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Q&A How to describe pain in first person?

Welcome to the site, Bruce! In this case, describing pain in the first is no different than doing it in the third person. The only difference would be that you would use 'I' rather than third per...

posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T17:48:59Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19795
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:48:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19795
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T04:48:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Welcome to the site, Bruce!

In this case, describing pain in the first is no different than doing it in the third person. The only difference would be that you would use 'I' rather than third person pronouns.

Therefore, what it looks like you're really after is how to describe pain in general. As far as being impaled on re-bar goes... well, I think we can scratch first-person accounts of how it felt. What you need to do is _imagine_ how it would feel, and write that down, ignoring how it sounds at first.

Once the idea is there, go back and rewrite it, describing it using adjectives, adverbs, and verbs that compliment the experience. You want your reader to _feel_ the pain the _way_ your character does. For example:

> Farrel's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt as he slammed into the re-bar. He felt the rough metal slice through his body, plunging through organs, ripping through skin, and shattering bones. A second later his face collided with the hard concrete the re-bar was buried in, smashing his nose. He could feel the vibration of it shudder all the way through his body, which only made the pain ten times worse.

Note the descriptive verbs I use: _slammed, plunging, ripping, shattering, collided, etc._ I wouldn't, for example, use such words as _arrive, land, connect, etc._ because they aren't as vivid. The words I used help to convey the feeling of the pain to the reader.

Hopefully this is what you were looking for.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-11-20T00:09:39Z (almost 9 years ago)
Original score: 3