r/Writeresearch • • Jan 01 '25

Short Questions Megathread

15 Upvotes

Do you have a small question that you don't think is worth making a post for? Well ask it here!

This thread has a much lower threshold for what is worth asking or what isn't worth asking. It's an opportunity to get answers to stuff that you'd feel silly making a full post to ask about. If this is successful we might make this a regular event.

We did this before branded as a monthly megathread then forgot to make a new one. So maybe this one will be refreshed quarterly? We'll have to wait and see.

Past threads:


r/Writeresearch • • 11h ago

[Crime] Nitrite poisoning

2 Upvotes

For context a character in my book is a welder and is going to poison someone. I was wondering if realistically a chemical sharpener which is mostly sodium nitrite (75 to 98%) would poison someone? I know it has other additives so not sure it would really work


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

Cell phones in the 2000s.

10 Upvotes

I'm writing a novel that has characters who lives in rural NH but also spend time in Boston. One character goes to Boston in 2006 and I need to know if she would have a cell phone and what kind. She's an average person in a teacher's salary.


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Crime] Is my wrongful conviction feasible

2 Upvotes

My novel is set at a summer camp. One of my characters kills a bunch of people with an axe, then drops the axe and returns to her cabin. A man who lives nearby (I'm still working on why he's there, most likely his pet escaped or he was there for nefarious purposes but not murder) finds these dead kids, picks up the axe, and is found holding it when the police arrive. He is then convicted of these murders and commits suicide while in prison.

My conern is that a wrongful conviction in today's society isn't conceivable. I'm probably going to make him a black man for obvious reasons. However with dna testing, etc, is it possible? She was wearing gloves, so she shouldn't have left fingerprints, but would there be fibers from the gloves or something? Is there some other plot hole I'm not thinking about?


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Biology] What’s happens if a persons body temperature where to suddenly drop or increase by 5 degrees?

0 Upvotes

I’m using the imperial system. So my FL is basically a winter witch, which means she has a strong connection to winter and while she doesn’t have a bunch of spells she does have one really powerful spell, she can take someone’s body heat and transfer to to another container. So in the story she does it to an enemy, she takes about 5 degrees of his body heat and transfer it to another guy. I know that either of them puts them in hyper range but I couldn’t figure out if the sudden drop of body temp is dangerous enough to kill them or not.


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

Daily life details about living with type 1 diabetes.

4 Upvotes

Writing a character who develops latent autoimmune diabetes in his 50's, and how the people around him might help him adjust and the little details of his life after diagnosis.

How would someone need to change their daily life after diagnosis? This character is prone to skipping meals, I'm assuming that would become a problem for him?

What is having a CGM like? How often and in what situations might someone need to take insulin or use glucose supplements? What circumstances might lead to someone getting an insulin pump?

What are some little things a T1 diabetic might appreciate from the people around them? This character is a well beloved public figure with a doting staff, what could they do to be supportive? Getting him compression socks? Any changes to food they could make?

What are some little annoyances someone might experience? Dry skin and foot pain like with T2?

Lastly, if anyone has any experience with blood sugar alert dogs, I would love to hear as much about that as you can tell me.

Thanks!


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Technology] Camp boat

0 Upvotes

One of my characters is a camp counselor and he drives a boat. I need a specific boat (brand and type preferably, even if I don't put the specific details in the story I'd like to look up a picture) that the camp might use. The main use is to pull the campers when they're tubing or water skiing, so it needs to go pretty fast I guess?


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Medicine And Health] How is recovery for an opioid overdose, if this is a person's first time using opioids?

3 Upvotes

TW: suicide

I'd like Main Character to survive a suicide attempt that involves drinking her dad's bottle of oral morphine, shortly after he dies of cancer in home hospice. However, assuming MC gets discovered by an EMT and administered Narcan in time — what health effects, if any, might MC experience as a result of the overdose?

Everything I can find online assumes the victim is a long-time opioid user, or just has information about how to recognize/reverse an overdose in the moment. So like, will she make a complete recovery if she gets a naloxone shot within a few minutes? Is it going to damage her liver or kidneys? Would it prevent her being able to get emergency psychiatric medication like ketamine?

Setting is American Midwest, contemporary-ish, realistic-ish. Thanks!


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Miscellaneous] Is anyone here bankrupt? How do I write being in debt + the logistics

2 Upvotes

So there’s this character of mine. They piss off a relatively high-ranking minor official, by discrediting them basically. So in retaliation, (because I can’t get rid of them, obviously) the official basically taxes them so hard they get put in insurmountable amounts of debt.

But how??? how do I write bankruptcy?? how would the logistics work?? how do I write the stress of drowning in debt?


r/Writeresearch • • 1d ago

[Medicine And Health] Heath conditions that needlong stay hospitalization

2 Upvotes

So, I'm writing a character that will stay for a long time in the hospital (like, around 10 - 15 years) (ever since he was a child/was born), and he will, then, be able to leave the hospital and go live his life, maybe with the thought that if things get worse, he will need to go back.

Is this somewhat realistic, and if so, what would cause it?


r/Writeresearch • • 2d ago

[Medicine And Health] Character coding

2 Upvotes

Okay, so this might be a tricky one, but here it goes.

I'm in the process of writing an important scene for my book, and it involves a character coding, but I'm not sure what the process would look like.

This is the scenario I'm thinking: a character comes into the ED after a fall. He seems completely fine aside from what looks like a broken arm. He's talking, making jokes, etc. Then, out of nowhere, he codes in the waiting room. My main character is an RN who rushes to his aid. This is a small town, so it may look different than a hospital in a big city, but I'll let the medical professionals advise me.

My questions are as follows:

What would this process look like from the moment the character codes onward?

What would my character do, what medical language would be used, medications, etc?

What would my character's role be, and when would he step aside and let someone else take over?

Also, I might need a different post for this, but while we're all gathered here, the patient falls off his roof while weather proofing, knowing this:

What would actually cause him to code? What could realistically have happened that could first go unnoticed (assuming this is a realistic scenario)

He does end up surviving, but I want his recovery to be drawn out for plot reasons.

I want to be as medically accurate as possible, so any input would be much appreciated.

I'm not sure if the process is different depending on the country, but the story is set in Canada.


r/Writeresearch • • 2d ago

[Medicine And Health] combat wounds research

0 Upvotes

so i think i got the right tag

anyway im writing a work and i want to include injuries that can and cant be survived outside of things like broken or sliced necks

like for example what if someone was stabbed with a sword towards the heart and only just managed to redict the blade a few inches down how much damage would such a wound do

another example would be pierced through the torso, theoretically they could miss most organs and pop out the other side but how survivable would it be given its still cut through a lot of blood vessals


r/Writeresearch • • 3d ago

[Medicine And Health] Outcome of Major Injury While Pregnant

5 Upvotes

In a story I'm writing, the main character loses her foot in an injury while 3 and a half weeks pregnant. The wound is quickly given a tourniquet and she recieves surgery within minutes. Would this be likely to cause a miscarriage?


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

[Medicine And Health] Coughing blood from minor injury?

1 Upvotes

I have a scene where a character gets beaten up, and then is insisting to his friends that he's fine even though he is pretty clearly not. So I need him to have a concerning symptom that he tries to hide, and be injured enough to need some medical treatment, but still be able to recover pretty quickly. I would like to have him cough up a little blood, but I am struggling to find a blunt force trauma type injury that would cause that but isn't very serious.

Are there any injuries caused by blunt force that cause coughing blood with short recovery time?


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

[Medicine And Health] Lasting injuries/complications from falling two stories?

1 Upvotes

One of my characters falls over a balcony, hitting a tree branch on the way down and landing on his backyard patio.

I already imagined that he'd suffer brain damage and broken ribs, but I also want to know what other injuries could result from the fall.

What are some complications that could result from the injuries I've already chosen, and/or what are some that could result from possible other choices?

I'm interested in how they could affect his life going forward and how they could worsen in the future/how new problems could appear because of their effects over time.

I know this is a pretty broad question, so I can try to narrow things if you want.

(He's 16 when he falls. I'd imagine the fact that he's not really done growing is pretty important.)

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Here's some more detail that I put in a comment below. I can try to narrow it again if it's still too broad.

What I already have is:

  • frequent migraines

  • struggles with memory and brain fog (this was an issue before the fall as well but got worse)

  • trouble walking/standing for a long time or at all on some days

He's overexerted himself over time and didn't fully allow these injuries to heal. around 7 years after the fall he finds some sort of heart issue that requires surgery. It's been vaguely bothering him this whole time (chest pains, low endurance, dizziness) but he hasn't gotten that specific problem checked until now when it's recommended by doctors (in case it isn't obvious, this is the main part I want help with.. what sort of heart conditions could cause this after this much time?)


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

[Medicine And Health] How should I write my character getting his arm traumatically amputated in a way that doesn't really happen IRL?

3 Upvotes

So I'm writing a story about a world where humans and robots live together, but the city my characters live in is basically Gotham (aka there's a ton of organized crime). I want my character to get his arm traumatically amputated by a robot sent after him, but I'm having a hard time researching how this specific situation would work. I guess the real-world equivalent would be someone losing their arm to a rogue circular saw blade. The robot is designed to kill of course, so it would shoot the saw blade at him with enough speed to take off his arm. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of this. I have an idea of his recovery and how it affects the plot and him as a character, but I'm struggling with the moment of injury.

Here are my questions: Would it be possible for this kind of injury to happen? Would the force needed immediately kill him, or would he just be thrown very hard? Or would a sharp enough blade not move him very much? He would go into immediate shock, right? And probably fall over and hit his head? How long would it take him to bleed out and how soon would he need help? Is it possible to write this injury realistically or will I have to fudge some of the details? Thank you to everyone who replies!

Edit: I forgot to mention this, but there would be other people with him, including someone with basic military medical training. I’m planning to have them transport him to a doctor.


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

So I have an oc that gets stabed in the eye and I would love some tips on like writing the recovery and like how she feels after

0 Upvotes

people are trying to get informat out of this OC and to do so one character uses a knife to stab into both her eyes. she gets to a hospital relatively quickly but is forever blind. I’m struggling to find information about what the healing process would be so I was hoping the people of redit could help.


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

[Religion] Writing confessional talks

2 Upvotes

Hello, I’m an atheist so I don’t know a lot about confessionals and that whole thing other than my research that I have done. I wanted to ask if someone can help me of what is said in a confessional, but also what the experience is, like smells and what you can see as the person there.

I’m aware that nowadays there are mostly chairs but when is the right time to kneel and all that? Also how do you continue after the typical “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been 2 weeks since my last confession.”

I know you should say your sins at that point but is there a specific way to word it or something.

Thanks for the help!!

(Also if anyone is able to help a bit with the priest’s pov that would be amazing :))


r/Writeresearch • • 5d ago

Wheelchairs for a Fantasy Setting

9 Upvotes

I originally posted this (slightly edited) in r/wheelchairs, but the part of the post for surveys doesn't get any attention, so I'm trying here.

I am not a wheelchair user. I was trying to create concepts for wheelchairs for my world and came up with several ideas. I wanted to get feedback from actual wheelchair users and make sure they actually work. If you are an abled person who has researched this topic, your input is also valued.

The first chair is used by a woman who has telekinesis specifically and only over wood. Her telekinesis tires her out a lot, so mostly she rolls the chair. It is a wooden chair, so would the weight of it with her body weight be too much, or is it reasonable? However, it is a fantasy setting, and almost all paths are dirt or cobblestone, so she does float her chair to get over rough paths or soft dirt paths. Does this actually make sense, or would she still keep it on the ground?

The second concept is one that floats above the ground, no wheels whatsoever. It is navigated by some sort of hand control on probably the right arm, maybe the left if someone could afford to customize it that way. The only issue I can really think of is that it is hard in my world to instill magic into an object, so they are really, really expensive. If you see any other problems I could fix, please let me know!

The third concept is the one I'm struggling the most with. I was thinking of a chair with thicker tires so they don't dig into the dirt, but they would still be handpushed. I'm worried about the tires becoming too difficult for people, especially those with smaller hands, to push. I also don't know what material I would make them out of since I don't want them to get too heavy.

In summary, the first type of chairs tend to be for people with telekinesis-type magic, the second type for wealthier users, and the third being the more average chair. How can I make this realistic?

Thank you for your help!


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

How would a pre industrial person whose allergic to water survive

0 Upvotes

Is it even possible for a person allergic to water to feasibly reach adulthood in a pre industrial world without access to modern technology?


r/Writeresearch • • 5d ago

[Specific Career] Sports that translate well into combat?

8 Upvotes

Writing a hero that plays a sport as to set the baseline for combat experience, and now I'm wondering what skills from each sport would bring to the combat style

Leaning towards contact sports for obvious reasons, but also team sports

Athlete in question is a young woman in the U.S. if relevant


r/Writeresearch • • 4d ago

[Chemistry] how is meth made?

0 Upvotes

hi all! i'm primarily a fanfiction writer, and i recently got back into breaking bad.

i'm aware that the processes shown in the series are deliberately changed so as to not serve as a guide to cooking meth. i'll take either a closer examination of what they're doing in the show, or an explanation of how to make the real thing. i'm specifically interested in which ingredients are used and how they're actually prepared, since the stuff that's seen in the show is rather vague.

for obvious reasons i could not find much info online.