07/08/2025
THIS BOOK IS GONNA EAT ME ALIVE
And that’s exactly what I want.
In the last few weeks, as I’ve studied the process of writing and started to organize my thoughts for Mindful at the Bedside, two things have become abundantly clear.
1: It is 1000% easier to talk about writing a book than to actually write a book.
2: This process is gonna eat me alive, and that’s exactly what I want.
I’ve had multiple conversations in the last few weeks about the use of AI in creativity and writing. And what I see is that when AI is used, it is almost always with the intention of getting to some predetermined endpoint as quickly as possible.
And I think this is a tremendous disservice to the writer, the reader, and the topic being explored.
Writing a book is a process of discovery. While an initial intention or idea may bring with it the energy and motivation to actually put pen to paper, I do not trust that the real goal is to get the first idea or iteration printed and shared as quickly as possible.
What I believe is that the idea serves to initiate a transformative process of exchange between the writer and the idea.
The point is not arriving to the output or finished product, it is this exchange.
I think that any writer who engages earnestly in this process and allows themselves to be shaped by it in fact becomes a greater resource to the reader.
To the extent that the writer has grappled, has considered, has contemplated, to that extent are they better versed and more fully connected with the topic — and so presents their reader with, in fact, a finer, fuller, and more meaningful product.
So I will not be using AI. I will not rush to an output. This book is gonna eat me alive, and I will be better for it.
