A Show for the Galaxy takes place now or in the near future. When aliens challenge us, we expect a fight with soldiers, bombs, and guns.
But that’s not what the aliens have in mind at all.
I wrote this story during second quarter 2021. This was a year when I was writing every day, even when it wasn’t November.
Background
The Earth has two choices. Either participate in an interstellar arts competition, or lose an opportunity to join a huge intergalactic alliance. While it would not necessarily mean the end of the world, self-destruction would be inevitable without interstellar friendship.
Essentially, the fate of the world is going to be decided just like American Idol.
Plot
When the story opens, Charlotte (the narrator) describes the stakes and the production. A number of actors and behind the scenes people are chosen to represent the Earth in stagecraft.
There are other arts to represent the Earth, like sculpture and weaving. But the story is only concerned with treading the boards.
When the troupe is cut off from the grid, the cast falls into despair. They have no scripts! But then Charlotte pulls out her secret weapon—a small volume of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which she always carries around for luck.
Charlotte has gravitas. She was already a retiree when the alien challengers chose her. And so, she ends up in a director-type role. But it’s also because she has the script.
Characters
The characters start with narrator Charlotte, who is playing Portia. The man playing Brutus is Chase Marquis, who was born Chuck McKay. Charlotte refers to him as ‘an afternoon snack of a man’. He’s young enough to be her son.
And, of course, there are the other people in the production and those who work behind the scenes. Plus, there are people who represent other arts on our planet. But Charlotte never names them.
There’s also President Menosky, although we only see him at the very end.
Memorable Quotes
All the others are far younger than I am. And—horrors!—we were cut off from the grid.
With no way to access scripts, my fellow thespians started to panic. That is, until I pulled out my secret weapon.
See, it was a gift from when I first started out. My acting teacher gave it to me. Now I realize she was probably hitting on me. But no mind. I kept it because I’ve always loved this play. And now, it’s the only game in town.
I’ve got a paper book. It’s Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. And thank God we can create an entire production around this little, humble book.
I was in several productions, and I’ve always played Portia, so of course I am playing her again. My Brutus is an afternoon snack of a man—Chase Marquis. Or, as he was born, Chuck McKay.
I’ve taken on a kind of director role; and thank God they all listen to me. We’ll put on the best and greatest production of Julius Caesar in the history of whatever.
Or we’ll die trying.
Rating
The story has a K rating.
Takeaways for A Show for the Galaxy
I originally start to write Charlotte as almost a cougar. But then I decided she would drop anything frivolous and just concentrate on helping the troupe save the planet.
This story isn’t even 1500 words long, yet I feel it accomplishes its objective handily. I really should query this one!
I like Mandy Goes to Aspen because the character is so matter of fact about everything. Even the fact that she’s been hurt pretty badly. But then again, it’s nothing compared to what happened to other people.
This story was written during first quarter 2021. The initial prompt was a single word: avalanche.
It is the first of the short stories I wrote that year. My intention was to write every single day, and I followed through pretty well.
Background
These prompts were more or less random, and I had no plot or plan for this story. But I think it turned out pretty well. Still, the truth is, it did not start to truly come together until I changed Avalanche to A. Valanche.
And one of my favorite parts of this little story is the opening line:
Well, that sucked.
Plot
Somewhat ditzy and average-level talented Mandy Johnson goes to Aspen in order to schmooze with agents, acting coaches, directors, and other actors.
But things take a turn when Mandy is trapped in snow after an avalanche during skiing buries her.
With sardonic humor and a lot of very necessary ingenuity, this aspiring ingenue survives the big one.
Characters
The characters are Mandy (er, Amanda Catherine Johnson, to get technical) and Carol. I never give Carol a last name. There’s also Mandy’s agent, Arlene. But Mandy only mentions Arlene and we never see or hear her ‘on screen’, as it were.
There are also people in the lodge but again, Mandy only refers to them but the reader never sees them. Most of the story is more like a soliloquy.
Memorable Quotes
You know, those huge, slobbery dogs that I am totally afraid of? Those great big lumbering beasts. I hope they have tequila. Or is it brandy? Scotch? Can you tell them your preference?
I’d like a not too slobbery Saint Bernard. And put margaritas in that little keg thing they wear around their necks.
If I absolutely must sacrifice, then I suppose I will live without salt. So uncivilized.
Who am I kidding? I would kiss the first rescue dog I saw.
But not French; it’s not in my contract.
Rating for Mandy Goes to Aspen
The story has a K+ rating. After all, falling down the side of a mountain would make anyone swear.
Takeaways for Mandy Goes to Aspen
I like Mandy. She’s not only a survivor. She’s also self-aware enough to realize that she’s not going to win any prizes. Mandy would be lucky to get a part as Go-Go Dancer #3 in some screamfest. Most importantly, she can figure out how to solve a lot of her own problems.
I have no plans for a sequel or anything else. But I should probably clean this story up and submit it somewhere.
It seems as if the only thing you ever hear about these days is artificial intelligence. And a lot of people and companies are riding the great AI Hype Train.
But is it overblown? What is it really about, anyway?
Buying Your Ticket to the AI Hype Train
Evidently, the term artificial intelligence predates even my birth. But why is it now so, so very hot?
In part, we can all point fingers at ChatGPT. In 2022, they developed newish technology and it took off, fast! Kind of like an express train, if you will.
By early 2023, kids were already using it to write papers.
As a result, parents and educators started to get nervous. Really, really nervous. But can you blame them?
How Did the AI Hype Train Pull Into the Station?
But let’s back up a bit. AI didn’t just spring out fully formed, like Athena vis a vis Zeus. In some ways, it can pay to have had an eclectic career. Because I can honestly explain a couple of its origination points.
Databases
I’m sure most adults have heard of databases. But how many know, exactly, what one is? Well, in a way, it’s a kind of interactive list. It’s a means of organizing (basing) information (data).
Okay, so that was clear as mud.
To best explain databases, I like to turn to a personal favorite explanation.
The Database is Coming From Inside Your House
Wait, what?
We all have a database. You, me, your weird neighbor who lives down the street, and the King of England all have at least one database. And I am more than willing to bet that it’s the same type of database.
I repeat: what?
It’s definitely on your phone, and it may also still be on paper.
I am talking about your address list.
Why is an Address List a Database?
Your address list contains a ton of nuggets of information. Here, I’ll explain.
Say, you have an Uncle Dave Smith, who lives in Idaho, but used to live in Pennsylvania. And he’s married to your Aunt Susie Smith, but she was married before, to a man named William Jones. During her first marriage, Susie was known as Susie Jones.
Susie and William had a child together, Lou Jones. But Susie and Dave had a child together, Carol. Lou is away at college, in Colorado. Carol is engaged to be married to Fred Roe.
Are you with me so far?
If you wanted to list everyone who currently lives in Idaho, you’d get Dave, Susie, Carol, and maybe Lou (after all, college is generally not your permanent mailing address) and possibly also Fred.
Who fits in a set of people who have ever been named Jones? That would be William and Lou. But it’s also Susie.
Now Multiply That Times a Hundred
Let’s say you’re Carol and Fred’s wedding planner. You need to send out the invitations. And let’s say you’re sending so many invitations that it pays to batch mail everything. Using the database, you come up with four people in Idaho.
With a large family and an invitation list as long as your arm, you end up with a lot of data to comb through. A database automatically helps you pull out whatever you want (assuming the data is in there).
The Wonderful World of Granularity
Databases have fields. A field is a specific bit of information. Above, we have first names and we have state addresses. But we also have some relationship info. And while we don’t have ages or dates of birth, we can infer that Susie, Dave, and William are all older than Lou and Carol (but not necessarily Fred). We can also infer that William is older than Carol.
Now add the usual trappings of an address book, such as full name, address, phone number with area code, and ZIP code. With this information, you have even more inferences you can draw.
For example, if two people don’t share a full address, but they share a ZIP code, you know that means they live close to each other. If the wedding is somewhere they could drive to, but it’s a far drive, you could add a note suggesting to those people that they travel together.
What Does This Have to do With the AI Hype Train?
The generative and predictive AI you’ve been hearing about is really just a fancy way of saying it’s a database.
Say what?
There’s a ton of information, and all your computer does is look it up. Just like you look up Aunt Susie’s address in a book or on your phone.
Except a computer does this millions of times faster.
Now it’s time to look at the other piece.
Language Models
A language model is a list of words. But unlike a database, it contains a bit more info. It’s essentially in terms of probabilities. This isn’t really like the chance of someone saying the word infant vs the word baby.
Rather, it’s the chance of someone saying the word the or the word pickle. Because while we don’t see those words as even close to being interchangeable, a computer doesn’t. That is, unless it is taught. But otherwise, it’s just items on a list to a computer.
But where and how does such a huge model come together?
The Derailing of the AI Hype Train
To build a large language model, you need content. Lots and lots of more or less properly written content. This content should cover a large swath of human thought and activity. It has to be very broad in scope.
So, the developers turned to a place where they knew there was a ton of content, more or less properly written, covering great, big chunks of the human experience.
The internet.
Except there’s just one problem.
The Fly in the Ointment
They didn’t get most people’s permission to use the content. Also, they never checked it for accuracy or tone. A computer can’t figure those things out (yet). But you and I can. For example, we can tell when someone’s joking about something.
The AI takes it seriously.
And what about all the personal data online? The GDPR law specifically says that individuals must give clear consent to the processing of their personal data. Did AI and its creators take the time to figure out which of the trillions of web pages have personal data?
The answer to that would clearly be: no.
Finally, there’s also the matter of copyright. There’s a ton of original material online. It may be snippets of professionally written fiction, like in a blurb. Or it could be places for posting fiction, like Wattpad.
Did the creators of the language model used in AI stop to ask the authors whether they could have permission to train the model on their prose or poetry?
What do you think?
The Caboose at the End of the AI Hype Train
So, it’s mainly just a fancier, easier to use version of the databases that have been around for decades. And its training process for the language model is more than a little suspect. It can’t read your mind. It’s not Skynet. Yet.
There are plenty of companies which are trying to replace content writers with generative AI. But this technology, in that area, really isn’t ready for primetime. Predictive AI, on the other hand, more or less is.
Predictive is the kind of AI being used to cull through thousands of records to compare the data from one medical test results to determine the likelihood of the patient getting cancer. This is the kind of speed which humans just can’t do.
So when you read another breathless article or blog post about artificial intelligence, check to see if the author is riding the AI hype train.
Because Casey Jones, you’d better watch your speed.
What is writing freedom, and why is it important? It’s a piece of the writing puzzle that you simply cannot leave out.
Do You Have Writing Freedom?
The best definition I can give of this term is not only freedom of the press and freedom of speech, but also the freedom to write more or less what you want to. Of course, there are some exceptions even in an extremely free society.
But imagine living in a place where your choice of topics or genres or characters was dictated by the state. I couldn’t honestly find one (if you can, please comment!). But of course there have been plenty of times when tyrants controlled what the press could write about.
That’s more or less what state media is all about.
But let’s look at some other limits.
Libel
Of course, defaming someone in print is problematic. Sure, there’s no one staying your hand, or anything. But you really, really do not want to go down that road.
You would be on the business end of what could easily turn into a rather expensive lawsuit. That is not a place where anyone should ever want to be.
So, Dante notwithstanding, writing less than flattering things about your enemies is not a good idea.
A better idea? Change names and circumstances until the originals are no longer recognizable. If Zach from San Francisco becomes Amy from Buffalo, that’ll help.
Cultural Appropriation/Cultural Ignorance
Should men write women? After all, they’ve never been women. Yet this has being going on for centuries. If men did not or could not write female characters, we would never have literary characters like Juliet Capulet, or Dolores Claiborne.
Should younger people write older people? After all, they’ve never been in their sixties, eighties, nineties, or beyond. But we wouldn’t have Atticus Finch if authors didn’t do this.
Should people of one religion write people of another? That one’s a little trickier. I would suggest studying the rituals and the liturgy of the faith that’s not your own. And talking to adherents is never a bad idea.
At the same time, writers should keep in mind that adherents are all different, even those within the exact same sect.
… And Then There’s Race
Folks, we have now entered the minefield.
If you’re writing a Black character, for example, and you’re Asian, you probably don’t have the same experiences. And basing your character off Black characters you’ve seen on TV or in the movies is a surefire way to miss the boat on doing it right.
After all, popular culture is rife with exaggerations. But that’s kind of the point, particularly in comedy. Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley is rather different from Diahann Carrol as Julia Baker.
If you Frankenstein together your character based on that, well, you’re bound to be writing something truly offensive. And don’t get me started with characters who are essentially an illustration of White Savior Syndrome.
But Shouldn’t Writing Freedom Include the Freedom to Write a Diverse Cast of Characters?
Absolutely! Not only is this all right, it’s downright necessary if your writing takes place in the present time. Never seeing a Black doctor in your medical drama, or an Asian construction worker kinda denies reality.
Unless you’re trying to illustrate discriminatory hiring, or maybe all a racist character ever sees or hears.
It’s also a good stretch. Adding characters who are different from you can add some depth to your prose.
Respectfully Handling the Writing Freedom to Write Characters Who Are Not Like You
What is the easiest and most effective way to make sure you’re writing from a position of respect when you’re writing people who are not like you? The method should come as no great shock.
Talk to the people who are in the same race, religion, gender, etc. of the character you’re trying to write. Ask them if your prose works. Find out what they’re okay with, and what they’re offended by. And ask lots of people! Again, one opinion is not enough.
Don’t Abuse Your Writing Freedom
Just because society or the government doesn’t restrict the kinds of characters or stories you can write, doesn’t mean you should go out and just write whatever, willy-nilly, because you feel like it. Not when respect for real people’s identities is at stake.
Being sensitive to different kinds of people, and different kinds of characters, makes you a better writer.
So, remember, remember the fifth of November—which also happens to be Election Day here in the US—and I hope you’ll also remember to treat diverse characters with as much dignity and respect as you do real folks.
TV shows can be a great source of inspiration. And they can go beyond TV Tropes and even into something (almost, let’s not kid ourselves, folks) profound. So, what do I mean?
TV Shows
Let’s set the news aside. For the most part, we see three kinds of television programs:
Comedy
Drama
Nonfiction
And then they subdivide, e. g. comedy divides into sketch shows like Saturday Night Live, or sitcoms like Will and Grace, or most cartoons. And drama divides into genres such as police procedurals, westerns, etc. Furthermore, reality television is really drama, by the way.
And finally nonfiction comprises the news and documentaries. But it’s also educational programming for children. While a few potential outliers (such as music videos), or hybrid programs with both drama and comedy (e. g. Desperate Housewives) exist, most shows hit one of the big three categories.
Inspiration
Because everyone gets inspiration differently, consider how fan fiction grabs you. Very often, you watch a program but feel it’s incomplete. Or you might want a different ending or to gender swap the characters. By doing this with all television, and not just your own personal fandom, you can garner a ton of inspiration.
Naturally, you need to stay out of copyright infringement territory. However, there’s no copyright on basic ideas, just on their execution. Consider all the fish out of water comedies. Or think of the many episodes with people caught in a freezer. They exist because those situations work. And all the writers do is add a different spin on it all.
Authentic Experiences
In addition, consider the characters and their portrayers. Why is a character of African descent? Is it because they are having authentic experiences, or is it an attempt at diversity, or is it tokenism?
When Jewish characters (for example) are on the screen, does the audience get more than an occasion reference to Chanukah? Or do they just get a surname, or a trope? Or worse, do they get thinly-veiled anti-Semitic caricatures?
Are LGBTQ characters more than their sexuality, or are they stereotyped, or is it no big deal? Or are they killed off quickly, once they’re no longer useful to the plot, the show runners, or the network? And look at the smart characters, the dumb ones, and the evil ones. Do characters have any sort of depth at all?
And who’s writing these experiences? Are members of marginalized communities represented in the writers’ room?
Takeaways
You can get great inspiration from television viewing. Look at shows with a critical eye and consider how you’d improve or change them. Mash them up and make these ideas your own.
TV shows can inspire writing. But steer clear of fan fiction if you want to sell your work, and keep in mind that the structure and tropes of television differ from those for the written word.
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