M'bad at wording but basically my character was rushed to hospital due to a critical physical state. Burns, severe punctures/lacerations, serious bruising, dislocated wrist, some fractured ribs. I've never stayed in a hospital/had surgery myself, so I'm not sure how to really write it all out as realistically as I can? I've tried a bit of research but it's kinda confusing - not sure what medication is required, procedures, surroundings, just like.. I dunno, looking for tips I guess haha. ;;

A lot of this depends on the severity of the guy’s wounds.

Burns, for example, vary in degree. Third and fourth degree burns will require hospitalization. The larger the burn amount, the longer the hospitalization. Large burns can be infected easily and they seep liquid. The character will need an IV to restore lost fluids (and also for medication later on). If the burns are third or fourth degree, the character will need skin grafts to cover the damaged skin. Skin grafts take time and it’s unlikely your character will leave the hospital inside a week. 

Lacerations also vary in degree. There are lacerations you receive when you give yourself a paper cut. Then there are lacerations you receive when you jump into a pit with an angry tiger. More serious lacerations will require stitching. A laceration to the heart requires immediate surgery, as does one to the lungs, kidney, intestines, arteries (although their chances of surviving long enough to reach the hospital with an artery wound are slim), or liver.

You can’t do much for a dislocated wrist other than reset it, which can be done without anesthesia and by a general practitioner. Fractured ribs, likewise, can’t be wrapped or splinted due to their irritating location. If rib splinters are sticking out and/or in the internal organs, the character will probably need a surgery to remove them. The character will receive an x-ray for a general diagnosis.

The character will probably receive painkillers like hydrocodon or oxycontin after the procedure is over. The character will receive painkillers before procedures, probably morphine. 

I always see posts on how a main character should be likeable, however I have a hard time writing stories with good protagonists. I have a main character whose personal plot revolves around him covering up for the fact he tricked God (basically) to get power; he's self-serving and a liar. I find stories of these unlikeable characters interesting. Is it possible to write a novel with mostly corrupt, selfish characters and still have readers interested in what happens and the characters?

I feel like this is a huge misconception among a lot of writers.

Whether your character is moral or immoral does not determine whether they are a likable character or not. Whether other characters like your character does not determine if they are a likable character or not.

When people talk about needing to write a likable protagonist, they mean the reader has to root for this character. People root for antiheroes, villains, cheaters, liars, murderers, and criminals all the time, but that doesn’t mean they would like to be friends with this person.

Of course, whether a character is unlikable or likable depends on the reader, but there’s usually a majority opinion on a character. To do this, you need a reason for the reader to like this character:

So yes, your characters can have negative traits and still be likable. You just have to make them interesting and give the reader a reason to like them or their story. Intricate, real characters are likable. Flat, static, negative characters are unlikable. 

I think the suffering question was meant for emotional suffering, not physical. And if it wasn't, I'd be very curious to your answer for that. While I understand that like physical, everyone is different emotionally and what breaks one person down might hardly affect another, it would still be very interesting to get your take and see your examples.

So this is in response to a question I answered a while ago, and I’ve had the answer typed out in my drafts forever but have never had the chance to go over it and proof-read before posting. So here it is.

As you rightly point out, everyone has a different emotional endurance. 

Whilst physical suffering leads to physical problems, emotional suffering can manifest into mental conditions such as anxiety disorders and depression. Additionally, the two are linked. Physical suffering is directly tied to emotional suffering, as consistent physical abuse tends to eventually lead to emotional insecurity and breakdown.

My answer is more or less the same for this question as it was for the last. There comes a point when your character doesn’t bounce back, but it’s more like… they don’t respond in a way they would usually would respond, if that makes sense.

I received this comment in answer to the previous answer, and I think it ties in a lot with your query, Anon:

Katniss and Peeta are two characters who experienced a tonne of emotional suffering, and look how it changed them in the end of the story.

So emotional suffering is similar to physical suffering. Think about these things in relation to your characters:

One thing I used to hate about the ending of The Hunger Games trilogy, was Katniss’ descent from who she was at the beginning of the book, to her ‘new’, more subordinate self in the third novel. As Mockingjay reached its conclusion, I thought, ‘This is nothing like Katniss! Her character is all wrong!’

Well, of course it was. She was broken by that point. Using my guide above, here it is in a nutshell:

Of course, opinions will differ. That’s just my interpretation, and admittedly, I haven’t re-read those books since reading them first a good three/four years ago. Generally though, the bolded list is a good start to thinking about the consequences to emotional suffering concerning your characters.

And to address the criticism of my Starscream example real quick, I would argue that Transformers Prime (assuming it is this series you mean), despite being a ‘childrens [sic] show’, was always conveying to the audience ‘normal’. Although, imo, what we see of Starscream’s time on the Nemesis is anything but ‘normal’. For a brief while, the show experimented with Starscream’s ‘I’ve had enough’ moment, and it all circled right back to the beginning again, where Starscream was on the Nemesis, desperately performing for Megatron’s approval by going back to repeating the behaviours Megatron likes to see the most (ruthless killing/abuse of the Autobots, doing exactly as he says without debate, surprising him with good ideas that serve his cause, etc).

The consequences/coping mechanisms to and for the consistent patterns of abuse Starscream suffers are there plain as day though:

To make a very brief assumption, his coping mechanism is number three. Towards the end of the series, if my memory serves me correctly, whenever Starscream slipped up and evoked Megatron’s temper/annoyance, he went straight out there to wail on or yell at someone else (at this point, mostly Predaking) as a way of dealing with it.

So yeah… I think that’s about everything I have to say on the matter. Feel free to disagree or comment further using the reblog/reply feature if you wanna add in your own tips and thoughts…! My opinion/advice isn’t totally right and never will be, just to make that clear ;;;; I’m only giving a guide and, as with all guides, you don’t have to follow them right down to the last letter :)

I hope this helps, Anon…! And I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you urk.

- enlee

I'm not a religious person but I think religion is probably pretty important when developing a fictional world. What advice do you have on creating a fictional religion?

I’ve already answered a question like this on my own blog, so I figured instead of repeating myself, I’d link you to that question and other related guides/answered asks I’ve seen around Tumblr. Since there’s already quite a lot out there on this, I don’t think there’s really anything else I can add to it.

Guides

Answered Asks

/tags

I hope these help. Best of luck…!

- enlee