Show Don't Tell

Through the years, I’ve witnessed and benefited from innumerable advances in science and technology. During my adulthood, I’ve gradually incorporated computers and then the internet into my daily life. But nothing, and I mean nothing, promises to be as transformative as AI.

The first occupation that is likely to be replaced by AI is my current one. I’m not a trained writer, as is likely obvious, and I ‘m not particularly concerned about it since I’m past my earning years. Still, writing plays an important role in my life.

Since finding myself in this precarious business, I’ve tried to learn what I could about writing. One important, if challenging rule, seems to be show rather than tell. I think the message is to write in a manner that brings the reader into the experience instead of maintaining safe distance by describing it. And I’m about to do just that.

I said I would bring you into the writing experience, and I’ve been slow to do so for reasons I’ll soon explain. I also told you that I’m going through an identity change. I initially allowed marketers to place my books in the self-help lane, and genre specification is extremely important in the publishing world. For me, I felt like I was walking around in size six shoes with my size nine feet. I’m still smarting from the experience.

For my books, more than most, I decided that it’s important to frame what they are for the reader. If a person reads them with the wrong intent, they are likely to look for and find the wrong things. With that idea in mind, I wrote the rough draft of an Introduction.

I’ll let you know up front that I’m determined not to allow AI to take over my work. And I’m holding to my promise to keep my blogs totally free of AI. But there are times when it can make a positive difference. Because I see the intro as being of critical importance, I asked AI to take a look before publishing. I’m going to show you my version follow by the AI version. I think the reason for my inner conflict will be clear. I would love it if you would throw in your opinion concerning which to publish. Do I go with my barely articulate words or the smooth polished version of the machine?

My Introduction
Don’t believe your lyin’ eyes. What’s in front of you is not a book about psychology, psychotherapy or even, heaven forbid, self-help. So, what in the heck is it?

I struggled with that question myself until finally discovering what was right in front of me. It’s an experiential book. I’m telling you up front for a reason. If you come to a passage that particularly touches you, I’m hoping that you will allow to stop for a moment and allow yourself to experience it.

Afterward, you can stop in order to label it, explain it, and put it into a category so you can understand it. And that’s fine. It is, after all, what we’re trained from birth to do. Just keep in mind the vast chasm between words and our experience of what is real. Our words protect us, but they also shield us from the immediacy, the beauty, and sometimes the horror of our experiences.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve experienced the place beyond words. It might have been on a religious retreat, a moment of intimacy, or even while enjoying a divine meal. My purpose is to remind you of it. Even more ambitiously, I intend to give you some clues to finding your way back.

And just for those of you with a librarian instinct, let’s call it literary psychological fiction.

AI’s Introduction
Read this book the way you would listen to a piece of music or stand before a painting. Let it reach you before you try to understand it. If a passage stirs something—curiosity, unease, recognition—pause. Stay with the feeling a moment longer than you normally would.
You can name it later. You can analyze it, categorize it, or decide what it means. That’s the work our minds are trained to do. But there is a world on the other side of words, and most of us have visited it without knowing how we got there: a moment of intimacy, a sudden quiet on a retreat, a meal that felt like grace.
This book is an attempt to point toward that world. Not to explain it. Not to tame it. Just to remind you that it’s there.
If you need a label, call it literary psychological fiction. But labels are the least important thing about it.

My take: I’ve said before that AI writes better than I can. Sadly, there’s no comparison. The small thing that I can contribute is my experience, the human touch. And AI is getting better and better at duplicating it. I don’t want to make it seem like a competition. AI is not our enemy—and it won’t be if we play our cards right. What would you say are the chances of that?

Next time, I’ll provide the Intro that I decided to use. It’s critical, so I’m writing it carefully. I want to set the stage so that the reader is prepared for a different kind of book. I don’t want to create false expectations. Neither do I want to seem directive or defensive. Next time, I’ll provide the ready-to-publish version.

As promised, I’m going to share my writing and rewriting process with you. I will show you samples of my earlier, published writing to compare with my attempts to rewrite, and soon republish, from my new identity as a writer of literary fiction.