How to Write a Falling Scene

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Part One

    1. Use some descriptives yet leave the reader to imagine the comical effect, if it is meant to be funny.

    »A. Maybe s/he tries to catch their balance, reaches for something to grab, like a light fixture on a wall or the stairs’ banister. When s/he falls, maybe she narrowly misses hitting their head in a way that could have resulted in spinal injury?

    I.
    Does s/he feel her bones rattling within them? Does s/he feel their elbow slam into a sharp corner (one that you know is actually the edge of a stair, but in the moment, they don’t know what exactly it was?)

    Example: She was paralyzed in shock and that sudden rush of adrenaline as she let herself fall until she hit the ground, and feel as though their life just flashed before their eyes while struggling to catch your breath.
     
      
     
    II. Think of the words to describe the pain. Is it sharp pain that echos through their whole body, or is it a stabbing flash of pain that needles on specific spot? Does s/he hurt so bad when s/he finally falls to the ground, that s/he thinks their arm bone has surly been snapped in half, like a thin twig?
     
      
     

    »B. Who is with them or are they alone? How is the team/group holding up? Can’t tolerate each other or is everyone so dandy and fine? Do they have supplies or any animals how about technology and does it still work?

    I. Supplies like rope, emergency food, and even technology if used right can be good resources. Some type of nice is very necessary and of course something for the character to keep warm or safe from the environment. Write about the losses, not only from the characters on the journey but what they had to do in order to survive.Have they already harmed anyone on accident
     
      
     
    II. Where are they headed, where’s the safe area at. If the character brought an animal how does the animal help out the character if at all, does animals see things that the character doesn’t? How about if the animal is used as a sacrifice either for food or an order to bait another deadly animal to be dinner.
     
      
     

    Part Two

    2. What if it is on purpose to fall?

    »A. Someone who’s planning on jumping off something might hesitate at the last minute. You know, rock backwards and forwards on their heels a bit, biting their lips indecisively, all before squaring their shoulders and…. jumping

    I. Are there a lot of people at nearby the cliff, yelling at the character (i.e. “Don’t jump!!!”)?? If so, I think the character would probably pencil dive, just to be more dramatic, and maybe to emphasize a point? Like, “I’m going to jump whether you like it or not”.
     
      
     
    II. Maybe if this person is a little frightened of taking their life, they’d jump wildly in, hoping that the whole process is short-lived. It really depends on what the person is thinking before they jump. Is your character going to be determined and accepting? Or are they going to be hesitant and frightened??
     

    III.Maybe your character could have a change of heart, turn away from the cliff, but then stumble on a pebble and accidentally fall off the cliff?? If you do that, then you could really write a lot about the thought process of your character before he/she falls off.
     

      
     

    »B. Maybe there’s something in their backpack or in the plane that crash or perhaps in the boat that sunk, but everything else floated to the top of the surface.

    I. maybe have the character go back to the transportation of how they got to the island they could try to rebuild it or extract needed resources maybe even, unfortunately, eat the dead bodies that lie in these structures. Hey, when you’re desperate, you’re desperate.
     
      
     

    Part Three

    3. Describe the adrenaline rushing through your veins and the wind lashing at you, messing up your hair and making your eyes water. Or their eyes water if its third person.

    »A. What techniques do they use to calm themselves and do they all the sudden believe in a god when they never did before? How about constantly breathing heavily unsure of what will happen next?

    I. does the character go insane and try to eliminate themselves from the earth? And if it doesn’t work maybe add a little humor into it.
    II. a character will change under drastic circumstances so show that to your audience if it character once did not believe in God maybe showing praying now… Or if the character was too introverted maybe now they’re extroverted to everything or being that they see such as them conversating with a tree or inanimate object.
     
      
     
    III. Is the character showing any nervous gestures at all or are they completely calm. Do they have a sense of fate or destruction. Perhaps the character somehow became optimistic because they saw a shooting star and took it as a sign that they’ll be okay or maybe they became pessimistic because their shelter that they built for hours on end, all the sudden was destroyed because a strong wind blew.
     
      
     

    »B. Do they try to remake or fix the technology that is broken how about the emergency kits that will call for help… are they lost does the character use them and do they work?

    I. The character can pretend like they’re in a lab of some sort they could become delusional perhaps and all the sudden try to talk on the phone that’s completely broken or maybe they’ll fix it or try to fix it and get physically shocked from the wires.
    II. The character can frantically look for these kits and even though they know that they’re hopeless because they’re broken or water has made them useless, but they still look because they want peace of mind to know for absolute fact that there’s no way to fix them.
     
      
     

    Part Four

    4. How have they changed since being on this island and how will they change since being on the island?

    »A. How long has it been and how has their personality changed? What do they do differently physically, emotionally and spiritually?

    I. What changed them? Do they hate how they changed? Do they love the thing that changed them? Are they a better person on the island than off it?
    II. Is this new persona or skill permanent? Can it help them in the future or if they ever get off the island?
     
      
     

    »B. How does the character have to change in order to survive and what might be those changes?

    I. Are they more alert, less trusting, faster, stronger? Did they get a higher sense of smell or touch? How about their intuition? When in danger we adapt faster to survive or protect ourselves.
     
      
     
    II. Think about their physical, mental and emotional state. How and why they change and if anything helped them change where is the instigator now? Has the character conquered it? Made it an alley? Avoided it? How the character reacts to their environment is how they and why they will change either for better or worse.
     
      
     

    Part Five

    5. Are they freed or do they stay willingly or are they stranded forever? Does this character need psychological help? Remember they are human, they are not robots so they will be affected by this.

    »A. Who saves them and how easy is it for them to be saved?

    I. Is it someone they know? Someone else getting stranded too? How about rescue people? What are they coming in?
    II. Was the character reluctant to leave at first? What do they need to accomplish before they want or have to get off the island. In other words, is there anything holding them back? It doesn’t have to be physical.
     
      
     

    »B. If they continue to stay on the island after the scene or if they still do not get help then what is Plan B for the character and who is missing the character right now?

    I. Maybe talk about the reality for the characters loved one for a bit. What are they doing or if they character is thinking about what they may be doing? Does anyone care that the character is gone?
    II. How do they plan on going forward and for how long? Do they want to live and plan to live or are they planning on dying either naturally or … taking their own life? Is living on the island that bad?
     
      
     
    III. Talk about regret again and what the character regrets the most. Either getting on the plane or boat or maybe not eating that bug the first time they saw it. It could be regret from getting on the source to the deserted island, to childhood regret, future regret or even regret on the island. What does the character wish could happen and did happen.egret from getting on the source to the deserted island, to childhood regret, future regret or even regret on the island. What does the character wish could happen and did happen.
     
      
     

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