How to write shortsighted ocs

Being shortsighted isn't a rare thing, and yet many authors end up portraying characters who wear glasses but don't seem to mind when their love interest steals them from them and can apparently see just as well without them.

Let's dive into this together and understand things a little better!

Disclaimer: I'm going to talk about the kind of nearsightedness that is not related to any other issue, the most common one, the one I have. All of what I'm going to say are my opinions/my experience!

Being shortsighted is a spectrum

Just like about everything you'll encounter in life, being shortsighted is not a clean cut concept.

Some people might miss 0.50 dioptres, some more.

Of course if your character misses 0.50 D they won't have a problem in walking around and recognizing faces, but things might look a little confused for them when they're not wearing glasses.

Contacts or glasses?

Glasses are the first tool you will be suggested to use when you're diagnosed with myopia, but as you grow older you might want to use contact lenses.

Things glasses WILL do:

-They'll never be clean. Ever. Even if you think you've never touched them and you swear you've cleaned them a minute ago. They're just like that, a**holes.

-Get uncomfortable in the summer and make you sweat on your nose where they seat.

-Catch raindrops when it's raining

-Match your favorite outfit

-Be in the way when you want to wear sunglasses

-Make you look cool like that anime character that pushes them back with their middle finger

Contact lenses are widely used by people who are very active in sports because they make everything easier!

Remember that contacts bring some dangers with them, especially if you're not careful with them. Make sure you don't say your oc wore contacts for longer than 8h because it's not recommended at all.

Before putting them on, your oc should wash them with their liquid, then apply them. They'll use them for less than 8h, take them off with lots of care without rushing, and then put them back in their case with new liquid.

Things contact lenses WILL do:

-Make you feel like you've never been shortsighted in your life even if you have been for years (what a majestic feeling)

-Get dry during the evening/night

-Make your eye feel a lil uncomfortable at times (if it's too uncomfortable your character should take them off asap)

-Be hard to wear the first time you put them on, maybe even for longer. Your oc will definitely get used to it quickly, though!

Things to avoid making your shortsighted oc do

Please don't make their love interest take off their glasses and then say "wow, you're beautiful." (Derek, she can't see your face clearly!)

--> What I mean here is that glasses aren't something geeky, they're a useful tool we must use to see. Not everyone can use contact lenses because they might have extremely dry eyes that prevent them from using them. Glasses are traditionally seen as an unattractive feature but they're literally just an accessory. The old trope geek-with-glasses is just overused and a stereotyped.

Please don't make them break their glasses in a fight.

This is a very personal pet peeve but just like when you see a character wasting a good breakfast with orange juice and bacon in a movie, you don't like when a character's glasses get smashed.

Good glasses can cost a lot and seeing them break means two things: the character will feel disoriented, a little defeated, and will know they will have to spend potentially hundreds of dollars to buy a new pair.

I'm not saying you should never do this! I added this to make sure you realize what a thing like this might mean to your oc.

Don't make their makeover pivot around them taking off their glasses

This isn't a bad thing to do, just a very overused trope, like I said before.

If your character wants to undergo a makeover, why not do the opposite? They start wearing brass, outstanding glasses? After all, being shortsighted isn't a thing you should try to hide or make it look better for other people.

(Of course if they're a fighter they should use contact lenses)

Don't make a fighter fight with fragile glasses

There are some type of glasses that have no outline, no structure, almost nothing. It's the type IIda Tenya in BNHA uses.

That type is extremely hard not to have it fall from your nose and crush to the ground, let alone when you're fighting a supervillain.

Again, this isn't a bad thing to write, it's just actually not that realistic.

I'd like to see more characters that use glasses and contacts more wisely: contacts for fights, training, vacation (when you want to wear sunglasses), and glasses for staying at home, using their computer or studying, hanging out, parties, cinema nights (contacts can get really dry when you stare at screens).

Hope this post helped! Let me know what you'd add :)