The chapter was too short – my chapters tend to be 2000 words minimum and sometimes 5000, and there was just something lacking.
Okay, I admit, I probably could have given it a bit more information, so maybe it was partially my fault, but here is the issue, from my perspective: It lacked soul. Or heart. Or whatever you like to call it.
I approach my journalistic writing in the same way I do my fiction writing. If there’s no heart in the story, there’s something missing.
Of course, I do occasionally have to write stories that are just straight “he said, she said” kind of pieces, but when I’m writing an article I feel my readers need to relate to, I try to find someone who is willing to share their personal experience.
I do like to write about things that explore history, but I’ve learned from experience that the best way to learn about history is to talk to someone who has either lived it or knows enough about it to be able to relate a story.
Years ago I read a series of novels about the American Civil War. I didn’t know much about the Civil War, or the events that led up to it, but those novels helped me, in a sense, draw a picture in my mind. I could have just read a non-fiction book about it, and I might some day, but there’s more soul in a story that is like looking through the eyes of someone who has experienced it.
I really don’t think artificial intelligence will ever be able to give us that.
So as long as I’m able, I will keep writing the way I write, in the hope that by sharing people’s experiences, or using fiction to create an experience, I might be able to give my readers some insight into the world. And perhaps some soul.
