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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

How To Write Characters With PTSD

January 11, 2018 by BECCA PUGLISI

So excited to have Lisa Hall-Wilson here today to share some insight on how to write PTSD realistically…

Hey hey! *mittened fist-bump* 😊 Thanks so much for having me!

Writers are always looking for ways to add authenticity to their stories and characters, so I thought I’d share some down and dirty deets about living with PTSD.

Why Write About PTSD?

ptsd, writing characters realistic, character building, characterization

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been called shell shock and historically was lumped in with ‘hysteria’ for women. You can research this mental illness, the causes, and the symptoms, (here’s a great link), but I’m more interested in helping you write it with accuracy.

Giving characters a traumatic past and an ongoing condition that hinders their ability to move on is essential to a great character arc. The character struggling with PTSD is facing overwhelming odds, and any character who stands up to a bully of any kind (even when it’s disguised as a mental illness) is someone readers will cheer for.

To that end, I’d like to share five tips for writing a character with PTSD.

#5 – Avoid Recalling Traumatic Events

Don’t let your characters spend time navel-gazing about the events that traumatized them. (I’m talking more about backstory than nightmares or flashbacks.) Yes, I’ve seen this. Who wants to dwell on that or talk about it at all? Instead, show the coping mechanisms used to control the symptoms or turn their mind off. Show symptoms of anxiety and then send them for another lap around the block even though they’ve already done 5 more than usual.

The emotions and physical symptoms left by the trauma are so uncomfortable your character will proactively seek a way to get control, but they will avoid thinking about the why.

#4 – Show The War Going On Inside Your Character

triggers, physical description, show don't tell, writing a novel

When PTSD is triggered, everything amps up like an adrenaline rush is forced on you and won’t stop—in other words, you don’t need a flashback to show it. At the same time, the mind is ramping up your body and simultaneously trying to regain control of the physical response. Basically, when PTSD is triggered, your character will be at war with themselves.

The physical symptoms are easy to show; just write what’s happening to their bodies. Let internal dialogue focus on their awareness of being irrational, that there’s no threat, yet they’re unable to feel safe. They’ll struggle to control, to conceal, to minimize what others can see. Get it? I’m a BIG fan of Deep POV so I focus on showing the primary emotions through physiology and internal dialogue and showing secondary emotions through outward actions and spoken dialogue. (For more info on this, you can get my Writing Emotions In Layers 5 day ecourse here for FREE.) I think the Netflix series Jessica Jones shows this very well, so consider that as a possible resource.

#3 – PTSD Is About Minimizing Triggers

Those managing PTSD will have a proactive (but not necessarily healthy) strategy to manage symptoms. Some methods might be subtle while others are extreme. When triggered, survival instincts kick in and your choices are simple: fight, flight, or freeze. Do you know what your character’s primal goal is when they’re triggered? Is it safety? Is it survival? Is it escaping? Have them seek that out at all costs.

They could have a mantra they recite to control their thoughts. They might have a safe person, someone they trust to watch their backs in new or upsetting situations. Grounding techniques involve consciously cataloguing why the what-ifs won’t happen (There are two exits, It’s a public space, etc.). The slow removal of their dependence on these management techniques is a great way to show growth.

#2 – Give Them A Tell

Self-awareness is critical for management. Your mind starts the whole ball rolling and sets your body off: I’m not safe. I’m not safe. It’s very hard to catch this mental initiation; more often your body tips you off that your mind is racing. The self-awareness has one purpose: to enable you to manage what you see coming.

I have a couple of tells that always tip me off: blushing and sweating—profuse sweating disproportionate to the environment. Does your character have a physical symptom they’ve trained themselves to watch for? Have your character become more self-aware throughout the novel. Let them become more aware of the problematic thoughts jumpstarting the crazy train. They’ll want to hide what’s going on because it makes others uncomfortable (people stare, they avoid the character, or treat them differently). Show the character’s awareness of the stigma, and let them fail from time to time.

#1 – Blindside Your Character

You can be blindsided by a trigger at any point. A situation that’s been fine a thousand other times can trigger you that one day. This is a great device to save for a pivotal conflict.

It’s like a two-by-four to the head. Show their emotional wounds bleeding all over the floor and have them keep going anyway. Show them growing stronger, trusting people again, forgiving themselves, etc. Let the whole process be messy, two steps forward and one step back. The stories that end in a pretty bow and leave everyone “cured” simply aren’t authentic.

TIP from WHW: For brainstorming help when it comes to possible conflict scenarios that can challenge your character (or trigger them), try the Conflict Thesaurus.

Have a question you’d like to ask about writing PTSD in fiction with realism? What’s the most compelling portrayal of PTSD in fiction you’ve seen so far?

Lisa Hall-Wilson is an award-winning journalist and author. She’s passionate about helping writers take their craft to the next level. Lisa’s next class is Method Acting For Writing: Learning To Write In Deep POV on January 22. At the heart of Deep POV is an immersive experience for the reader through an emotional connection to the character. There are a number of stylistic choices an author makes to facilitate this. This interactive 3-week intensive gathers ten years of in-the-trenches study and writing all in one place to help you write better faster.

BECCA PUGLISI
BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Filed Under: Character Wound, Characters, Emotion, Show Don't Tell

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rubix682 says

    August 26, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    Honestly this really helped me! In the third book in my series one of the four main characters has gone through a set of tortures and he has PTSD and panic attacks. Now I’m editing the draft I wanted to make more of his attacks realistic and this helped!

  2. Anonymous says

    August 13, 2019 at 4:16 pm

    Trigger Warning – Sexual Topics

    Charlie in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” portrays PTSD from child abuse very well. I have PTSD from child abuse, but constantly run into people who think PTSD must be for soldiers who were in combat, for women who were sexually assaulted, or (less commonly) for little boys who were molested. All of those things can certainly cause PTSD, but you can get PTSD from anything your brain perceives to be traumatic. There’s no list of things that absolutely will or will not give someone PTSD.

  3. Mitch Blatt says

    July 25, 2019 at 3:09 pm

    My story’s antagonist is stalking/tailing the protagonist to try and discover her secret (membership in a particular group). I want to humanize him. Would any aspect of PTSD lead a person to obsessively tail someone?

    • Anon says

      October 17, 2020 at 7:50 pm

      I know this was a long time ago that you asked, but I can answer! No, there is none. However, if your antagonist knows the protagonist personally/cares deeply about her, you could give him something like borderline personality disorder, in which case he would be so obsessed with keeping her in his life and not losing her that it leads him to do terrible things.

  4. Caroline says

    January 16, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    Another good Netflix one, like Jessica Jones, is The Punisher. It has several characters that portray varying degrees of PTSD, covers multiple causes, and how differently it can be handled and dealt with. It’s one of the most compelling representations that I’ve seen.

    • Lisa Wilson says

      January 17, 2018 at 12:28 am

      Yes – Watched both seasons of The Punisher (and the season where that character appears in Daredevil). I really liked how they portrayed it on that show. You’re right – PTSD can vary between individuals as well as in intensity, frequency of attacks and triggers.

  5. susan connolly says

    January 12, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    Have you spoken to a psychiatrist? they could probably help you a lot with your ‘how to write characters with PTSD’, I agreed with Angela who says it is very complicated and individual.

    • Lisa Wilson says

      January 13, 2018 at 2:15 pm

      Absolutely it’s individual and I was admittedly diagnosed with a mild case of it. There is a wide spectrum of symptoms and severity. I tried to give a basic outline for mild to moderate PTSD – and of course I’m not trying to give actual medical advice here in any way. I just see it written about in ways that are unbelievable. As with any writing advice, your mileage may vary.

  6. Dylan says

    January 12, 2018 at 7:34 am

    The most compelling portrayal of PTSD in fiction I have seen so far is season 4 of Legend of Korra. A group of four assassins tries to kill Korra in seasons three. Her friends save her but three of the assassins die. season 4 deals with her physical and mental recuperation, dealing flashbacks while trying to stop a tyrant from controlling one of the four Kingdoms. Before the final confrontation with the tyrant, she talks with the assassin that survived in his jail cell. He declared that the tyrant needed to be stopped when Korra told that he is partly to blame for the rise of the tyrant and only offered to help Korra get over her mental block so that she can stop the tyrant. Korra tried once before and she was triggered and saw her violent face on the tyrant face as the mental block.

    • Lisa Hall-Wilson says

      January 12, 2018 at 2:43 pm

      Sounds interesting. Will have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!

      • Dylan says

        January 14, 2018 at 2:24 am

        You should start with season one of Avatar The Last Airbender to get the full story. Legend of Korra is the squeal to The last Airbender. Both are animated series that aired on Nickelodeon.

  7. ANGELA ACKERMAN says

    January 11, 2018 at 9:55 pm

    Great post, Lisa. PTSD is something we touched on a bit in our last book, but no where as in depth as we could have – it is a very complicated and individual outcome as a result of trauma. These are great tips to keep in mind.

    • Lisa Wilson says

      January 12, 2018 at 8:05 am

      Thanks for having me! The best way to make our writing authentic is to talk to someone who’s been there.

  8. Kessie says

    January 11, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    I just wrote a character with PTSD last year, basing it on my own (mild) PTSD experiences. I did focus mostly on his coping mechanisms, and what happened when accidentally triggered. So this blog confirmed that I was, indeed, doing it right. Thanks so much for clearing it up!

    • Lisa Wilson says

      January 11, 2018 at 9:44 pm

      Awesome! Glad you found it helpful.

  9. Claire says

    January 11, 2018 at 9:25 am

    Great post! I’m writing a story with PTSD–the complex kind, so it’s a good post for me.

    • Lisa Hall-Wilson says

      January 11, 2018 at 10:39 am

      Glad you found it helpful!

  10. Lisa Hall-Wilson says

    January 11, 2018 at 9:13 am

    Thanks so much for having me, Becca! I’ll hang around for the next couple of days and answer questions. 😀

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