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HEYO!!! Wasn’t sure where to put this thread XD But I need some advice with writing an injury infliction scene!! (I’m also gonna use my pal google, but thought u guys might could help out too!)
SO! I am working on my draft of book 1 of my series, and in it, my female MC (Arabella’s) All Is Lost moment is when my male MC (November) is injured by the antagonist (which leads to conflict which leads to the catacombs they’re in collapsing, etc)
ANYWAY, I want to describe the infliction of this injury accurately, but I also can take some liberties because it is affected a bit due to “magic” or…well…just some things that aren’t really known to the reader at this point.
Even I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s kinda affected by shadow-essence/magic and also by blood due to a spoiler later in the series….so ya XD, anywhoodle.
The injury is this; He gets scratched by raven talons in the face. It’s three long scratches, and they’re on the left side of his face. The middle scar crosses over his left eye, but it only reached the skin and, despite being deep, it didn’t affect his eye, thankfully. (I’m taking creative license here, I know, but I’m saying it was thanks to God’s divine favor and no one can debate that.)
These scars do not “heal” in the fact that, no matter how many years go by, the skin won’t grow over them. They’re always going to have a deep, blood red color to them and such.
OKAY now that the kinda of “how they look” is out of the way, I mainly just want some help with describing the actual receiving of the injury, and afterwards, correctly.
Due to everything involved (the shadow-essence and some others things that are major spoiler-ish) the Injury causes ma boy to go unconscious, and the wounds also bleed a dark, inky red.
He also hits his head on the way down, causing it to bleed also.
(Ara is obviously concerned, that’s why this is her all is lost moment, and it also leads to her Dark night of the soul. She and November are extremely close.)
I know this is kinda a lot…But….yea XD
I’m just sure someone has more experience with wounds/injuries then me and didn’t know if anyone had any advice they’d like to share on the subject! Any would be appreciated! For instance, any idea how much/how long a head wound or face wound would bleed, and how to deal with a very minor concussion or fear of one? (Not one that majors going to a hospital, cuz I kinda need him on his feet a couple scenes down the road. He has a bit of time to recover though. But not much XD) And also how to describe the wounds/and him when he’s unconscious (just any advice really. I just wanna be accurate but I know I also have some liberties due to the scenario and it being fantasy XD)
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#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
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#ProtectSebUGH it won’t let me post it. But I found an awesome website with a whole entire list of injuries and even environmental stuff like cold and heat for writing and, It tells you if it would be fatal and such!
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebhttp://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~leiafee/ramblings/realistic_injuries.htm
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebI’ll need to check this, but it sounds like the wounds close up, but be scar tissue grows. Anyway I’ll be back on here once I’ve done some research.
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Yeessss I love these points in books
*I offer advice based on elementary observations and a house full of constantly injured and nursed daredevil little brothers*
ahem. *places spectacles precariously on nose tip*
Shall we?
For a non-magical injury, he may be concussed depending on how hard he hit his head. If this is in they pov of the mc, she’ll see lots of bleeding for a little while(so long as the wound goes deeper than a surface scratch), but head wounds tend to clot fast(idk 18 min with basic pressure) (November’s hair will likely be soaked tho, sometimes making it look like he’s still bleeding)
Facial tissue tends to be pinker and more tender, as he’s being scratched his face will split along the scratch(making that scar develop later), and blood will well up in just a few seconds. If the mc tries to clot, fill or bandage the wound quickly, he’ll continue bleed for a good few minutes (like 10 to 15 I think) before it slows down to abt a trickle. Naturally it’ll take around 35-45 minutes to seal by itself, just like the head injury.
If he’s conscious close after his head trauma, his head will feel dull, painful with some little pricks of pain(like when your foot falls asleep but heavier) and where he’s bleeding on his head will feel very warm and potentially sticky (cuz of the blood). If he’s concussed, he’ll likely register even less pain, and probably won’t remember the feeling of it much later, overall nerve senses will be mollified. (If he’s concussed he’ll have many more symptoms, like dilated pupils, possibly extra dopamine to account for his injuries and memory loss.)
His face right after the injury will likely sting more than anything, and both eyes will water a lot.
Sterilizing the wound and/or freezing it would be very helpful to speed up any of the healing process naturally and stop the risk of infection.
But you did say there was magic involved(yaassss) so it can heal fast as the magic wants 🙂
I hope some of this helped!
Okkaaayyyy…*drags self back from hospital reports*
It looks like the wound is somewhat chronic, frozen in the stages just after bleeding, where the skin is sealed somewhat, but the wound is still open while no longer bleeding. which would make sense if it is painful from time to time. The magic would have to come in here as the reason it’s neither progressing nor seeping, as I’m supposing November isn’t malnourished and the wounds don’t become infected. No particular difference should be noticed for at least a few days, as the ‘normal’ uninterrupted healing cycle of this type of injury should take about four weeks.
This being a facial wound it will bleed. A lot. (Anatra covered that well) His biggest worry (after the blood flow is stanched) will first be sight, then how well all those tiny facial muscles escaped, and with them his expressions in general.
(It is well his eye is not touched, as eye wounds can prove fatal.)
*Wanders off into another doctor’s essay*
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
@koshka wow!! Thank you so much!!! That’s actually perfect and exactly how his scars are!! He does get pain actually from time to time and it directly correlates with pain that Corvina has in her hand sometimes.
Also, thank u for the info about his expressions and face muscles, didn’t even think about that! Also his sight…while his eye did escape damage I’m sure due to facial muscles and his head injury he will have a bit of a struggle immediately after awaking.
Thank you!! This has really been great input!!
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
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I think @koshka and @anatra23 put it very well. I don’t think there’s anything I could add. XD I haven’t had too much experience in that kind of injury. (definitely experience with injury. Ezra just got shot through the chest close to his heart to protect Eva. *shrugs*) But they both put it very well! Don’t think there’s anything I can add. 😉 Best of Luck to you though! 😀
You’re welcome! This is my favorite type of book research too, so thank you!
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
It’s so hard to figure out how to injure your characters without permanently disabling or killing them… XDXD
Anywho, here’s what I’ve got to share!
- Head wounds
Head wounds bleed A LOT and for a long time. A small cut in the forehead (probably no longer than an inch) by the hairline, caused by contact with a blunt object, can cover a face, shirt, skirt, and hands with blood in under five minutes.
- Passing out
Unfortunately, yours truly has some personal experience with this, haha. I’ve never passed out from impact, so I can’t speak from experience about that, but I’m assuming that more like a sudden blackout.
For me, passing out starts with feeing lightheaded (the inside of your head almost feels fuzzy… if that makes sense). From there, tunnel vision sets in, like blotches starting on the edge of your peripheral vision and multiplying to fill your range of sight. If you completely pass out, everything just goes black, and you wake up, as you would from sleeping, wondering what happened. You go completely limp, so, unless someone is there to catch you, you’ll just fall.
First time it happened, I was younger and had no idea what was going on. Second time, I knew what was happening, so I was able to keep from going completely under. Kind of drifted in and out as I leaned against a counter to stay upright (your muscles don’t work well when you’re bordering on oblivion, haha😂 Mine would relax, then stiffen, relax, then stiffen as they tried to keep me against the counter, so I was slowly tipping against it, then straightening). Not sure which of these scenarios describes November best, but I hope one of them was helpful!
- Scars
So (last year’s anatomy and physiology course coming in handy here😂), our skin has a grain line. If you get cut along the grain line, your skin with heal fairly well and probably won’t scar. If you get cut across the grain line, that’s when you’re in trouble. Your skin will pull apart due to the severed grain, and it’ll take longer to heal. These types of wounds scar.
- Head trauma
This is where it gets difficult. It’s SO HARD to give a character head trauma that wouldn’t permanently hurt them or, at the very least, have them down for weeks in reality. I often use hospital websites when I’m researching an injury; they’re really helpful! Here’s one I found about head injuries:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/symptoms-causes/syc-20355594
People usually take head trauma VERY seriously because of the awful consequences that can result from it. If November passes out due to hitting his head, he’s probably got a TBI (traumatic brain injury), but since you’ve got magical elements, you can probably work around that. 😉
I hope some of this very long post was helpful! (Sorry for the length… *facepalms*) Wishing you the best with this scene!!!! <333 😀
@godlyfantasy12 so am i wrong in assuming it would be similar to a hypertrophic scar? which looks raw and fresh but is actually healed, or is it a literal open wound?
if it was an open wound that might constantly be sticky and getting dirty because of whatever factors of the story, that could, cause infection which would also contribute to it not healing well
oh and proudflesh maybe? heheh
sorry, my happy little self greatly enjoys scatterbrained side tracks of ideas
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
Glad you found what you needed! I have to say I’m quite intrigued by the snatches you explained about the story and the scenarios! Your book sounds really cool 🙂
I’m afraid I am not much help with writing stuff most of the time, it’s like, amazing ideas or nothing, (to be honest usually nothing) but I like to try anyways, XD
all the best!
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
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