Good Intentions Gone Wrong: When Characters Get Well Meaning but Misleading Survival Advice

Welcome to another insightful episode of Writing Rural With Alley! In this episode we uncover common survival tips that could mislead your fictional characters into danger.

Join us as we delve into five misguided survival advice:

Don’t Eat Insects - Discover why this advice could deprive your characters of a vital food source.

Finding a River Means You Found Help - Learn the risks of relying on rivers as a guarantee for rescue.

Following a River Always Leads to Safety - Understand why this advice might not always lead to safe havens.

Find Food First - Explore the potential hazards of prioritizing food over other critical survival needs.

You Can Eat What Animals Eat - Uncover the dangers of assuming what’s safe for animals is safe for humans.

We’ll also explore our segment “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” where we discuss various pitfalls and complications these misleading tips can create in your story. Perfect for fiction writers aiming to add realism and tension to their narratives!

Keywords: fiction writing, survival advice, character development, writing tips, story ideas, fiction podcast, writing podcast, misleading survival tips, writing realism

Transcript

Are you a fiction writer looking to avoid common pitfalls in your survival scenarios? Tune into today’s episode, where we unravel the truth behind advice that seems helpful but could lead your characters into danger. From the misconception that finding a river guarantees safety to the myth that you can eat what you see animals eating, we’ll explore the potential hazards of these misguided tips. Plus, don’t miss our segment “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” packed with plot twists to make your survival scenes more realistic and riveting. Listen in to learn about all of this and more in today’s episode. 

Welcome to Writing Rural with Alley, the fiction writer’s weekly inspiration station for rural life and lifestyles, from historical to post-apocalyptic, helping you bring your rural stories to life! I’m Alley, and this is episode #101, 5 Well-Intended But Misleading Survival Advice. Ok, I know, I know. I said it was a five-part series, but I had five left over at the end of the series. What was I going to do? So, let’s get into this, and don’t forget to stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong in your story. 

A quick disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, form, or fashion medical anything. This is not medical advice, survival advice, or anything in real life. This is for the purposes of fiction writing and nothing else. Ok, on to the show. 

1) Don’t eat insects 

I have no idea where this one comes from, but it is something believed far too often. In reality, eating insects has been around for as long as people. In fact, it’s still practiced in many cultures today and is making a comeback in the food industry. Or at least they are more open to talking about it. Don’t believe me? Just do a quick web search for red food dye made from bugs. 

Ok, so what is the truth about eating bugs? The truth is that it is not only a viable option, but a good one. There are many reasons for this, but I will start with the most obvious. Bugs are not only everywhere but they can usually be found in large amounts in the same area. One example is an ant colony. Ants can be eaten and there can be millions inside an ant colony. 

Not only can there be high amounts, insects are nutrient rich. This means they hold a lot of vitamins, minerals, and even protein when compared to plants. These are critical for keeping your character’s energy levels up, and keeping them healthy. Two things they will need to survive. 

Now, there are some cons. Some insects do have toxins. A common one is the blister beetle. If you don’t know what it is, let’s just say that you will get a blister by touching it. Hence, why your character doesn’t want to ingest it. A few rules of thumb when it comes to bugs are not to eat bright colors, hairy, fuzzy, stinky, or stinging bugs. I also advise not to eat dung beetles. Ew! 

One more thing, your character needs to prepare some bugs with fire. Crickets are the ones that come to mind for me. They can carry large worms, and your character doesn’t want to ingest that! 

There are many common bugs that can be eaten. As I said before, ants! Also mealworms, crickets, and grasshoppers. In fact, grasshoppers are mentioned repeatedly as a food source in the Bible. Just remember to investigate what insects are in the area your story takes place. 

“But Alley, we want to know if you ever tried them!” Yes, yes, I have. Growing up, I tired a lot of them. Ants (sadly never the chocolate-covered kind), grasshoppers, crickets, grub worms, and worms are the one I remember. I don’t remember ants or crickets having much of a flavor, but I was young the last time I ate them. 

Grasshoppers were not bad. We roasted them on tiny sticks, and they were crunchy, and every now and again you got a leg stuck between your teeth. They didn’t have much taste to them, but if I had to describe it, it would be like unflavored popcorn. 

But what I get asked about most are worms and grub worms. Yes, I tried a worm raw. Simply put, it tastes like dirt, and I do not recommend unless starving. We did roast them similar to the grasshoppers, and they were crunchy with only a slight dirt taste. If dipped in ketchup, you can pretend they are crunchy fries. 

Grub worms, in case you don’t know, have pincher teeth and having been bitten by one when I was little, because I tried to hold it, I refused to eat them unless it head was gone. Drove my dad nuts, but I was scared to have it bite my tongue, or throat. Which if you chew it up quickly it won’t do, but I was little. Anyway, raw, they taste like a snot ball of dirt. I remember gagging the whole time I tried to eat it, and I was forced to try it repeatedly for months. I do remember it was better roasted, but that’s all I remember about that one, as it was a long time ago. 

One side note, if eating ants, be careful what species. Fire ants and bullet ants are known for their painful bites, and will attack humans if threatened, or their colony is threatened. I can also tell you that carpenter ants have a painful bite, as I poked them too many times as a kid, and they got tired of it. Some people are allergic to ant bites. Another wrinkle to think about. 

2) Finding a river means finding help

I do understand where this comes from. Many cities and villages have been built by rivers as a river is an easy way to transport goods, get water, and get food. Food could be fish, beavers, otters, or other animals that come to the river for a drink. 

However, just finding a river does not mean your character found help. Depending on the era, help could be hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away. Even if there is a village in sight, or close by, that doesn’t mean it is friendly. It could be an enemy tribe, people up to no good, cannibals, or even head hunters. 

On top of the human dangers. There are animal dangers. All animals need to drink sometime, including predators. Your character could quickly find themself being hunted by a jaguar, or other predator. Not only are they on land, but some rivers have crocodile, or here in America, alligators. They can come out of the water, and be on land. Your character doesn’t want to stumble upon a mother alligator with her nest. 

But it’s not just living things that are dangerous. Floods and flash floods both happen at rivers, and can be deadly. If you would like to learn more about flash floods, I have a whole episode on that. 

If you are writing post apocalyptic, there can be debris from plane crashes, crumbling towns, boats, and more. There can also be chemicals and other toxins in the water. Many nuclear plants are on the river or other body of water to have a water source for the reactor. Something that could seep into the water ways if there is no one caring for it. According to some movies, there can also be zombies in the water. If it is contaminated with nuclear waste, I guess they would be toxic zombies. I just want to know if they would glow in the dark, or grow a third head. Asking for a friend.

3) Following a river leads to safety 

I do get this. In theory, you will eventually run into other humans if you follow the river long enough. On top of all the above dangers, there are things to think about. 

First is terrain. They could come to a huge cliff with a water fall. Think, Niagara Falls. They would either have to scale the cliff, which could be dangerous, or walk far enough inward that there is not a cliff, and then follow it back to the waterfall, but with them on the top of the cliff this time. There are not telling how many miles, or days, they would have to travel out of their way. I also would like to point out snakes love rocks, and cliffs are rocky. Just saying. 

There is also the danger of running into non-friendly people. Hostal natives, cannibals, enemies of your character’s people in general, flat out bad guys, moon shiners, and many more. Even if the people are not hostel, they might not want to help your character. There is also the possibility they do not speak the same language. If your character needs medical help, they might not have it. 

So while I would personally do this if I was in this situation, there are risks to following a river or finding a group of people your character doesn’t know. 

Now, it you want to hear a great story I think about every time I talk about this subject, I advise going to YouTube and typing in “Appalachias Stolen Child: The Caty Sage Story.” It’s a true story, and worth listening to. Just so we are clear, I am not affiliated with nor am I being paid. It’s just a personal true story recommendation. 

4) Finding food first 

I can only assume the idea behind this is to keep up your character’s energy levels. Which, of course, is important, but if your character is in a survival situation, this should not be first on the list. Assuming your character isn’t getting saved right away, and they are not severely injured, the first thing they need to do is find shelter. Why? Because your character needs a way to stay warm, and out of the elements.. The biggest danger they face is hypothermia. 

Hypothermia means the body loses heat faster than it can regenerate heat. Meaning, this can happen in the middle of summer, and not just in winter. With hypothermia able to happen in as little as five minutes, it needs to be the first thing your character worries about. 

Next, they will find water, and hopefully a way to purify it. You see, the human body can only live three days without water, and children, elderly, and pregnant women even less. While the body can survive for weeks without food. That means water is second.

After those two things, your character will worry about food. Now, will the average person know this, maybe not? I find only about 25% of the people I have talked to know this. That means your character might not, and could, fall into some perilous conditions. It also gives someone in a group the chance to save the others. Assuming that they listen. 

5) Eat what animals eat 

Some people believe that if animals are eating it, it must be safe for humans. Let me be clear, that is not true! Just as chocolate is deadly to dogs, so can things animals eat be deadly to humans. Some examples include, but are not limited to: 

* Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves, and we can’t. 

* Many scavengers can eat rotting or rancid meat. 

* Rabbits and squirrels can eat death cap mushrooms. 

* Deer, bears, rats, raccoons, and more can eat poison ivy. 

* Horses can eat red maple leaves that are toxic to humans. 

* Many birds can eat holly berries. 

One quick reminder before we get to what could possibly go wrong in your story: if you enjoy this content, I hope you will take a minute to share it with a friend, or fellow writing buddy. Word of mouth is the most trusted recommendation form. 

Now, for everyone’s favorite part, what could possibly go wrong in your story? 

Likely to go wrong: Your young character remembers they can eat bugs to survive and spots a wasp’s nest. They try to catch one so they can remove the stinger and eat it, but all they get is stung. 

Likely to go wrong: Your character finds a river and thinks they are safe and will be able to get out of the rain in a village by the river. However, there is a flood, and the village is gone.

Possible to go wrong: Your character sees a rabbit eating a mushroom and thinks that since the rabbit is eating it, it must be safe to eat. They eat some of the mushroom, not realizing it is a death cap mushroom. This will be deadly. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character follows a river, hoping to find help. Instead, they find a waterfall with tall cliffs. They will either need to go back, go around, or scale the cliff. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character is so hungry that when they find a bug, they quickly shove it in their mouth. The bug was a stink bug, and they are soon gagging and vomiting. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character knows they can eat ants, and when they find an ant colony, they try to dig the ants out to eat. What they didn’t realize is that the red ants are fire ants. When they disturb the nest, the ants attack, biting them and causing a lot of pain. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character follows a river to a village for help. It’s only once they get there that they learn it is a village of cannibals, and they are on the menu. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character is looking for help by following a river only to be attacked by a hungry jaguar. 

Thanks for listening! Until next time, happy wordsmithing.