Writing Exercise: Pain is a Character Trait

Meme I created

For the Editing Rant on August 13, 2024, “The Burn”, I covered how burn injuries work. Previously I touched on bruises and related injuries in Bruised and Battered (8/14/2018) and Gonna Leave a Bruise (4/13/2021).

WRITING EXERCISE: Create a flash (around 500 words), where a character is dealing with the fallout from an injury. Not the situation where they were injured, but trying to do things after the injury – drive a car, fighting off sleep, making a meal, bending over, being in public. It can be as simple as a sunburn and getting dressed, especially in skintight combat clothes. It could be a standard broken leg and dealing with a cast for four weeks, but during a series of car chases where grandma has to drive for once.

Put the resulting flash below in the comments, or post a URL link pointing to where you have stored it.

BONUS EXERCISE: If you ever get a grievous injury, take journal and pictures of it to document the progression, whether a cut, bruise, or burn. Time inflicts a distance to our memories, and we forget the healing process. What was the first day like? How about a week later? What continued to be an unexpected problem?

My Attempt: Stick around for my blog posting on 8/29/2024 where I document an injury I got back in November 2020.

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