Chemistry in the wild

Unpolished

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 18, 2018
Messages
56
Reaction score
3
Location
AZ, USA
Sulphur trick, nice stealing, and reminds me of blanched(?) apples (light sulphur, close box, have good apples all winter)

Observing leaves/plants smart. Chernobl interesting. I wonder is it a dry enough neighborhood it will be creating a fire hazard?

What kind of dirt do you have? I bet he got some confused responses.

Thank you. Technically not the whole planet, four giant schools, farmland, recreation areas, so 80-90% of the planet is left wild enough there is the potential for something to see you as food. My premise(s) are solid/beautiful/engaging. My math/science is hard. My spell checker works. Everything else about the process is iffy and terrifying :)

I need better beta readers, the only useful thing any of them said was to drop the rest of the nonsense and focus on one facet of the story. Each picked a different facet.

I loved My Side of the Mountain. I remember only the name of the other(I suspect it had dolphins in the title and at the approprate age I would have been sure that meant it was a dumb, "girl book." Maybe I need to go get educated.)
 

themindstream

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Messages
1,011
Reaction score
194
I loved My Side of the Mountain. I remember only the name of the other(I suspect it had dolphins in the title and at the approprate age I would have been sure that meant it was a dumb, "girl book." Maybe I need to go get educated.)

It's a girl book but not a girly book, if you get what I mean. A young woman of a native tribe sees the rest of her tribe wiped out and has to survive on their island alone. Based on a true story.
 

katphood

"I'm a humanist." Edward Abbey
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
Messages
44
Reaction score
2
Location
SF Bay Area, East
What about time?

Sounds like this guy is going to be pretty busy with water, fire, shelter, and food. Too busy if you ask me to do much else.

Chemistry? Does he have bowls, flasks, test tubes? If not, he may need it. Building them in the sticks, assuming he arrived there with just his underwear, isn't easy.

And if he's alone, he's also likely dead by now. Having spent a fair amount of time alone in the wilderness, he'll handle the loneliness fine for a few days, then it will eat him alive. And if basic necessities ever become something other than easy for him, panic may set in.

Taking into account all these issues will make your story a lot more believable.

You might want to search the interweb for primitive poisons. The San of the Kalahari use poison tipped arrows. The poison they create is so complicated to create, it's a wonder how they came up with it. There are tribe elsewhere that take advantage of natural chemicals (just found) to hunt or fish. I'm sure you can find some ideas.