Many fiction writers decide that a character in their book should be sick or injured in some way. This decision to have an injured or sick character is generally made because the author is going to use the character as a plot point in a fictional story or poem. Once the writer makes the decision to have a sick or injured character, the next step becomes deciding what sickness or injury to give the character.

How to Decide

In order for the writer to decide what sickness or injury to give the character, they first need to consider the reason for the character to be sick or injured. For example, if the purpose is to cause two children to bond over similar injuries or a sickness in a school setting, then the injury or sickness needs to be something that would allow the two children to interact, so it could not be something contagious or an injury severe enough to keep the child or children in the hospital. This is where research comes in as once the writer has a clear picture of the reason for the sickness or injury, then the writer can move forward to brainstorming.

Brainstorming

In this step the writer should make a list or chart of the effects that he or she wants because of the sickness or injury. Different writers often prefer different brainstorming strategies; some common ones are:

1. Digital chart/list

2. Wipe board

3. Chalk Board

4. Writing a list on paper

5. Sticky notes on a board/wall/or other surface

6. Dictating a list to Echo/Siri/or similar device

All these methods will allow the writer to have an easier time when it comes to researching possible sicknesses or injuries that would be a good fit for the plot.

Research

“The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” ― Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2

Research can be a very time-consuming process, whether the writer uses books, interviews, or the internet, but it can be made less time-consuming through the use of brainstorming and time management. The reason research often ends up taking a writer longer than it should is that the writer does not have a clear picture of what he or she is researching, or the topic of research is too broad.

During the research stage, the writer should do preliminary research to decide on the condition or sickness that the writer wants the character to have. Then the writer needs to focus his or her efforts on learning about only that sickness or condition. For instance, if the character needs a condition that will have him or her out of work for a day or two, then something like strep throat would be a good choice. Then the writer needs to just research the symptoms of strep throat, what a doctor might recommend during an appointment, and recovery times.

Notes

Taking notes is almost as important as doing the research itself because if the writer does not save the information that he or she just researched, then the research step might have to be repeated again or the writer might get a detail wrong during the course of writing.