It is a common joke between writerly friends and I that I do quite enjoy harming / injuring my characters. So much so, that whenever I message a friend saying I finished a really awesome scene, they’ll reply with “who did you hurt this time.” 

So let’s talk about how to injure your characters, and how to do so to better your book! 

Realistic

When injuring a character, I’ve generally got a few rules for myself. The first: it must make sense. 

A lot of my characters get injuried in the Viridis Series, due to the nature of the galaxy the story is placed in. There’s an ongoing war, and most (if not all) characters are soldiers. It makes sense for them to get hurt, and, in some cases, die. So when drafting a scene, I want to make the fights and challenges realistic and brutal. If a character is fighting someone, would it make sense for them to get stabbed or slashed here and there? If they’re running, would it make sense for them to take a corner too sharp and cut their side, or hit their shoulder? 

The wounds don’t have to be dire or even severe – but have injuries when your character is in a fight, or otherwise high-tension moment where injury is a possibility, it helps them feel more vulnerable.

One thing I specifically like to do is injure characters brutally from big moments. Is there a big impactful moment in the plot? Is there a chance for the character to get hurt or maimed? Well, now they will forever bear physical scars of this event, and must grapple with what that means for them.

Impact (On Characters And Story)

Not only must the injuries make sense, but they also must have impact on the story. If the character is injured and has no way of healing themself (such as sci-fi medical instant-heals, or magic), then we should see them suffering from that injury for as long as it takes to heal. In Viridis, there is certain material that can heal injuries and seal severe wounds quickly and effectively. They also have Healers, who are capable of healing dire wounds as well. However, neither the material nor the people are in great supply, and this means that most characters need to suffer their wounds until they can get to medical tent of some sort. And if they cannot, they will bear the scars.

Past the story, however, the injuries should impact the characters. When I injured my ankles as a child, it changed how I did things for the rest of my life. Some days, I can forget the injuries, but others, I am constantly aware of them. For a while, I was upset at the rules that dictated we wear socks on the trampoline, and then I was upset at myself, before finally coming to terms with my body. If your character suffers a mortal wound and loses a limb, an eye, or something else severe, they should grapple with how they see their body after this. How to use their new body. Additionally, physical scars are something a lot of people struggle with, and this, too, should be reflected in the characters. If they are given facial scars, how does that make them feel about themself? Do they struggle with beauty standards, do they worry they’ll come off as scary to others, do they hate how an injury is all that’s talked about when meeting someone new? Let us grapple with this alongside your character, and that injury becomes that much more impactful.

Lasting Damage

As mentioned before, injuries don’t heal overnight (unless they’re a paper cut, and honestly, even then it’s not a given). If your character is hurt at the beginning of the book, have them struggle to do tasks they used to be able to do before the injury. Say they broke their hand, how do they interact with the world after this? How do they handle the pain when accidentally flexing their muscles? How do they handle sleeping, and do they ever roll atop it? Details like these will make your characters and your injuries more real, and help ground the reader in your reality. 

Also, it’s fun! 

Scars And More

One thing I joke about is how much I love giving characters scars. So don’t forget that if your character is hurt bad, they may have a scar! Consider if you want this or not before cutting deep into the character’s skin with that magical sword of yours. 

Scars as a descriptor are a great way to show that a character has been in the thick of it, as well. (Though characters who have a lot of scars from mundane, day-to-day tasks are delightful as well, and subvert expectations!) When scars are introduced, people tend to assume the character has been through battles or been in a few fights. The more they have, the less meaningful they may become for the character, whereas a single scar on a person may be more impactful and indicate something more dire. 

Though this is just a little bit of rambling, I’ll be honest. Scars are fun to play with, and have a lot of potential to show more about your character, and cause lasting effects for them as well! 

And that’s it! Make sure your injuries are realistic for the scenario, are nice and brutal to both character and plot, and have some lasting damage. Writing injuries is a lot of fun! 
Stay safe everyone <3