12Writing

Found this intricate breakdown of Gandalf, power, and knowledge in Lord of the Rings. It's kinda weird how having too much authority can make someone rigid in their beliefs and assumptions, but we see it all the time — and I didn't fully appreciate Tolkien's depth until I'd read Genny Harrison's analysis.

Are you also writing characters like this? Do your stories also explore the nature of power in the human heart? Comment below with your thoughts!

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Ignite your words. Writing doesn't need to offer catharsis — you can also use it keep wounds fresh. To remind yourself — and your readers — of the raw agonies we endure through this journey called life. And through that sharing comes relief, comfort — and sometimes hope. So don't hold back. Write the feelings that burn.

Know what AI can't do? It can't feel a sunset. It can't mourn the loss of a loved one. It can't walk through a war zone to interview survivors.

Today's AI can't experience life, and it doesn't create knowledge. Instead, it aggregates together the words and images that people have shared online. It reassembles the typed pages of our lives into meaningful, bite-sized chunks — but only in tiny pieces. And never the full context. If you want the real story, you need to find those who have lived these experiences. You need to go to those personal blogs and books and videos. You need to reach out through phone calls or messages or over a cup of coffee.

Sure, AI can introduce you to knew ideas, and it can structure vast amounts of information to provide specific answers to your individual questions — but AI doesn't have the lived experience to know which questions you should be asking.

That's why we write. That's why we have stories and poems and memoirs. We are continually doing our best to share the complexity of our own human experiences.

Don't confuse that process with AI. Without our words and our art, AI is no more than a vast array of circuits parked in a warehouse.

Writing: if at first you don't succeed, you always have another chance at the keyboard. Let the blank screen be your challenge to fill.

Not exactly The Three Musketeers, but it was fun designing these!

Creative writing helps me come up with better ideas for role playing games. My son and I play Dungeons and Dragons, and all the practice with writing novels makes it so much easier for me to dream up campaigns and modify them on the fly.

How about you? What games do you play? Do you find that creativity transfers between your writing and role playing?