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? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

Instagram Tiktok

More Posts from Springloadedcoffin and Others

2 months ago
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him

ah yes, the shelleys, those people famously known for not loving lord byron and wanting to be near him

Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
Ah Yes, The Shelleys, Those People Famously Known For Not Loving Lord Byron And Wanting To Be Near Him
6 years ago

Markus: Girls are so complicated arnt they Simon...

Simon: That's why I stick to guys- *starts choking* I MEAN FRIES

Markus: Yeah, I like fries to


Tags
5 years ago

Writing a Believable Family: Information You Need

So today I thought I’d help out myself and anyone else who’s writing something where family plays a central role, seeing as a lot of people write about families but I barely see any posts about it!

Families are really fun to read about (imo), but often hard to write, as each family has a different dynamic that you really need to get a hold of. It’s easy to get discouraged because sometimes your fictional family might feel like strangers when they interact with each other. So without further ado, here are some questions and prompts to help you get to know your characters’ families.

Questions

Who is in this family? Are they all important characters?

How big of a role does this family play in the story? The theme of family in general?

Who looks the most like who? What general physical features do they all share?

Who is closest with each other? Who feels more distant?

What is a tradition this family has?

What holidays does this family celebrate? What religion do they practice?

What does this family always fight about?

Are all the relationships in this family healthy? If not, what makes them toxic?

Who is in charge or seems to have the most authority?

Is there a social hierarchy within the family? Who generally seems the coolest to the others?

Does this family travel a lot together? Where do they go?

What was/were the older generation(s) like before the younger generation(s) were born?

Has anyone in this family died? How did this impact the others?

Do members of the family have different politics? How does this affect the family’s relationship?

How much do your characters value their family?

What movies does this family watch on movie nights? What movies do they refuse to watch together?

What role does extended family play in this family’s life? (Ignore if the family you’re writing about is an extended family.)

Who argues the most?

What personality traits does the family share?

What makes this family unique?

What did/does the younger generation do for fun as little kids?

If this family had a vacation home, where would it be?

Who looks up to who?

Prompts

Write a conversation at the family’s dinner table.

What was the most disastrous family reunion/outing? Write it.

Try making a character web (shown in this post) for the family.

How does the rest of the family behave when one member graduates?

Write the script for everyone’s favorite old home video.

Draw a family tree. See how many generations you can go back.

Write each family member’s favorite family memory.

Describe how a family road would trip play out.

This family becomes the family fighting in Walmart. Describe how this happened.

The family is known for their top-notch annual ________ party. Write one such party.

Have a character from the family give your reader a “tour” of the family home.

Who got drunk at the last reunion? What ensued?

A character from the family is going through their favorite family photos. What are they? Why do they like them? What is the story behind them?

Imagine that this family has one huge family scandal in its history. What was it? How did people react when they found out?

A character has been hiding a secret for years, and their family finds out.

10 months ago
“Well Your Honor, My Client Literally Never Asked To Be Born So…”

“Well Your Honor, my client literally never asked to be born so…”

Defense attorney’s closing statement from a 1918 burglary case I’m working on.

11 months ago

shakespeare wasn't lying that tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow can creep in this petty pace from day to day

2 months ago

haymitch saying “I don’t drink” hahaha so funny I have a gun in my mouth

5 months ago
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters
A Few Of The More Creative Spellings Of Christmas I’ve Come Across While Looking For Dear Santa Letters

A few of the more creative spellings of Christmas I’ve come across while looking for Dear Santa letters in old newspapers this year.

4 months ago

Making a game about bugs :] this account is for sharing progress related to that and to share the pixel bugs I'm making along the way. This is a sfw space for people who want to follow along with this project or just enjoy looking at bug art :)

Making A Game About Bugs :] This Account Is For Sharing Progress Related To That And To Share The Pixel
Making A Game About Bugs :] This Account Is For Sharing Progress Related To That And To Share The Pixel
Making A Game About Bugs :] This Account Is For Sharing Progress Related To That And To Share The Pixel
Making A Game About Bugs :] This Account Is For Sharing Progress Related To That And To Share The Pixel

Premise of game:

- Turn game on

- bugs come :]

- add new bugs to your collection

- time advances automatically, different bugs come depending on at time/date/ temperature/weather/biome, use bait or light to attract different types

- let bugs run in the background and keep u company while u work

- over 500 different bugs :] maybe more depending on how silly I get with it

Support this project on patreon

3 months ago

I love how humans have literally not changed throughout history like the graffiti from Pompeii has people from hundreds of years ago writing stuff like “Marcus is gay” “I fucked a girl here” “Julius your mum wishes she was with me” and leonardo da vinci’s assistants drew dicks in their notebooks just for the banter and mozart created a piece called “kiss my ass” so when people wish for ‘today’s generation’ to be like ‘how people used to’ then we’re already there buddy we’ve always been

  • pinknephthea
    pinknephthea liked this · 1 week ago
  • autisticgenderworm
    autisticgenderworm liked this · 1 week ago
  • lumifern
    lumifern reblogged this · 1 week ago
  • lumifern
    lumifern liked this · 1 week ago
  • ace-artz-person
    ace-artz-person liked this · 1 week ago
  • nadiarebloging
    nadiarebloging reblogged this · 1 week ago
  • vxrginsclub
    vxrginsclub liked this · 1 week ago
  • avant-goof
    avant-goof liked this · 1 week ago
  • fleurenjun
    fleurenjun liked this · 1 week ago
  • anxiousaprilaries
    anxiousaprilaries liked this · 1 week ago
  • dollfies-angel
    dollfies-angel liked this · 1 week ago
  • merdeeokercee
    merdeeokercee liked this · 1 week ago
  • kjthesilly
    kjthesilly liked this · 1 week ago
  • lyngracetalksnwritesnstuff
    lyngracetalksnwritesnstuff liked this · 1 week ago
  • luxnumbra
    luxnumbra liked this · 1 week ago
  • randomtuna13
    randomtuna13 reblogged this · 1 week ago
  • perry-88
    perry-88 liked this · 1 week ago
  • art-of-a-ghostie
    art-of-a-ghostie liked this · 1 week ago
  • vaguelycryptictea
    vaguelycryptictea liked this · 1 week ago
  • kierouls
    kierouls liked this · 1 week ago
  • coolcheatah
    coolcheatah liked this · 1 week ago
  • aryamiraistark
    aryamiraistark liked this · 1 week ago
  • idkanymore001
    idkanymore001 liked this · 1 week ago
  • guetantagenroasters
    guetantagenroasters liked this · 1 week ago
  • imagination-and-memories
    imagination-and-memories liked this · 1 week ago
  • candykatmoon
    candykatmoon liked this · 1 week ago
  • wonderlanddreamer
    wonderlanddreamer liked this · 1 week ago
  • the-light-of-star
    the-light-of-star liked this · 1 week ago
  • bels4president
    bels4president liked this · 1 week ago
  • mimptee
    mimptee liked this · 1 week ago
  • 27daysofmourning
    27daysofmourning liked this · 1 week ago
  • kingduane26
    kingduane26 reblogged this · 1 week ago
  • dmmorrow
    dmmorrow liked this · 1 week ago
  • thegenreisbts-blog
    thegenreisbts-blog liked this · 1 week ago
  • dopewolfstranger
    dopewolfstranger reblogged this · 1 week ago
  • dopewolfstranger
    dopewolfstranger liked this · 1 week ago
  • scp3199
    scp3199 liked this · 1 week ago
  • lo9tuss
    lo9tuss liked this · 1 week ago
  • romarthffxiv
    romarthffxiv liked this · 1 week ago
  • lazybasementgarden
    lazybasementgarden liked this · 1 week ago
  • bloodycacophony
    bloodycacophony liked this · 1 week ago
  • starrz2009
    starrz2009 liked this · 1 week ago
  • le-zigui
    le-zigui liked this · 1 week ago
  • kinomototree
    kinomototree liked this · 1 week ago
  • morallyincorrectcactus
    morallyincorrectcactus liked this · 1 week ago
  • llunarpotter
    llunarpotter liked this · 1 week ago
  • helpwherearethedirections
    helpwherearethedirections liked this · 1 week ago
  • butterflysimmerstat
    butterflysimmerstat liked this · 1 week ago
  • prettyproudparakeet
    prettyproudparakeet liked this · 1 week ago
  • winedarkwrote
    winedarkwrote reblogged this · 1 week ago

Classic literature enthusiast she/him

297 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags