Okay, let's be honest: angst lovers, you're gonna be all over this one.

TW for trauma mentions (duh /lh) and things that may cause trauma (my example is a car crash).

First, a definition:

[Trauma - a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. A physical injury. Or a result from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical, social, and/or well-being.]

Fun stuff! (Story wise-)

For those who do have trauma or have been through traumatic experiences, I hope this will validate and be realistic to some of your experiences and struggles.

For those who haven't, I hope this can educate you a bit and inspire you to do your own research! I'm not a mental health professional, just someone who finds the human mind fascinating.

When a character goes through something really rough, like a car accident, near-death experience, or a major loss, it can leave more than just a physical scar. Some things to keep in mind while writing this: trauma does NOT define a person, but it can and will change them. Yes, there is a difference.

Consider what they've gone through, and how they did and will react to it. Will they avoid any mention of it? Can they not stop thinking or talking about it? Do thoughts of it pop up at the worst times? Maybe a mix, maybe they go through stages.

Something I like seeing is when a traumatic event leaves a mark on a person, and they grow despite it. For example:

Say a character is in a car accident. They were driving the car, something they didn't see hit them. And now they can't make themselves drive, ever again. If it was just them, or with someone else, that could affect how they see it. If someone else was hurt because of the accident, maybe they specifically don't feel comfortable driving other people.

If it was just them, maybe they hate being alone in a car now. Or maybe they now just hate cars in general, instantly reminded of that moment every time they go to step foot in one. But, maybe, over time, they slowly let themselves drive again. First by just sitting in a parked car, then someone else driving, then driving themselves.

Sometimes people don't get over the trauma, but sometimes they do. It depends on the story you want to tell, and on how impactful that damage was. This is just my example, there are many ways other kinds of trauma can show itself and be portrayed accurately.

I would like to remind everyone that while it's fine to write about these kinds of things for fun, keep in mind that people who may have actually experienced something like this could be reading. Make sure to use trigger warnings, be honest when you don't know how something works, and do as much research as you can (or in certain cases, are comfortable with).

Being a writer means many things. But to me, one thing is making sure people can see themselves in characters to inspire them, let them feel things, and to connect with.

Thank you for reading, signing out <3

- CinnabonSys (really needs to remember this exists-)