creative writing describing a hospital

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How to Write a Hospital Scene

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In a rush? Skip to part three…..

• There are two different types of hospitals. Mental Hospital and the regular hospital we’ve all been in. For this scene in particular I will be focusing on the latter.

» A. Explain to your audience why the character(s) is in the hospital and whether or not it’s for them or a friend/family member.

I.      What does the character bring and how long do they wait? Is it in the ER which is for emergencies or is in the regular waiting room. Please note: if someone was shot or given birth or the like, this person would get priority treatment in the ER.

II. Kids under the age of 18 would likely be on a pediatric ward. There are exceptions, for instance if the injuries sustained were severe enough to be in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) or possibly the step down unit. If they had to be revived but had no other injuries, they probably wouldn’t even be admitted to the hospital.

III. What happens in the waiting room, if anything? Are confessions made, friends met, someone arrested, or nothing because the person goes straight to a room? Any complaints made out of frustration or anguish?

IV.    How is (whatever they are experiencing) affecting them? Were the character(s) on a adrenaline high after breaking their arm from falling off a motorcycle but now is feeling the pain? If so, have them scream in pain, cry, hit something, bit their lip, breath in and out hard. Let’s say they have a disease, then maybe they are praying, holding the hand of their loved one tight, closing their eyes, rocking back and forth in their chair, etc. If they are waiting for someone then maybe they do the same things as mentioned above.

Example 1:   (Coming Soon).

» B. What do the doctors/ surgeons have to say? Anything good or all bad news? .

Note:  The following can occur-

• The doctor would say everything is okay and nothing needs to be done. Patient accepts and walks out. Maybe something minor is done like a cast for a sprain or a scan to check if any bones are broken. Even then, the character is fine and walks out free.
• The doctor tells the patient everything is fine but the patient doesn’t believe them. They demand a second opinion or to be rechecked.
• Doctor finds something wrong with the patient and character needs to stay in order to be diagnosed. Or leaves out the hospital with pills, in a wheel chair, or surgery schedule for something major (if that has not already occurred in the ER).

I.      If the doctor finds nothing wrong with the character and the character agrees you can add the following in order to progress your story along: maybe a family member demands a recheck; or another doctor comes in with bad news of their own and apologizes that the other doctor almost missed the problem; a hug between the doctor and patient is given; or another problem is diagnosed that is not related to what your character came in to the hospital for.

II.     If the character doesn’t believe the doctor; you can add the following: character becomes uncontrollable and becomes an endangerment to everyone around; therefore they are taken to a mental hospital; character continues to argue with doctor and if character is educated discuss why the doctor is wrong; character goes through another checkup to make sure they are free of anything. Maybe the results come back with something wrong.

NOTE: To be admitted into psychiatric care one has to meet a certain criteria. So the character could then be admitted after being in the hospital and after being assessed by a professional.

III. If something is found, then doctors may do even more checks with various devices such as MRI, ultrasound, EMG (for nerve tests), and so on. Be sure to identify the appropriate tests your character will take depending on their circumstance. Someone coming in for a cold will not need any scans unless the cold has lasted a month or several months. Maybe the patient has more symptoms than a cold and will get a test done. Don’t forget about blood tests.

Now, if something is found the doctor should tell the character how they will treat them and what are the next steps. Cancer has chemo therapy. Cysts and odd lumps has surgery and aspiration. Colds have medicine and a disease usually has pills. There is more to it than that, this is where you would have to do a bit more research.

Use this as a chance to bring multiple generations together. When a loved one is in crisis, usually their whole family unites, bringing a mix of personalities into the same place at the same time. The scene would flow naturally from there, based on the characters’ relationships to each other and primary motivations.

(Coming Soon).

» C.Emotions Cannot Be Ignored! !

I.     It doesn’t matter what the doctor told your character, good or bad, what is your character feeling? As if a massive truck has been lifted from their shoulders when they found out their disease is curable.

II.    If bad, what do they do, how are they feeling? Does the world stop, do they faint, do they become a statue. Now is the time to give you audience background about why your character took the news the way the did. Example:

III.     What is promised to the character from the doctor? Usually a promise is made like, you will get better or it will not affect your work. Little promises that can mean a lot. So, have the doctor promise your character something that is important to your story. If your character is an athlete your doctor may promise him/her they will be able to play the sport again in a few short months. If your character is a singer and has laryngitis, the doctor may promise that even though their voice sounds like a pen scratching chalkboard now, she/her will be able to sing again. This promise is important because it gives the reader a since of the emotional aspect but also the technical aspect. Meaning, there is a cure for their problem. However, if the problem has no treatment then the doctor may promise them this: I will be with you along the way…. You still have a few short months to live… there is a cure being found in east Asia maybe in a few months they will allow me to use it on you.

Example 3:   (Coming Soon).

• Get into that atmosphere. Let it play a key roll in this scene. These examples will be primarily for the ER but can be used for others.

» A. Describe the room…

• Low light on at all times, and there are cords hanging down for the nurses call button and the IV solutions.
• An electronic machine sitting on a cart with odd wires leading from it,a privacy curtain hanging from a track on the ceiling.
• The bedside table has several get well cards and a bouquet of flowers.
• There is an aqua colored water glass with a bent straw in it, a half eaten tray of food with the big metal cover that was on the plate, and a telephone that doesn’t work.
• Door is propped open, and nurses and orderlies walk by, their sensible shoes squeaking on the pristine tiles.
• A TV hangs in the corner, tuned to the Reverend Bob H. Wells- who thinks you should write him a large check for a blessing- because the remote control is lost, and the TV is too high for the nurses to reach. 
• There are wires glued to the character’s chest and coming up through the neck of their hospital gown…the most embarrassing garment invented that has no back and lets every human know what the underwear look like.
• The window has a mini blind on it, and a view of the roof of an adjoining building. 
• For those of you in a rush, here is some bits and pieces of What a Hospital Scene Will Contain:

» A. Entering the hospital:

• Nurses trying to be helpful, directing you to where you would like to go.
• The floor is shining clean, long corridors.
• Signs in green saying EXIT.
• Rooms with numbers on the doors.
• Some doors are open and you can see the patient according to their situation, could be sleeping, visiting with a
• relative, others with oxygen tubs applied at their noses.
• At the Nurses Desk lots of laugh although the rule is of “Shhh”.
• Nurses no longer wearing white starched uniforms neither white shoes or stocking go and come, many with dirty
• tennis shoes, and instead of the uniform wear just regular half shirts .
• The rooms could be private ( one patient in it) others could be semi-private ( two patients in one room)
• Also it can be a Ward, meaning a long row of beds for a Charity Ward, this one is very sad to see.
• If the doctors have the rounds they stop to check the chart of each patient.
• When the person is bleeding or in with a heart attack they are taking immediately to the attention of the Physician on duty.
• Describe the journey back home. Whether after a surgery or a general checkup.

» A.  Leaving the doctors room, how does your character act?

I.    Is their head hanging low from shame and sadness, head up high in pride and happiness? Hands clapped together for peace or in pockets for failure, remorse? Silent? Rejoicing to the high heavens?

II.      Do they go home alone and if so where do they stop on the way? Are they so grateful for life that they say sorry to their mortal enemy. Do they go to a church to repent? Do they go home to do research on their problem? Do they call a friend? III.      Maybe you can have the character speak to someone on the way out. Tell that person everything would be okay, or an update about their visit, or something to leave an imprint. Especially if a truck has been lifted off their shoulder. IV.      Lastly, how is the news broken or given to their loved ones? In person? At the hospital where everyone gives a big hug of congratulations or sadness? Show who is important to your character and how they share the news with them. It will show a more-in-depth look at your character. The best way to understand anyone is when they are going through a crises. Show your audience who your character truly is and how they handle their news. Example 7:    (No Example Added- but you can add one for your scene).

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6 thoughts on “ How to Write a Hospital Scene ”

I need this one to complete my book PLZ I need a outline

I will try to finish it by the end of this month, Amayah.

Hi! I can’t even begin to explain how AMAZINGLY HELPFUL this site is. I can use so many of these little pages; kidnaping for about 3-5 different stories of mine (also the starving one), the hospital one for the aftermath of the rescue. The “falling in love” one for young teenagers, and then the “first date” for two people who finally admit their feelings for each other.

I can use the funeral one for at least 2 stories. The dying, car crash, saying goodbye, flying, wedding, I mean this is like the best early Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. It’s all the help I need for my 12+ story in one place! I can’t believe I’ve only just now found this site, and I will DEFINITELY link it to my profile so my fellow readers can come and get help.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! Who’s ever idea this one to make this webpage is a genius! 🙂

Glad to be of help, Reagan! Happy Holidays 🙂

MMMM. That was nice. But it didn’t let me combine the test. Is okay tho, found this Super helpful!!! ten out of ten, will definitely use this again.

Very helpful. What about an example of paramedics bringing into the ER a seriously injured victim of, say, a car crash, where they have suffered multiple fractures and perhaps have some internal bleeding. What would be some of the things the paramedic would report to the ER team? Who would be present and what would they be doing and saying from the moment the paramedics roll the gurney into the ER, the handover to ER staff, and perhaps even the initial few minutes of care in the ER?

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SLAP HAPPY LARRY

Writing activity: describe medical rooms and hospitals.

Medical rooms and hospitals are safe, infantalising, dangerous, creepy, life-saving, traumatising places, and I offer them here as examples of what Foucault called ‘ heterotopia ‘.

The hospital’s ambiguous relationship to everyday social space has long been a central theme of hospital ethnography. Often, hospitals are presented either as isolated “islands’ defined by biomedical regulation of space (and time) or as continuations and reflections of everyday social space that are very much a part of the “mainland.’ This polarization of the debate overlooks hospitals’ paradoxical capacity to be simultaneously bounded and permeable , both sites of social control and spaces where alternative and transgressive social orders emerge and are contested. We suggest that Foucault’s concept of heterotopia usefully captures the complex relationships between order and disorder, stability and instability that define the hospital as a modernist institution of knowledge, governance, and improvement . Heterotopia Studies

Hospitals (like airports) elicit the full range of human emotion and are symbolically useful arenas for storytellers. Who better than writers to describe what it feels like to be inside a hospital?

I followed [the psychiatrist] down a depressing hallway into a tiny windowless office that might have housed an accountant. In fact it reminded me a bit of Myron Axel’s closet, filled with piles of paper waiting to be filed, week-old cups of coffee turned into science experiments, and a litter of broken umbrellas nesting beneath the desk. I must have looked as surprised as I felt when I entered her office, for Rowena Adler looked at the utilitarian clutter about her and said, “I’m sorry about this mess. I’m so used to it. I forget how it looks.” Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron

The author may have enjoyed writing that description because at James Sveck’s next appointment they are in a different room.

Dr Adler’s downtown office was a pleasanter place than her space at the Medical Center, but it wasn’t the sun-filled haven I had imagined. It was a rather small dark office in a suite of what I assumed were several small dark offices on the ground floor of an old apartment building on Tenth Street. In addition to her desk and chair there was a divan, another chair, a ficus tree, and some folkloric-looking weavings on the wall. And a bookcase of dreary books. I could tell they were all nonfiction because they all had titles divided by colons: Blah Blah Blah: The Blah Blah Blah of Blah Blah Blah . There was one window that probably faced an airshaft because the rattan shade was lowered in a way that suggested it was never raised. The walls were painted a pale yellow, in an obvious (but unsuccessful) attempt to “brighten up” the room.

The description of James’ psychiatrist’s rooms is broken up, judiciously, and fits around the action. James’ reaction to the rooms reflects how he feels about life at this juncture: He expected better. He expected different; instead he gets this underwhelming life.

I looked around her office. I know it sounds terrible, but I was discouraged by the ordinariness, the expectedness, of it. It was as if there was a catalog for therapists to order a complete office from: furniture, carpet, wall hangings, even the ficus tree seemed depressingly generic. Like one of those little paper pellets you put in water that puffs up and turns into a lotus blossom. This was like a puffed-up shrink’s office.

In a book of essays, Tim Kreider’s description of hospitals is one of the best I’ve encountered:

Hospitals are like the landscapes in recurring dreams: forgotten as though they’d never existed in the interims between visits, but instantly familiar once you return. As if they’ve been there all along, waiting for you while you’ve been away. The endlessly branching corridors sand circular nurses’ stations all look identical, like some infinite labyrinth in a Borges story. It takes a day or two to memorize the route from the lobby to your room. The innocuous landscape paintings that seem to have been specifically commissioned to leave no impression on the human brain are perversely seared into your long-term memory. You pass doorways through which you can occasionally see a bunch of Mylar balloons or a pair of pale, withered legs. Hospital beds are now just as science fiction predicted, with the patient’s vital signs digitally displayed overhead. Nurses no longer wear the white hose and red-cross caps of cartoons and pornography, but scrubs printed with patterns so relentlessly cheerful—hearts, teddy bears, suns and flowers and peace signs—they seem symptomatic of some Pollyannaish denial. The smell of hospitals is like small talk at a funeral—you know its function is to cover up something else. There’s a grim camaraderie in the hall and elevators. You don’t have to ask anybody how they’re doing. The fact that they’re there at all means the answer is: Could be better. I notice that no one who works in a hospital, whose responsibilities are matters of life and death, ever seems hurried or frantic, in contrast to all the freelance cartoonists and podcasters I know. Time moves differently in  hospitals—both slower and faster. The minutes stand still, but the hours evaporate. The day is long and structureless, measured only by the taking of vital signs, the changing of IV bags, medication schedules, occasional tests, mealtimes, trips to the bathroom, walks in the corridor. Once a day an actual doctor appears for about four minutes, and what she says during this time can either leave you and your family in terrified confusion or so reassured and grateful that you want to write her a thank-you note she’ll have framed. You cadge six-ounce cans of ginger ale from the nurses’ station. You no longer need to look at the menu in the diner across the street. You substitute meat loaf for bacon with your eggs. Why not? Breakfast and lunch are diurnal conventions that no longer apply to you. Sometimes you run errands back home for a cell phone or extra clothes. Eventually you look at your watch and realize visiting hours are almost over, and feel relieved, and then guilty. Tim Kreider, “An Insult To The Brain”, We Learn Nothing

It’s a fact known throughout the universes that no matter how carefully the colours are chosen, institutional décor ends up either vomit green, unmentionable brown, nicotene yellow or surgical appliance pink. Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

They are now the only two people in the upstairs waiting room of the dental clinic. The seats are a pale mint-green colour. Marianne leafs through an issue of  NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC  and explores her mouth with the tip of her tongue. Connell looks at the magazine cover, a photograph of a monkey with huge eyes.  from “At The Clinic” by Sally Rooney

Every time I see a hospital in a horror movie or whatever, sometimes even an actual prison, I compare it to the one I went to and it always comes out looking worse. They are not relaxing places. They can leave you worse than you came in. Especially because the world outside, doesn’t actually stop while you are there? You’re usually there due to a crisis. Something unexpected. Did you take vacation pay before you started? Probably not, hey? Provided that you get that sort of thing at all. If you’re on welfare, you’re still have to fight for an exemption. Good luck if you can’t do that because you’re literally insane. You’ll still need to pay the rent and all your bills somehow in the background too. Oh, you got kicked out? That’s a shame. Here’s a pamphlet to a homeless shelter. Have a lovely trip. My stay did turn out a lot better than that, but it’s literally only because I had someone constantly advocating for me on the outside. Most people in psych wards don’t get that. And that’s not even touching on how nobody will listen to you in there, but everybody will assume all sorts of things about you. You’ll be open to both sexual and physical assault. Both happened to me on a number of occasions. I was blamed for everything, of course. You don’t even get uninterrupted sleep, do you know that? Nurses come and shine a torch in your face every fucking hour for a wellness check, or whatever. Which feels pretty shitty if you’re going through a paranoid psychosis. Anyway. I’d really like to see more empathy and awareness of the reality of all these sorts of places. They are horrible. They haven’t changed a lot since they were called asylums. They still use solitary confinement too, did you know that? Awful things. Mx Maddison Stoff @TheDescenters Sep 8, 2022

FURTHER READING

What’s It Like To Work In A Psych Hospital? is a podcast from Psych Central with someone who explains how psychiatric hospitals are traumatising for everyone in and around them, not just for the patients.

The Architecture of Madness

Elaborately conceived, grandly constructed insane asylums—ranging in appearance from classical temples to Gothic castles—were once a common sight looming on the outskirts of American towns and cities. Many of these buildings were razed long ago, and those that remain stand as grim reminders of an often cruel system. For much of the nineteenth century, however, these asylums epitomized the widely held belief among doctors and social reformers that insanity was a curable disease and that environment—architecture in particular—was the most effective means of treatment. In  The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States   (U Minnesota Press, 2007), Carla Yanni tells a compelling story of therapeutic design, from America’s earliest purpose—built institutions for the insane to the asylum construction frenzy in the second half of the century. At the center of Yanni’s inquiry is Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, a Pennsylvania-born Quaker, who in the 1840s devised a novel way to house the mentally diseased that emphasized segregation by severity of illness, ease of treatment and surveillance, and ventilation. After the Civil War, American architects designed Kirkbride-plan hospitals across the country. Before the end of the century, interest in the Kirkbride plan had begun to decline. Many of the asylums had deteriorated into human warehouses, strengthening arguments against the monolithic structures advocated by Kirkbride. At the same time, the medical profession began embracing a more neurological approach to mental disease that considered architecture as largely irrelevant to its treatment. Generously illustrated,  The Architecture of Madness  is a fresh and original look at the American medical establishment’s century-long preoccupation with therapeutic architecture as a way to cure social ills. interview at New Books Network

The Architecture of Good Behavior: Psychology and Modern Institutional Design in Postwar America

Inspired by the rise of environmental psychology and increasing support for behavioral research after the Second World War, new initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels looked to influence the human psyche through form, or elicit desired behaviors with environmental incentives, implementing what Joy Knoblauch calls “psychological functionalism.” Recruited by federal construction and research programs for institutional reform and expansion—which included hospitals, mental health centers, prisons, and public housing—architects theorized new ways to control behavior and make it more functional by exercising soft power, or power through persuasion, with their designs. In the 1960s –1970s era of anti-institutional sentiment, they hoped to offer an enlightened, palatable, more humane solution to larger social problems related to health, mental health, justice, and security of the population by applying psychological expertise to institutional design. In turn, Knoblauch argues, architects gained new roles as researchers, organizers, and writers while theories of confinement, territory, and surveillance proliferated.  The Architecture of Good Behavior: Psychology and Modern Institutional Design in Postwar America  (University of Pittsburgh Press) explores psychological functionalism as a political tool and the architectural projects funded by a postwar nation in its efforts to govern, exert control over, and ultimately pacify its patients, prisoners, and residents. interview at New Books Network

Header painting: William Simpson – One of the wards of the hospital at Scutari 1856

CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

KINDLE EBOOK

How to Write a Mental Hospital Scene (21 Tips + Examples)

Mental hospital scenes are profound episodes that can reveal character depth, propel the narrative, and shed light on complex emotions.

Here is how to write a mental hospital scene:

Write a mental hospital scene by ensuring meticulous research, emphasizing sensitivity and accuracy, developing genuine patient and staff dynamics, and avoiding harmful stereotypes. Remember to include realistic treatments and always prioritize the patient’s journey.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to write a mental hospital scene.

1. Research Authentic Details

Table of Contents

Just like any setting, a mental hospital scene will benefit from accurate details.

Before diving in, research the various types of mental health facilities, their procedures, daily routines, treatments offered, and the general environment.

Why It’s Helpful: By incorporating real-world information, you can create a scene that’s both credible and informative. It can provide readers with a realistic insight into what life inside such a facility is like, without resorting to stereotypes or misconceptions.

Example: Instead of describing a vague room with white walls, mention specifics like “a group therapy room with a circle of chairs, motivational posters on the wall, and a soft hum of the air conditioning unit.”

2. Prioritize Sensitivity and Accuracy

Mental health is a delicate topic, and portraying it incorrectly can perpetuate stigma and harm.

It’s essential to approach your writing with compassion and understanding.

Why It’s Helpful: Accurate and sensitive portrayal can humanize your characters and foster empathy among readers. This approach respects those who’ve experienced similar settings or conditions.

Example: Instead of using derogatory terms like “crazy” or “loony,” describe a patient’s struggles or emotions. E.g., “James often felt detached from reality, a fog that made it hard for him to connect with others.”

3. Diversify the Patients’ Backgrounds

Not every patient in a mental hospital has the same backstory or diagnosis.

Diversity in background, socio-economic status, and mental health challenges will enrich your narrative.

Why It’s Helpful: By showcasing a variety of patients, you can debunk the myth that mental health issues are limited to a particular group of people. Everyone, irrespective of background, can face mental health challenges.

Example: Introduce characters like Maria, a high-powered lawyer battling post-partum depression, or Lee, a college student dealing with severe anxiety.

4. Avoid Stereotypical Tropes

Stereotypes, such as the evil nurse or the unhinged patient, are not only inaccurate but also harmful.

They perpetuate myths about mental health and institutions.

Why It’s Helpful: By avoiding stereotypes, your story gains authenticity, and you offer readers fresh, unexpected narratives that engage and educate.

Example: Instead of an “evil nurse,” portray a healthcare worker who’s overwhelmed by the system’s limitations, struggling to provide the best care possible.

5. Capture the Day-to-Day Routine

A mental hospital has daily routines, from therapy sessions to meal times.

Showcasing these details can ground your scene in reality.

Why It’s Helpful: This approach gives readers an insight into the structure and function of such facilities. Plus, mundane details can often amplify the emotional gravity of a scene.

Example: “Every morning at 8 AM, a gentle chime signaled breakfast, followed by a group therapy session where patients shared their dreams and fears.”

6. Highlight Interpersonal Relationships

Patients interact with each other, forming bonds, friendships, and sometimes conflicts.

These relationships can be a goldmine for character development.

Why It’s Helpful: Through interpersonal relationships, you can showcase the humanity of the patients, their struggles, and the impact of their environment on their psyche.

Example: “Lena found solace in her conversations with Roy. Both battling depression, they often sat together during free periods, sharing coping mechanisms and hope.”

7. Incorporate External Family Dynamics

Families play a pivotal role in the life of someone admitted to a mental facility.

They bring a blend of support, conflict, love, and sometimes even denial or guilt.

Why It’s Helpful: By introducing family dynamics, you can add depth to your protagonist’s backstory and drive the plot forward.

Example: “Every Sunday, Elise’s family visited, her younger sister tiptoeing around the topic of Elise’s attempted suicide, while her mother clutched her hand, eyes brimming with tears.”

8. Use Personal Experience

If you, like me, have personal experience or close ties with someone who has been in a mental hospital, draw from that genuine emotion and understanding.

Why It’s Helpful: Personal experiences can lend authenticity and raw emotion to your writing. They help create a visceral connection between the author, characters, and readers.

Example: “The sterile smell of the facility always reminded me of my cousin’s stay. The weight in my chest, recalling the emotions we felt during those tough times.”

9. Avoid Romanticizing Mental Illness

It’s crucial to avoid glamorizing or romanticizing mental illness.

Always portray it as a genuine, often challenging, experience.

Why It’s Helpful: Authentic portrayals promote understanding and empathy among readers, while romanticizing can mislead and harm real-world perceptions.

Example: Don’t have characters find “the one” during their stay, implying love is the cure. Instead, focus on their individual healing journey.

10. Ensure Accurate Treatment Depictions

Treatments in mental hospitals vary, from therapy to medications.

It’s essential to depict these accurately.

Why It’s Helpful: By showcasing realistic treatment methods, you offer readers an educative insight and debunk myths surrounding mental health care.

Example: “Dr. Patel introduced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Jane, helping her recognize and challenge her distorted thoughts.”

11. Embrace the Power of Internal Monologue

Diving deep into a character’s internal thoughts can provide readers with an intimate understanding of their mental state.

It’s a powerful tool for unveiling their emotions, fears, hopes, and more while in a mental health facility.

Why It’s Helpful: An internal monologue creates a direct channel between the character and the reader, offering a firsthand experience of the character’s psyche. This connection can foster deeper empathy and understanding.

Example: “As Anna sat in her room, she contemplated her progress: ‘Has therapy really made a difference? Why do I still feel this void inside? Maybe tomorrow will be better.’ “

12. Consider the Environment’s Impact

The physical environment of a mental hospital can significantly impact its inhabitants.

Factors like lighting, room sizes, and even color schemes can affect mood and well-being.

Why It’s Helpful: Highlighting these environmental details can emphasize the setting’s influence on the patients. It allows readers to grasp the tangible aspects of life within such walls.

Example: “The pale blue walls of the facility were chosen to induce calm, yet to Mark, they felt cold and isolating, reminding him of the vast ocean he once feared.”

13. Introduce Supportive Staff Characters

While it’s vital to avoid stereotypes, it’s equally vital to represent the countless compassionate professionals in mental health facilities.

These individuals work diligently to support and uplift their patients.

Why It’s Helpful: By introducing caring staff members, you can offer a balanced perspective of life inside the hospital. This balance helps in dispelling myths that every worker is indifferent or even malicious.

Example: “Nurse Ramirez often spent her breaks with patients, sharing stories and offering words of encouragement, exemplifying the genuine care many professionals bring to their roles.”

14. Delve into Group Therapy Dynamics

Group therapy sessions are common in many mental health facilities.

They provide a platform for patients to share experiences, find mutual support, and learn from one another.

Why It’s Helpful: By including group therapy scenes, you can highlight the communal aspect of healing and the diverse range of issues patients face. Such scenes can also serve as pivotal plot points or character development moments.

Example: “In the group session, when Lila hesitated to share, Aaron nudged her supportively, reminding her of the bond they’d forged in their shared journey towards recovery.”

15. Use Subtle Symbolism

Symbolism can enrich your narrative, adding layers of depth.

Objects, colors, or even recurring motifs can symbolize a character’s mental state or the overarching theme of your story.

Why It’s Helpful: When done right, symbolism can provide readers with “aha!” moments, offering insights and evoking powerful emotions without explicitly stating them.

Example: “The wilting plant in Mia’s room wasn’t just decor. As she began to heal, she started tending to it, and its gradual revival mirrored her own journey back to vitality.”

16. Address the Outside World’s Perspective

Patients in mental hospitals don’t exist in a vacuum.

They’re aware of the outside world’s perceptions and judgments, which can shape their self-image and healing process.

Why It’s Helpful: Incorporating this external perspective can ground your narrative in the broader societal context, addressing the stigmas and challenges patients face both inside and outside the hospital walls.

Example: “Every time Sarah’s old friends visited, their whispered conversations and stolen glances made her feel like an exhibit, amplifying her determination to recover and reintegrate.”

17. Consider the Passage of Time

Time can be experienced differently within the confines of a mental hospital.

Days might blur together, or significant breakthroughs might make specific days stand out.

Why It’s Helpful: By playing with time’s perception, you can enhance the narrative’s emotional resonance. This technique can either amplify the monotony or the significant milestones in a character’s journey.

Example: “For Alex, the first 30 days felt like an eternity, each day indistinguishable from the last. But after his breakthrough in therapy, every day became a step forward, a distinct movement towards hope.”

18. Explore Alternative Therapies

Beyond medications and talk therapy, many facilities offer alternative therapies like art, music, or animal therapy. Delving into these can add layers to your narrative.

Why It’s Helpful: Highlighting these therapies showcases the multifaceted nature of mental health care and can provide visually engaging or emotionally charged scenes for your narrative.

Example: “The art room became Clara’s sanctuary. With every brushstroke, she externalized her pain, crafting canvases that resonated with every patient who viewed them.”

19. Don’t Shy Away from Tough Moments

While it’s vital to handle mental health topics sensitively, it’s also good not to gloss over the challenging moments.

Authenticity requires confronting difficult emotions and scenarios.

Why It’s Helpful: Addressing tough moments head-on can offer a holistic portrayal of life in a mental hospital. Readers can appreciate the highs and lows, making the narrative more engaging and genuine.

Example: “The night Jamie had a breakdown, the entire ward echoed with his screams. But it was also a turning point, leading to an intervention that became his salvation.”

20. Integrate Hope and Positivity

Despite the challenges, many individuals find hope and healing within mental hospitals.

Integrating moments of positivity, resilience, and progress can create a balanced narrative.

Why It’s Helpful: Infusing your story with hope can inspire and uplift readers. It offers a message that while challenges exist, so do triumphs, growth, and recovery.

Example: “Every evening, Lucy and Sam sat by the window, counting the stars. For them, each star symbolized a day of resilience, a beacon of hope in their shared journey.”

21. Seek Feedback and Sensitivity Readers

Given the sensitivity of the topic, it’s wise to get feedback, particularly from sensitivity readers familiar with mental health issues and institutions.

Why It’s Helpful: Sensitivity readers can point out unintentional biases, inaccuracies, or harmful representations, ensuring your narrative is respectful and authentic.

Example: “After completing my draft, I reached out to Jenna, a friend who’d spent time in a mental hospital. Her insights were invaluable, refining my portrayal and enhancing the story’s authenticity.”

Here is a good (and short) video about some details that will help you write a mental hospital scene:

30 Best Words to Write a Mental Hospital Scene

Writing a mental hospital scene requires a specific set of vocabulary to convey the atmosphere, emotions, and experiences authentically and sensitively.

Here are 30 words that can enhance the quality and depth of your writing:

• Breakthrough
• Vulnerability
• Rehabilitation

30 Phrases to Write a Mental Hospital Scene

The right phrases can breathe life into your mental hospital scenes, making them vivid and compelling.

Here’s a curated list of 30 phrases to enhance your narrative:

• “Therapeutic intervention”
• “Emotional turbulence”
• “Road to recovery”
• “Clung to hope”
• “Silent struggle”
• “Shared vulnerability”
• “Walls of confinement”
• “Echoing hallways”
• “Clinical atmosphere”
• “A glimmer of progress”
• “Beneath the surface”
• “Raw emotions”
• “Behind closed doors”
• “Wrestling with demons”
• “Path to wellness”
• “Medicated haze”
• “Veil of silence”
• “Journey of healing”
• “Isolated world”
• “Professional help”
• “Challenging the stigma”
• “Safety protocols”
• “The grip of fear”
• “Encounter with empathy”
• “Seeking solace”
• “Circle of support”
• “Reclaiming control”
• “Group therapy sessions”
• “Breaking barriers”
• “Personal breakthroughs”

How to Write a Mental Hospital Scene (Full Example)

In the narrative below, I’ll provide a full example of how to write a mental hospital scene, drawing upon the tips, words, and phrases I’ve shared earlier in this guide.

Evelyn found herself in the echoing hallways of Serenity Pines, a mental health facility known for its compassionate care. The clinical atmosphere was both intimidating and comforting; every corner of the space whispered of a structured path to wellness.

The first days were a blur of intake assessments, therapy sessions, and medication adjustments. Evelyn was engulfed in emotional turbulence , a storm that had been brewing long before her admission. The professionals around her, from the nurses to the therapists, became her lifeline in those foggy days.

A week into her stay, Evelyn joined the group therapy sessions. In the circle of support, surrounded by others wrestling with demons of their own, she experienced a shared vulnerability. The stories, varied yet intertwined by the silent struggle of mental health, brought both solace and pain.

As days turned into weeks, the echoing hallways of Serenity Pines became familiar, a silent witness to Evelyn’s journey of healing. She felt a complex array of emotions, from the isolated world of her depression to the breakthrough moments when hope seemed tangible.

Dr. Thompson, her therapist, was a rock amidst the stormy seas of her recovery. Through therapeutic interventions, he helped Evelyn peel back the layers of pain and trauma, exposing the raw emotions buried beneath the surface.

One day, as rain trickled down the windows, Evelyn experienced a personal breakthrough. In the midst of a session, amidst the medicated haze and veiled silences, she clung to hope, a frail yet unyielding anchor. It was a glimmer of progress, a testament to her resilience.

The walls of confinement at Serenity Pines, once cold and intimidating, were transformed. Each room, each corridor, told a story of silent struggles and echoed the whispers of recovery. Evelyn was not alone; she was part of a collective journey, each soul striving to break barriers and reclaim control.

As the day of her release approached, Evelyn reflected on the road to recovery.

The mental hospital, with its clinical atmosphere, professional help, and safety protocols, had been both a prison and a sanctuary. In the echoing hallways, amidst the emotional turbulence, Evelyn had confronted her demons, challenged the stigma, and embarked upon a journey of healing – a journey not of isolation, but of shared vulnerability, support, and enduring hope.

Final Thoughts: How to Write a Mental Hospital Scene

Crafting an authentic mental hospital scene requires sensitivity, research, and a deep commitment to accurate representation.

For more insightful articles on writing scenes (and other things), please take a look around my website.

Read This Next:

• How to Write Hospital Scenes (21 Best Tips + Examples)
• How to Write Filler Scenes (25 Best Tips, Types, & Examples)
• How to Write Two Simultaneous Scenes (Explained + Examples)
• How to Describe a Homeless Person in Writing (21 Best Tips)

[Writing Prompt] Setting The Scene

Write A Story Set In A Hospital (or any other high-tension setting, if you’re not familiar with hospitals)

This week we are concentrating on the different parts of the short story. Of course ALL the elements need to be there, but each of these prompts focuses on a particular element more than the others.

How did your character writing go yesterday? Did you learn any interesting lessons about creating a character with a strong desire, that you can carry forward into your future stories? Did you leave a comment or post in the community ?

Today we’re focusing on setting.

• You still need to include fully-realized characters, each with specific (and possibly opposing) desires. (For example, your patient might just want to go home. Their doctor probably wants them to stay put for now. Their next-of-kin might have a whole other set of issues and the nurses probably just want to go somewhere quiet and put their feet up for a few minutes…)
• Make the setting integral to the story. Have events that could only happen in this high-tension setting.
• Use all your senses to set the scene — everyone talks about the smell and the colors of hospitals, but what about the noises? I heard a news story on the radio recently about the incessant beeping of alarms in hospitals. That was something I wouldn’t otherwise have thought of. And again, someone once told me how it hurt them that their child’s hospital blanket felt so rough. All they could think of was getting a fuzzy blanket for the child. These are the kinds of details that bring a story alive.
• If this setting doesn’t work for you, check out these other prompts I’ve provided with different (possibly more cheerful) settings.

8 thoughts on “[Writing Prompt] Setting The Scene”

Better late than never! I don’t think I incorporated enough setting details, though. My characters decided to take over the scene! http://carriegreen.tumblr.com/post/85580664028/a-story-a-day-in-may-9-5-9-14

Didn’t think this prompt was going to speak to me, but, boy, did it! =) Happy to have my first synthetic-life story of the month.

Day #9– “She Asked If I Would Rust”, 1903 words. http://idreamagain.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/day-9-she-asked-if-i-would-rust/ Password: scribophile

well, back on track after yesterday’s distractions did not allow for the prompt. short story today, but it has the possibility of growing into something bigger

Excellent. I foresee a June/July of reworking and revising for a lot of us!

I didn’t want to write this prompt. All my ideas were dreadfully sad. It’s not my favorite, but it’s written. It’s not even too incredibly sad!!!

Glad you found a way to escape the sadness!

yesterday (Day 8) was very interesting. My character and his desires evolved from real incidents that happened to real people but all of them rolled into one. I feel like the story may have needed more to complete it but I liked the development of it. Writing out 15 ways the character could achieve the desire was an interesting exercise and very useful for generating potential story lines. I tried a few de bono’s hats in the exercise to loosen up my own -what I would actually do vs what my character could do. Great prompts thank you.

Oh, that’s a good idea: what I would do vs what my character would. I read an article once that recommended thinking about people who scare you and what THEY would do. That was useful, because until then I hadn’t found a way into thinking through the actions of someone whose ethics and actions didn’t match my own.

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• Writing Related
• Writing Discussion

How would you approach describing a hospital? (1 Viewer)

• Thread starter Theglasshouse
• Start date Dec 26, 2021

Theglasshouse

• Dec 26, 2021

Do you watch YouTube videos? Can you explain it to me please as if I were a child which I am not? Do you watch movies and describe what is happening? The awakening the movie comes to mind. Do you read nonfiction such as autoethnography, autobiographies, journals? What would you do if you were faced to describe movement in a hospital, library, alley, and so forth? How do you know how to call hospital rooms? Where should I start my research? How would you do yours most importantly? It may take me some 4 hours to get back to this thread reply to all the advice.  

Depends entirely on the headspace of the character.  

I work in a hospital. Rooms are given numbers, the beginning number is often the floor. Fifth floor would usually be like 512. 517. If it is a big hospital then usually the floor means what kind of patients, like Cardiology patients are on Med-Surg floor 5, let’s say. That’s very common in the USA, anyway. Movement in a hospital? If you’re mobil, you are encouraged to walk around. If you need assistance to move to be safe, then the patient needs to call their nurse or nurses to get up. Some patients need certain safety equipment even then. During COVID visiting patients has been restricted, our hospital restricts it to 1 visitor per day during COVID surges. What specific questions do you have? What do you need to know? What kind of patient are you writing about? Are you asking to see how people study something they aren’t familiar with? If there is a place in a foreign country, I will use YouTube, Google earth, and the research area of this forum to see if I can pick someone’s brain. I wrote a piece about a certain library and spent several hours looking at pictures of it and googled events that happened there in the past. I wrote a story taking place in the Guggenheim in the 1970’s earlier this year and I have not been there, but I looked at tons of pictures and googled events there from the time period. I looked at pictures of the streets surrounding it and watched movies that had parts filmed at the Guggenheim and Central Park. I’m pretty proud because I can tell you what bakeries, beer gardens, cathedrals, shops and restaurants were on the streets in 1972 in the surrounding areas. I read tons of nostalgia blogs and a few articles in the New York Times about the area from that era or/and specifically about the exhibits and how they were received. I know what restaurants were serving and famous people who might frequent some of them. I didn’t just stop there. I know most of the free concerts going on at Central Park that year and I know the shows and poetry readings happening at National Bohemian Hall. I also watched tv shows from that year that weren’t in the area but gave me a feel for dress and talk— like the Mary Tyler Moore show. But I love my research, absolutely love it, and I didn’t want to be writing in the dark. I wanted to be able to walk around in my setting. Actually I ended up having to cut most of what I’d taken hours to write on setting, but getting the right flavor and understanding of setting can be inspiring. Let me know what you’re trying to do and I will help out if I can. I see both inpatients and outpatients so I know most areas of the hospital.  

Waking into a hospital is a highly sensory experience. (I work in one, too). I would really think about your 5 senses. For me, the scent is the first thing you notice. Recirculated, dry air (almost like a humidor), antiseptic chemicals and a tinge of an odor that I’ve never been able to identify. You can almost taste it. The sounds are distinct, from staff chatter to beeping monitors to patients calling the it (with their voices or their beepers)  

got2write said: Waking into a hospital is a highly sensory experience. (I work in one, too). I would really think about your 5 senses. For me, the scent is the first thing you notice. Recirculated, dry air (almost like a humidor), antiseptic chemicals and a tinge of an odor that I’ve never been able to identify. You can almost taste it. The sounds are distinct, from staff chatter to beeping monitors to patients calling the it (with their voices or their beepers) Click to expand...

Agree! I’m not a nurse either - but they are the eyes and the ears of hospital medicine. Interviewing a nurse about their perception and description of life in the hospital would probably be one of the purest ways to understand it.  

Joker said: Depends entirely on the headspace of the character. Click to expand...

I had a scene in a previous manuscript that dealt with a hospital. I drew on my own experiences going into hospitals, as well as having watched a couple episodes of the original Law & Order prior to starting the scene. In those episodes, there were a couple of scenes in a hospital. I used elements from both avenues during the writing process. -JJB  

I'm a nurse, but i can't tell you anything as your character/narrator is the greater part of the equation. At the moment not enough context to advise. In the UK many places in hospitals are public spaces so have a wonder around. Or if you're really committed, volunteer on a ward. Try to see it through the character's eyes. Failing that, there are reality TV type shows that follow doctors/nurses through a shift that give a sense of it. Or just write what works for the story, then make sure a healthcare professional/hospital worker of some description gives it a beta read.  

What specific questions do you have? What do you need to know? What kind of patient are you writing about? Click to expand...

I work in a hospital. Rooms are given numbers, the beginning number is often the floor. Fifth floor would usually be like 512. 517. If it is a big hospital then usually the floor means what kind of patients, like Cardiology patients are on Med-Surg floor 5, let’s say. That’s very common in the USA, anyway. Click to expand...

Movement in a hospital? If you’re mobil, you are encouraged to walk around. If you need assistance to move to be safe, then the patient needs to call their nurse or nurses to get up. Some patients need certain safety equipment even then. Click to expand...

During COVID visiting patients has been restricted, our hospital restricts it to 1 visitor per day during COVID surges. Click to expand...

Are you asking to see how people study something they aren’t familiar with? If there is a place in a foreign country, I will use YouTube, Google earth, and the research area of this forum to see if I can pick someone’s brain. I wrote a piece about a certain library and spent several hours looking at pictures of it and googled events that happened there in the past. Click to expand...

Learn Exactly What Happens in a Cardiac Care Unit

wrote a story taking place in the Guggenheim in the 1970’s earlier this year and I have not been there, but I looked at tons of pictures and googled events there from the time period. I looked at pictures of the streets surrounding it and watched movies that had parts filmed at the Guggenheim and Central Park. I’m pretty proud because I can tell you what bakeries, beer gardens, cathedrals, shops and restaurants were on the streets in 1972 in the surrounding areas. I read tons of nostalgia blogs and a few articles in the New York Times about the area from that era or/and specifically about the exhibits and how they were received. I know what restaurants were serving and famous people who might frequent some of them. I didn’t just stop there. I know most of the free concerts going on at Central Park that year and I know the shows and poetry readings happening at National Bohemian Hall. I also watched tv shows from that year that weren’t in the area but gave me a feel for dress and talk— like the Mary Tyler Moore show. But I love my research, absolutely love it, and I didn’t want to be writing in the dark. I wanted to be able to walk around in my setting. Actually I ended up having to cut most of what I’d taken hours to write on setting, but getting the right flavor and understanding of setting can be inspiring Click to expand...

Waking into a hospital is a highly sensory experience. (I work in one, too). I would really think about your 5 senses. For me, the scent is the first thing you notice. Recirculated, dry air (almost like a humidor), antiseptic chemicals and a tinge of an odor that I’ve never been able to identify. You can almost taste it. The sounds are distinct, from staff chatter to beeping monitors to patients calling the it (with their voices or their beepers) Click to expand...

Agree! I’m not a nurse either - but they are the eyes and the ears of hospital medicine. Interviewing a nurse about their perception and description of life in the hospital would probably be one of the purest ways to understand it. Click to expand...

Depends on whether the character is working there, visiting, or being wheeled in on a gurney. Click to expand...

I had a scene in a previous manuscript that dealt with a hospital. I drew on my own experiences going into hospitals, as well as having watched a couple episodes of the original Law & Order prior to starting the scene. In those episodes, there were a couple of scenes in a hospital. I used elements from both avenues during the writing process. Click to expand...

I'm a nurse, but i can't tell you anything as your character/narrator is the greater part of the equation. At the moment not enough context to advise. In the UK many places in hospitals are public spaces so have a wonder around. Or if you're really committed, volunteer on a ward. Try to see it through the character's eyes. Failing that, there are reality TV type shows that follow doctors/nurses through a shift that give a sense of it. Or just write what works for the story, then make sure a healthcare professional/hospital worker of some description gives it a beta read. Click to expand...

• Dec 27, 2021

@Theglasshouse Usually heart transplants don’t go to people who have had heart attacks. I mean I’ve never heard of that. They might do a bypass after a heart-attack, depending. It is HARD to get a transplant organ. Heart transplants are rare, usually reserved for young people who are in every other way healthy, so that it has the biggest possibility of success. People with transplants usually need to take steroids so their body doesn’t reject the transplant and it is an extremely risky thing to try. It can be a waiting game to get a heart. Congenital heart defects might be the #1 reason to get on a transplant list. They never go to people who have had heart-attacks that I know of--- but you'll need to do this research. Heart attacks come from blocked arteries, usually, which is why if someone’s valves are very blocked (atherosclerosis) then they get by-pass surgery before the heart-attack hits, or stents, or oblation-- is the idea. Okay, tell us about your character. If they are young? Besides congenital defects, there are other things that can happen that make transplant something that doctors are looking at—- often a sudden virus that killed off part of the heart. Sometimes post-partum cardiomyopathy (if your character is female). Sometimes patients are on ventilators waiting for the transplant and time is of the essence, actually, I know a woman who died this way, waiting months for a transplant. Extremely sad with baby twins. Her husband raises them and became an advocate of transplants/body donation. A lot depends on how accurate you want the whole thing to be as well… there are plenty of popular books and shows out there that are not medically accurate at all. House is horrible, by the way, and Grey's Anatomy and ER . Scrubs , from the worker's standpoint is more accurate. I think what bothers me the most, usually, with shows and books not medically accurate is the lack of understanding about symptoms-- you know, people running around with nasal cannulas-- "terminal" yet not experiencing any symptoms even up until death. That seems to be a common theme with young characters in romance books...well Fault in Their Stars , anyway  

@Theglasshouse . Doctors go on “rounds” or visit usually around the same time each day to update you how you are and give you a plan. I might find support websites for people with heart transplants. One of the most interesting things to me about heart transplants, specifically, is stories of people’s personalities changing due to them… I find this fascinating. It doesn’t reply happen to people with other types of transplants as far as I have researched. Research is the bomb imo! Very inspiring!  

indianroads

I've written a few scenes set in a hospital (one in my WIP as well), and when describing the environment I fall back on prior experience. Everyone here has probably met with unfortunate circumstances and have visited that sterile blanched place, so remember and write. Also consider the dominant sense of your POV character. Although it doesn't apply to everyone, it's been my experience that in females, scent and temperature are more dominant than in men, so if your character is a woman give those descriptors greater precedence. The mood of your character will also color your description.  

Deleted member 66445

I have been debating whether I should share a view and having deleted the first attempt i still feel it is right to offer a view. Personally, i see a setting around a hospital unsettling because it needs to be done right, not through book/online research but first hand experience. I feel that a hospital is a place where people share their most raw emotions, whether it is joy of a birth or utter desolation in seeing a love one struggle ... and die. I don't think any amount of 'off the hands' research can ever replicate true experience and it would pain me to read a work with poor constructed views based on tv or youtube or even what others think. I have experienced the highs with the birth of my 2 kids, the complications that came from their arrival, the admiration for the staff, to waiting hours ... watching doctors and nurses on the A&E wards standing and chatting to each other with patients filling up the waiting room. I have seen my mum battle cancer for 24 years, the trips of chemo, her fear of going back, the pain of her treatments, the wards, the drive, the smell, the white buildings, the blue outfits, the poorly people in their beds. I have given my absolute thanks to the doctors during covid, who battled so hard to save my mum and never did the setting of a hospital ever concern me. Like many, the character overrides the setting, because this is a place of 'on the edge' emotions and for me it would sit unwell reading someone's interpretation of fear or worry about injury or illness if they have not experienced it first hand. I have no right to say you shouldn't write about a hospital because of what i have held throughout my life but the worry of writing about this poorly made me need to point out the dangers. It is absolutely wrong of me ... and you can write about a stale atmosphere, stressed out workforce, routines and copy/use/have inspiration from scenes anywhere but it will not be the same as those who have first hand experience. Even on ward to a visitor the experiences are different but these are experiences and hold real value.  

Sorry for the wait everyone. I am typing on a tablet. I will reply to the posts in more detail in 2 more days. I left my computer behind at my house and am vacationing. Those are some interesting replies. It's a shame I did not know all this before I wrote it. I will certainly strive to be more realistic and not rely rely on tv shows. It has been a complex area of research I have picked. My main character if I would imagine his age would be a father with a 8-10 year old girl to answer the most important question I have been asked. I get this is intimidating. To write about a heart transplant is complex but I am glad I got some answers. On the 30th I will answer the questions. I am using a kindle to type my responses.  

Kent_Jacobs

• Dec 28, 2021

KatPC said: I have been debating whether I should share a view and having deleted the first attempt i still feel it is right to offer a view. Click to expand...

KatPC said: Personally, i see a setting around a hospital unsettling because it needs to be done right, not through book/online research but first hand experience. I feel that a hospital is a place where people share their most raw emotions, whether it is joy of a birth or utter desolation in seeing a love one struggle ... and die. Click to expand...

PrairieHostage

Theglasshouse said: Do you watch YouTube videos? Can you explain it to me please as if I were a child which I am not? Do you watch movies and describe what is happening? The awakening the movie comes to mind. Do you read nonfiction such as autoethnography, autobiographies, journals? What would you do if you were faced to describe movement in a hospital, library, alley, and so forth? How do you know how to call hospital rooms? Where should I start my research? How would you do yours most importantly Click to expand...

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Blade New Member

Help describing hospital/someone dying.

Discussion in ' Setting Development ' started by Blade , Jan 26, 2013 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); Evening, I'm currently thinking about writing a new story and I want to start the story off as a flashback, A flashback to where the main character who is a billionaire is entering the hospital room in which his mother is in, getting ready to die from cancer. I mainly want to capture the emotion and the coldness that he felt in his heart, that would be the only time in his life that he truly cried. His father abused him as a child and only see's him as competition when it comes to their company. So you see his mother is the only one who picked him up when he was down, the only one who truly cared about him. I honestly wouldn't know where to start without making it seem blah. Some examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.  

Michael Collins Senior Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I've been working as a nurse for the last three years now, so I could help you with the description of the technical, hospital and physiolocical part. But when it comes to feelngs, I really don't know how I could help, sorry.  

Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); If you have no idea about how to approach this crucial emotional moment, it may not be the best choice for you to write at this time. The best such stories are written by people who have gone through similar emotional crises. It gives the story the ring of truth. Your alternative is to speak with one or more people who have had a family member go through something like this. At length.  

jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); One thing, was he already a billionaire when his mum was dying? Because rich people usually pay for the nurses, doctors and equipment so their family members can die at home. As far as feelings go, try to think about your favourite person in the whole wide world. Then think about watching them wither away in front of your eyes, and there's nothing you can do to help them get better. And think about how it would be to never see them again. That's one of the many emotions that goes through us when our loved ones are dying. I would also recommend that you also speak to someone who went through the experience of losing a loved one.  

Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); How would you feel if your mother died? That's probably how you'd describe the emotion, I think. And yeah, speak to some people who have lost a loved one.  

The Tourist Banned

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I have a death scene in my book. I found the crux was a strange dichotomy for those involved, and I made that the focus of the chapter. Medical staff desperately tried to save the character. The character, however, was utilizing the experience as a stepping stone, and actually wanted to go.  

mg357 Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I have experienced a lot of family members death's in my life so I understand this subject well. The son enters his mom's room he goes to her beside and he sees that she is close to death and he just starts crying a lot i mean full blown buckets of tear pour out of him, because he knows that they only parent who cared about him and loved is about to die and he also wants to die because living without his mother would be so terrible he does not want to live without her So after her death he takes his own life.  

Pheonix A Singer of Space Operas and The Fourth Mod of RP Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I had a stained relationship with my grandmother, she never really approved of me. And, while I thought that I would be sad when she died, I didn't think it would be that big of an event in my life. Well, we were all together at the hospital, and I said goodbye to her after she was taken off life support, I can't even begin to explain the feeling that came out of me. It was like all of a sudden I realized that she was going to die, and that was only a few minutes away, and there was nothing that anyone could do to stop it. The overwhelming sadness that hits a person when they are confronted with death is something that you can't really understand unless you've experienced it. And it affects different people differently. To write this out properly, I think that you'd either have had to experience it, or speak with people who have. And I don't mean on an internet forum, you need to be able to see the emotion that they feel, and how that emotion lingers after possible years. Of course, if you go that route and try interviewing someone, be ethical about it and don't pry to hard, it's a delicate subject, but something that most people have experienced in some way at least once.  

evelon Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); There can also be a feeling of anger.  

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googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I was there when my grandfather passed. Somehow, it almost didn't seem real, similar to a waking dream. It was cold, so still, a breathing ghost. Time slows, every detail around you, clear and sharp as glass, but incomprehensible. Reality has yet to set in. It is a moment when the world wheels chaotically about and you suddenly realize, 'I'm still here...', but things will never be the same again. The enormity of the change hasn't registered. It's disorienting, a foundation stone falling into the sea. Terror and a sense of relief at war, knowing it's over, but the uncertainty of where to begin.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); There can also be feeling that throw you for a loop. Relief, for one, if that person has been a burden, despite any bond of love, because they are now in the doctor's hands. And with that can come guilt, resentment, all kinds of feelings that you'd never anticipate without having beemn here. All sorts of feelings long buried can rise to the surface, and handling them can be as chaotic as the fact of the other person's pending death. It's hard enough to make sense of it all if you've experienced it, so it's a far harder task to convey it if i is entirely outsde your experience. It's the deeply emotional experiences like this that have led to the often misunderstood advice, "Write what you know." It's bad advice when taken too literally, but when it comes to the deepest emotional crises, it makes perfect sense.  

Teodor Pravický New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I think you should have to put a chapter before that, where will be several situations, where reader can appreciate this mother. If you want to rise an emotion, do it by gestures, not only by words, or you will find the situation stupid, instead of hearthbreaking. I suppose he walks there with flowers and bananas in the bag. Nervous about stuff, nurses are looking at him sadly, he gets nervous even more. Mother is smiling, not want to tell him rightaway, asking about his day, changing subjects. He loses his patience and BAM. Depends on the character if you want him to cry at front if his mother, I wouldn't do that. He might do it on the toilet, nurses knocking at him or something  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I appreciate all of the comments and advice. You gave me a lot of ideas to work with. Hurray for this site  

seije New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); as others have said, writing the emotions of the scene is up to you, but if you are looking for the negative things to go with the tone of the scene, maybe i can help. i had cancer when i was seven, and spent a lot of time in hospitals. hospital rooms always seem so barren and sterile. Blankets were usually scratchy and uncomfortable, but i was spared that discomfort due to the sheets- that's more for the people visiting, if they were to lean or sit on the bed. the TVs seem too small, especially when compared to the blank wall to which they are attached. I recall a yellowish tint to the rooms due to the lighting which gives off a false sense of warmth- the rooms are almost always incredibly cold. The beds are raised far too high to enter and exit comfortably for me as a child, and probably for someone old and frail as well. most of the other negatives i remember are more as my experience as a patient. saline going into your veins from an IV is cold, and unsettling. you are restricted from moving around much due to the IV tubes. I recall medicines giving me a nasty taste in my mouth that would linger. laying in bed for extended periods of time makes getting up feel awkward, and messes with your balance a bit. I don't know if you can use that information, but it's there if you want it. I was treated at a children's hospital, so not all of the information will be relevant or current.  

madhoca Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); In the past 5 years there have been 3 occasions when I've been around hospitals a lot because my husband was in a near fatal car accident, my daughter nearly died of septicemia when her appendix and part of her intestine ruptured, and my father-in-law died of cancer. Each time, there was tremendous unreality about the event, and then, even stranger, the routines took over--the early breakfast tray, tidy up for the doctor's round, the lab tests that day, visiting hours for the rest of the family etc etc. I have to say that there were periods of boredom as well even in times of extreme stress and emotional turmoil. The medical staff were great, but it was still just a day's work for them and I was very conscious that in order to do their jobs well they had to maintain a professional distance, although at one point I went into intensive care and saw the consultant, a woman, plaiting my daughter's hair and talking softly to her about whether or not Obama had won--the TV in the nurses' station was tuned in constantly to the news. The steady bip bip of the machines feeding in various stuff through the IV lines is something I'll always remember. Also, all around you there are arrivals and departures like an airport, people dying or being declared out of danger, which also add to the unreal feeling of watching a play or something. I think being in hospital with my daughter was the most intense experience of my life, and I would never have guessed what it could be like until I experienced it, not could I bear to write about it in detail. Just remembering the hair plaiting scene got me crying again, actually. But Jazz has a point that people who can afford it can be treated mostly at home. My family aren't billionaires, but both my grandparents had private nursing and died at home in their beds. My FIL was very ill with lung cancer but he was often treated as an outpatient and died one night at home.  

BallerGamer Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); I was there at the hospital when my best friend died. I was crying a lot but inside I honestly didn't feel anything. And by that I wasn't being hollow about it, it just didn't feel like she passed away even though physically she was right in front of me lifeless. I felt like it was all some big joke and she was going to move a finger, blink, and tell me that she was alright. I guess you could say that I was in denial.  

Trilby Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); It can be so painful to watch a loved one suffer that it can come as a relief once they have gone - that feeling of relief can turn into guilt. You may also, being unable to ease their pain, experience feelings of utter uselessness  

Thumpalumpacus Alive in the Superunknown

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_b62437d91efec24fa4cfa0a22dd3b48e'); }); Blade said: ↑ Evening, I'm currently thinking about writing a new story and I want to start the story off as a flashback, A flashback to where the main character who is a billionaire is entering the hospital room in which his mother is in, getting ready to die from cancer. I mainly want to capture the emotion and the coldness that he felt in his heart, that would be the only time in his life that he truly cried. His father abused him as a child and only see's him as competition when it comes to their company. So you see his mother is the only one who picked him up when he was down, the only one who truly cared about him. I honestly wouldn't know where to start without making it seem blah. Some examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Click to expand...

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• Career Center

Teaching Literary and Creative Writing in Hospital Settings

Lisa Fink 07.25.16 Teaching Writing

This post was written by NCTE member Mindy Daniels.

While those of us teaching in hospitals are a relatively small group of teachers, we are nevertheless mandated to meet students’ needs the same as instructors teaching in conventional classrooms are.

The biggest challenges, especially for those teaching in acute hospital settings, are that our students may be enrolled for one day to thirty days; our class sizes can vary from one child to ten or eleven; since students are discharged and new ones admitted daily, we as teachers cannot prepare extended lesson plans.

Notwithstanding these exigencies, hospital teachers want and need to teach viable lessons that genuinely benefit, engage, and academically advance their students. Therein lies the rub and the purpose for this blog post.

For the past sixteen years I have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work with hospitalized students of diverse SES backgrounds, learning abilities, and motivation, with mental health issues that necessitated they be admitted to an acute treatment facility for one to thirty days. The purpose of my blog posts will be to share the numerous “one-day,” authentic, hands-on lessons I have compiled from researchers and experience that engage students educationally and emotionally.

Though brief, these monthly lessons are designed to enhance students’ broad academic and critical thinking skills by teaching them such strategies as how to use vivid, descriptive language in their prose and poetry and to use active rather than passive voice. Since the lessons focus primarily on writing, students learn requisite technical skills that include vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, etc., as well as creative writing techniques. Finally, because as a teacher I must be an active writer/modeler, I too find myself exploring and enhancing my personal creativity. Please join me in an active discussion designed to uncover and discover students’ tacit creative ability via nonthreatening oral and written lessons.

Mindy Daniels has a PhD in instructional leadership. For the last sixteen years she has taught in the children’s psychiatric hospital at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. She is also the author of poetry and of a historical novel.

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19,890 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,964 themes

a hospital hallway - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

• a hospital patient
• hospital room
• ten physical symptoms
• vaccination

This hospital is nothing like the one I am used to back home, where the receptionist is more plastic than the purified water dispenser. Here there is no openness, no space, nothing shines or has the smell of disinfectant. Instead the way in is down a long hallway so narrow that if a wheelchair or trolley were to come to other way I'd have to dip into a side room to let it go by. The walls were once painted, I can tell that from the cream flakes that remain, though mostly they show the grey undercoat or perhaps the concrete beneath that. The floor is uneven from so much traffic with both feet and wheels and it's darker than a mausoleum. The air is stagnant like we just went into some pit. There are no hand sanitizers on the walls, how they prevent the spread of germs here I don't know, perhaps they don't. From ahead come muffled voices, some angry, some placating. I bite down on my lip, this isn't going to be fun.

The hallway has as much personality as the rest of the hospital. The floor is slate grey and the walls dove. Above the ceiling is made from those polystyrene squares laid on a grid-like frame. The light is too bright for my eyes after the darkening gloom outside, I find it abrasive, enough perhaps to bring on one of my migraines. There are commercial prints on the wall, tasteful in the dull kind of way. This place certainly isn't run by risk-takers and I guess I should find comfort in that. Above every door I pass is a large plastic sign, dark with white lettering- no fancy fonts, just bold and all-caps. It's so new and spotless I feel like the whole building must have just gotten beamed here from some-place dirt is outlawed. My eyes fall to the garish flowers in my hand, their dampness seeping through my woollen glove. Suddenly I don't mind their cost anymore, it's worth it, Mom's going to need some colour in here.

Nowhere is the chronic underfunding more evident than in the hallways. They are for the most part crammed with patients on trolleys, some tended by strained relatives and some alone. Each of them lies on their back, strapped in- eyes toward the naked fluorescent tubes that flicker as though they are on their last legs. In the brief gaps between these unfortunates who cannot afford the exorbitant private fees, the pale blue walls are deeply scored by the metal framed trollies, the drywall showing though like white scars. The cheap prints on the walls are insipid, so lacking in vibrancy that they appear sun-bleached in this windowless strip. The confined space magnifies the groans and wails to no avail, the nurses have seen it all before and are immune, hardened by repeat exposure and over-work.

I reach the navy double-doors with their plastic band fastened midway and their dull chrome handles. I pull my eyes from the highly polished linoleum floor to catch a glimpse of the hallway that stretches beyond, cut into tiny squares by the thin wire in the window panels. Without pause I push with my body weight, but I needn't have, it swings open soundlessly and with ease. A draft of air hits my face, warm and with a tincture of bleach. Ahead of me lie magnolia walls, decorated with old black and white photographs of hospital staff- most likely either deceased or rocking their nineties in some retirement home. I could fit at least two of me with arms outstretched across its width. Instead of straight walls the hallway has a curve, disappearing from sight in a hundred meters or so. Every few seconds I pass a different set of doors with a hand-sanitizer dispenser: to oncology, to geriatrics, to maternity. I bypass them all heading for psychiatry, because that's where my brother is.

The hospital hallway has as much personality as the interstate. It is a thoroughfare for personnel with patients as parcels. The dull beige tile leads onwards passed identical doorways edged in grey. The walls simply grow from the floor and stretch upward to the matching ceiling. It is a place of sickness, a place to be forgotten slowly after the initial shock of admittance. After that it's a slow slide to the morgue, sallow eyes tilted toward a sun that remains stubbornly on the wrong side of the dirty window pane.

The hospital was built long ago, like the city that surrounds it. Outside the streets were built for horses and carts, they are narrow and twisting. Inside the hospital the hallways are the same, never wide enough for the modern equipment that must pass in opposite directions. But even odder still is that they may go up and down hill, the rooms being built at sightly different levels to one another. Whoever the architect was I doubt there was much of a plan ever drawn, the entire building has an organic and eclectic feel, even when the era it was built in is taken into consideration.

Last year Kisha had been on the children's ward, everything brightly coloured and the nurses smiling. One birthday and everything changed, she didn't need to see the room or even be there more than a minute to know it, the hallway was enough. Everything was a muted colour, but not pretty pastels, simply washed out tones of grey. From the tired floor to the dented walls it was depression served cold. She turned to see her mother's face, catching her off guard, tension, shock... she was just as taken aback.

The hospital hallway was like something out of Star Trek. Everything that could shine, did shine. There was stainless steel, sleek floors and the art on the walls were all natural images in colours as bright as glacier melt-water or spring flowers. The air had a pure fragrance, not sterile, just clean. In the background played music at just the right level to give the patients and staff an emotional lift. But the best part was the ceiling, just clear and high arched. It was like standing out in the open without the risk of rain.

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Setting Description Entry: Haunted House (inside)

May 23, 2009 by BECCA PUGLISI

Sight Dust, cobwebs, sheets on furniture, broken tables, chairs, windows, lamps, peeling wallpaper, gaps in the floorboards, holes in the walls, flickering lights (if there’s electricity) chandelier with broken strings of crystals, broken glass on the floor, spiders, cockroaches, rust, mildew, ripped curtains, shadows, gloomy staircases, old portraits & paintings, cracked…

footsteps on the stair, creaking doors, window shutters rattling on the outside, wind scattering/rustling paper through a broken window gap, words whispered in ear, screams, crying, wailing, laughter, glass smashing, the scrap of a chair moving, the scritch of tree branches scraping at the windows, rats squeaking, movement in the walls, a…

Phantom perfume or cologne, burning smells, pipe or cigarette smoke, mildew, rot, dank, rusty or metallic smells, wet wood and stone, rancid breath, yeasty beer smell, food, dust, dry rot, rat/mice feces, urine

Sour & dry mouth from fear, dust floating in the air and coating the tongue, salty tears

A phantom hand on the shoulder, the puff of breath on the earlobe or the back of the neck, the sensation of being grabbed on the arm, pushed, pulled, pinched, poked, slapped, burned, a feeling of light-headedness and nausea, hair rising on arms or the back of the neck, the body’s reaction to a drop in temperature (chills, shivering, breath puffing out…

Helpful hints:

–The words you choose can convey atmosphere and mood.

Example 1:  I cringed at each creak on the old warped stairs, but it didn’t sway my determination to make it to the bedroom on the second floor. Halfway up, a shadow flickered at the corner of my vision. I froze, and as I stood there, caught a woody scent lingering in the air. Tobacco smoke? A shiver curled through the hairs on the back of my neck then cascaded down my backbone. It was all I could do to not hurl myself back down the stairs toward the front door…

–Similes and metaphors create strong imagery when used sparingly.

Example 1: (Metaphor ) The dining room chair suddenly jolted back and tilted toward me, a gracious invitation by an invisible host…

Think beyond what a character sees, and provide a sensory feast for readers

Setting is much more than just a backdrop, which is why choosing the right one and describing it well is so important. To help with this, we have expanded and integrated this thesaurus into our online library at One Stop For Writers.

Each entry has been enhanced to include possible sources of conflict, people commonly found in these locales, and setting-specific notes and tips, and the collection itself has been augmented to include a whopping 230 entries—all of which have been cross-referenced with our other thesauruses for easy searchability. So if you’re interested in seeing this powerful Setting Thesaurus , head on over and register at One Stop.

On the other hand, if you prefer your references in book form, we’ve got you covered, too, because both books are now available for purchase in digital and print copies. In addition to the entries, each book contains instructional front matter to help you maximize your settings. With advice on topics like making your setting do double duty and using figurative language to bring them to life, these books offer ample information to help you maximize your settings and write them effectively.

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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Reader Interactions

May 14, 2021 at 1:51 pm

creepy…

May 8, 2021 at 6:48 pm

Oh wow. It hadn’t occurred to me to make a list of all the things to do with my settings. Thank you for this. Brilliant!

May 10, 2021 at 5:53 am

It’s so much easier to get the setting exactly where we want it when we know beforehand what to aim for :).

March 12, 2021 at 5:58 pm

I really love this Thank you so much for doing this

March 2, 2021 at 2:17 pm

February 18, 2021 at 8:34 am

Thankyou soo much…it really helped me

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February 11, 2021 at 8:29 am

Well thank goodness for that!

December 22, 2020 at 12:24 am

Thank You really helpful

December 12, 2020 at 5:30 am

December 4, 2020 at 11:38 pm

Thank you so much, there are totally enough ideas for me for my essay

November 22, 2020 at 10:04 am

Very helpful

November 10, 2020 at 5:41 pm

thank you so much i needed ideas and this gave me so much.

October 21, 2020 at 4:50 pm

I am doing a descriptive writing project and this helped me so much! Thank You!

October 21, 2020 at 7:01 pm

Glad it helped!

March 20, 2021 at 6:59 am

October 8, 2020 at 11:51 am

I love the website I had to write a paper about Halloween and I used this website to find my d Description Word I need . Who ever made this website I don’t know what I would tell him or her but it’s one of my favorite it gives me great description of what words I don’t understand and I then I can use it later if I could rate it 5 stars

October 8, 2020 at 1:07 pm

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September 26, 2020 at 5:48 pm

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March 25, 2020 at 1:17 am

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January 2, 2020 at 5:56 am

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December 3, 2019 at 2:51 pm

This is awesome！👌

March 31, 2021 at 11:41 pm

This awesome

November 18, 2019 at 1:32 pm

This is so helpful for everyone . People can use them in essays while describing a haunted house .

November 10, 2020 at 5:43 pm

That is exactly what i used it for

November 11, 2019 at 7:02 am

This is so helpful! Definately the best website for writing! Thanksssss❤️❤️

November 11, 2019 at 10:42 am

Happy this helps!

November 3, 2019 at 7:28 am

October 25, 2019 at 4:58 am

I really like it. It’s really good.for.young children and writers. I love it do much

July 1, 2019 at 6:21 pm

wow I really needed this thank you sooo much

May 25, 2019 at 11:22 am

Amazing. Im a 14-year-old writer and all these descriptions inspired me on how to write my mystery book. Thanks so much Becca

February 9, 2019 at 6:29 pm

I really liked it because it helped me a lot to inspire me with my writing for greater depth.It was all very creative and amazing 😃👍🏻

January 28, 2019 at 11:34 am

very good descriptions

January 3, 2019 at 11:03 pm

This is too helpful

November 11, 2018 at 4:21 am

Helpful!!!!!

June 6, 2019 at 2:08 am

Good descriptive terms and phrases!!

October 24, 2018 at 1:23 pm

Thank you so much you have helped me so much.

October 23, 2018 at 10:49 am

This story describes the house and starts to leave an image of what the inside of the house looks like. I get shivers reading it.

October 22, 2018 at 11:10 am

I love this website it helps me

July 22, 2018 at 8:38 am

Thank you so much.. It helped me a lot… I am very happy about this web page😊

November 19, 2018 at 11:04 pm

yeah me too it helped alot

December 13, 2017 at 7:04 am

Thank you so much it really helped write my writing assessment and get full marks, don’t worry i didn’t cheat that much!

October 25, 2019 at 12:17 pm

lmao “that much”

November 9, 2017 at 5:32 pm

It Game Some Ideas What To Write

April 4, 2017 at 1:37 pm

Its just awesome because I get a idea to write it in my suspense story??

March 19, 2017 at 11:49 am

thanks alot it really helped me in my suspense story writing and it did really gave me some ideas to write it thanks 😉

December 3, 2016 at 8:15 am

Thank you very much. This is helpful to do my English HW. Zabit Khwaja

September 12, 2018 at 2:01 pm

October 25, 2016 at 2:12 pm

Thank you !! This has really helped me to do my homework and to inspire me for different t ideas.

October 6, 2016 at 9:45 am

this helped me do my English course thank u sooo much

September 1, 2011 at 9:32 am

this is awesome! 😀 helped me do my coursework for English! thanks a lot 😀

October 14, 2010 at 8:47 pm

this story is awsome i want to read another one.

September 16, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Thanks Aloot It Helped Me In My English Homework:) But I Think It Would Be Better If There Were More Examples Of Haunted Houses:D x

April 3, 2010 at 4:53 pm

this has helped me a great deal with my story for my English class 🙂

May 27, 2009 at 11:34 am

I love the image of the child riding a phantom rocking horse — very effective.

May 25, 2009 at 11:48 pm

This one was so fun to do. There are so many unusual settings to explore–stay tuned!

May 24, 2009 at 6:08 pm

You gals cover some of the greatest topics!!! Hope you can get these out in book form soon or eventually! Keep up the good work!

May 24, 2009 at 7:21 am

I can hear the wind moaning around corners…whhoooooooooowhoooooo.

May 24, 2009 at 7:14 am

Fantastic! Thanks!

May 23, 2009 at 4:09 pm

Gives me the shivers too. =)

May 23, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Gives me shivers just reading it. 😉

Creative Writing, Literature, Storytelling and Mental Health Practice

• First Online: 01 March 2018

Cite this chapter

• Tony Gillam 4  

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

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This chapter draws on the author’s own experience of writing and of facilitating a creative writing group for service users. It provides an overview of therapeutic uses of creative writing, including Pennebaker’s work on expressive writing. It reviews evidence for the use of literature, creative writing and poetry in mental health care, exploring bibliotherapy, therapeutic writing and poetry therapy as well as narrative biography. Creative writing is examined as a tool for promoting both the recovery of service users and the professional development of mental health practitioners, including a discussion of the value of storytelling in mental health nursing. The chapter concludes by considering the role of journaling and blogging and the overlapping areas of therapeutic writing, literary writing, autobiography and writing for publication.

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“Écrire, c’est une façon de parler sans être interrompu.” (Jules Renard , 1895.)

I have created a blog – to be found at https://tonygillam.blogspot.co.uk / – to publish material supplementary to this book and which, I hope, will offer an ongoing forum for those interested in creativity, wellbeing and mental health practice.

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Gillam, T. (2018). Creative Writing, Literature, Storytelling and Mental Health Practice. In: Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74884-9_7

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