# When is research too much research?



## dakota.potts (Oct 7, 2013)

I'm writing a short story for an anthology featuring "bad guys" as the protagonist, or at least hoping it'll get accepted into such. 

I'm stuck at a part where the main character slips LSD into the coffee of a random customer at a restaurant where he works.

I've spent a lot of time researching whether or not one could feasibly do that and haven't gotten a clear answer. There's been a lot of "scientifically, the heat in the coffee and the chlorine in the tap water will degrade the molecule" and a lot of "anecdotally, my friend did it and he was so messed up!" 

The point is he's an evil character trying to toy with the innocence and perception of people. 

Is it generally accepted common knowledge that a hallucinogen in your coffee would make you go crazy? Even if that's not necessarily the truth and it's perpetuating a stereotype? I try to hold to a certain level of truth and quality, but I'm wondering if I'm focusing too much on the wrong thing.


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 7, 2013)

When it 

A) Is a substitute for actually writing (Waxing the cat), and/or

B) Gets in the way of the writing.


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## Outiboros (Oct 7, 2013)

Make the coffee lukewarm.

He's evil, right? Serving people cold coffee is evil.


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## Cran (Oct 7, 2013)

Of course the restaurant uses filtered water, right? 

If heat affecting the molecule is an issue, why not add the LSD to the milk before adding the milk to the coffee? Or, if the restaurant uses sugar jars and not sachets, add it to the sugar in a jar; by the time the sugar is added to the coffee, the temperature should be low enough.


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## The Tourist (Oct 7, 2013)

Being a fan of "Liberty Valance," my advice about facts and myths is simply to print the myth.

There's lots of stuff in my book that is borderline impossible.  For example, I "invented" a metal that bounces, yet society does not have computers or even rudimentary cell phones.  It's my reality, and in TouristVille, I make the rules.

If you have a story, don't let reality steal your thunder.  For all we know, your chemist just invented a heat resistant and water soluble LSD.  It comes in a metal can that bounces...


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## Whisper (Oct 7, 2013)

Frankly,
I don't think it really matters in this instance as no one can really prove or disprove the affects. If you were writing a medical novel it might make a difference, but not a short story.

When is research too much research?
Probably when you go on a website and ask people when is research too much. That's probably when you know it's been too much.


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## shadowwalker (Oct 7, 2013)

When in doubt, go with facts instead of anecdotes in your research. Put the LSD in their pop instead of their coffee.


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## The Tourist (Oct 7, 2013)

shadowwalker said:


> When in doubt, go with facts instead of anecdotes in your research. Put the LSD in their pop instead of their coffee.



Facts?  What fun is that?

At the day's end wouldn't you rather read something that pushes the envelope rather than just parrots whatever everyone else writes?

If my book ever sees the light of day it will severely tick off at least four foreign countries, two organized churches and both the ethereal sides of light and dark.  Who cares?  It's a story.

Swing for the fences.  Heck, why not invent an LSD compound that mirrors bubblegum and best enters the subject's bloodstream through the bottoms of his feet.

The real problem for the chemist would then be concocting an emulsion that works on the tread of cheap imported running shoes--that, and getting the victim to step into the "gum."


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 7, 2013)

Drop a ball bearing, you'll find that it bounces quite well, as do most metals when spherical, it's just that metals have a low coefficient of restitution when compared with rubber and plastics; but if metal didn't bounce we wouldn't have springs...


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## shadowwalker (Oct 7, 2013)

The Tourist said:


> Facts?  What fun is that?
> 
> At the day's end wouldn't you rather read something that pushes the envelope rather than just parrots whatever everyone else writes?



There's a big difference between working with facts and parroting other writers. Anyone can make things up so it's easier to make their story work - it's harder to work with facts and still make the story work.


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