is given, also a lot of our “punctuation” is in facial expressions, so wild looks is kind of normal. Also messing up signs and just.. pushing them aside. Like, you mess up a fingerspell and just take both hands and shove the air in front of you to your side, people who sign eventually end up doing this for other things, like a “forget it” motion. It’s like a “wave it off” gesture.
Body language for someone who signs is a lot more animated than someone who speaks, as we use our upper body a lot in our conversations, so the act of “signing” is more than just hand signals.
Yes….yes GOOD this is the good stuff right here. I’m going to incorporate some of these ASAP ESPECIALLY the pushing the air but to clear it of your mistakes
In case you wanted to make your story more realistic to signing in general:
If your character is only partially mute (as in they can sometimes speak) or newly mute (they recently lost their ability to speak and previously knew how to do so in the common tongue) and/or grew up around hearing people who speak even if they never could, keep in mind that they have a different signing “accent” for lack of a better word.
People who are Deaf And Learned Sign As Kids instead of the common tongue will be more fluent, they’ll have a wider vocabulary, their signs will be fluid and fast, like speaking to anyone in their first language. They will not have to mentally translate their thoughts to sign the way someone who learns sign as their second language would have to - they already think in sign. Traditionally, sign language even in American or British sign goes in spanish sentence structure, not english. They will be difficult for anyone who is NOT a fluent signer to understand! If your character isn’t fluent, they will probably need to ask fluent signers to slow down!
Meanwhile if your character is Mute, there’s a good chance that they weren’t always, OR they grew up around people who could both hear and speak. Their signing will be more rudimentary (even if the hearing speaking people around them teach them sign at an early age instead of just having them write down what they want to say, bc most people do not care to accommodate you if you can’t speak at all), at least until they learn it better from other signing people. Their vocab will be smaller, and their signs may be slow and clumsy. They may have to finger spell a lot. They will probably get frustrated with their inability to articulate what they want, and they may frequently need to resort to writing down what they want to say. They’ll also likely put signs in the same sentence structure as the language the people around them spoke. This literal translation of each sentence WILL confuse fluent signers!
When talking to deaf people, or other fluent signers, there are a few pretty widespread cultural things you could consider as well: for example, Deaf Time! Deaf time means that once you start talking with a deaf person/fluent signer with no other means of communication, They won’t stop till the conversation is done or you literally have to leave! The chance to sign with someone you don’t know tends to be pretty rare, and the language barrier in general makes deaf people/people who sign exclusively pretty isolated. There’s also the fact that signing with a flat face is only common in non-fluent signers; your expression determines some words! The difference between “good” and “great” comes down to your expression, and signing either with an impassive face is the equivalent of talking in a monotone. Not necessarily rude - but fluent signers will be able to clock you. (I know this bc my autistic ass cannot sign the difference between words like that, and it drove my teachers nuts.)
I hope that helps and that I’m not too late
Source: I’m hard of hearing and selectively mute and my signing accent is absolutely abhorrent :)
