Writing Stuff
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i really wish people could make characters with scars and just be normal about it. scars are just a feature, like brown hair or freckles, all it means is that you got an injury in the past. Scars are not gross or ugly or tragic or intimidating or scary or gorey or body horror, they are just a normal trait that a lot of people have.
if i’m allowed to be picky, i also wish people could be more thoughtful/realistic when deciding on scars. like do some research and think ‘how did this injury happen’. if someone got attacked by wolves, how does that give them a straight cut scar across their face?
and where are the other effects of these injuries? nerve damage, contractures, amputations, brain damage, PTSD, chronic pain, speech issues, sun sensitivity, blindness, etc? and please do research on these too, its good, its not that difficult.
i want to see characters have scars, and still be able to be normal, and cute/pretty/beautiful/sexy, and loved, and happy. this includes people with extensive burn scars, with skin grafts, with tons of reconstructive surgeries, who are missing eyes or noses or ears or limbs. this includes people with keloid scars, who don’t look normal, who have “gross” symptoms from their injuries. this includes people who have scars from elective or cosmetic surgeries, and surgeries that were botched. this includes people who have scars from self harm or suicide attempts.
please give more characters scars, and be normal about it. i am (politely) begging you.
(sorry if this comes off as aggressive/accusatory, i struggle with tone)
ALTdefinitly! i should of mentioned those more.
if people want to give their characters scars (which i highly encourage), just having had surgery is a great idea. surgery can definitely be traumatic and life changing, and it does need research, but it can also be a pretty mundane and casual thing too. i had a major surgery and i have a large scar from it, and it’s one of my favorite features and fun-facts about myself.
in the tags people are also mentioning acne and dermatillomania scars, and those are cool to see too :) (smiley face)
(via headspace-hotel)
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ALTmemes are fun and relatable and all that, but don’t let them discourage you. all of that stuff that doesn’t make it into the final product is part of how the final product gets made
(via your-url-is-problematic)
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What are some tips for writing delirious characters? Like with fever/infection/something like that???
Anonymous
I hope it’s okay that I answer this!
Fever delirium is actually rather common with high temperatures, more so than you’d think, and it has varying degrees of effect on people. Some case could amount to them not actually knowing where they are. It will often fluctuate throughout the day, with periods of no symptoms and others of very strong symptoms and will tend to get worse when it’s dark/at night, when things are less familiar.
The sick person could struggle to focus on a topic, become reckless due to impaired judgement, have trouble recalling things or even have difficulty talking and understanding speech.
For mild delirium, try describing a far away look to their eyes, like they aren’t really focusing on anything, or make them clingy and dependant as if they feel lost otherwise. You could also use it to your advantage, add in some fluffy moments between the patient and the caregiver, for example the sicky isn’t entirely sure of what they’re saying and end up pouring out their feelings for the person looking after them. You could also described a feelings of anxiety, loss of balance and feelings of sudden, unexplained euphoria.
For stronger, heavier delirium, they will often become very confused, easily so. They could become scared of something that isn’t even remotely threatening, suffer with hallucinations that could make them laugh or perhaps repulse/horrify them. Feelings of paranoia or extreme anxiety are a possibility as well as disrupted sleeping patterns and increased lethargy (tiredness)
However, you can include whatever symptoms you’d like, there isn’t a set arrangement of any of them, they can all occur randomly and at varying degrees of strength.
It’s advised that if symptoms present themselves the person caring for them seek medical attention, as to ensure no harm can come to the patient or caregiver.
~Morgan
When writing confusion from the delirious character’s POV:
Delirious characters are the ultimate unreliable narrators.
Have you ever remembered having a dream where it was super important that you do/find something, but being a rational awake person, the thing in question made no sense?
That’s a little like delirium. Things do really make sense while they’re being experienced, but only in a context that doesn’t jive with reality. The person doesn’t know they have a fever of 103, they just know their best friend is missing and they have to find them before they’re taken by The Man, and dammit, why can’t they access their weapons cache from the fireplace like usual???
If you want to show progression, start with one, easily brushed-off bit of unreliability. They said Bobby was arriving at 1400, but Bobby came at 1430. Your character is ticked that Bobby came so late, but doesn’t mention it (meanwhile, Bobby, who was supposed to come at 1430 the whole time, can’t figure out why your character is so irritable all of a sudden). Then have it progress to Bobby getting kidnapped by aliens (actually a misinterpretation of Bobby walking around the corner out of view, but very, very real to your character).
If you really want to get rhetorical, consider having sentences drop off unexpectedly, change explanations of physical environment without context, reference things that haven’t happened as though the audience knows all about them, etc… all while giving the audience some valid sense of purpose throughout (gotta save Bobby!).
Remember that delirium is a short term and reversible. Meanwhile long term and irreversible conditions that present with the same symptoms is known as dementia.
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annoying when shows set in the medieval period have the women with thier hair just long and unstyled and out . girl go put on your wimple girl 🤦♀️
like there are so many fun medieval hair and headgear options, it’s so boring just seeing loose beachy waves meant to appeal to 21st century beauty standards
put that hot prince in a gay little hood with an ostrich feather or so help me god
(via ekbelsher)
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for your latest post- medical minsdiagnosises or medical maltreatment/mistakes that could be practiced by somebody who doesn’t know much about wound care? I’m thinking characters who aren’t experienced in any medical field and wrong things they might do that they think are right in an emergency when another character is injured.
Anonymous
For wound care specifically, I think the biggest mistake would be closing a wound in the field.
There are tons of prepper/survivalist blogs that tell you how to do stitches (because its a dramatic thing to do I guess) but IRL any wound that gaps more than about ¼ of an inch you’re going to want to pack, not close.
The reason for this is twofold. One, a traumatic wound is hard to clean in the field, so if you close a wound you trap dirt and bacteria in the wound, which could form an abscess. And two, if you close a wound, you’re usually just closing the top layer of skin, which leaves a pocket below the surface that can form an abscess even if the wound is relatively clean.
In hospitals, big, traumatic wounds are sometimes cleaned surgically before being sutured in multiple layers, but that’s usually not something you can do without a lot of training and anesthesia. The person usually also gets antibiotics to prevent the wound from getting infected even after doing all that.
So the best way to do it when you don’t have antibiotics or surgery is by packing the wound open and letting it heal from the bottom up.
Now, this is for wounds that don’t have life threatening bleeding, which is a different, more pressing problem than the possibility of infection. You can also stop bleeding by packing wounds, but that’s actually a different process than what I’m going to talk about here. If there’s life threatening bleeding, it’s best to control that and then not mess with the wound until the person gets to the hospital. This is also not covering a wound that opens the skull, chest, or abdomen. These are special cases that always require surgery and antibiotics. You should also know that if you have other options IRL, please take them. This post is not designed to tell you how to actually perform this procedure on a real living person. Take a Wilderness and Remote First Aid class for that.
But anyway. To pack a wound open, wash your hands, put some gloves on, get some gauze (crinkle-weave works best) and get it wet with clean water or saline. If you don’t have gauze, use a clean, natural fabric like cotton. If you don’t have sterile water or saline, just make sure the water is something you’d be comfortable drinking. If you don’t have gloves know you’re taking a risk, especially if you have a break in your own skin.
Using your fingers (or clean tweezers if you have them) insert the damp gauze into the wound, making sure it touches all surfaces of the inside of the wound, but doesn’t sit on the skin. Keep putting more in until the wound is full, but don’t pack it overly tightly. Put a clean, dry dressing over the packed wound (like an ABD pad or folded cloth).
The packing will wick contaminants out of the wound and gently debride it as it dries. Replace the packing and covering every 12-24 hours. The wound will heal from the bottom up. It might have a worse scar than something that was cleaned and closed surgically, but it’s worth it to prevent the infection that could kill your character.
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absolutely love abusing the power that comes with 3rd person limited pov and just ignoring things and being vague sometimes. does the character know all the details? no? then I don’t have to either.
(via mjmnorwood)
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The best piece of writing advice I can give is that you should strive to be sincere rather than original.
You can’t force originality. Originality will arise as a natural consequence of sincerity. Make the story completely and apologetically yours, and originality will come by virtue of it being your story.
(via weareallfromearth)
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Tips for Writing Injuries
✧ Broken ribs suck. You don’t just “walk it off.” Breathing hurts. Laughing hurts. Existing hurts. Characters with rib injuries won’t be doing heroic sprints.
✧ Concussions aren’t instant naps. Dazed vision, nausea, dizziness, maybe even personality changes, but they’re not going to collapse neatly like in the movies.
✧ Blood loss is sneaky. It’s not just about dramatic pools of blood. It’s dizziness, confusion, and the body getting cold as circulation tanks.
✧ Adrenaline lies. Someone can take a serious injury and not feel it until the fight’s over. That “I didn’t realize I was bleeding until later” trope? Very real.
✧ Twisted ankles are brutal. One bad step and suddenly running is off the table. Even walking hurts like hell. Perfect way to ground a chase scene.
✧ Burns linger. Even small burns hurt more than most people expect. Blisters, infection risk, constant pain, it’s not just a cool scar later.
✧ Dislocated shoulders = useless arm. Characters can’t keep swinging a sword or firing a gun. They’re basically fighting one-armed until it’s fixed.
✧ Shock is a thing. Pale skin, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and eventually disorientation. A character might not even realize how bad their wound is.
✧ Stitches aren’t magic. Getting sewn up is painful and recovery takes time. They’re not instantly battle-ready after a needle and thread.
✧ Scars tell stories. Some fade, some don’t. Some stay sensitive forever. Don’t forget the aftermath when the wound becomes part of the character.
Don’t forget the aftermath when the wound becomes part of the character
Thank you for this!
+ facial wounds don’t heal magically within a day or two
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arabellacrowe-deactivated202302:
For the curious, this chap is processing flax, then spinning it into cordage, then twisting those cords into rope.
when you’re at the end of your rope but must carry on regardless
This is from Eugenio Monesma, a man who has dedicated his life to making documentaries about all the living traditions and craftsmen that still live in Spain, is not the first time I’ve seen his stuff uncredited on Tik Tok, which is a shame because he has over 20 years worth of videos of his work for free on his channel.
Even if you don’t understand Spanish do give it a look please, very interesting stuff, you’re sure to find something interesting across his 1000+ videos.
Luckyly this video comes with subtitles so please enjoy seeing the process more in depth
(via yetstillyoubreathe)
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takes you by the hand. please please please if you’re stuck on your WIP or you can’t figure out how to progress the scene PLEASE skip ahead. skip a few lines ahead. skip until the next Thing you can think of happens. skip to it skip to it skip to it. you may uncover what you were missing in the midst of your next scenes and you may discover that just transitioning straight to Next Part works flawlessly. skip it. don’t sink. skip.
if you’re stuck writing something, it’s a good practice to ask “okay, why am I stuck? what am I stuck on?” because sometimes the answer is “i don’t know what happens next”, to which you choose a direction and commit to the bit, and sometimes the answer is “i don’t want to write the beginning”, to which the answer is even simpler: don’t write the beginning
no lie this is how I’ve written the best and longest fics. Went from painful jagged 1k chapters to blinking and finding myself 5k deep on something *I THE WRITER* enjoy reading later. Get stuck? Skip ahead. Write the next bit. Fill it in on the next read. Or don’t! Who the fuck cares!!!!
(via mjmnorwood)
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“He would not fucking say that” but it’s “He would not handle someone having a breakdown in front of him like that.”
He would not set boundaries like that.
He would not know those therapy techniques
He would not have that good an understanding of his own sexuality.
He would not appreciate poetry like that.
(via doityourselfbombs)
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This is actually such a crucial part of healing from neglect and abuse and I have to add to this.
Because indeed, people who like you will not roll their eyes and sigh at the idea of accommodating your needs, they will value your voice and be upset with you about injustice done to you, not at you for “being difficult”. They will be happy when you find a way to live a better life, and help you to get there. If you are struggling, someone who loves you wants to see you smile, not tell you to smile because “you have it so good”.
[image: tweet by overlyxclusive: “when people love you they find joy in making life easier for you”]
(via rederiswrites)
