I have sometimes wondered as I write what the purpose of writing a book is in the age of AI. My novel — The Sunset of Childhood, a working title I have stuck with these past few years — feels like it’s a necessary story because it deals with issues like overwork, living authentically, and the complex ways meaning gets misconstrued between people for the sake of their personal and professional identity, and yet there are barriers at every level of publishing that make it challenging for anyone to get a book into a bookstore, before you even consider whether your work will end up in the training data of the next cutting edge LLM without your knowledge, consent, or compensation. Then, once your novel is out there, it’s competing against bigger marketing budgets, larger platforms, and a slew of AI-generated books that makes it even harder for anyone to stand out against the backdrop of countless stories that are all looking for their audience.
There’s a case to be made that the diversity of stories is a good thing; more voices, more representation, and more diversity of thought helps sharpen society’s approach to the human condition in a way that hopefully improves it over time. That has been the focus of many writers for centuries: try to fulfill the deep human need for making sense of a world that often feels largely indifferent to us and our needs. Stories have been the way we traditionally create that sense of purpose and meaning, and even as children, we try to communicate through stories more than any other medium. Writing helped codify some of the rules of storytelling and offered a larger audience for people to share their ideas with by expanding the reach of stories beyond the immediate community where someone lived and the boundaries of human memory. Once a story was written down, it could be revisited again and again, sparking additional publications as people analyzed it and refined its ideas further in their own iteration of narrative construction, which is how society grew more innovative and complex.
There has been an increasing focus in sections of the media on the actions of LLM companies have taken with a variety of used books. According to the commentary, Anthropic and Amazon have been buying up used and rare books, scanning them for use as training data, and then destroying the books so that no one else can access the information once they have it once it’s in their LLM. There are many issues with this, including the destruction of creative thought, monopolization of culture, and more, but it adds an additional layer of difficulty when trying to figure out what the point of writing a book in the first place is?
There are plenty of platitudes writers can console themselves with about the value of writing a story you believe is worth telling, but it may come down to something even more fundamental than the desire to create, the value of imagination, or the need to satisfy something primal in the human psyche; it may be that the value of writing a book in a world where the press of a button can generate its own story is that it helps make sense of the storm of ideas that fill a writer’s mind, the struggle that everyone endures to varying degrees when forced to justify taking another step. Rather than thinking about the work of writing or authorship being something that enlightens or pushes the boundaries of human thinking, it can simply offer insight into why someone gets up the next day to struggle through more bills, headaches, heartaches, and difficult decisions.
The Sunset of Childhood began when I was thinking about overwork and burnout which I witnessed extensively in my undergraduate degree, but I suspect it has just as much relevance today for artists and non-creative professionals alike, because when leaders tout AI tools as replacements for wide swaths of society, it’s important to remember that the purpose behind doing good work isn’t solely to generate profits, build highly advanced technology, or streamline every inefficiency out of existence; it’s to create something that makes your world a little more purposeful hoping others may find a path towards their own version of sense-making, and building a better society as a result.
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A Feel Good Place
How “Fun” Became a Business Model
On a trip to Essex with my wife, we came across a chocolate shop situated in the historic section of the little town. From the outside, it was an unassuming storefront, but the moment you walk in, you’re met with the sense that “joy” is more than a branding stunt for the Joy Chocolate Co.
On delving deeper into the story behind the business, I found that it highlights a unique alignment between mission, brand, and innovation which most business leaders tend to forget. Starting from a woman’s desire to pivot from her role in nutrition for critical care and oncology patients, Joy Chocolate Co has managed to bring the elements of a fantasy novel to life while still supporting itself under its own steam, though not in the way you might expect.
From the Bookshelf
THE DRAGON REPUBLIC BY R.F. Kuang
Rin should be flying high; she’s the sole person to have command of the Phoenix’s power, the Mugen Empire has fallen to its wrath, and now she’s left in command of the Cike. Yet, she’s also suffering from addiction and a listlessness that makes her indifference to safety more of a liability than an asset. So when she’s ambushed by her old classmate Nezha on a mission from the pirate queen Mooag and offered a role in the army of the Dragon Warlord, Rin signs on immediately in the hope of getting back at Empress Su Daag Ji. But will Rin’s desire for revenge, coupled with the rage of the Phoenix, carry her through the war to come, or will it blind her to the threats lurking just out of sight?
For Casual Readers: The book will likely appeal to anyone who enjoys action-focused narratives or those that rely on the progression of a war to carry it forward. However, it’s worth reading The Poppy War first to have additional context about the world building.
For Writers: The book offers a great example of how to manage world building, characterization, and all other elements of telling a compelling story while subverting a key trope of those narratives, such as the committed, warlike protagonist suffering from the consequences of their actions.
What Comes Next
Enjoyed this issue? Here’s what you can expect from the next newsletter:
A reflection on why the end of the year seems to fly by come October
How a coffee shop turned acceptance into a competitive advantage
A review of a thriller dealing with how the choices we make shape our lives
As always, while this project may be a space where I share some of the things I have been thinking of, I also want to make sure it delivers value for you. So if you have feedback on what you would like to see, let me know and your recommendation may make it into the next issue.
