Writing pain or an injury.

[Aosto]

This is in response to a previous thread of mine, but I feel it needs it's own discussion.

In my opening scene my MC is struck in the shoulder by an arrow. His initial response is to locate the source of the arrow and avoid further injury. He felt a sudden pressure below his shoulder blade, his arm weakened, but there was no immediate reaction to pain.
In my own experience, having broken several bones, I find that pain isn't the immediate reaction. I have always located the injury, assessed my damage, and assessed what caused the injury however pain was not my first thought.
Take for example when I broke my collar bone while ridding my bike. My first reaction was "I fell" my second reaction was "the bike is on me" and I then attempted to get the bike off me with the affected arm, only noticing a decrease in function. Thirdly i though "I should get up" again using the arm that was rendered useless after applying pressure to it. I then evaluated the cause, the ramp broke causing my tire to hit the curb and flip the bike forward making me land nose first and flipping over the handlebars.
I only felt pain about 30 minutes later on the way to the doctor. It was similar when breaking my ankle in skateboarding.

So, my question is, how do you respond to injury in a novel. If your character is shot by an arrow does he immediately squeal out in pain? I think he would not, obviously pain will follow and that will be clarified, but the initial response shouldn't be pain.

[BWFoster78]

Whenever I've suffered an injury, pain has been my first response.

[Ankari]

Good question Aosto,

There are a few levels of injury with different reactions.

Level 1

Minor cuts or scraps. You feel the full pain from these injuries as they usually occur when you are doing idle activities. Idle means "anything that doesn't not involve a state of mind or physical activity that produces adrenaline." I would note the pain right away. Ex. Last night, I was at a hospital removing a gown from my torso. My pinched the sleeve with my thumb and forefinger. For some reason, I used my thumbnail. By the time I removed the sleeve, I cut my finger with my thumbnail and I immediately felt the pain.

Level 2

Minor cuts and scraps while doing physical activity. You never feel the pain from these injuries. I've had my shin covered in blood from a wound in my knee while playing football. I never would have realized it until someone pointed out the blood. We play on artificial turf. When you dive for a catch you'll end up with severe rug-burn type injuries. You don't feel it at all until the game is over and your body relaxes.

Level 3

Moderate injuries. When I was a kid I was stupid enough to shave a stick incorrectly. I held the stick reversed in my hand and cut towards my hand. Well, the knife slipped and cut into my wrist. I didn't feel the pain immediately because of the shock of seeing this well of blood streaming down my forearm.

I once got into a fist fight with a group of teenagers. It was me and two other friends against a group of 8 or so teenagers. I grabbed a guy and beat his head with my fist. I had two other guys on my back doing the same with me. I didn't feel the pain caused by their blows for a couple reasons: They were physically smaller than I was and my level of rage allowed for the indifference to the pain. I did feel the blows, but not the pain. You would describe the visual and after effects of the injury before the pain.

Level 4

Severe injuries such as stabbings and gunshot wounds. I've fortunately never been in a situation where I suffered either of those injuries, but I have heard accounts of them before. I have been in 3 severe care accidents, though. It's always the same. The victim doesn't feel the pain because of the cortisol and adrenaline pumping through your body. The initial pain sometimes is so overwhelming that the nervous system cannot register the pain. You feel the after effects, like getting shot in the leg and finding yourself stumbling instead of running. Or betting shot in the chest and finding yourself on the ground looking up at the sky. You would describe the after effects first, then the visuals of the wound. When the person calms down, the pains will become dominant.

[JonSnow]

I've dislocated my shoulder about a dozen times (old baseball injury from college) in my life. The first time, I knew immediately I was in trouble because I couldn't move my arm, and my first reaction was a subconscious "i can't believe this just happened" feeling. Then, I started to feel light headed and sick to my stomach until I was able to calm myself down (shock). At that point, pain was secondary. It wasn't until I was being driven to the hospital that I REALLY noticed how much pain I was in.

In the many times since, I have not felt the "shock" part, because I have experienced the injury before. In fact, I am able to pop it back in myself, Lethal Weapon style. I think the reaction is also affected by how familiar the person is to that injury. If you've shredded your knee multiple times, the second and third time isn't as terrifying because you've survived it before. Same thing (I am imagining, since I have never experienced it) with an arrow to a non-vital part of the body... I would think some grizzled war veteran who had been hit by a half dozen arrows in his life isn't as affected as the young kid being shot for the first time.

[ShortHair]

All good points so far. I'd add that different people have different pain thresholds. One person will scream in agony from a paper cut, while another will shrug off a broken leg (so to speak). My threshold is fairly high, so I am aware of the pain, but it doesn't incapacitate me. In fact, I'm in some pain at the moment, but I can still write.

To answer your question, most people would go into shock from a serious wound. The body slows itself down to minimize the loss of blood. The issue then becomes, what does the body consider a "serious wound"? If the arrow goes through muscle and not a lung or major blood vessel, your character might continue to function normally. As you note, the pain will come later.

[Aosto]

So it would be safe then to write the immediate effects of an arrow piercing the shoulder. The pain would be secondary to the initial response of "there is an arrow in my shoulder. Who shot the arrow. Where should I go to avoid another arrow." My MC is no amateur when it comes to pain, his own tongue has been cut out at a young age.
I like the idea of writing about the shock response, it wouldn't be nearly as high given his experience with injury, but non-the-less there will be a shock response as it's human nature.
Just last week I underwent an outpatient surgery, although I was numb and felt no pain (I do now) I had a shock reaction. I was drenched in sweat and very sick to my stomach up until the point that I passed out. My body told me something was wrong even though the pain was not there.

[JonSnow]

So it would be safe then to write the immediate effects of an arrow piercing the shoulder. The pain would be secondary to the initial response of "there is an arrow in my shoulder. Who shot the arrow. Where should I go to avoid another arrow." My MC is no amateur when it comes to pain, his own tongue has been cut out at a young age.
I like the idea of writing about the shock response, it wouldn't be nearly as high given his experience with injury, but non-the-less there will be a shock response as it's human nature.
Just last week I underwent an outpatient surgery, although I was numb and felt no pain (I do now) I had a shock reaction. I was drenched in sweat and very sick to my stomach up until the point that I passed out. My body told me something was wrong even though the pain was not there.

Maybe have his shock response (nausea, light headedness, blurring vision, etc.) do battle with his "logical" response, which would be to find the shooter so they can't hit him again.

[Aosto]

Maybe have his shock response (nausea, light headedness, blurring vision, etc.) do battle with his "logical" response, which would be to find the shooter so they can't hit him again.

That's a rather good idea, this is also written in first person POV so the internal thought struggle should be interesting.

[Anders Ämting]

This is an interesting subject. Might actually fit better in the Research forum as a resource for writing injuries.

[Ankari]

Like someone said, if your MC is a seasoned warrior, there wouldn't be a shock response. He would fall to the ground, against the wall, or stumble back. He would then grow angry, curse, dive out of the way of any additional shots or drop into a crouch. He would then immediately start scanning for the source of the arrow. If he is secure enough, he would break the arrow above the wound so that it's not in the way (pulling it out may cause too much blood loss). Next, would be whatever you want him to do (fight, flee, open a dialogue).