Writing Tips &Tricks

Symptoms, Not Wounds

TW: mentions of torture, wounds, depression, suicidal ideation, panic attacks, probably some more idk.

Many of you may be confused by the title, but I hope the meaning becomes clear as we get into it.

So, I know a lot of you are interested in giving your character a lot of trauma. Some of it is physical and some is mental or emotional. Cool! I just wanted offer you some advice and some words of caution.

Trauma can be an interesting aspect of your character's backstory or can make for a compelling plot point. There is nothing wrong with giving your character a bit of emotional damage. However, this is only something that I would recommend if your character's trauma is displayed well. Otherwise it will take away from your storyline rather than add to it.

In this chapter I am mainly going to be looking at recent traumas that a character might experience (not the childhood variety). This is just since the wounds and the effects are fresher for your character and your readers if they are being done to a current iteration of your character.

For examples or inspiration, look up 'whump prompts' on pinterest or google. It will give you things like hurt/comfort, torture, sickness, and so many other unpleasant scenarios for you to put your characters in. You can add other terms to your search to make your results more specific to what you're looking for as well.

Once you have an idea for a scene, you are going to want to make sure that you describe the pain or discomfort your character is going through very carefully. If you over-explain it will bore your readers, but if you leave too much out they will won't have the chance to wmpathize with the character.
Don't rush.

The best piece of advice that I have seen on how to draw your readers into a scene like this (where there is a character that is hurting ir being hurt) is by showing the readers the effects of the scenario. What is happening as a consequence of the pain they are going through?

What I mean is that, instead of describing the pain of the wound, illness, emotional abuse-- describe what it does to your character. Describe the symptoms and not the wound.

Don't tell me that there was a gaping hole in their side. Not unless you are also going to tell me about how their body spasmed in shock, how pressure built in their chest as they forgot how to breath, and how their legs twitched uselessly, unwilling or unable to support their wait.

Don't tell me that their spirit sank into a deep depression unless you want to tell me about the hours they spent laying under the covers imagining how the world would move on without them. Or about thecrushing weight of the energy it takes for them to pretend to be ok.

Don't tell me that your character is in pain, show me what that means. We know that a stab wound hurts, that breakups suck, that illnesses can make you think you're dying. We know that. If that is all you ever talk about, you are going to lose your readers' attention.

Instead of talking about their pain, take your readers to it. Put them into your character's perspective with enough intensity that they can picture their own body shivering from fever. So that they can feel the strain in their chests as the imagin the terror of not being able to breathe.

Make your character's experience personal. Always. Remember, they're just as human as you are. Write them like you've known them your entire life.