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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AI writing has really frustrated me — I still have a few students who submit AI writing as if it's their own. I think I'm catching it all, but am I?

To find out, I put together a "Turing Test" activity to see what my students are able to put together if they collaborate in groups — one group submitting human-written work, and another submitting AI-generated work. If you're interested, see the comments for the link!

Why just teach creative writing when you can also teach suffering?

English 101: Where dreams go to die. 🤣

This is actually a good lesson for writers. Stories excite us when the characters face real struggles. Don't go easy on your protagonist — let the reader feel your main character’s pain. Let your hero fail. Show us what it means to fall, and then crawl back into that disaster movie we call life.

-EXISTENTIALISM IN OPEN WORLD GAMES-

I love open world games, a lot. I do not have much time to play them, but man I do enjoy them.
I do notice though something peculiar happening: I adore the early stages of the game, when I'm powerless and weak, and I have to hide from danger, outsmart my enemies and defeat them with the scarce resources around me. The challenge and the craving to becoming powerful is key for my enjoyment.
But then... once I accomplish my goals, get the best weapons, obliterate the most dangerous and evil beasts and demons, I start feeling strange. Lonely. Empty.
Nothing around me is challenging anymore. No more side quests, no more charming NPCs, no new lands to discover. Just memories of the joy I felt when I saw those landscapes for the first time and couldn't help but being in awe to the beauty of human imagination.

Usually at this point I lose all interest and I renounce to going to the castle to face the final boss. Even knowing I could erase him from earth effortlessly. That final boss represents Death. The End. Reading the last page of your favorite book. Unveiling the last secret of a world you have been part of.

Then I think about the challenges I face everyday, big and small, and I pray for the universe to send me a difficulty curve hard enough to keep me focused and interested, gentle when I need a rest, and long enough that once I have to beat the Final Boss I know my time has come to end the game.

Why can't I just play and enjoy? Ah, sometimes I wish I could.

MORE AT https://www.patreon.com/c/mikimontllo

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?

Need some dungeon tiles? Maybe a notebook for your forever DM? We're running a booth at this weekend! Meeting a lot of great people, really enjoying the vibe. If you're here, please stop by! We've also got a painting station with large sheets of plywood — perfect for the kids who need to do a little art.

Life is just like poetry: it has a rhythm no one understands, and the main theme is all the love you’ll never find. 🤣🤣🤣