My Competition is Me

 Greetings Fellow Writers and Readers

 Why do I write is today's topic - and other stuff

I write for several hours every day, working on short stories and novels. The company I write for is me. I work alone in an office full of bizarre and peculiar items that has no value to anyone but me. Occasionally, I will take a break and chat with other published novelists and freelance journalists. What I write about is of my own choosing, and I never run out of ideas. The pay is non-existent. The downside, however, is only a small fraction of what I write will ever be read, even the books and articles I have already published.

Why?

The reason is, thousands of books are published every year, and blogs and social media drench the internet with words to be read.

My Creative Team

And now there is a new participant in the game for writers to compete against – AI ChatGPT.  

Some have embraced this new technology, because the human quest, for some, has been and always shall be, the need for speed and wealth. But computerized words are just words with no compassion, love, pain, or sorrow. AI is incapable of understanding the human condition. Only a writer, pecking out words, in the dark of night, sitting all alone, can instill passion into a story.

 

Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion.

 

Passion: there is no greater word I could think of that perfectly describes the essential ingredient of every good or great story.

 

Only humans know what it feels like to shed a tear, hug a sick child, lose a loved one, or my personal favorite – squeezing my toes in the puddles of mud in my garden after a good soaking from a warm summers rain.

 

Sorry, I wandered off from the point of this article.

 

When you first begin writing a novel, there is a question you should ask yourself.

 

Who or what are you writing for?  My answer is always – Myself. Mainly, because I really need to dump all the tempestuous, creepy, and strange stuff that roams freely inside my head.

 

“I know that’s right, Mr. Kafka.”

“Thanks, jimmy. Now go back to sleep.”

 

My competition has always been me against me. It is how I push myself to be better.

 

I don’t hold any ill feelings for those who write for fame or fortune. We all have our different reasons for writing novels and I understand – you do you.

 

I will leave with this for now – Prick your finger and add three droplets of blood to the Goblet of Desire on the night of the full moon; the final ingredient necessary to create the Potion of Passion and Wickedness. Yes, Wickedness, my young apprentice. It is vital a component. Wickedness to twist their brain in such a vile manner that it will force them to continue reading and constantly begging for more, and more, and more, never wanting the story to end! 

(sinister laugh)

 

Until next time, always and forever, write like you mean it.

 

j/k