Injury and Infamy · 15 August 2007
I usually plan my posts a few days in advance. The nature of them requires a bit more than sitting down at the computer and writing off the cuff. I either have to shop for ingredients, or have read a novel to talk about. So, while day-to-day life does have a slight impact on my post content, it doesn’t drive it.
So now, I find myself sitting down to write a post I thought up last week, and it doesn’t seem quite right. Day-to-day events have taken precedence. As I alluded to in my comments on the previous post, I was injured this weekend. It’s not life-threatening, or even really serious, but I’ve never been injured seriously before, and it is affecting my little corner of consciousness here.
I dithered about writing about my feelings, because they’re a bit personal, and they’re going to break up the feature on The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton. Then I rationalized with myself. Kim, I said, you already started this book with a post about canning and then interrupted it with another. Furthermore (I continued to myself), aren’t you always talking about how you need to write about characterization? What better practice than writing about your own experiences?
I have two spectacular bruises. These suckers would make fungi jealous. Tomorrow I get the results of my x-rays. My mother’s “That looks exactly like my ankle did when I broke it” and my sister’s implied “You made me go to urgent care on a Saturday after I bumped my head, even though I felt fine” have won the day and even though my ankle doesn’t feel broken, I’ve submitted to radiology.
Now that we’re done with the gory details, on to the exciting stuff, the characterization. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about people receiving wounds and just going on with whatever they’re engaged in. Sometimes this is explained by battle furor, berserker tendencies, or just plain adrenaline. Other times, no explanation is given.
After experiencing an injury myself, I find it odd that injuries aren’t discussed more. Not only did I have a completely unexpected reaction to an ankle injury (naseua), I had no idea what to expect in the days to come. The feeling of swollen, tight skin is something that while in itself isn’t painful, makes one acutely aware of the swollen limb. The way I walk, stiff jointed, overly protective, makes my ankle the focus of my body and my body the focus of my thoughts more so than normal.
I’m not a strict stickler for accuracy in every aspect of a book, but I think little touches like addressing how characters react to situations that would be unusual for them adds to the story. Sure, it would slacken the pacing of the battle to have a character ruminate on their injury for a paragraph or two, but there is plenty of room in a well written story for a post battle review. I think it makes the characters more real when they stop to think. There are many characters that are injured in fiction that wouldn’t have normal experience with injury. One of the stereotypical fantasy heroes is the young person wrested from his or her mundane life and thrust into a world of danger and excitement.
One thing I’ve been using to take my mind off my ankle is reading. It’s hard to do much with an elevated foot, but curling up with a book is still possible. My computer time is more limited, since I use a desktop and I’m trying to keep off my feet (and my butt) as much as possible. So, I won’t be reading my normal number of blogs this week.
Even so, I did drop by Stuff as Dreams are Made On and found that Chris has nominated me as a Thoughtful Blogger. I’m flattered and dismayed. I find the tact to pass these on often escapes me in moments such as these. I don’t normally frequent blogs that I don’t find thoughtful, so if you’ve noticed me posting on your blogs, then count yourself as people I would give kudos to!
But, in the interest of passing along a nice word, here are a few blogs that I’ve started reading recently and haven’t yet added to my sidebar. I’ve taken a stance of being the chain letter breaker and won’t pass on the admonition to nominate five blogs of your own, so if anyone else would like to pick this up, please feel free, otherwise consider these long overdue links to blogs I’d recommend reading :).
- Booky Ooky - This isn’t Scott’s main blog, so he posts here rather infrequently, but I always enjoy the quality of his posts and his insights on books.
- The Fantasy Review - A relatively new blog with a dizzying array of information on the SF/Fantasy community.
- Orpheus Sings the Electric Guitar - Dark Orpheus posts under a psuedonym to maintain her professional anonymity, but she’s always got something to say about yoga, novels, and many other fascinating topics.
- Bombastic Bagman - Jean Pierre also recently started his blog. He writes about books and movies, but also features great insight on his local Oxford haunts and has a recurring feature about “funny” words and why he likes them.
- The Kitchen is Our Playground - Dennis is planning a restaurant in San Diego and learning how to be a great chef at the same time (how ambitious!). Read about his research, plans, and experiments here.
Tomorrow I’ll be posting the article that should have gone here.
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Chris · 15 August 2007, 20:43
Great insights about injuries, but I’m so sorry that you had to experience your own to attain them :( It’s wonderful that you are able to turn miserable experiences into positive writing tips though! And you’ve given me something to work with now for NaNoWriMo…You make such a good point here. I know that when I write, I forget all too often to include little bits of everyday life and experiences that make my characters real. Those little bits can make characters come to life so much easier for the reader.
....and this would be why you are a “thoughtful blogger” ;)
Nymeth · 16 August 2007, 00:41
I’m sorry to hear you got injured :( I have also wondered why we don’t find more in literature about injuries and illness in general. They are such universal experiences, and they can have such a great impact on people. Perhaps we often don’t like to think about just how much our bodies limit us.
Congratulations on the award! It is very well-deserved.
Heather · 16 August 2007, 02:02
I hope your ankle feels better soon!!
I suspect most authors ‘forget’ about injuries because either a) they want the tension caused by injury but don’t want to have to deal with it slowing the character down; or b) they’ve never been injured in that way themselves so they have no real idea what it’s like. I understand that sometimes people don’t realize right away that they’ve been injured, but usually even then as soon as they slow down a bit it hits them.
Kim · 16 August 2007, 09:37
Chris – Glad I could provide a bit of inspiration in my own search for good writing ideas :)
Nymeth – That could be exactly right. I was thinking how I just take my body for granted, and don’t like to admit it could be a liability as well.
Heather – That’s an excellent point as well. Heroes don’t seem quite so heroic when they’re limping around for the last 300 pages of a book.
I sure hope that the authors have not experienced many of the injuries I’ve read about! I think that injuries may also be an area where authors are reluctant to seek out personal narratives from people who have been injured. It’s a sensitive and personal subject, and I imagine approaching someone to be your “injury expert” would be much tougher than asking for their help with other knowledge.
All – Thank you all for the kind wishes. It’s getting better every day :)
jean pierre · 17 August 2007, 06:28
oh dear, what a way to learn what injuries are really like…! but at least you can see the positive in it.
congratulations on the award and thanks for mentioning my blog! :)
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