Black Knight from Monty Python
I make mistakes in this arena a lot, but I thankfully get rid of most of them when I do editing runs. It’s something I very conscious of because I write a lot of action scenes. So, I have to really be aware of physical injuries as I move along. I mean of the characters and not myself. *shudders at memories of 2025*
A physical injury is very important, especially in action scenes. We might be used to seeing heroes continue on with severe injuries, but that requires the audience to suspend a lot of disbelief. It seems to be easier with visual mediums too. We can see how bad the wound is and how the hero is pushing on, so we rationalize it. Books require the reader to imagine stuff, which can’t always go in the right direction. A reader is more likely to question how a character is moving around after suffering a major injury because they aren’t seeing the physical cues of adrenaline and grit.
That doesn’t excuse visual medium entirely too. Walking around with a gaping hole in the stomach is common in action movies. Characters will get stabbed or shot in the shoulder, but still have full use of their arm. Leg injuries don’t hamper jumping or speed. It can get ridiculous enough that you lose some people, especially if the villains and supporting characters don’t get the same superhuman abilities. This is why it’s very important for anyone telling a story to remember what happens to their characters. Forgetting an injury can make or break things.
This isn’t even something that is solely about action scenes. Any injury that is noted should have an impact. If a person gets a papercut then they should get a bandage and have some minor restrictions on that finger. It doesn’t have to last longer than that scene, but you have it happen for a reason. Not wanting to deal with the aftermath probably means you shouldn’t have it happen in the first place. After all, a reader may come along and wonder about the inclusion if nothing comes of it. That’s if an editor or beta reader doesn’t catch it first.
It does get annoying to remember physical injuries because you want to keep the momentum and action going. Yet, each one should weaken and wear down your hero to some extent. This becomes an issue when you’re having it be one fight after another, which is another reason why authors should include downtimes. Aside from letting the tension dissipate and avoid oversaturation, it gives you an opportunity to have your characters get medical attention. This doesn’t have to eliminate the injuries entirely, but enough can be done to explain how the hero is still able to operate at a high level. For example, the first John Wick movie had him doing a lot while injured, but there was also a scene where a doctor tended to him. He was also given medication that would allow him to keep fighting, but his stitches would rip. This allowed him to fight at full strength without any questions.
An alternative that I’ve seen is that the heroes simply don’t get hurt. This gets applause in some situations, but not by everyone. The longer your hero goes without getting hurt, the less interested the audience becomes. There’s not threat of death or failure. If such things do happen then it doesn’t make sense since they avoided all previous injuries. The only time this works is if the character has invulnerability. At least then it would be some kind of shock.
The funny thing is that it really isn’t as hard as one would imagine. As I said at the beginning, I usually fix things up with edits. When writing an action scene, I initially focus on getting the general flow of events down. The injuries are including and force some changes in the moment such as change of momentum. Big ones I remember and they have an immediate influence over the rest of the fight. Once I have everything set up, I wait until it’s time to edit and make adjustments. Thankfully, you get better at doing this in the moment as you write more action scenes with injuries. There still tends to be some polishing such as realizing a jump can’t be done with an arrow in the thigh or a character just headbutted someone wearing a full helmet.
So, how do other authors work with physical injuries in stories? It doesn’t have to be action scenes, but just in general.
Legends of Windemere 