Anti-Case: Radical Honesty

Why radical honesty?

We try so hard to be shiny and chic, it’s slightly comical. But the real connection is where we accidentally reveal our lovely little weirdnesses.

In the AI and synthetic noise, we should fiercely protect our humanness. That's why I wanted to share this.

I wrote the wrong novel. Between 2015–2019 (yes, over four years) I wrote a novel script (yes, over 400 pages) about – yes, a global pandemic.

Then, obviously, 2020 happened. Absolutely no one wants to read fiction about a global pandemic after a global pandemic. (I wouldn’t.)

The story was gone, but I still love the characters. They are grumpy old Nordic men. (I have a weakness towards grumpy old men.) Old men are the same everywhere. I’ve watched them watching asphalt being laid, or a construction site, or in a car repair shop — giving advice absolutely no one asked for, arguing fiercely over it, and then going fishing like nothing happened.

So, the heart of the story is there, but the whole novel's storyline needs to be taken apart like an old engine and rebuilt piece by piece (where are the old men when their advice is actually needed?).

A pain, yes. But also a privilege: I get to spend more time with the grumpy gang.

(In case you wondered: yes, I do have published novels, too.)

Lessons learned
1. Always publish a novel about a pandemic before a pandemic. (Timing. Is. Everything.)

2. Or, don’t write about global pandemics.

3. Reality always outwrites fiction. (My editor keeps reminding me: fiction has to be believable — reality isn’t.)

4. In design, the same applies: if your story doesn’t feel real, it probably isn’t. People feel it.

5. Editing & iterating can save everything. Keep the good parts, throw out the rest.

Our humanness is the most valuable thing we have. I don't care about the plastic polish over the AI content.

Our connection to another human being is in the raw, radical incompleteness.

I treasure the real connection.