Under the Heading: Keep It Real

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

This one addresses the subject of gunshot and knife wounds, and the presence of such in fiction.  We tend to put a bullet in our guys and then let them 'walk it off', or blithely write about all of the scars they have.  Anyone with that much damage would probably be out of the field pretty quickly.  Perhaps we need to rethink this whole scenario.  We're killing our characters and we don't even know it!
So, literary license aside, give it a read.
Only A Flesh Wound

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Though some of us use a lot of reality ( and some violence) in our stories, still we have to keep our characters alive to fight the good fight. This is after all a form of fantasy where we can get away with such lethal things, not being so leathal.

We need our heros to be indestructable in a way, as in real life they are not. It's grasping at a simple straw of hope to keep the good guys alive and well, even though they may pay a price and are scarred from their derring do to save the world.

Of course having them wounded gives us the opportuinity to at least day-dream about giving them some TLC as well. tee hee. Really, when you think about it....it's all about the 'fantasy.' :D

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Well, it's that hurt/comfort thing that lures us into the land of nearly mortally wounded. I know it's a tool, and I've used it enough times to qualify as a gross offender, trust me ;)
Perhaps it's just a matter of being moderate, not shooting someone in the shoulder and ripping his rotator cuff to smithereens and then having him on the shooting range two weeks later completely recovered. And the scars... that's always bothered me, especially since in one episode a nurse is telling IK he has such beautiful skin. I know, there must be a scar someplace.
I just like it marginally believable. I guess that's why slash is so odd for me, I just don't believe it.
That's another conversation, however.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

That is why my guys don't get shot and take time recovering from broken bones and knife wounds.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

ah, wisdom speaks :D

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

Don't know about wisdom, LOL! I just don't want my guys shot.

[avery11.livejournal.com]

I've thought about this, too. Hubby tore a calf muscle recently, and although he's exceptionally fit, he was sidelined from tennis for nearly a month. That's an indication of how long it can take a healthy individual to heal even a minor injury. And yet, Illya and Napoleon get bashed around, mauled to within an inch of their lives, and head out for dinner that night. Ya gotta laugh!

Okay, so we're writing fantasy. Nevertheless, it has to be believable fantasy, at least for me. And the process of physical/mental recovery can be a story in itself, if we writers let it.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

The lives of men who routinely go out knowing they may kill someone, or blow up a building in which people are housed is a much more grim picture than much of what we see on the screen in the series, or is reflected in our stories.
That's okay, I like some fluff and fun. I like it to be realistic too, in that it isn't science fiction. I want a continuation, and fuller account of what they gave us all of those years ago. I don't want it weird, and I want the men as they were portrayed.

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Fluff and fun is good for me too, as long as it's grounded in reality. Giving our guys time to recuperate from injuries sustained in the line of duty serves to deepen our understanding of their sacrifice. I'm not a fan of stories that are overly grim or violent, so I'm not advocating that by any means. What I do enjoy is stories that preserve the sense of fun that attracted me to the series in the first place, seeded with little details that allow me to see the characters' humanity.

[pactnmmt.livejournal.com]

If you consider how many times our guys have been shot, stabbed, doped up with unnamed chemicals and raped they would either be dead, crippled for life, suffering from nerve disorders such as ALS, Parkinson's, dementia, and probably AIDS.

But our boys are tough! They can handle it...lol.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

They are tough :D And, considering it was a 60's TV series, it's no wonder they kept coming back from the abuse. We seem to be continuing on in that tradition.
I don't intend to not utilize them being wounded, it's too tempting. I am just going to refrain from doing the kind of damage from which they might not fully recover.
Angst might never be the same ;)

[threecee.livejournal.com]

It is a difficult balance to stay with the action-adventure theme of the show and still be realistic. I recently tried to write a high-speed car chase scene in which Illya has to swerve to avoid something thrown out by the baddies. Then I realized that with no seat-belts or air bags, Napoleon in the front passenger seat was definitely dead. Although they did walk away from some horrible crashes on the show including roll-overs (without seat-belts).

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

They even crashed that convertible a few times didn't they? Yeah, definitely a need for that suspension of disbelief.
I'm not going to get all legalistic over it, but I do like things sort of within the realm of possibility.
Your story sounds good.