⸱ ៰ ʚ Cinnamochi ɞ ៰ ࣪

Hello! I'm gonna share how I go about writing poisons and the things I think are helpful to keep in mind. Now, I have never actually poisoned someone - shocker - but I have done extensive research on the topic, so I would say I know a decent amount about how to effectively poison someone. Disclaimer: This is for writing purposes only, don't poison people. Thanks.

Keep In Mind:

Poisoners need little to no physical strength although they do need a strong sense of self control & nerves of steel. Shooting or stabbing someone takes a mere moment of consideration and is frequently the result of  a split second decision, while position requires dedication. Many poisons require a certain amount of time to work and the poisoner usually must administer several doses of poison in order to work. The poisoner also usually must be within close proximity to their victim and often will have to look them in the eye and engage with the person while the person slowly dies.

Exotic poisons can be more trouble than they’re worth. Importing exotic poisons leaves a trail for authorities to follow, and they require more research to correctly use.

Smart poisoners work with what they’ve got. The clever killer looks for drugs that are already in the victim’s medicine cabinet and that could be deadly. Read medical warning labels to get an idea of how to use them.

Poison can be used in ways that aren’t deadly. If the goal isn’t death, you can render someone dizzy or dopey, making a character vulnerable to a bad influence. 

Common Poisons

Hemlock: Poison hemlock comes from a large fern-like plant that bears a dangerous resemblance to the carrot plant. It was readily available for treating muscle spasms, ulcers, and swelling, but in large doses will cause paralysis and ultimately respiratory failure. 

Mandrake: It was used as a sedative, hallucinogen and aphrodisiac. Superstition mediaeval denizens believes when the vaguely human-shaped root was pulled out that plant gave a piercing shriek that would drive anyone to madness or death - hence the harry potter scene.

Arsenic: Arsenic comes from a metalloid and not a plant, unlike the others but it’s easily the most famous and is still used today. instead of being distilled from a plant, chunks of arsenic and dug up or mined. It was once used as a treatment for STDs , and also for pest control and blacksmiths, which was how many poisoners got access to it. It was popular in the middle ages because it looked like cholera death, due to acute symptoms including stomach cramps, confusion, convulsions, vomiting and death. Slow poisoning looked more like a heart attack.

Nightshade: A single leaf or a few berries could cause hallucinations - a few more was a lethal dose. Mediaeval women used the juice of the berries to colour their cheeks, they would even put a few drops on their eyes to cause the pupils to dilate for a lovestruck look which is why Nightshade is also called ‘Belladonna’ or “Beautiful woman.” The symptoms include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, flushing, severely dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium and convulsions.

Aconite: This toxic plant, also called Monkshood or Wolfsbane, was used by indigenous tribes around the world as arrow poison. The root is the most potent for distillation. Marked symptoms may appear almost immediately, usually not later than one hour, and with large doses death is near instantaneous. The initial signs are gastrointestinal including nausea, and vomiting. This is followed by a sensation of burning, tingling, and numbness in the mouth and face, and of burning in the abdomen. In severe poisonings pronounced motor weakness occurs and sensations of tingling and numbness spread to the limbs. The plant should be handled with gloves, as the poison can seep into the skin.

If someones poisoning another:

The character should analyse the daily life of the target well before attempting to poison them. Note what sort of medicines they take, at what moments they are most vulnerable, how attentive they are to their surroundings, and so on.

Choose a poison that suits your needs. You need to be as discreet as possible and not arouse suspicion. Too dramatic and people will know something is up. Choose poisons that are easy to slip into meals/don't have to be administered constantly, or you could simply frame it as an overdose by using the target's own medicines.

Think of how you want to administer the poison. Some take effect through touch while some require being swallowed. Based on that, come up with a plan to poison your target.

Make sure everything corresponds with the plot and characters, and nothing becomes a plot hole. Don't have a typically nervous character be perfectly calm when thinking of poisoning. Don't poison someone just for the sake of it. Have everything tie back to the plot, your characters rarely should be poisonings someone just for the "cool" effect. Trust me, it doesn't actually have that effect and just comes off like lazy writing. Have your characters act in accordance with their personalities.

I was thinking the other day about the whole “let boys cry” expression. It’s an important part of today’s feminism, it’s no longer only about woman, it’s also about the way gender roles and stereotypes affect men. 

And this made me think of a specific scene from my second book, I’m not going to go too far into detail because it’s not out, but basically there’s a scene that drives the female lead to tears, while not having the same affect on the male lead until they reach a safe space. 

I was thinking about whether this scene was problematic, although my male lead did cry, he did it later. And I decided after a little while it wasn’t, partly because the female lead is shown to be very open with her emotions very early on, and she gets this from her father who teaches her to be open with her emotions and not feel guilty about them. 

The male lead on the other hand is shown in the first book to be very distant with his emotions. He puts on a mask most of the time and keeps most of his loved one’s at arms length, there’s a good reason for this and it’s something he works on throughout the books. 

So, how do you write the emotions of someone who is emotionally distant? 

Well, for starters you have to know their limits. It’s not like throughout the scene the character is okay, he’s not, he’s just internalising that pain. That’s why he cries when he’s home. Which is the second thing, what is their safe space? Nobody can keep their emotions locked up forever, so when and where does he releases those emotions? Who are the people close enough to him that they’re allowed to see him cry? 

Going back to their limits, how long could he have remained in that situation before breaking down? 

They key to writing an emotionally distant character well, is remembering that they’re acting. They DO have emotions, those emotions are at play even if the reader isn’t seeing them, once you know that, you can see how they get closer to their limits and how those emotions drip through the mask. 

As usual,  check out my socials and book here.

ad astra per aspera - to the stars through difficulties

alis volat propriis - he flies by his own wings

aut insanity homo, aut versus facit - the fellow is either mad or he is composing verses

amantium irae amoris intergratio est - the quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love

ars longa, vita brevis - art is long, life is short

dum spiro aperitif - while I breathe, I hope

ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem - with the sword, she seeks peace under liberty

exigo a me non ut optimus par sim sed ut malis melior - I require myself not to be equal to the best, but to be better than the bad

experiential docet - experience teaches

helluo librorum - a glutton for books (bookworm)

in libras libertas - in books, freedom

littera scripta manet - the written letter lasts

mens regnum bona possidet - an honest heart is a kingdom in itself

mirabile dictu - wonderful to say

nullus est liber tam malus ut non aliqua parte prosit - there is no book so bad that it is not profitable in some part

omnia iam fient quae posse negabam - everything which I used to say could not happen, will happen now

poeta nascitur, non fit - the poet is born, not made

qui dedit benificium taceat; narrat qui accepit - let him who has done good deed be silent; let him who has received it tell it

saepe ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit - often, it is not advantageous to know what will be

sedit qui timuit ne non succederet - he who feared he would not succeed sat still

si vis pacem, para bellum - if you want peace, prepare for war

struit insidias lacrimis cum feminia plorat - when a woman weeps, she is setting traps with her tears

sub rosa - under the rose

trahimir omnes laudis studio - we are led on by our eagerness of praise

Ruben latericium invenit, marmoream reliquit - he found the city a city of bricks, he left it a city of marble

As a Writer it’s my goal to help and uplift other writers and future Authors alike so here’s a Masterlist of resources I’ve compiled for you to use for your writing!

If you know any sites or have any recommendations for me to add, my asks/submissions are open!!

I’ll update these as I further my journey & research into becoming an Author one day, please reblog this to help your fellow writers!

Organization, Advice, and Research

Hiveword - A website with multiple writing resources available such as planning, index cards, articles with advice, name and character generators, and research capabilities. The free account offers the essentials such as scenes, characters, and plotlines.

Storyteller’s Roadmap - A website that helps you plan, write, and revise a story thoroughly. It including guides to write specific descriptions along with a thesaurus, templates and worksheets, an Idea Generator and more.

Helping Writers become Authors - A website in a blog style format with multiple articles and resources including writing mistakes, novel outlining, story structures, as well as character arcs and many more.

UK resources for writers - A website with resources for learning how to write with free and paid courses, writing opportunities, and more for writers in the UK.

Creative Writers Academy - A website with free classes guiding a step by step through the publication process.

Reedsy - A blog style website that includes Articles about publication and centered around learning how to publish a book with many tools and generators for writing.

Poets and Writers - A website for Writers and poets with resources like publishing your writing, finding your community and more.

Research Links for Writers - An HTML site with multiple links and resources for writers spanning upon multiple genres, subject matters, and history.

The internet public library - A website encyclopedia for essays and academic papers.

Writing realistic Injuries - A website with a list of different types of injuries and how to write them out including, impacts, and the effects of them.

RanGen - A website for writers with writing challenges, resources, and generators for things like personalities, characters, poisons, writing prompts, etc.

Ivy Tech Library - A library database website with a lot of resources for research including folklore and by region.

How to write a story by Creativepromptsforwriting on Tumblr - A different Masterlist with many more resources about writing, staying motivated, certain plots, etc.

Self Publishing

A step-by-step Video about Self Publishing - A video by Gilliain Perkins explaining her process of how she self published her Best Seller Novel.

How to format your book yourself through word - A video by Natalia Leigh with a step-by-step process on how she formats her manuscript. Her video covers: Page Size, Margins, Line spacing, Indentation, Chapter Styles, Page Numbers, and Headers.

Strategies for Marketing your book - A video made by iWriterly she explains 34 different strategies that can be used to market a book (while marketing her book lol!) and includes a downloadable checklist of these strategies

Masterclass How to copyright a book in 7 steps - An article guiding step by step how to properly copyright a self published book.

Fiverr - A freelancing website where you can find someone to make your illustrations, covers, and even get editors as well as someone to voice or make an audiobook for you.

Up Work - A freelancing website  where you can find someone to make your illustrations, covers, and even get editors as well as someone to voice or make an audiobook for you.

Beta Books - A website for Beta Readers can read your book and return their feedback. It lets you sort and filter your feedback by reader, chapter, or keyword, to get your book done.

Docucopies - A printing service website with a short guide about self publishing, buying copyright, and ISBN references and sites, all while including printing services (10% off of orders over 350$)

The Book Patch - A book printing service which includes Print-On-Demand services or cheap printing services allowing for smaller quantities. The Book Patch does not offer expensive publishing package, and keeps book publishing costs to a minimum.

Affordable Book Printing - A website with book publishing services including printing books but also formatting e-books, Cover Design, as well as Marketing and more

Generators & AUs

Random AU Generator - A website that generates AUs randomly.

Fantasy Name/Realm Generator - A website that generates random fantasy names.

Random Name Generator - A website that generates random names based on the options chosen with the ability to choose by region and gender.

Service Scape Writing Prompt Generator - A website that generates in depth writing prompts as chosen by the genre selected.

Writing Plot Generator - A website that generates plots based upon your selections of genre, title, etc.

A bunch of resolutions for writers and people who want to try writing this year. It's in no way something you must do, these are just ideas how you can set out to improve your writing in the new year.

Try something new

Try to write something you have never written before.

Write something silly, write something serious, write in a different genre, try to write characters that you haven't explored yet.

Write consistently

Writing consistently will not only give you exercise to become a better writer, it can also keep your voice as a writer consistent.

If you have a first draft, write it down quickly and without big breaks inbetween.

Don't wait for inspiration

Waiting for inspiration to come can take forever. So don't wait for inspiration: search for it.

Make writing into a habit that comes natural to you every day, look up writing prompts, read a book you like, get yourself into the mood to write and do it!

Do your research

As a writer, you need to know about a lot of different things.

You can do research by reading books, listening to podcasts, watching movies, talking to other people, etc.

Take this year to learn something new and then tell your reader all about it.

Edit that draft

We all have that one story we wrote a while ago and then stopped at the first draft.

Take it and reread it and then rewrite it. You have a new perspective on it now and maybe this will be the year you turn your idea into a book.

Set yourself a goal

This explicitly doesn't have to be a goal about how many words or pages you write.

Your goal can be to finish something, to edit something, to write a few sentences every day, to share more of your writing or to publish something.

Don't compare

Try not to compare your writing with that of someone else.

Writing is about finding your own voice and telling a story that only you can tell. Also: other people's accomplishes don't diminish your own!

Write!

Whatever the outcome of your writing may be and whatever you want to do with it, if you want to publish it, if you want to share it with friends, or if you want to keep it to yourself: just start writing!

Do what you love to do.

To all my lovely writers, I wish you a great year, may everything work out in your favour!