When you need to describe pain in writing, relying on adjective phrases alone often isn’t enough.
Pain is complex because it is more than just a feeling. It’s a mixture of emotional and physical sensations that lie unseen below the surface.
That’s why metaphors can be useful to make pain more real for readers. They can help you turn the abstract into something readers can relate to.
With the right metaphor, you can transform pain from something distant into a reality.
The role of metaphors in describing pain
In most forms of writing, it’s relatively easy to describe people, objects, the weather, or a night because they are all visual.
However, figuring out how to describe pain in writing is difficult because it is usually invisible unless there is a gaping wound.
If you rely on direct descriptions like “he felt a sudden pain in his shoulder,” it usually falls flat.
Regular descriptive statements don’t capture the depth or complexity of what a character is going through. Trying to describe also often breaks the golden fiction rule of show, don’t tell.
Pain is internal, either physical or emotional, so simply stating that a character is “in pain” adds little value to the reader.
That’s why metaphors are so helpful: they let you describe pain in a realistic or graphic way.
If you compare a character’s pain to something like “a sharp twisting blade,” you give your readers a way to connect with the experience and imagine how it feels.
Metaphors and similes help you differentiate between a mild ache and a searing pain without needing long explanations. They say something is or is like something else.
When you use a metaphor, you’re not just describing pain. You’re creating an image for the reader.
Metaphors work on an emotional level, so they can capture suffering quickly without relying on a long descriptive narrative.
Choosing metaphors that match the type of pain
When describing pain, you need to think about the specific type of pain your character is experiencing.
Physical pain, for instance, is always related to body parts and should feel immediate and intense.
You can use metaphors that capture sensations like aching or burning, such as “her muscles were on fire” or “the ache was a throbbing drumbeat.”
This kind of language helps readers feel the physical impact realistically.
Emotional pain, on the other hand, is more subtle and indirect because it lives deep in a character’s mind.
Using metaphors such as “his heart felt weighed down with grief” or “grief wrapped around her like a winter wind” can help add reality to emotional pain, showing its presence without spelling it out.
Psychological pain is different again because it is even more abstract and complex.
It often involves mental struggle, confusion, or conflict, and it doesn’t always have a clear origin.
For psychological pain, metaphors that evoke chaos or feeling trapped are often appropriate. Another possibility is darkness.
Examples like “his mind was a maze he couldn’t escape” or “her fears fell on her like pitch black shadows” can describe an invisible, overwhelming feeling.
When you use a metaphor related to the type of pain, you can adapt it to fit your character’s situation.
A well-crafted metaphor not only captures the pain itself but also gives readers insight into how that pain shapes the character.
It’s not easy, but similes or metaphors can make your descriptions richer, more varied, and, hopefully, more memorable.
How to craft unique pain metaphors
Creating your own metaphors for pain starts with thinking about your character and the specific kind of pain they’re feeling.
But it’s definitely not an easy task. I know because I have struggled with it many times and still do.
A character’s background, personality, and emotional state influence how pain affects them, so choosing metaphors that reflect who they are makes the description more appropriate.
For example, a character who’s a musician might describe an emotional ache as “a broken melody, haunting her thoughts.”
On another level, a mechanic might think of pain as “a worn-out part grinding away, creating friction with every move.”
You also need to think about the intensity and nature of the pain as well. Is it sharp and sudden, or deep and lingering?
If the pain is intense and piercing, a metaphor like “a needle driving deeper with each heartbeat” captures that immediate sensation.
For slower, chronic pain, something like “rust spreading through her bones” conveys a slower, creeping sense of decay.
Using metaphors this way helps readers connect not only with the pain but also with the character’s perspective.
You can also look at what emotions accompany the pain. If the pain is mixed with sadness, loneliness, or anger, find metaphors that evoke those feelings to add more depth.
For instance, if the pain is emotionally overwhelming, you might say, “it crashed over him like gigantic waves, unrelenting and impossible to escape.”
This approach makes the metaphor feel as complex as the character’s experience.
Finally, think about the way your character sees the world.
A poet and a scientist might describe the same pain differently. One as “a crack spreading across her heart like frost on glass” and the other as “a fault line widening with each passing thought.”
If you can keep your metaphors specific and character-driven, you create descriptions that work on a personal and emotional level.
Avoid clichés
When you describe pain, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using clichés, which are metaphors and similes we see so often that they’ve lost their impact.
Expressions such as “a broken heart,” “gut-wrenching pain,” or “a dagger to the heart” are so common that they have little effect on readers.
Perhaps they carried strong imagery some time ago, but they’re now predictable and rarely make readers feel anything new.
For example, saying “she was heartbroken” tells the reader very little about what the character is feeling.
Instead, try finding unique comparisons that feel specific to your character or the type of pain.
For instance, instead of “a dagger to the heart,” you could write, “it felt like a twisted knot tightening in her chest with her thoughts of every regret.”
This keeps the emotional impact but presents it in a new light.
Similarly, rather than saying “gut-wrenching,” you might try something like, “the pain coiled in her stomach, twisting slowly like a rope being pulled taut.”
It’s not an easy writing skill to create new metaphors.
However, by avoiding clichés and experimenting with original metaphors, you can give readers a more personal experience of pain.
Without a doubt, avoiding predictable phrases will help your descriptions stand out and make your writing more memorable.
Summary
I don’t need to tell you that creating fresh and unique metaphors for pain or any other emotion can be one of the most challenging tasks for any writer.
To describe pain in writing in an original way, you need to dig deep, think beyond familiar phrases, and find comparisons that truly capture your character’s situation.
It can take a lot of effort and experimentation to craft metaphors that feel new because it’s so easy to fall back on tired clichés.
But when you manage to find a metaphor that surprises and captures the moment, you know you are on the right track.
Sure, it can take a long time sometimes to find just the right words for a metaphor, but it’s worth the effort.
But yes, it really is a tough challenge.
However, by playing and experimenting with words, you can let your imagination shape descriptions that are memorable or perhaps even moving.
The result is usually worth all the effort.
Related Reading: How To Describe A Night In Writing Much Better
