Careen: pitch dangerously to one side while walking or running
Clump: walk heavily and/or clumsily
Falter: walk unsteadily
Flounder: walk with great difficulty
Foot it: (slang) depart or set off by walking
Footslog: walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
Gimp: limp; hobble
Hike: take a long walk, especially in a park or a wilderness area
Hobble: walk unsteadily or with difficulty; see also limp
Hoof it: (slang) walk; see foot it
Leg it: (slang) see foot it
Limp: walk unsteadily because of injury, especially favoring one leg; see also falter
Lumber: walk slowly and heavily
Lurch: walk slowly but with sudden movements, or furtively
March: walk rhythmically alone or in a group, especially according to a specified procedure
Meander: walk or move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction
Mince: walk delicately
Mosey: see amble; also, used colloquially in the phrase “mosey along”
Nip: walk briskly or lightly; also used colloquially in the phrase “nip (on) over” to refer to a brief walk to a certain destination, as if on an errand
Pace: walk precisely to mark off a distance, or walk intently or nervously, especially back and forth
Pad: walk with steady steps making a soft dull sound
Parade: walk ostentatiously, as if to show off
Perambulate: see stroll; travel on foot, or walk to inspect or measure a boundary
Peregrinate: walk, especially to travel
Plod: walk slowly and heavily, as if reluctant or weary
Pound: walk or go with heavy steps; move along with force or vigor; see lumber
Power walk: walk briskly for fitness
Prance: walk joyfully, as if dancing or skipping
Promenade: go on a leisurely walk, especially in a public place as a social activity; see parade
Prowl: walk noiselessly and carefully in a predatory manner
Pussyfoot: walk stealthily or warily
Ramble: walk or travel aimlessly
Roam: go without fixed direction and without any particular destination, often for pleasure; see ramble
Rove: travel constantly over a relatively lengthy time period without a fixed destination; wander
Sashay: glide, move, or proceed easily or nonchalantly; seeparade
Saunter: walk about easily
Scuff: walk without lifting one’s feet
Shamble: walk or go awkwardly; shuffle; see scuff
Shuffle: walk without lifting the feet or with clumsy steps and a shambling gait; see scuff
Skulk: move in a stealthy or furtive manner
Somnambulate: walk in one’s sleep
Stagger: walk unsteadily
Stalk: walk stealthily, as in pursuit
Step: walk, or place one’s foot or feet in a new position
Stomp: walk heavily, as if in anger
Stride: walk purposefully, with long steps
Stroll: walk in a leisurely way; see saunter
Strut: walk with a stiff, erect, and apparently arrogant or conceited gait; see parade
Stumble: walk clumsily or unsteadily, or trip
Stump: walk heavily, as with a limp; see lumber
Swagger: walk with aggressive self-confidence
Tiptoe: walk carefully on the toes or on the balls of the foot, as if in stealth
Toddle: move with short, unsteady steps, as a young child; seesaunter and stagger
Totter: walk or go with faltering steps, as if from extreme weakness; see stagger (also, sway or become unstable)
Traipse: walk lightly and/or aimlessly
Tramp: walk heavily or noisily; see lumber and hike
Trample: walk so as to crush something underfoot
Traverse: walk across or over a distance
Tread: walk slowly and steadily
Trip: walk lightly; see also stumble
Tromp: tread heavily, especially to crush underfoot; see lumber
Troop: walk in unison, or collectively
Trot: proceed at a pace faster than a walk; see nip
Trudge: walk slowly and with heavy steps, typically because of exhaustion or harsh conditions; see plod
Waddle: walk clumsily or as if burdened, swinging the body
Wade: walk through water or with difficulty, as if impeded
Wander: to move from place to place without a fixed route; seeramble
Helloooo! Idk if you’ll be able to help with this but…might as well ask!
I have this issue when I write where, for some reason, I insist on starting every sentence with a pronoun or name. “He ______. [name] ___________. He_______.” etc etc, and I’m not too sure why I do this or how to stop it…do you have any advice?
I can for sure help with this!
This is called 'active voice', when you start with something like "he kicked the ball" rather than "the ball was kicked by him."
Active voice is not bad, but sometimes it's easy to get stuck only talking about the action instead of the surrounding stuff.
(I'm gonna name this guy Bo, so that I can not drive myself insane with 'the guy.')
If you feel like your pieces have too much of the action in them, it means you are not balancing action with perception. It's fast paced, clip-clip-clip without much room for the reader to process and visualize the paragraph.
This paragraph exhibits the problem you have:
"He went to the store to buy eggs. He drove for about eight miles, making sure to avoid the puddles. When he got to the store, he grabbed a red basket and hurried to buy his eggs. Bo walked quickly because it was busy, and the prices were good this week. He thanked the cashier and went home."
It reads like a checklist of actions, almost a to-do list. There isn't a lot of atmosphere, mood, or anything to break up the actions.
With creative writing, there's a lot of bending the rules artistically to fit your narrative. This is something I do to etch out the bare bones of a paragraph to avoid that pitfall:
Action, reaction, pivot, repeat.
"He went to the store to buy eggs. it had rained, so he made sure to drive carefully. The roads were slippery with the puddles. When he got to the store, he grabbed a red basket and hurried to the egg fridge. The store was packed; a new shipment came in and the prices were crazy low."
What this does is add an action, describe the context or any supplying details to the action, and then pick a new action. It adds a layer of fluff in between the information so that you can get a vibe of the story. I told the readers "He's driving to the store." How is he driving? Slowly, because it rained and the street is slick. Then I tell the readers he grabs a basket in a rush. Why? Because the store is busy, prices are good and he wants to get eggs before they're gone.
Instead of: "oh he went to the store and grabbed his eggs and left."
That's a pretty good start. From there, you can add bits of tone, any flair that adds to the story overall. All I can say it, make sure to 'zoom out' your writing lense to incorporate the setting and external action rather than only focusing on the character.
Blood is warm. if blood is cold, you’re really fucking feverish or the person is dead. it’s only sticky after it coagulates.
It smells! like iron, obv, but very metallic. heavy blood loss has a really potent smell, someone will notice.
Unless in a state of shock or fight-flight mode, a character will know they’re bleeding. stop with the ‘i didn’t even feel it’ yeah you did. drowsiness, confusion, pale complexion, nausea, clumsiness, and memory loss are symptoms to include.
blood flow ebbs. sometimes it’s really gushin’, other times it’s a trickle. could be the same wound at different points.
it’s slow. use this to your advantage! more sad writer times hehehe.
Stab wounds:
I have been mildly impaled with rebar on an occasion, so let me explain from experience. being stabbed is bizarre af. your body is soft. you can squish it, feel it jiggle when you move. whatever just stabbed you? not jiggly. it feels stiff and numb after the pain fades. often, stab wounds lead to nerve damage. hands, arms, feet, neck, all have more motor nerve clusters than the torso. fingers may go numb or useless if a tendon is nicked.
also, bleeding takes FOREVER to stop, as mentioned above.
if the wound has an exit wound, like a bullet clean through or a spear through the whole limb, DONT REMOVE THE OBJECT. character will die. leave it, bandage around it. could be a good opportunity for some touchy touchy :)
whump writers - good opportunity for caretaker angst and fluff w/ trying to manhandle whumpee into a good position to access both sites
Concussion:
despite the amnesia and confusion, people ain’t that articulate. even if they’re mumbling about how much they love (person) - if that’s ur trope - or a secret, it’s gonna make no sense. garbled nonsense, no full sentences, just a coupla words here and there.
if the concussion is mild, they’re gonna feel fine. until….bam! out like a light. kinda funny to witness, but also a good time for some caretaking fluff.
Fever:
you die at 110F. no 'oh no his fever is 120F!! ahhh!“ no his fever is 0F because he’s fucking dead. you lose consciousness around 103, sometimes less if it’s a child. brain damage occurs at over 104.
ACTUAL SYMPTOMS:
sluggishness
seizures (severe)
inability to speak clearly
feeling chilly/shivering
nausea
pain
delirium
symptoms increase as fever rises. slow build that secret sickness! feverish people can be irritable, maybe a bit of sass followed by some hurt/comfort. never hurt anybody.
ALSO about fevers - they absolutely can cause hallucinations. Sometimes these alter memory and future memory processing. they're scary shit guys.
fevers are a big deal! bad shit can happen! milk that till its dry (chill out) and get some good hurt/comfort whumpee shit.
keep writing u sadistic nerds xox love you
ALSO I FORGOT LEMME ADD ON:
YOU DIE AT 85F
sorry I forgot. at that point for a sustained period of time you're too cold to survive.
pt 2
also please stop traumadumping in the notes/tags, that's not the point of this post. it's really upsetting to see on my feed, so i'm muting the notifs for this post. if you have a question about this post, dm me, but i don't want a constant influx of traumatic stories. xox
So, pretty frequently writers screw up when they write about injuries. People are clonked over the head, pass out for hours, and wake up with just a headache… Eragon breaks his wrist and it’s just fine within days… Wounds heal with nary a scar, ever…
I’m aiming to fix that.
Here are over 100 links covering just about every facet of traumatic injuries (physical, psychological, long-term), focusing mainly on burns, concussions, fractures, and lacerations. Now you can beat up your characters properly!
Burn severity: Including how to estimate body area affected
Burn treatment: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees
Smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation treatment
Chemical burns
Hot tar burns
Sunburns
Incisions and Lacerations
Essentials of skin laceration repair (including stitching techniques)
When to stitch (Journal article–Doctors apparently usually go by experience on this)
More about when to stitch (Simple guide for moms)
Basic wound treatment
Incision vs. laceration: Most of the time (including in medical literature) they’re used synonymously, but eh.
Types of lacerations: Page has links to some particularly graphic images–beware!
How to stop bleeding: 1, 2, 3
Puncture wounds: Including a bit about what sort of wounds are most likely to become infected
More about puncture wounds
Wound assessment: A huge amount of information, including what the color of the flesh indicates, different kinds of things that ooze from a wound, and so much more.
Home treatment of gunshot wound, also basics
More about gunshot wounds, including medical procedures
Tourniquet use: Controversy around it, latest research
Location pain chart: Originally intended for tattoo pain, but pretty accurate for cuts
General note: Deeper=more serious. Elevate wounded limb so that gravity draws blood towards heart. Scalp wounds also bleed a lot but tend to be superficial. If it’s dirty, risk infection. If it hits the digestive system and you don’t die immediately, infection’ll probably kill you. Don’t forget the possibility of tetanus! If a wound is positioned such that movement would cause the wound to gape open (i.e. horizontally across the knee) it’s harder to keep it closed and may take longer for it to heal.
Broken bones
Types of fractures
Setting a broken bone when no doctor is available
Healing time of common fractures
Broken wrists
Broken ankles/feet
Fractured vertebrae: Neck (1, 2), back
Types of casts
Splints
Fracture complications
Broken noses
Broken digits: Fingers and toes
General notes: If it’s a compound fracture (bone poking through) good luck fixing it on your own. If the bone is in multiple pieces, surgery is necessary to fix it–probably can’t reduce (“set”) it from the outside. Older people heal more slowly. It’s possible for bones to “heal” crooked and cause long-term problems and joint pain. Consider damage to nearby nerves, muscle, and blood vessels.
Concussions
General overview
Types of concussions 1, 2
Concussion complications
Mild Brain Injuries: The next step up from most severe type of concussion, Grade 3
Post-concussion syndrome
Second impact syndrome: When a second blow delivered before recovering from the initial concussion has catastrophic effects. Apparently rare.
Recovering from a concussion
Symptoms: Scroll about halfway down the page for the most severe symptoms
Whiplash
General notes: If you pass out, even for a few seconds, it’s serious. If you have multiple concussions over a lifetime, they will be progressively more serious. Symptoms can linger for a long time.
Snake bites: No, you don’t suck the venom out or apply tourniquettes
Frostbite
Frostbite treatment
Severe frostbite treatment
When frostbite sets in: A handy chart for how long your characters have outside at various temperatures and wind speeds before they get frostbitten
First aid myths: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Includes the ones about buttering burns and putting snow on frostbite.
Poisons: Why inducing vomiting is a bad idea
Poisonous plants
Dislocations: Symptoms 1, 2; treatment. General notes: Repeated dislocations of same joint may lead to permanent tissue damage and may cause or be symptomatic of weakened ligaments. Docs recommend against trying to reduce (put back) dislocated joint on your own, though information about how to do it is easily found online.
Muscular strains
Joint sprain
Resuscitation after near-drowning: 1, 2
Current CPR practices: We don’t do mouth-to-mouth anymore.
The DSM IV, for all your mental illness needs.
Electrical shock
Human response to electrical shock: Includes handy-dandy voltage chart
Length of contact needed at different voltages to cause injury
Evaluation protocol for electric shock injury
Neurological complications
Electrical and lightning injury
Cardiac complications
Delayed effects and a good general summary
Acquired savant syndrome: Brain injuries (including a lightning strike) triggering development of amazing artistic and other abilities
Please don’t repost! Reblogging is fine, of course. You can find the original document (also created by me) here.
EDIT 3/20/19: This post is now approx. five years old. Yes, I am aware some of the links are broken. No, I’m not going to go through and fix them. I have a job now and that job is not “maintain a database of writing resources.” However, you are welcome to make your own post with updated links, or put updated links in your reblogs.
Inspired by this^ here’s a couple things I see done wrong in writing that don’t translate to traumatic injuries and corresponding first aid.
(FYI as a person who teaches both, if you’ve never taken a Stop The Bleed class or CPR, TAKE IT! So important!)
STOP THE BLEED - Save a Life
The amount of blood loss deemed to be life-threatening is equal to half a can of soda in an adult. Bleeding in children and infants can be proportionately less and still life-threatening. If your character is trained in first aid but not a medic, here’s what they might go down…
Want to avoid the action movie effect and make your character's injuries have realistic lasting impacts? Have a sick character you're using as hurt/comfort fodder? Everyone has tips for how to write Dramatic Intense Agony, but the smaller human details of lasting or low-level discomfort are rarely written in. Here are a few pain mannerisms I like to use as reference:
General
Continuously gritted teeth (may cause headaches or additional jaw pain over time)
Irritability, increased sensitivity to lights, sounds, etc
Repetitive movements (fidgeting, unable to sit still, slight rocking or other habitual movement to self-soothe)
Soft groaning or whimpering, when pain increases or when others aren't around
Heavier breathing, panting, may be deeper or shallower than normal
Moving less quickly, resistant to unnecessary movement
Itching in the case of healing wounds
Subconsciously hunching around the pain (eg. slumped shoulders or bad posture for gut pain)
Using a hand to steady themself when walking past walls, counters, etc (also applies to illness)
Narration-wise: may not notice the pain was there until it's gone because they got so used to it, or may not realize how bad it was until it gets better
May stop mentioning it outright to other people unless they specifically ask or the pain increases
Limb pain
Subtly leaning on surfaces whenever possible to take weight off foot/leg pain
Rubbing sore spots while thinking or resting
Wincing and switching to using other limb frequently (new/forgettable pain) or developed habit of using non dominant limb for tasks (constant/long term pain)
Propping leg up when sitting to reduce inflammation
Holding arm closer to body/moving it less
Moving differently to avoid bending joints (eg. bending at the waist instead of the knees to pick something up)
Nausea/fever/non-pain discomfort
Many of the same things as above (groaning, leaning, differences in movement)
May avoid sudden movements or turning head for nausea
Urge to press up against cold surfaces for fever
Glazed eyes, fixed stare, may take longer to process words or get their attention
Shivering, shaking, loss of fine motor control
If you have any more details that you personally use to bring characters to life in these situations, I'd love to hear them! I'm always looking for ways to make my guys suffer more write people with more realism :)
This is less ‘tricks I've used’ and more ‘my personal experience’, but I have used some of these in whump writing (I have a TMA fic that's all about adjusting to new pain!)
FATIGUE. This is the big one that people get wrong. Ongoing pain is exhausting. Your character might not be able to do as much as they usually do, even if they're being careful to avoid aggravating their wound or injury. It's especially true if they've spent a month in the hospital and are deconditioned, but just pain itself is exhausting for the body.
Brain fog and difficulty concentrating. Especially if the pain is peaking, or they're getting tired towards the end of the day. Speech gets harder to process, books are harder or impossible to read. Memory is worse. You can have aphasia where you lose a word or two. Brain fog will often/usually arrive with irritability. Not being able to think clearly – or remember the word for ... thing. The machine you use to wash dishes – is incredibly frustrating.
Lack of sleep makes pain worse. If your character is healing fairly well and is getting to the stage where their pain is tolerable, being forced to stay up all night for plot reasons will make their pain much worse the next day. Like 'pain levels have gone from a 4 to an 8' kind of worse.
Nausea from pain. Less applicable to low-level pain, but you can get nausea from severe pain. It isn't 'oh no I think I'm going to be sick' nausea (IME), it's just a complete disinterest in food. You might have your injured person picking at their food, or eating smaller meals than usual. You can definitely get this from moderate chronic or ongoing pain, too – it isn't just a horrifically severe injury thing.
Pain in areas other than the injury site. This is a combo here of 'kid of a physio' and an 'easily injured person's first-hand experience'. There are several ways that you get pain elsewhere:
Referred pain. This is where you hurt yourself in one spot but feel the pain elsewhere. This is especially applicable to soft-tissue injuries.
Compensation. If my left knee goes out and I change my gait pattern by limping, I'll likely develop pain in my right leg, as now it's handling more weight than usual. I have crap joints, so that could easily be my right knee or right hip. If your character has an old injury on the 'good' side, that could flare up through compensation. Other things to think of here is the pain that can be caused by aids such as crutches and canes – full weight bearing on crutches left my palms in agony, and my wrists too. Shoulders are also not used to supporting large amounts of weight. I had a crutch go out from under me on an icy surface, and for a good week or so, the sprain was more painful than my healing broken leg.
Protection. (idk if this has a better name) I injured one of my neck muscles (wry neck), and got pain through the whole shoulder and neck on that side as other muscles tensed up to protect the injury, and to prevent further damage. This caused more pain, and took nearly a month to settle down with treatment.
Pain often gets worse through the day. This ties in with 'lack of sleep makes pain worse'. When it comes to soft-tissue injuries (muscles etc), inflammatory pain (like arthritis) hurts most in the mornings, but postural problems (like my wry neck) get worse as the day goes on.
Good stuff! I thought of a few things to add from my own experiences:
Similar to supporting weight on nearby surfaces due to leg injuries, back injuries/chronic pain can result in the same behaviors. When bending over, sitting down, or standing up, a character might rest their hands on their thighs or knees to lessen back pain. Or if they have to sneeze, they might quickly grab onto something nearby/brace themselves on their legs.
Similar to fidgeting and rubbing sore spots, frequent stretching can be a sign of low-level pain. For example, rolling the neck and stretching from side to side might indicate neck, shoulder, or upper back pain.
When using crutches, I've gotten nasty bruises on my sides and the insides of my upper arms.
The last thing I can think of, which has sort of been covered, but not specifically, is walking on the outside of the foot to avoid putting weight on other areas of the sole. Alternatively, a character might put more weight on the heel or just the ball of the foot.
Hi! I just found your blog and noticed you have some posts where you explain how to write certain medical conditions, and I was wondering - could you perhaps do a post on blood poisoning, please? I am struggling with it a little lol.
I have a character that got stabbed, and I don't know what are the odds they could get blood poisoning and if yes, how fast and generally how it progresses.
If you don’t have time or something, don't sweat it, it's just a silly idea I got lol :D
Episode 4 of SciFiMedic Explains: How do I write sepsis?
Hi Anon!
So, your character got themselves stabbed, huh? Before we get to the nuts and bolts of how this is going to progress, we have to clear up a little choice of words here.
The term blood poisoning is not the medically correct term for an infection inside the blood- we call it sepsis. Unless you meant literal poison from the weapon (which I can do a follow-up post on, if that’s the case) I’m going to guess that we’re talking about a severe, system-wide infection of the blood.
Let’s walk through a few options:
Scenario 1:
Your character is stabbed in an area with lots of big blood vessels (highlighted red in diagram), and while everyone does all they can, the poor guy quickly dies of blood loss. There’s no time for infection to set in.
Scenario 2:
Your character is stabbed in a non-lethal area, like the arms, legs, or shallowly on the gut (highlighted green in diagram) They’re able to bandage themselves up, or maybe someone helps them out and they manage to get the bleeding stopped.
Unfortunately, 12 hours later, they notice red streaking coming from around the wound. They also:
Feel freezing cold, but have a high temperature
Are dizzy
Are shivering
Can’t quite catch their breath and feel the need to pant
Throw up
Look pale
These are all signs of the injury going septic, which is when the infection spreads away from the site of the wound and into the bloodstream. It happens fast. From the onset of these symptoms, they can be dead within only 12 hours.
Here’s what needs to happen for them to survive:
1: Hospital. No buts, no delay. If you want them to survive, they need advanced medical treatment, detailed below. (I will allow for a field hospital, or a makeshift hospital with a trained professional and plenty of supplies.)
2: Blood and wound cultures. This means taking a small tube of blood from the arm, rubbing a cotton swab in the wound, and then sending both samples to the lab for study. They will smear the sample on a slide, put it in a warm, wet environment, and wait for it to grow out. Then, they’ll pop it under a microscope and run chemical tests on it to find out what the infection is. This process can take up to 4 days. The good news? The more pathogens that’s in the sample, the faster it will grow out. If you have blood that is severely infected, it could take as little as 12 hours to see results. (I know this from personal experience.)
If you’re in a field hospital, unfortunately this is a luxury you don’t have. See next step.
3: IV antibiotics immediately. Since you don’t know the bacteria causing the sepsis, you don’t know which antibiotic to give. Good news, people a lot smarter than I have created a plan for this.
3a: According to this study done by the National Library of Medicine, 67.9% of people presenting outside a hospital setting had their wounds infected with either Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
3b. Thankfully, we have two very strong antibiotics- Vancomycin and Ciprofloxacin- that can each treat these pathogens. Unfortunately, each antibiotic is effective against only one of these pathogens, and nearly useless (or has developed resistance) against the other one!
3c. Good news, these antibiotics can be safely run together. Boom, you’ve just slammed (and it’s a slam- these drugs are horrible for you long term) 67.9% of patients with the right antibiotics to start treating their sepsis.
3d. What about the other 32.1% you may be asking? Good news, they’re not doomed. Just because a given antibiotic isn’t the best choice against a certain pathogen, it doesn't mean it will be completely ineffective. You may be buying them more time for the cultures to come back. You can also take your next best guess, and switch the antibiotics after a few hours if they aren’t having any effect.
4. Fluids. IV time! The biggest tell that someone has sepsis is that their blood pressure plummets to dangerous levels (which is what will eventually kill them, but we’ll get to that.) In order to prevent that drop, we need to raise the blood pressure by adding more volume to the blood through fluids. They might also need a blood transfusion, depending on how much blood they lost from the initial stab wound.
It’s important to note that it may not be possible to gain IV access, because when the blood pressure is that low, the veins tend to shrivel up and disappear (not literally.) In that case, your next best option is an IO, which is a needle drilled into the center of the upper arm bone, or lower leg bone. Yes, it hurts.
5. Vasopressors. Fancy name for medications that force the blood pressure to come up. There are four main pressors:
Norepinephrine
Epinephrine
Phenylephrine
Vasopressin
They should be added in that order, although this article admits there isn’t too much hard evidence to back this up.
It’s important to note that this is ICU level care, and unless we’re in the middle of the woods, we will have transferred there.
How do you know if it’s time to add another pressor? You’re not getting the results you need- AKA the blood pressure is continuing to stay or fall too low. In the ICU, we use a different measure of blood pressure that most people aren’t as familiar with, called a MAP score. It’s easy, I promise.
We use this method because it’s more representative of the amount of blood actually getting to the organs- though that is debated quite a bit in various circles. In America however, that’s the way most ICUs do it.
The ultimate goal for a sepsis case is to have a MAP above 65 mmHg. You can use this calculator to play around with the numbers and see if the blood pressure you’re thinking is within those parameters. If it’s not, time for another pressor.
At this point, your character is passed out most of the time. They’ve got a high fever, rapid heart beat, and are covered in sweat. They might also have a seizure from the fever and general stress on their body- at the very least they’ll be shaking from the chills. Their skin will be very, very pale, and might look kinda blue or gray in places- kinda like spots.
6. Hold your breath. No, not literally. But at this point, you’ve done all you can and you have to wait for them to either get better, or get worse.
If they get better, they’ll slowly start to maintain their own blood pressure, the fever will come down, and they’ll be able to string a coherent sentence together again. Recovery from sepsis can take a long, long time- as many as two to four months in the hospital. It totally depends on the person and how strong they are. The fittest, luckiest patient I’ve seen recover from sepsis was with us in the ICU for three weeks, then spent another month in a step down unit doing various therapies to regain strength.
However… if we’re looking at failure… well, then it’s time to move onto scenario 3.
Scenario 3:
After completing all of the above steps, they end up getting worse. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault- sepsis is fickle and kills fast. At this point, their kidneys are starting to fail from the inadequate blood pressure- you’ll need dialysis for that. They might stop breathing, or be unable to oxygenate their blood properly, then they’ll need a ventilator. At this point, they’re not stable enough to go into surgery anymore, so there’s no hope there. Eventually, the high fever will cause seizures, which will lead very quickly to brain death. As little as 12 hours after the initial dizziness and red streaks, their heart stops and they’re pronounced dead.
Summary:
The odds of your character developing sepsis from a non-fatal stab wound without immediate medical care are high- 90%
If they’re rushed to a hospital, their odds are better- 50%
If they do develop sepsis inside a hospital, they’re likley to survive- only 10.55% of people die of this kind of wound infection.
If they develop sepsis outside a hospital, then it’s almost certain they will die- 99%
Disclaimer: Although I’m in school to become a medical professional, I’m not one yet. All mistakes are mine, and I’m always open to discussion.
Anon, this was a fun prompt! If this isn’t quite what you were looking for, feel free to submit another ask with more follow up questions!
Everyone else, also feel free to send me an ask, or reblog this (or any SciFiMedicExplains Episode) with a scene you’d like me to help you write!
Hi! I was wondering if you happen to have any advice for writing smut that *doesn’t* sound like a teenager posting to Wattpad? 😅
before we start, I’d like to say that these are all just what I personally do with my writing / how I personally write. these are not “rules” and if you disagree with them, that is totally fine!
also, there’s going to be explicit language moving forward so you may scroll past this post if (written) porn isn’t your thing! 18+ content ahead!
let’s begin with the focus of your story. instead of focusing solely on “the action”, you can try focusing on “the feelings” too. how the characters are feeling as they’re being intimate with each other. in other words, instead of focusing on the “physical” aspects, try focusing on the “emotional / mental” parts and the “feelings” too. so that your characters also feel something else that isn’t just shallow arousal (obviously, there’s nothing wrong with being so horny that nothing else matters, if that’s your goals then go for it, what I’m saying is sometimes sex can be about something else that isn’t merely the act of coupling, if you get what I mean? the “porn with feelings” tag on AO3 is there for a reason and, yes, porn with feelings can get you just as aroused if not more!)
for instance, instead of “he roughly shoved his entire dick inside her pussy, grabbed her boob with one hand, the other steadied her hip, before he started thrusting and moaning”. you could try “he wasn’t being gentle when he pushed his length inside, feeling her body yield and surrender, engulfing him in one confident thrust. with one hand on her breast, the other on her hip to keep her still, he began moving, making love and declaring to his wife his fidelity in an ecstatic moan.”
how you describe your characters’ private parts affects the mood / vibes your readers get from your work too. I personally prefer using “cock / cunt” to “dick / pussy” because for me, the first set of pairing sounds sexier, more raw and more “mature”, while the latter just gives off the vibes of horny and mindless teenagers instead, which might only be a personal opinion and preference of mine!
that being said, the trick is that you don’t always have to use the exact, direct words over and over again while talking about the genitals. using “cock” sounds sexy and all, but using the word “cock” three times in the same sentence can feel like you’re trying a little too hard to make your readers know this is smut. they already know. and they know what the character is stroking.
sometimes the trick lies in the implication and indirectness of how you describe your scenes. sometimes it sounds more hot to, instead of directly saying what the characters are doing, use implication and metaphor to tell your readers what the characters are doing.
for instance, instead of “he pushed his big, big cock inside her and felt the walls of her cunt squeeze his cock, so he stayed still for a while to savor the feeling of her cunt around his cock before he started moving his cock” you could say something like “he pushed himself inside her, feeling the warmth of her around his length and opting to keep still to savor as much as he could of her tightness before he started thrusting.”
or, instead of “his cock was so huge it made her mouth water” it could be “the promise of godhood between his legs elicited from within her the hunger she never knew existed”
yes, smut is about sex. but sex can also be about other feelings besides arousal. sex can be about vulnerability, the complete trust one gives their partner. it can be about surrendering and submitting yourself to someone. it can be about dominating and controlling someone. it can be about pain and betrayal. it can be about hatred. it can even be about grief and mourning. just in case you want to throw in some feelings or angst and in case you want to describe your scenes with something else that isn’t just mindless arousal.
(again, smut with nothing but mindless arousal isn’t bad. there’s nothing wrong with smut just being smut with no other feelings involved. so this isn’t me saying you have to throw some emotions and depth into your porn, obviously. smut can be just smut and that’s fun and hot enough, and if that’s your thing then you do you. I will always be rooting for you.)
the two most important things while writing smut — as well as anything else that isn’t smut — are 1.) write whatever you want for you and 2.) practice makes perfect.
keep writing. your smut doesn’t have to be perfect the first time you write it, and that’s okay. that’s normal. the most skilled writer out there started out terrible at what they wrote, but the nature of writing is that you get better the more you write.
the first smut I wrote was about 8 years ago and it was terrible. and that’s fine. I’ve come a long way since. the point is: keep writing and writing and writing and you will keep getting better and better and better.
keep writing whatever you want to write, and have fun, that’s the key.
Ma'am please bestow upon me your amazing smut writing ways! 😩Your smut scenes are always top tier and I'm so jealous! I feel like all of my smut writing ends up turning out sounding the same.
Awwwh Lau 🥹🥹 Thank you babe, that’s so sweet of you - you’re so kind to me ♥️
And I was going to joke that I have no idea how I do it (and that is true to an extent - lots of it just happens in the moment!) but real talk, writing smut is one of the things I find MOST difficult in writing. It’s so time consuming to get it right, or it is for me anyway!
But here’s how I try and approach it… apologies I’m chatty and this got a bit long but I hope it’s useful to you and others!
Alex’s Guide To Writing Smut
Understand the context
1. What’s the vibe? Why are they having sex?
Is it angry/angsty/longing/needy/soft/sweet/something else I can’t think of right now? How are the characters arriving into the smut, because it totally shapes how you think about the tone of the scene and how the actual act will play out. Angry rough fucking is not the same as soft, we just woke up and I need you again sex. And that doesn’t need a tonne of exposition to set out in the story but you, the author, need to know where it’s coming from.
2. What’s their relationship?
Like above, sex between people who have been together for ages is different from sex with someone new(ish). Of course you can still surprise each other in a long term relationship but new relationships are all about discovery. And this affects how they communicate during the act itself, and how comfortable they might be together (as well as in voicing likes and dislikes). Also, a one night stand won’t be the same as a pairing who are a couple, and not all of those are born equal - is it a one night of fun or is that we only have one night, because we shouldn’t/can’t do this, but I love you? Those bring very different energies!
Creating scenes that feel ‘real’
4. Limbs logistics
This is the stuff that takes me the longest because I’m a weirdo and I like to be able to properly picture who and what’s where at any given moment! Do think about whether it’s physically possible for his hand to be there if it was just somewhere entirely different. And don’t be afraid to have a little fun with it if your setting allows a bit of real life challenges. Getting stuck or whatever and giggling about it is so human and relatable and will add realism.
3. Use ALL the senses.
Obviously this is an important tip for writing generally but if you want to build a sensory picture and create intimacy it’s extra important in smut writing. Smut writing isn’t just describing where all the limbs and appendages go - if you want it to be immersive you need to go beyond that and explore how the characters FEEL and what else they are experiencing:
- Smells in particular are especially evocative and unique. They stir up emotions and or create a sense of safety.
- Think about how you describe the different kinds of touches (again, all relates to knowing your context). Not just stimulation touch but how they hold each other, breath on skin etc. Are they gentle or rough. And most importantly, how does it feel - both touching and being touched.
- Don’t forget about taste - you don’t have to major on it if it gives you the ick but it’s part of the sexual experience so don’t forget to consider how it might be useful to include.
- Sound allows you to convey emotion with and without dialogue. How does their voice sound? When you’re pressed together can you actually feel the sound? You can use this to show progress too as they get closer to climax. (That feels so wrong to write in a non-smut scene context!)
5. Choice of positions/ sexual acts
My personal preference is starting with foreplay cos I enjoy writing the build up, but sometimes (back to context again!) that doesn’t make sense for your pairing. Deciding what they actually do during the smut scene totally depends on all the stuff in the section above. For example, are they short on time? Do they have all night? Is it the only night they might ever have and so they want to do everything you can think of? All of these will affect what kind of sex they have and the kind of energy they bring to it.
I rarely sit down and plot this out (but I’m not a plotter anyway so that’s just me) - I write what feels right in the moment because I’ve focussed my effort on knowing WHY these two particular people are having sex. Allow the context to guide what feels natural and have fun with it.
6. Dialogue
I used to write with hardly dialogue during smut because it made me uncomfortable trying to squeeze it in, but I’ve got better at it as I’ve written more. So I think you have to do what feels right for you, as the writer. But also, once again, you need to know what your characters would do. Are they talkers? Is one of them noisy but the other is the silent type? Does one have a filthy mouth that makes the other weak and they like to use that against them? Do you want to include a praise kink or someone who gets off on being humiliated (don’t forget AFTER CARE!). All of that affects what kind of dialogue you might have.
Personally I still tend to keep it quite limited (writing Emmett and the whole ‘having to be quiet’ is my fav kink of the moment!). Instead, I focus more on the senses side of things, and let them get a bit lost in the pleasure inside their own heads. And instead of external dialogue, I often opt for more internal chat about how the other person and what they’re doing makes them feel. And how they feel is influenced by, you guessed it, the context!
What to do when it all feels a bit too ‘samey’
So to Lauren’s original ask about scenes feeling overly similar - especially when you’re working with the same set of characters in a long running series. I have this all the time, especially with my Lockdown series because those two are just feral for each other! To tackle getting stuck in a rut, here’s what I think about:
Surprise, surprise, it’s all about CONTEXT again!
Ok yes, you only have so many sexual acts and positions to work with. And not everyone wants to write all the kinks in the land, I know I don’t! But what is different every time is why your couple is having sex - what’s led to/inspired that moment and how are they coming into the scene. So I refer you back to the very first section - understand the scenario and mood you’re trying to create. You can stack the different acts however you like but the energy and emphasis and emotion your characters bring to that should inherently make it feel different each time.
If you want a real life example, check out the smut scenes in this mini series - they fuck in every chapter but each time the context and how the characters come into the scene is different, so (I hope!) the smut reads differently.
And finally
Do not underestimate the power of a little humour! Real life sex can be funny. It’s intimate and, lots of the time, with someone you are (or want to be) very close to. They are moments of physical and emotional connection. Let the people be people. Don’t make it all perfect all the time. Life isn’t like that! 🤍
Other useful resources
How to write smut by @youneedsomeprompts
Smut terminology study
Useful smut language/sound descriptors
Really good guide to smut terms
☕️ Found this helpful? Why not buy me a coffee? - Ko-Fi
I present to you a - probably quite incomplete, I’m sure I’m missing a lot of speech sounds - reference list and a bit of a guideline for the different ways one can describe the sounds your characters make whilst writing smut. I’ll definitely be referring to it, because I sometimes get stuck on exactly how to describe a particular noise. (aka, “he can’t groan again, he just groaned last paragraph”)
Combine a descriptor and a sound for best effect - for example, “needy moan,” “pleased hum,” or “sudden scream.” You can even use two: “low, rough grunt,” “sweet little cry,” “desperate, filthy noise,” as long as you don’t repeat a word that means the same thing, unless you really want to emphasize it. Avoiding repetition is pretty key here. You don’t usually want to say “hushed, quiet gasp” except on rare occasions when it’s very important how soft the sound was.
Use your own common sense, as well; some sounds and descriptors don’t generally work well together. “Deliberate shriek” probably wouldn’t work well, and neither would “languid grunt,” but again, this is all very situational - play around! Have fun.
Feel free to add to my lists, use for your reference or pass them around. It would be fun to see a randomized generator made, too, I’m just too lazy to do it myself. ;)
Writing sex scenes. If you read those three words and you’re interested I don’t have to say much more huh?
A disclaimer if you will that this is just covers the two physical genders we see the most, with a bit about managing with non/neutral genders, xeno sex, jellies, hermaphrodites, and gender shifters, and stuff. If anyone has a problem with any gender doing anything, then they can skip that part. If you have any issues with any of the terminology I use, you can go elsewhere. I’m not here to be PC or make you feel better about what you’re reading or take care of your issues, I’m just here to drop information for people who might need it and I’m not nice about it. Trigger Warnings I guess for general sexuality, but I keep the really nasty harder triggers out of it. Oh and it’s REALLY LONG AND DETAILED (It’s 13,400 words or so if you’re asking.)
So: suck it up, put on your big girl panties, and deal with topics you might find uncomfortable or badly phrased as maturely as possible. Get ready to giggle like 13-year-olds at the word nipple. We’re going into the five-alarm-flame-bait-NSFW-headache known as sex! (No seriously, this is NSFW. 18+ only material.)
Other Words for "Look" + With meanings | List for writers
Many people create lists of synonyms for the word 'said,' but what about the word 'look'? Here are some synonyms that I enjoy using in my writing, along with their meanings for your reference. While all these words relate to 'look,' they each carry distinct meanings and nuances, so I thought it would be helpful to provide meanings for each one.
Gaze - To look steadily and intently, especially in admiration or thought.
Glance - A brief or hurried look.
Peek - A quick and typically secretive look.
Peer - To look with difficulty or concentration.
Scan - To look over quickly but thoroughly.
Observe - To watch carefully and attentively.
Inspect - To look at closely in order to assess condition or quality.
Stare - To look fixedly or vacantly at someone or something.
Glimpse - To see or perceive briefly or partially.
Eye - To look or stare at intently.
Peruse - To read or examine something with great care.
Scrutinize - To examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.
Behold - To see or observe a thing or person, especially a remarkable one.
Witness - To see something happen, typically a significant event.
Spot - To see, notice, or recognize someone or something.
Contemplate - To look thoughtfully for a long time at.
Sight - To suddenly or unexpectedly see something or someone.
Ogle - To stare at in a lecherous manner.
Leer - To look or gaze in an unpleasant, malicious way.
Gawk - To stare openly and stupidly.
Gape - To stare with one's mouth open wide, in amazement.
Squint - To look with eyes partially closed.
Regard - To consider or think of in a specified way.
Admire - To regard with pleasure, wonder, and approval.
Skim - To look through quickly to gain superficial knowledge.
Reconnoiter - To make a military observation of a region.
Flick - To look or move the eyes quickly.
Rake - To look through something rapidly and unsystematically.
Glare - To look angrily or fiercely.
Peep - To look quickly and secretly through an opening.
Focus - To concentrate one's visual effort on.
Discover - To find or realize something not clear before.
Spot-check - To examine something briefly or at random.
Devour - To look over with eager enthusiasm.
Examine - To inspect in detail to determine condition.
Feast one's eyes - To look at something with great enjoyment.
Catch sight of - To suddenly or unexpectedly see.
Clap eyes on - To suddenly see someone or something.
Set eyes on - To look at, especially for the first time.
Take a dekko - Colloquial for taking a look.
Leer at - To look or gaze in a suggestive manner.
Rubberneck - To stare at something in a foolish way.
Make out - To manage to see or read with difficulty.
Lay eyes on - To see or look at.
Pore over - To look at or read something intently.
Ogle at - To look at in a lecherous or predatory way.
Pry - To look or inquire into something in a determined manner.
Dart - To look quickly or furtively.
Drink in - To look at with great enjoyment or fascination.
Bask in - To look at or enjoy something for a period of time.
Calling all aspiring storytellers with hearts full of whimsy! Get ready to sprinkle a touch of enchantment into your scenes with my Scene Wo
683 members, 435 posts about #creative writing #creative writers #helping writers • Guiding Writers to New Heights
snowghoul
izzy806
origamiaround
stormborns
pixelskylines
baratheonpilled
2087
gummygunk
