Injured Characters

 

First off, sorry this blog has been awol the last two weeks, but the reason leads into today’s blog post J.

On New year’s Eve, completely sober and of sound state of mind, I fell off the front steps of my home (for no reason that I can tell) and did a nasty sprain to my right ankle.

The good news is I didn’t break anything, and while painful, I have not missed a day of work (my day job).  However, this injury has affected me.

I haven’t been writing because pretty much by the time I come home from work, I’m wiped out and simply eat then crash into bed.  I haven’t kept up my blog for the same reason.

But wait- you say as you read this- it’s your FOOT.  Whyever would that mean you can’t write?

Good point- but that injury is making me far more tired than I would be if I could just stay home off of my foot. And mentally there may be a bit of a pity party going on too.  I’m glad it’s not busted, but I really want to be able to walk normally again- NOW!

This impacts my writing and other aspects of my health.

And it’s something writers need to keep in mind while they are damaging their characters.  We all love to mess our folks up (physically, mentally, emotionally) but are we making sure that we’re changing our characters behavior to suit the damage?

Their injury, whatever it is, may have repercussions far beyond the immediate location of the damage.  It could affect many aspects of their day to day life, causing chronic stressors, and a whole new level of issues.

In the recent Star Trek movie, old Spock, tells young Kirk, that even though young Spock may not seem emotionally compromised- they just witnessed the death of their world- they ARE emotionally compromised.  Old Spock tells young Kirk this, so young Kirk can use that injury (young Spock’s) to get him to step down from command.

That’s another point- when your character is “compromised” how is it affecting their interaction with others?  Is there a new weakness that an enemy can exploit?

I’m not suggesting you mention the injury all the time, but if you know the affects it will cause, you can subtly add that realism to your book.  And any time we can pull in something that resonates as “real” to a reader, we pull that reader deeper into our world J.

 

Have a great day and try not to fall over anything !