[Joan Pahisa]

Hi!

While reading your idea, I think that a very important part in you main character’s development is the reason why she decided to abandon the sea and live on the surface. Did she do it a long time ago? Was it just recently? What was the motivation behind it? A problem in the environment, with her family, to pursue a romance that went wrong and she decided to stay or could not go back…? Did she go to look up for help? Anyway, many ideas come to mind. Besides, a point that I think is important is that actually the wheelchair is a means of transport for her and also a means not to reveal her identity.

Also, another potentially important plot point is if she has an assistant or someone that helps her in her daily life, as many people with disabilities have. Nevertheless, if her arms are strong and she has good mobility, she would mostly be able to do everything on her own, although some things will take more time and more effort. The assistant plot point may be nice to play as it gives you a third person that may be part of the romance, may be against it… it gives many possibilities. Though, if the assistant was there for long periods of times and not be there sporadically, I think that maybe she would need to feel weaker due to being out of the water or due to another reason. Also, depending on the country where it takes place, there’s the issue of the cost of such assistant.

Finally, related to building your character, to depict someone with a disability, it’s important to keep in mind that for that person the disability is something normal. Then it depends on the daily mood of the person, the character, if the person tends to be more positive or not, just as any other person. Being disabled obviously has some challenges, but it does not define all your life, thus thoughts, worries, dreams and hobbies do not need to be tied to disability. One of the biggest challenges is related to how others view you, their assumptions, how they treat you or how they don’t let you do things due to your disability (even when being well-intentioned, which often happens when people are overprotective).

Hopefully, these thoughts can help you somehow. Good luck with your novel!