Interested In · 04
On the questions data can't answer
Writing gives me something that science and technology don’t.
There isn’t always a correct answer.
I’ve written two novels. Abandoned and Left Behind became a roughly 40,000-word novel involving criminals abandoned by their gang, and I researched historical material, collaborated on the cover, and published the book. I later wrote Hell on Planet B, which explores war on another planet and the consequences of that conflict.
One thing I really enjoy about writing is starting with almost nothing.
Maybe I have a character.
Maybe I have a setting.
Maybe I just have one scene in my head.
Then I have to create everything else.
Who is this person?
What does he want?
What is he afraid of?
Why does he hate someone?
What would make him betray somebody?
What would make him sacrifice himself?
Suddenly that one idea starts becoming an entire world.
Writing also lets me explore questions that aren’t easy to answer with data.
There isn’t an algorithm that can perfectly explain why someone loves their family, hates someone, becomes violent, forgives somebody, stays loyal, or changes.
Those are human questions.
And I find them just as interesting as technical ones.
Writing has also taught me that creating something takes patience. Forty thousand words don’t appear because you had one good idea. There are bad paragraphs, scenes that don’t work, ideas that have to be thrown away, and moments where you have absolutely no idea what happens next.
Then you keep going.
AI lets me explore what machines can learn. Writing lets me explore what people feel, fear, believe, and become.