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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!

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shaking myself (very gently) . being in pain takes a lot of energy!!!!!! being in pain is exhausting!!!!!!! you are not lazy or weak because you need to spend so much time resting, this is your body coping with how much pain you’re in literally 24/7!!!!!!!!!

and if tomorrow it’s all over, at least we had it for a moment.

(happy birthday to the Girl Ever, Emma!! 8.22.24 ☀️🦒🧡🪓🌻)

One of the funniest things about early Batgirl Cass is that everyone around her is just like wow she's so silent and competent and deadly I can't imagine what it's like to be so cool and then you look at Cass's POV and as well as being suicidal and depressed she's so overstimulated and running on constant anxiety. Like sure she's quiet and spooky but that's because she doesn't know what to say but she knows if everyone in this room doesn't walk out alive she's going to kill herself so you WILL listen to her or she'll take your entire gang of 50 men down in 10 seconds. Batman's like "Look at that discipline she took them down and moved right on to the next gang the grind never stops isn't that right Cassie?" And meanwhile Cass's brain is blaring constant alarms because there are 50 people in the city in potentially fatal danger right this second and she has to save every single one even if it means no food or sleep until she's done. Barbara keeps suggesting self help audiobooks but Cass doesn't have time for that there are people that could be in trouble and if even a single one of them dies it is Cass's fault for not being good enough and she's a horrible person who will burn in hell. This is a totally rational way to live why is everyone but Bruce so confused by it?

The Promised Neverland 7th Anniversary Art by Posuka Demizu

As much as I like the angst potential of f!Leo disliking his younger self, I feel like having raised trained Casey for years, Peepaw would be unable to fully hate him because he knows he’s just a kid. Leo in general is just the type of guy to have a soft spot for children I reckon :)

And come on, when Peepaw catches him throwing jokes constantly, he’d know what’s really going on in little Leo’s head.

loss of innocence…

Love giving melodramatic titles lol

not the happiest with how the shattered glass turned out

i think i used too much chromatic aberration but I’ll live :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!!

Spamming your inbox to let you know I hope u have a great day :D

Aaaa thank you🥰

I hope you're having a good day as well!!

The gorgeous Tiresias animatic by @somerandomdudelmao rewired my brain and I couldn’t rest until I made this. What if— Mikey’s prophecies were delivered by the ninpo manifestations of his brothers? Wouldn’t that be jolly?