I don’t consider myself a good storyteller. My best writing is expository—it lays out an argument or a thesis and then tries to explain it in terms that are convincing to the reader. Yet I recognize that what is really compelling is a good story—it grabs the attention and makes its point, if it has any, through the course of the narrative.
This is so powerful that Joe Brewer, for example, has laid out a “narrative strategy” for building the Earth Regeneration Fund. (Video) Essentially, if enough of us begin to tell similar stories about how the funds are being used, this will generate more interest and more funding than just asking for money to restore the planet.
One such story might be that of our trip to Barichara in February of this year (2025) for a weeklong immersion in the work of regenerating that landscape. It was indeed a memorable and impactful trip, but so far, my attempts to tell the story have left me cold. My impressions and photos were mostly superficial, partly perhaps as a result of my health issues, which had me mainly focused on just withstanding the ordeal. I remember many of the events, especially when viewing the images, but I failed to register in any depth the characters and the events that might have made for a captivating story.
Even AI was unable to help make it more interesting. This is what ChatGPT considers “a compelling opening”:
In February of 2025, Victoria and I embarked on a journey to Barichara, Colombia, for a weeklong immersion into bioregional regeneration. Our adventure was meticulously planned by Joe Brewer and Penny Heiple, who had gathered around forty others from across the globe for this transformative experience. Barichara, a town steeped in history and perched on the edge of the Andean highlands, has long been a beacon of resilience and restoration—a place where the past lingers in the cobbled streets and ochre-colored walls, yet where the future is being actively rewritten by those committed to regeneration.
I don’t know about “meticulously planned”—maybe “designed” is a better word. And has Barichara “long been a beacon of resilience and restoration”? Barichara has been called “Colombia’s most enchanting town,” but this is for its purely colonial character, not necessarily for any special role in resolving the conflicts that dominated Colombia during the 20th century.
Edited by CoPilot, it’s really not much better:
In February 2025, Victoria and I embarked on a journey to Barichara, Colombia, for a weeklong immersion in bioregional regeneration. Our adventure was meticulously planned by Joe Brewer and Penny Heiple, who gathered about forty others from around the globe for this transformative experience. Barichara, a town steeped in history and perched on the edge of the Andean highlands, has long served as a beacon of resilience and restoration—a place where the past lingers in the cobbled streets and ochre-colored walls, yet where the future is actively being rewritten by those dedicated to regeneration.
And the walls of most buildings are white, not “ochre-colored.”
But maybe I’m just belly-aching. Perhaps what I really need to do is sit down and tell the story over again and try a different AI editor.