10 Non-Lethal Injuries To Add Pain To Your Writing

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

New Part: 10 Lethal Injury Ideas

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas:

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

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Signs of Embarrassment

Blushing or turning red

Avoiding eye contact

Stammering or stumbling over words

Laughing nervously

Fidgeting with hands or clothes

Scratching the back of the head or neck

Looking down or away

Covering face with hands

Speaking in a quieter voice

Shrinking in posture

Playing with hair or accessories

Clearing throat repeatedly

Apologizing frequently

Sweating more than usual

Biting or licking lips

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blankey

2 months ago

I love the HC where all the brothers are like "yeah, Dick is an idiot lol" but the moment someone says something bad about him, they jump to defend him with their lives... Even from himself, lol

Jason: Dick? Ah, yeah, he's stupid.

X: Ha! Yes, I bet he can't even add 2 + 2.

Jason: WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU? That guy was a mathlete, he won every damn contest he entered. Gotham Academy has a whole hall just for his trophies in different disciplines, both mental and physical skill. You wish you could be like that.

Tim: Sometimes I wish Nightwing would stop trusting people so much.

X hero: He's very naive, isn't he?

Tim: What??? No! The guy is a master manipulator, he knows every move you're going to make and he's three miles ahead of you. Whatever you do, he will know and be able to react accordingly in a second. He has more contingency plans than Batman! He is far from being naive!

Damian: You are too soft with them.

Dick: I am, aren't I? I guess I'm not at my best anymore.

Damian: Don't you dare say that again. You're one of the best fighters I know and you're the only person in the world I know who can do the stunts you do. You are literally the epitome of human fitness. Shut up. Don't look down on my Batman.

Duke just punched two people who were talking bad about Richie after he gave an interview on TV <3

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blankey

7 months ago

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blankey

1 month ago

Your friends watching something for the first time and getting to that scene VS you, the knower.

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blankey

9 months ago

This is for all you awkward socializers out there. The ones who crave connection, want to interact, but are so damn confused by it, or so intimidated by it, you never reach out first.

Or, if you do, you feel like the other person's just humoring you. Just giving the polite answers until you leave them alone. You read each interaction with that bored/slightly annoyed tone. That "I don't wanna be rude, but gawd, just leave me alone already so I can talk with the people I want to talk to" tone.

You know the one.

And then you curse your awkwardness, you withdraw and stop interacting. And when no one else reaches out to you (maybe because they too feel that awkward intimidation, but that doesn't occur to you, they're so outgoing! they're so confident! they're so cool!) you convince yourself that maybe you just weren't meant to have friends. No one seems to notice you're quieter than usual. Maybe you should just stop trying.

Maybe they think you're the rude one. You never meant to be rude, you're just so damn bad at doing this friend thing. How much interaction is too much? Are you smothering or aloof? Where's the line? Are you coming off funny and engaging, or loud and annoying? OMG you don't want to be that person that others hate even thinking about!

And on and on your thoughts swirl, micro-analyzing everything, and making you feel like every single interaction you've ever had was one-sided, that everyone you've ever spoken to forgot you the moment the conversation ended. That you are so forgettable that no one would notice if you just . . . stopped. Just disappeared. No one would notice. No one would care.

I see you, fellow socially awkward friends.

There is so much bad in the world. So many horrible things on grand and smaller scales on people's lives. It's hard to keep things in perspective. Everyone has their own trials, their own hardships that others may know nothing about. I try to keep that in mind. But I sometimes fall into my own head, letting the negative thoughts drag me under for a while.

So here's a hug for everyone who has those moments. Those fears. Those frustrations and feelings of sadness and loneliness. You are (ironically) not alone. 💖💕

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blankey

1 month ago