Happiness Journal 2/10/25

Thought a student was kidding when she said that she wanted to write an extra composition for me, but today, she really submitted her work.

Reading it, I was floored by her ability to paint vivid images with powerful precise nouns and verbs. I questioned her if she had used ChatGPT. She said nope vehemently, as if repulsed at the thought of me questioning her artistic integrity.

I think I would give her the benefit of the doubt. An AI tool would have organised the scenes more systematically.

Anyway, I realized how getting students to adhere to the Story Mountain might be tantamount to squeezing the joy out of writing. There was no central character in her story. Needless to say, no compelling climax and no emotional journey. But who’s to say that it isn’t a magnificent piece of writing.

Anyway, since she asked me to give my esteemed opinion, I scribbled some Show Not Tell phrases on her work and told her to include feelings the next time. I was heartened to have helped her maintain her innate interest in writing.