A Basic Guide for Capturing Pain in Your Writing

chloeann6048
Mar 6
4 min read

Pain is something that I have researched a lot about. It is one of the main things I wanted to get right in my own writing, so that it would be realistic for readers, and they would almost be able to feel the characters pain. In this post I have summed up the research I have done for how to write pain, and I will share it with you.

This post will include the different levels of pain, a list of ways to describe pain, and how often readers should be reminded about a characters pain.

The levels of pain

Minor/Mild: A character would notice this pain, but it wouldn’t distract them from anything.

Moderate: Your character would get distracted by this pain, but it wouldn’t fully stop them.

Severe: A character can’t ignore this pain, and it will stop them from doing almost everything.

Excruciating: With this level of pain they won’t be able to do, or think about, anything but being in pain.

Think about these levels of pain when you come to write, and think about the appropriate words to use. For example, I wouldn't use the word excruciating when describing a mild level of pain, I would use something like dull ache or faint sting.

How often should readers be reminded of a characters pain?

The majority of pain, real and fiction, doesn’t just happen and disappear.

When healing; wounds and cuts will sting and itch, while broken bones will send jolts of pain up the spine if knocked.

There are a few ways to remind readers of your characters suffering. The first and easiest method is to ‘tell’. For example, “Her leg throbbed”, “she rubbed her aching leg”, or “she stretched her leg, trying to ease the pain.” This method is very simple, but shouldn't be overdone, so use this one sparingly.

Another way would be to ‘show’ the pain. Show the readers how your characters are working around their injuries, or how they are dealing with the pain. Such as; “He lead each step up the staircase with his good leg”, or “Using her left hand, she awkwardly scooped up some food with the spoon.” This method can be used a little more than the 'tell' method, but still not too much, as it is not focusing on the pain itself, but showing how the characters are working around it.

The last way to remind the readers of a characters pain, that we will be looking at today, is to show how pain changes. If you have ever had an injury you will know how one moment the pain can be tolerable, or mild, and then the pain will suddenly change and it will be unbearable. Pain changes and flows all the time, and we can use that to remind the readers of the characters pain. For example; "The pain in my leg suddenly shot up from a dull ache to blinding agony faster than I could blink”, or “The agony had faded to a dull throb.”

As important as it is to remind the readers of the pain, it is also important to not overdo it, so overall with any of these methods aim for one mention per scene, or even one mention a chapter.