Stammers and stammerers, stutters and stutterers

[MaxSebastian]

Hello peeps,

So I'm looking at writing a story about a stunningly beautiful girl (what else?) who happens to have a rather strong stammer or stutter. Based on a highly fanciable female from way back in my past, this character would not have the kind of stammer that was in anyway comedy value - of the Fish Called Wanda variety, for example - on the contrary, she would be extremely desirable and hence a great lead character for an erotic story.

So my questions are these, perhaps someone might have some useful knowledge on the topic:

- Has anyone here tried to write a stuttering character, if so how did you go about it?

- Has anyone here actually had experience of someone stuttering (or experience as a stutterer yourself), and if so what kinds of situations/ words caused real problems and how does a stutterer feel when it occurs?

- Are there any stuttering myths that crop up in fiction/culture created by non-stutterers about the whole issue?

Any other information on the issue would also be greatly appreciated, I think this could be an interesting character but may turn out to be a little much for my meagre talents!



Max.

 

[MathGirl]

- Has anyone here tried to write a stuttering character, if so how did you go about it?.

I've been tempted, but I seem to do better with characters having cleft palates or strong Porto Rican accents.
MG

 

[Svenskaflicka]

- Has anyone here tried to write a stuttering character, if so how did you go about it?

I tried to focus on letting the person stutter on special consonants only, like p, t, k, b, d, g. A long vowel sound, like "a-a-a-a-apple", might work, too. If the person is stuttering because of a biological problem, this must be used consistently throughout the story. If the person is stuttering because he/she is nervous, you may let him/her stutter on different letters now and then, to show that the stuttering gets worse the more nervous he/she is.


- Has anyone here actually had experience of someone stuttering (or experience as a stutterer yourself), and if so what kinds of situations/ words caused real problems and how does a stutterer feel when it occurs?
I don't have any personal experience, but I've heard from people who stutters when they get nervous, that speaking to strangers, spaking to a large crowd, or speaking about something that brings up strong emotions within the person, can cause stuttering. If the person gets embarrassed, and tries desperately to speak normal, then that tension can make it even worse.
And the worst thing you can do when you're talking to someone who stutters, is to finish their words for them. It's impatient and rude, and it implies that you think yourself being smarter and faster than the stuttering person.

 

[Guest]

my 5 cents

Hi MaxSebastian. Interesting idea. My first reaction: all the stuttering transposed to multi meaningless looking consonents could get as tiring as the strings of syllables used for climax noises. I'd hate to read a line like, "I I I I I I I I'm cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cumming."

But, what if your lovely stutterer lost the speech impediment when aroused and throughout any sexual experience? I've read of people whose stuttering is triggered by specific circumstances, or vice-versa - the stuttering leaves under certain conditions.

Best to you, Perdita

 

[MathGirl]

Re: my 5 cents

But, what if your lovely stutterer lost the speech impediment when aroused

Or developed a strong Porto Rican accent?
Helpfully,
MG

 

[Guest]

MG quote: Or developed a strong Porto Rican accent?

Ha ha. I like that idea. BTW, it's Puerto Rican in spelling *and* pronunciation. I'm Mexican, merely sensitive to Sp. language sounds.

Hasta la vista, chica (later, gurl)

Perdita

 

[MathGirl]

Espannyeolle

[B it's Puerto Rican in spelling *and* pronunciation. [/B]

Dear Perdita,
I know that, Dear. I intentionally misspell and mispronounce it. I take a rather ballistic approach to the art of linguistics.
MG

Ps. Linguini, too.

 

[Guest]

Coo* wi' me, hun.

*pr. like the fat kid on So. Park

luv yer Avees.

 

[openthighs_sarah]

Re: my 5 cents

"I'm cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cumming."

This may mean that I'm awful, but if I heard that dialogue in a movie, I think I would never, ever stop laughing.

Speaking of porto ricans, MG, I saw something wonderful on television last week. The context escapes me, but a guy (in real life) was yelling the following words:

"Why don't you go back to Mexico, you fucking Puerto Rican!"

BTW: I believe the person he was addressing was Cuban.

 

[gauchecritic]

The few people I know who stutter will often pause for a measurable length of time in order to try and calm down, even in mid-sentence. Contrarily some will then rush or mumble over the next three or four words after the stuttered word.

Gauche

 

[oggbashan]

Finished sentences

Some of the stutterers I know get very annoyed if another person finishes their sentence for them or tries to say the word the stutterer is having difficulty with - rather like the word processing programs that prompt a word that you have started to type.

One stutterer has a party trick. He starts to say a word that he finds difficult and asks for the most unlikely interpretation. Most of them he has had said to him e.g. "cunnilingus" for "cunning".

Og.

 

[MathGirl]

Tourette's detective

I once read a detective novel in which the hero had Tourette's syndrome. Occasional outbursts of inappropriate speech. I don't know why someone would want to go to all the effort of writing something like that, but it wasn't bad.
MG

 

[MaxSebastian]

Re: my 5 cents

I'd hate to read a line like, "I I I I I I I I'm cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cumming."

LOL

or maybe L-L-LOL

No, I'm not here to joke, far from it. I think writing "cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh" would be a bad idea, too, just as irritating as those authors who write ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmyyyyyyy godddddd... et cetera ad nauseam in their stories.

Fiction's not for sound effects, it's for reading, after all.

Instead, I think I'd write something like:

"Hi, n-nice to meet you, I'm C-" she said shyly before stopping mid-sentence, unable to go on.

Or something to that affect.

It's interesting to know that stutters are so irritated by people finishing their words, though. Could be an interesting source of early conflict. Do bad stutterers have trouble with all words beginning with a consonant?



Max.


p.s. not sure how the whole Porto Reecan thing fits in! I don't think I'll be writing anything like that, being an ignorant Englishman. It all makes me think of that song in West Side Story with all those hurricane breezes and tropical diseases...

 

[pop_54]

Hmmmmmm

Yes stutterers do get wound up if you try to help them along by finishing sentences and words, I've worked with a couple of guys who had a bit of a stutter, not really bad, but the odd "Ok F-f-f-f-f-fuck i-i-t.


We had a girl at school who stuttered very badly, she was pregnant by the age of 16, by the time she said 'no' it was always too late.

Another famous one, Spike Milligan's uncle had a bad stutter when in charge of an anti-aircraft gun emplacement during WWII.
As the German planes came over he shouted the order, F-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fuck it we'll get them on their way back.

pops.............

 

[Guest]

BritWit

SebMax and Pop54: I had a tough time at the dentist's this AM and you two have cheered me up.

BTW, it is common for blind persons to not want to be led by the arm, or wheelchair-bound people to not want to be pushed w/o their permission. I think it's a matter of basic personal pride. (I'm told there a few men on our planet who don't like to be told what to do in bed. Egads!)

ta, Perdita

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Re: Re: my 5 cents

This may mean that I'm awful, but if I heard that dialogue in a movie, I think I would never, ever stop laughing.

Speaking of porto ricans, MG, I saw something wonderful on television last week. The context escapes me, but a guy (in real life) was yelling the following words:

"Why don't you go back to Mexico, you fucking Puerto Rican!"

BTW: I believe the person he was addressing was Cuban.

*crying*

 

[openthighs_sarah]

Re: Re: Re: my 5 cents

*crying*

Sorry, Svenska. I choose to believe that he was using irony to offer a blistering indictment of isolationism, prejudice and stupidity, even if he was missing all those teeth.

 

[Otus de la Nuit]

I actually do have a mild stutter. I've never had it professionally "diagnosed," but i know what happens, whether they've told me so or not.

I'll think about something for a while, then consider saying it. If I decide yes, but then go back while the word's trying to escape, I stutter. After that I get all flustered and tend to stumble over several other words in the first sentence or two (even if I'm entirely sure of what I want to say) . Taking a moment to calm down definitely helps.

Interestingly, many stutterers can sing with absolutely no problem. Voice characterisation has also been known to be a problem-free zone. 'Member Porky? Mel Blanc, who did most of the voices in the original Merry Melodies, stuttered. Not all of his characters did.

On a personal note, people tend to think I don't know what I'm talking about; that I'm just BSing my way through a conversation. That's fucking irritating. Anyway. lol a glance into the life of a weirdo who happens to stutter.