I’ve been an editor and writer for more than three decades. Believe me when I say that I am profoundly ticked off by our current situation. 

And what situation is that? The near-collapse of the literary world (she says, with gravitas). I’d like to blame it on AI, but that’s the easy solution. The real problem is much more complicated.

We have good writers out there–established writers and newbies alike–who are avoiding em-dashes like the plague. 

We have editors scanning documents for any hint of AI, crazy-eyed, downing large quantities of coffee on a quest to catch the “fake” writers in our midst. 

We have editors who are using AI and still collecting their fee without disclosing it.

We have guilt-stricken content creators, ones who gave into temptation to use AI-generated content, and now they’re wondering if they’re still real creators.

In all of this chaos, there’s a looming question: what is our motivation for creating something? 

For many of us, the answer is simple. To make money. But sometimes there is a deeper reason.

I’m thinking now of a writer I know who’s in his seventies, battling illness, and just published his first novel, a sweeping tale of psychological horror. It’s dark and compelling, and I am proud to say that I’m one of his editors.

He sent me an email a while back to tell me that he’s working on a sequel. Here’s what he said: “last week I had the option of shooting up with heroin or starting to write a second book.” He decided to get writing. Now, a few months later, he’s almost halfway done with his first draft.

This is not someone struggling with whether or not to use AI. This is an author who is writing to quiet the demons. This is an author who goes to the blank page with purpose.

I don’t know how we in the publishing world will move beyond this transition, but I do know one thing for sure: I want to be like that guy in his seventies, staring down chronic illness, going to the blank page day in and day out, motivated by his own fire to create something out of the void. 

Writers, what brings you to the page? Editors, why do you like working with creators?

Motivation is everything.