Writers Helping Writers:

Are you enjoying this series on writing your character’s pain? That’s a weird and slightly sadistic statement—even more so when we say how much we’ve enjoyed writing about pain. But it’s one of those things your character IS going to encounter; it’s not a matter of if, but when (and how often). So we need to be able to write it well.

We’ve covered a lot of ground, from the 3 stages of awareness to the symptoms of minor, mortal, and invisible injuries. But regardless of the kind of pain your character is feeling, there are certain practices that will enhance your descriptions of it to maximize reader empathy and minimize their chances of being pulled out of the story.