Education

Creative Writing Is Just Choosing A Genre And Merely Picking New Characters

Creative writing is just that, it is to be creative. Unfortunately, often the creative mind finds challenges when it tries to make it to analytical. This happens a lot in composition class, where everyone studies the mechanics, and how to put together an essay. Too often we teach people how to do creative writing by instructing them on how to develop characters, how to move the storyline along, and all the components that are needed for a good creative work. The problem with all this is that many of the stories, especially in specific genres tend to come out nearly the same.
It is easier to illustrate this in movies because you can so quickly see the similarities. Not long ago, I spent the weekend writing, but in the background I had the science fiction channel on. During that weekend, they had the disaster series, where they had all the natural disaster movies on, one after another. Interestingly enough, after I watched for five or six of them in a row it occurred to me that almost everyone had the exact same plot, albeit perhaps a different disaster, but the only difference were different characters, but along the same lines, even the same endings pretty much.
Now then, I ask what good is that? What good is being a creative writer if all you are doing is choosing a specific genre, picking your own characters, and basically copying what has already been done 1000 times before? And if that is all you’re doing, why do we need you. Now then, I don’t want to chastise you too much, or criticize your creative spirit, I applaud it. Nevertheless, I dare to ask the question because I am also intimately familiar with artificial intelligence.
Okay so, I would submit to you that very soon these AI software computer systems will be able to do creative writing competing with your best efforts if you can’t step outside the box, and upgrade your creativity level. Is this a direct challenge? I believe it is, and there is nothing wrong with a good challenge – you should rise to the occasion. How hard would it be to program an artificial intelligent creative writing computer? It wouldn’t be that tough at all, especially in the example I gave above with the science fiction disaster genre. Basically you choose a disaster, one of perhaps a dozen or so;
Meteor Hits Earth
BirdFlu Wipes out Mankind
Everyone Turns into a Zombie
Giant Earthquake
Mega-Volcano
Military Black Project Goes Wrong
Huge Tsunami Wipes out City
Typhoon, Hurricane, Cyclone
F5F5 + Tornado
Terrorist Attack
Nuclear War
Y2K, Cyber Attack, Machines Rebel
Then pick your characters;
Religious Person
Atheist
Natural Leader
Stupid Bimbo
Brave Soldier
School Teacher
University Professor
Government Leader
Army General
And then you use the basics known to all genres in writing; opening scene, introduce characters, develop characters, conflicts arise, conflict solved.
Well, what I’m saying is I can program a computer to do that, we don’t need you to do creative writing if all you are doing is choosing a genre and merely picking new characters. Anyone can do that, in fact everyone already has. It’s time for you to step up to the plate and hit one out of the park, in other words think outside the stadium. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

No Comments Found

Leave a Reply