When to remind the reader of things that would not be immediately apparent

[ckatt]

So in my current WIP the main character suffers from chronic pain. It's an ever-present kind of thing but one she has learned to deal with.
What I'm not certain of is how often the readers need to be reminded of it. Obviously, I don't think that I need to bring it up on every page but I don't want the reader to forget about it. But since the character is able to cope they get on fine in their day-to-day.
Now I think you'd probably have to read the book to give me a definitive opinion, but if anyone has some examples they could point to where it's been done before or some points of consideration that might help guide me, I'd be very appreciative.
thanks

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The rule I follow in my own writing is that anything I particularly want readers to remember should be mentioned at least three times and in three different ways. Three times is usually enough to stick with them, but of course it does depend on the story and how much background information readers have to absorb.

In the case of chronic pain (which is something I suffer from myself), since at its worst it might limit or impact the actions of the character, or their mood or interactions with others,) it could come up quite naturally a time or two in the working of the plot.

 

[msstice]

This is a key question for a whole spectrum of character traits / character of the world etc.

I currently try not to remind the reader, but it is vital not to forget it ourselves when needed and it's important. To take your case, perhaps the pain is most intense in the mornings. You might not mention this every morning, but the first time you describe a morning ritual you may say that this and this was hard to do, because the pain was always worse in the mornings. Ideally, this comes into play 200 pages later when it becomes even more important etc.

However, I would not sneak this in at every corner, especially when it detracts from the flow of the plot. I recall in Sherlock Holmes, Watson had an injury and it only acted up when it was needed to, so to speak. To set a mood for example.

Above all, I don't suggesting emulating American Gods where everyone is reminded that Shadow is a big man about every 100 words.

 

[Astro Pen]

Raise it in several different ways and separate places.
In converstaion with someone else, The pain itself, the medication regime, and a thing that can't be done specifically because of it.

 

[Biskit]

This...

In the case of chronic pain (which is something I suffer from myself), since at its worst it might limit or impact the actions of the character, or their mood or interactions with others,) it could come up quite naturally a time or two in the working of the plot.

The Biskitetta is hearing impaired, which is something that would pop up quite regularly and naturally if you were narrating our life. So there's all the things I say that have to be repeated because she missed them or had her hearing aids on the wrong setting, those tricky occasions where do/don't get muddled, and then the surreal moments when she tells me the bizarre thing that she heard and knew it couldn't possibly be right.

I currently have (recovering) plantar fasciitis, which is challenging when trying to run a 20 acre smallholding. When I blog about the farm I edit out any comments about my feet hurting because most of it would be , but if I were to put it in to a novel then there's plenty of scope for the impact of my sort feet on the plot.

Since your character has had to learn to cope with chronic pain, she also has a point of reference of how life was before, so it's not unreasonable to comment on things that have to be done differently now.

Just getting older has an impact on what we can do, and what accommodations we have to make to get things done. When I buy animal feed, most of it comes in 20kg bags except for the pelleted sugar beat which is in 25kg bags. (Everything used to be 25kg, but there's been a shift to smaller bags.) When we started living here, fifteen yeas ago, I put bags in the back of the car and didn't much care whether it they were 20 or 25kg. Now I am coming to appreciate the 20kg bags on account of my back, my shoulder, my feet...

 

[Wayne Mack]

I would look at it from the aspect of how the character acts given that he or she is in chronic pain. Does the character immediately try to find a place to sit or a wall to lean against when entering a room? Does the character avoid certain tasks and try to pawn them off on others? Is the character very short tempered towards others? Do those around the character constantly ask how he or she is feeling? Does the character frequently drink alcohol or swallow unnamed pills? Chronic pain can define how a character is presented in a scene without having to explicitly repeat that the character is in chronic pain.

 

[JS Wiig]

How ofter does GRRM remind us that Tyrion is a dwarf?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Also, I should have said, if something is going to be important to a major plot point it is important to establish it firmly in readers' minds well before it impacts the story in a major way, so that it doesn't seem to come conveniently out of nowhere just when needed to move the plot. What it comes down to is a matter of timing. If whatever it is impacts the plot very early, then it is less a matter of establishing it very early, than making sure it doesn't disappear completely for no apparent reason after you don't need it any more. If it comes in at the climax, then the writer ought to make sure that readers know it and remember it well in advance (which is where the three times "rule" comes in).

 

[sknox]

You might try this as a guideline: mention it whenever it's relevant to the scene.

IOW, just reminding the reader isn't the point. If the chronic pain affects the character, physically or psychologically, in a particular scene, then you have to write about the pain. But if it doesn't affect the character in that scene, then it doesn't need mentioning.

IOOW, you could treat it like you do any other character trait or attribute. If it belongs in the scene, put it in. If not, then don't.

 

[Steve Harrison]

It's a tricky question, because as a writer my instinct is to remind readers about things, but as a reader, I am constantly amazed by how I retain the briefest of references or seemingly insignificant details when reading. I don't want my readers to miss things, but I also don't want to labour a point.

My years of writing experience tells me that the way to approach to this is to wing it and hope for the best.

 

[ckatt]

If it comes in at the climax, then the writer ought to make sure that readers know it and remember it well in advance (which is where the three times "rule" comes in

So you mean three times over the course of a whole book?

If the chronic pain affects the character, physically or psychologically, in a particular scene, then you have to write about the pain. But if it doesn't affect the character in that scene, then it doesn't need mentioning.

Well, that's the sticky part. My character feels it in every scene, in everything she does. But she doesn't mention it to other people all the time since it's usually not relevant to what they are doing.

Since your character has had to learn to cope with chronic pain, she also has a point of reference of how life was before, so it's not unreasonable to comment on things that have to be done differently now.

Just getting older has an impact on what we can do, and what accommodations we have to make to get things done.

You raise some good points. In the case of my character though, she is young and somewhat athletic. Her pain is in her hands and feet and it started at puberty.
The situation is based somewhat on my experience with RSI in my wrists for the past fifteen or so years. It makes typing a challenge but I hate to complain about it and will rarely bring it up, so maybe I need to do what you've in your blog.
In the draft, I'm currently revising I feel that I have brought it up far too often and need to cut it back as it shows up every few pages. Plotwise the pain is relevant mabey just once before for it goes away, which is the second time it's important. But since the character has been coping with the ever-present pain for about seven years, its absence is a major event for her and I want the reader to feel its weight lifted as well. Certainly, that's got a lot to do with the scene where that happens. But it's the earlier mention that I'm struggling with.

My years of writing experience tells me that the way to approach this is to wing it and hope for the best.

I'm always hoping for the best

 

[ckatt]

How ofter does GRRM remind us that Tyrion is a dwarf?

By casting Peter Dinklage?
I haven't read the books but if you can give me the gist of his method I'd love to know.

 

[JS Wiig]

By casting Peter Dinklage?

I haven't read the books but if you can give me the gist of his method I'd love to know.

It hasn’t been recently that I’ve read them so I couldn’t be specific, but provided it as an example off the top of my head you could read into, if interested.

I think the advice of mentioning it when it’s important to the story is sound overall advice.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

So you mean three times over the course of a whole book?

Yes, although that would depend on the length of the book, and other factors, too. It's not an iron-clad rule, just a general guideline that I follow myself where appropriate.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Three times sounds reasonable. Gene Wolfe would have said once

 

[HareBrain]

So you mean three times over the course of a whole book?

Just on this point, I'd say three times by the time you want to be sure they're retained it (when it becomes important).

 

[sknox]

>My character feels it in every scene, in everything she does.
That's fine. I'm sure there are times when the character feels hungry, feels the need to pee, and other recurrent or chronic conditions. The guideline still applies: if it affects the scene. Does it prevent her from doing something? Or affect it in some way?

Let me be more specific with an example. Let's suppose MC has chronic pain in the ankles. This pain can sometimes get so bad that it's nearly impossible to walk, though other times it merely makes walking painful. It limits the length of walks. There's a scene in which MC must chase the villain down an alley, up some stairs, into a room, to prevent villain's escape. It's crucial.

Taking the Rule of Three as an additional guideline, in addition to establishing the condition in the first place, I might have the MC in one scene hobbling about, maybe having to wear a different pair of shoes, have someone comment on this. Maybe it becomes a small joke between friends, or an expression of sympathy. In another scene, maybe it makes getting through a dinner date sheer agony. Or some other social or public function. So when the action scene comes, the reader has been prepped without having been nagged.

Now, the pain was there through each and every day. But the reader doesn't need to know that. At most, you might state something like that in dialog, when someone asks. But the pain factor is only really a story factor in that one scene (in my example). I definitely would not make the MC debilitated in every scene. At that point, you have a different sort of story.

It is probably worth putting some thought to why you have so afflicted this MC. Has she been cursed by an evil witch? Contracted a disease from alien invaders? Is it a known medical condition you're writing about? Why is pain so important to the story? Different answers would lead to different handling in the narrative.

 

[ckatt]

It is probably worth putting some thought to why you have so afflicted this MC. Has she been cursed by an evil witch? Contracted a disease from alien invaders? Is it a known medical condition you're writing about? Why is pain so important to the story?

I hadn't wanted to go to get too deep into the specifics, but maybe I should. It's a science-fiction story set on a future Earth ( though not postapocalyptic, does contain some similar tropes). The pain is caused by a conflict in edited genes that the character's parents, who are from different parts of the world, inherited from generations long passed and passed on to her. When she hit puberty the genes "activated" which gives her certain abilities but as a side effect also causes pain due to the increased level of micro-electrical activity in her nerves. Later in the book when she learns to control the ability, she also learns to diminish the pain.
As it is I think I'm mentioning the pain she feels far too often and need to cut it back.

 

[paranoid marvin]

So the pain occurs each time she uses a special ability? It may be worth considering (if you haven't already) that the longer she uses an ability, the more intense the pain becomes; meaning that she can only use it for a certain time before the pain becomes too great or she passes out.

If it's there constantly, and it isn't a physical disability, then what does the pain prevent her from doing?

 

[ckatt]

So the pain occurs each time she uses a special ability?

Actually, it's the other way around. But early in the book, she does not know she has the ability, so the pain is always there.
Later, using the ability depletes her intracellular sodium pool, essential causing dehydration. But that's neither here nor there
What I'm trying to do is strike the right balance between mentioning the pain too often (where I think it's at now) and not often enough so the reader forgets about it.