Do stories help?

[hua man]

I posted this at another forum and got some good feedback.

Do stories that you have read, be it JDY fiction, Kathy in FL, TOM, or any of the numerous authors out there helped in plans by the content of their stories?

For me, from JDY, it was Geiger counter use and description that prompted me to get a set. His description of scenarios, big and small, that lead to different back-up plans independent of each other.

Kathy in FL, has given me insights to the female mind to help prep for females in my family, not to mention some very good recipes. (YUM!)

TOM, not all of my gear needs to be of modern design. Before I planned on modern military gear, vs his cowboy shooting look and ideas. Just because a design may be obsolete by today's standards, it isn't useless. Sometimes they may work better.

For the others too numerous to mention:

Clothing- synthetic vs natural fibers
Food Storage- basic ingredients (Grains) vs pre-made meals (MREs)
Medical- herbal vs stored meds

The list can go on. Even though I'm an apartment dweller, I can stay vs joining a larger group.

Examples of stories helping/expanding your circle?

[buckshot]

I can get sick and tired of reading about conspiracy theories.

I can get plain fed up with "doom and gloom" posts and threads.

I can quickly blow off "What did you do to prep today or this week or this month", quickly seems like preaching to the choir with no one else caring.

On the other hand, a well written story can catch my interest, give me entertainment AND give me good ideas for prepping and getting ready.

Yes, stories do help.

Buckshot

[rvm45]

My ideas are already well ahead of my ability to implement them--though occasionally, I will come across a neat idea.

They help me occupy my mind, and rescue me from the Temptation to waste my time on anything productive.

Think about the book "One Second After' though.

Although it deals with an after TEOTWAWKI Theme, it really isn't a "PAW" Book.

{I'm lumping all "Prepare then Implement" books under the nice short title "PAW"--Despite the fact that many of them involve no ".....Atomic War".}

"One Second After" is a Mainstream Book. It drags in all the traditional plot/structure/tone of a Mainstream Book.

Its a Mainstream Book that happens to be about the aftermath of a huge EMP.

You can't even call it genuine Science Fiction.

As a PAW book, its sad. As a Mainstream Book, its very middle-of-the-road and forgettable.

And yet you be astonished at the number of people who've been motivated to look into Preparing to Survive.

One thing that moves many, is the "Slice of Life" way he describes so many Dogs slowly Starving.

Well, think about it--and give all your non-prepping friends copies of "One Second After".

.....RVM45

[mnn2300]

I think both reading and writing helps. I put myself into my story (Powers Out) Mark and Natalie in the story are modeled a lot on my wife and I. What would I do if EMP really happened. What would I do if a nuke went off downtown? There's no basements in Dallas to get into, that means I would need to make an interior hallway into a shelter, can I do that in time if a nuke goes off 20 -25 miles away? If I am prepared, I could at least have a chance, not a great one, but better than someone who has never thought about it.

Other peoples stories help also. They make me think about things I've never thought about. I got my wife to read One Second After, and shes much better at jumping on the prepping bandwagon than she was prior to reading it.

[wolfe1965]

Had never heard of PAW fiction until someone mentioned it on another type of board I frequented. First read some of Jerry's stuff and it was what really got me thinking and then into prepping.

Not sure if the "doom and gloom" posts would have done that.

Wolfe1965

[darkwolf]

I think the stories help train your mind. They give you different scenarios to think about and that helps you think of others. That way when you run up against a problem you can think through it and not panic.

Besides they are fun to read.

Darkwolf

[jimbiggunboys]

I think the stories are a huge help. They bring up questions and present scenarios that I've never even thought of. I was very dissappointed when another forum recently did away with all of the fiction. I think it was a big mistake. I have learned a lot from those stories.
Jim

[leper]

It is my opinion that reading the fiction gives practical ways of using equipment. It also peaks into a world of improvised equipment that the average person wouldn't consider. In today's society it seems that many people have lost the ability to improvise. Being able to get a job done, or avert a crisis, without the perfect tool for the task is beyond the scope of people today. If you are the guy able to do it, people look at you with wonder.
I read a review of "Light's Out" where the reviewer bashed the authors characters because they possessed a varied skill set the he seemed to think was way to broad and developed to be realistic. The characters he was talking about reminded me of my friends. Nothing unusual about them, to me.
In reading the fiction, I consider it to be near-fiction. Struggles, situations, personalities, consequences, and the ways people handle them are all beneficial to me. I can take much more from them than I can reading a how-to book or a manual.
Reading LO while it was being written, online, is what got me into prepping. Following that up with all that JDY has done has really increased my desire to be self sufficient. I have been reading the work of Nova, both online and in print. All of this opens my mind. What more can you ask?

[patience]

Stories help me in many ways.

Very importantly, it gives me the viewpoints of many other minds. I've been at this a while, but I can't think of everything. No one can. The constant nagging of what I have overlooked is what got me into reading PAW fiction. That could be something as simple as lacking a can opener, or as overwhelming as a threat I hadn't considered, such as the New Madrid Fault going off.

I've done a bit of writing for my own amazement, but not for submission of any kind. My writing has been for the simple purpose of stimulating my own thinking, and helping nudge me into completing how a given scenario may work out, or what I could do to mitigate a problem.

I have read all of Jerry Young's work posted here, Lights Out, several of KathyFla's, Scrachline's and Grand's works on Frugal's, and a bunch of others in the past couple years. The different writing styles of these authors have enabled me to progress with my own efforts in writing, besides all the practical knowledge they have given freely. I have a huge debt of gratttude to all these authors.

Some of the lessons I have learned include:
-Stick to what you know best, and you will excel at it. That applies to what we are living, as well as writing, IMHO. I see the above successful authors doing that, with great results.
-Let characters grow and "take on a life of their own", instead of trying too hard to force them to a preordained conclusion.
-Allow new ideas to penetrate my thinking, to better overcome my preconceptions that may be in error. Life happens, so I had better be flexible to deal with that, because there is no guarantee of a happy ending.

[shirley]

I think I am a bit different from many of you in the fact that I started reading catastrophe books at age nine. I read the 751 page version of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island and then Nordoff and Halls Mutiny on the Bounty, Men Against the Sea and Pittcairn Island. I had read
all the children's library books that I wanted to read and my mom took me upstairs to the adult library. I was thrilled with the genre of books that portrayed man against nature or surviving catastrophe's. I read Little House series downstairs as well as Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe. When I couldn't find any more books such as these represented I read Sci fi stories about colonizing other planets. The Mars Series, Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars were about colonizing and terraforming. I have always been facinated with survival against the odds. I began to be a true prepper in about 1998 and have continued off and on for all these years. I keep approx. 1 yr. supply of food and lots of the tools of survival and have learned much from my fascination of reading and I want to thank all of the writers that are my favorites JDY, Kathy in FL, Steve, and many others. The books like Earth Abide, Darkness and Dawn and Malevil have been some older books that I have loved. The newer books such as One Second After, Lights Out, and Patriot are good as well. I look forward ever day or two reading the stories posted by some of my favorite authors. Please keep them coming. I am right now following approx. 5 stories. Thanks.

[patience]

Yes!

My reading adventure novels began with Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped (also R L Stevenson), The Man in the Iron Mask, The Count of Monte Cristo, and progressed through Atlas Shrugged, Alas Babylon, Larry Niven/Jerry Pournell's works (like Lucifer's Hammer), The Mote in God's Eye, and on up through Lights Out.

Each has its' own lessons for the human race, but it doesn't seem like very many people are listening to them.

I must admit to a fair amount of "normalcy bias" in my daily life (tomorrow will be much like today), although I actively try to plan ahead for changes. A good rousing adventure/PAW novel helps get me off my complacent derriere and working on what I need to do, whether it be normal garden chores, or something to deal with economics. I greatly appreciate many authors' contributions for this reason.

EDIT TO ADD: The above is not to say that I am not prepared for many things in life; although we aren't ready for nearly all of them, we do live a roughly a 1950's rural lifestyle. That is the result of much thinking after much reading.

[buckshot]

I didn't start with the classics like some of you seem to have.

I started with Heinlein "juveniles" and then had to fight the librarian and get support from my parents, to get hold of the rest of his stuff, and he had not even gone into what some call the "crazy period" yet!

Went from there to good first hand non-fiction war stories and lots of weapons info.

Then on into sci-fi. Love a good "space opera" to this day, including lots of stuff from Baen.

Buckshot

[rvm45]

I started High School back in '71. I can remember asking the other students what they were going to be (as early as the 6th or 7th Grade).

If they said something like "Doctor", "Lawyer", "Architect" or "Pimp".....

"No! No! I mean After Civilization Collapses."

I can't recall where I got the absolute utter conviction that Civilization was going to fail--but it was an unquestioned absolute in my mind.....

Though it never entered my head to systematically prepare.

Think I was joking about "Pimp"? There was a girl named "Marcia", and she always claimed that she wanted to be a whore when she grew up.....

.....RVM45

[patience]

rvm45,
I had some thoughts that way back in high school, too. My wife did, also. We were really a match made in heaven, where that is concerned. I think Robinson Crusoe had a LOT of influence on me.

[astrid]

Actually, the stories have convinced me that the only way to survive the apocolyptic scenarios is to have a big bunker with at least a five year supply of food etc, and to stay completely hidden. Or be part of a well supplied army. I can't hope for either of those scenarios, so what is the point? Other than that, I am prepared for lesser disasters. When I read stories with large amounts of details and thinly disguised lectures on prepping I either skip those sections or close the book. So, no, books don't really make a difference to me.