How do you know this is me?
You don’t, really. Unless you know me personally (and for now, my subscriber list is small enough that you may actually know-know me), there is no way you know that the person writing this is who he says he is.
So you’ll just have to trust me. But let’s talk it through anyway.
Here in May 2025, things are moving very, very fast, and I have determined that this is the moment that I re-enter the fray of making writing my top priority, of really taking a stab at writing games and books and essays like this and cultivating an audience (1000 True Fans here I come!) and just getting back into writing and thinking about writing all the time. And what a time I’ve chosen!
I joked with my friend David M. over the weekend that it’s not like I’ve chosen a time where the writing industry and world at large is facing a seismic and existential crisis proportionate to the printing press as far as scope and impact, where the foundational idea of writing itself and why to even try to write is being threatened by technology and its rabid adherents at scale beyond even the Internet itself.
Totally the best time to get back into writing novels - right?
Ha.
So yeah, it’s a really weird time to get back into writing. Some people say things like, “Why even bother? There has never been more competition and AI will ruin creative writing forever…” or, “Actually, anybody can be a writer - all you do is put a bunch of prompts in and ChatGPT spits out a novel - I’ve written three so far!” But most people don’t have an opinion on generative AI. The technologies and the narratives around generative AI move so fast that unless you are actively thinking about this most days, then you probably don’t have a hard stance. You just want to like the things you like.
I know a lot of visual artists who are very upset with not only generative AI programs that “let you be an artist” but also the people who use these tools and claims they created the art themselves. I also know authors and writers who will get just as mad when people say that using generative AI helps them craft their story, or be their editor, or just bounce ideas off the friendly AI personality. And I get why they’re upset.
Because it’s not just about the people who use AI to write some/most/all of their books and then they call themselves “author” when the rest of us do all of the work ourselves. And it’s not just about all of the copyrighted materials that ChatGPT and Meta stole and have no intention of paying for. (And they’ve stolen a LOT - like, A LOT A LOT.) There are plenty of legitimate reasons for artists and writers to be upset, to feel threatened, and to want people in power to make it right (hint - they will not do that).
But what’s worse are the nit-pickers and apologists who like to get very specific when people get upset, saying things like, “You use spell-check! That’s AI!” and “It’s just like sampling music in the ‘80s and ‘90s, what’s the big deal?” Or worse, they give in and shrug, saying, “Yeah, it’s pretty much over for you.”
People: you’re not helping. At all.
So there’s very little help for writers and artists these days. We’re left to our own to figure out what we’re supposed to think, how we’re supposed to act, and how we hold to our values without losing our minds or yelling ourselves mute in the process.
Here’s another terrible truth for people like me: I work as an IT consultant and therefore must be at least somewhat literate and knowledgeable about generative AI, how it works, and what are its best applications for my customers. I use it inconsistently for help building business plans and researching frameworks to rollout new technologies. But I know people who use it every day to help them craft emails and other messages because it is very good at taking a lot of disparate information and putting it together in a coherent and easy to read way. You know, like writers do.
Sigh.
Look, I have a lot of strong opinions that I don’t really share. I used to share them all the time, berating people for their music tastes or political leanings or just how they lived their lives, and guess what happened? I sounded like an asshole and people didn’t want to be my friend. I even did this with my wife and we still joke that my hate of modern country music almost made her break up with me. It’s funny ‘cos it’s true.
Berating and offending people aside, many of my feelings on modern society do not seem to line up with ~gestures arm in a general western direction~ overall American culture and this is something I have just come to live with. I’m weird and different. I know how to mask and go about my days just like everyone else, but truthfully I think and act in ways that most people don’t. This is just who I am.
All of this to say, I don’t have time to get upset at ~gestures again at the whole world~ everyone about how to nitpick the definition of “using AI for writing.” I don’t. My head is already crazy-mad with too much stuff that keeps me at a level of high anxiety that I really do not appreciate (and yes, I know this is what they want).
So here is my stance on generative AI in my work:
I don’t use generative AI in my writing at all. In anyway. Ever.
Yes, I use “AI” to point out misspelled words, and sometimes I let it correct my punctuation. But that’s it. I never run my writing through any AI tool (except what MS Word does when it points out misspellings and missed punctuation, which it only gets right half the time.)
And I don’t use it to outline or ideate or for any creative inspiration or motivation at all. All fiction, games, blogs, and essays (like this one) are 100% me.
Everything you read here is written by me, by hand/keyboard, using my brain.
Why? Because I like writing. Really, really like writing. It helps me in so many ways that I can’t possibly describe them all, but who knows, maybe I’ll write about how writing is awesome and something everyone should try.
I don’t know how generative AI will impact creative writing going forward. Hollywood was already pretty risk averse and generic before generative AI, so I imagine movie scripts are just going to get worse and worse. And the fiction publishing market has been long overloaded with its shareholder-focus on just the top best sellers, leaving entry-level and mid-tier authors to fight over scraps. So that’s been a shit-show for a long time already too.
I would love to think that all these systems and focus on profit over creativity will eventually come crashing down in a Jenga-tower-style venture capitalist collapse, but I’m not holding my breath.
What does that leave for writers like me? Yes, the whole industry is facing an existential crisis - but since pretty much everyone is these days, it’s just one more log for the burn pile that is early-21st century and the entropy-driven collapse of late-stage capitalism. It’s already a total mess.
Creators, artists, authors, musicians, anyone who strives to give more than they take - this world is not by us but it is here for us to rescue, or at least keep afloat. I write because I have to - my brain is mad on fire with all these crazy ideas, and while I’d love for you to enjoy them, really I just need to get them out so I can live another day and stay upright and help my family and friends survive this insanity.
So yeah. I love to write and need to write and so everything you read here is me. All me, all the time.
I hope that works for you. If it does, then subscribe and follow along. I’m just getting started.