I love the question, ‘What is a story?’ It’s both technical and philosophical, and seems especially pertinent to the current epoch because it raises the subsequent inquiry: can AI truly write one?
Fiction or Storytelling?
Can a large language model make something up? Most certainly, (often when it’s been asked to accrue facts!) but I will argue over the next few posts that a work of fiction does not necessarily a story make.
How to Define ‘Story’?
When I introduce my students to writing techniques, I take pains to make clear that creative rules are not mandatory. Writers choose specific forms to achieve desired effects. I then go on to say, however, that if what you desire is to write a story, there is one non-negotiable rule: your characters must undergo change.
The Philosophy of Change
That journey, from one emotional point to a wholly changed emotional point, is simultaneously character and structure. To achieve it, storytellers underpin their inspiration with technique. AI can simulate such change in protagonists, employ the same techniques. But the enduring popularity of storylines, the human need to witness character development again and again, suggests to me there’s a reason we keep demanding stories, and that reason makes fiction created by AI redundant. AI ‘stories’ don’t serve the purpose stories are meant to serve.
Writing Exercise Options
I hope you’ll let me examine the human need for fictional character growth in future posts. For now, here are three writing exercises for exploring the non-negotiable rule of ‘change’:
1/ Your protagonist is delighted to spot a £50 note on the pavement. Gradually, their feelings about this ‘lucky’ find change.
2/ Your protagonist is contacted by an old, old friend they’ve not seen in years. On meeting up, their feelings about this person slowly change.
3/ Your protagonist is woken in the middle of the night by a loud knock on the front door. At first moved by the plight of the stranger standing there, on helping them, your protagonist’s feelings start to change.
You can aim for approximately three paragraphs, but it really doesn’t matter how long or short your piece ends up being. Let it simmer. I’d love a comment to let me know how you got on, and I’ll post a new writing exercise on the 1st of next month.
what gail wrote 