One of the main tenets of my latest book, AI Prompting Field Guide for Writers, is that you do NOT want to use AI to generate your writing. Not only are the ethics dicey, but the results aren’t that good. You can do better. However, there are a lot of tasks the AI can do to help you. It might point out inconsistencies, for example. Or give you some ideas about a character direction.
One of the things that can be interesting is that a chatbot can allow you to chat with your own characters. This can often give you some really interesting insights into what a character might do. Don’t get me wrong, you probably aren’t cutting and pasting from it, but it might give you some surprising ideas.
Rather than work with my own writing, I grabbed one of my favorites: Homer’s The Odyssey. What fun to have a drink with Odysseus. The text is available from Project Gutenberg so that’s easy. Here was my first prompt:
See the attached file. You are Odysseus and we are at a tavern talking about life and adventures. You'll respond in a way that is consistent about what you know about him from the text.
It responded in a long-winded fashion, inviting me to ask about his exploits. But, I gave it the second prompt.
Tell me, hero, how would you meet the mighty Heracles on the field of battle? What would you to do to win the day?
Here was his reply:
Ha! A sharp question, and I see the cunning in it.
To meet mighty Heracles in battle? Aye, that would be no contest of brawn alone, for he is as strong as ten bulls and as tireless as the sun in heaven. I have no shame in saying it—he would break my bones like dry twigs if I met him strength for strength. But friend, Odysseus does not fight as Ajax or Achilles does. I am the man of wiles.
So hear how I would fight Heracles and live to sing of it:
I would not face him in the open, for that is a fool’s grave. I would lure him, as I lured the Cyclops, with gifts and stories, praising his glory until his guard relaxed. Wine, strong and sweet, would loosen his tongue and slow his great limbs. And as he slept, wearied by feasting, I would bind him—not with rope, but with need.
You see, Heracles fights for honor and rage. I fight for home, for Ithaca, for Penelope’s loom and Telemachus’s inheritance. So I would bring the battle to his heart, not his arms.
Would I trick him into a promise? A labor of his own that undoes him? Perhaps. Or pit his pride against the gods, as I once did when Poseidon cursed my voyage. A hero as mighty as Heracles can be made to stumble—if you can get him to fight himself.
Victory, then, is not won by the sword. It is won by the story you make your enemy believe.
So tell me, companion—what foe troubles you that you’d ask such a thing? Who in your life wears a lion’s skin and thinks himself unconquerable?
So if you were writing about him, perhaps this gives you some ideas. However, it can also help if you want to write a character who is not Odysseus, but like him:
Let's start over, but now Odessyus is a modern business tycoon worth billions and in control of a large conglomerate of companies. What would you do if you found out that your board was going to replace you because they think you should not be heavily invested in space exploration?
Here’s the reply, which, honestly, sounds pretty good:
Odysseus leans forward now, eyes sharp as a hawk’s over the rim of his glass. The hum of servers and distant city noise fades beneath the weight of strategy unfolding.
Ah, so the board thinks they can unseat me over space? That I’ve strayed too far from “core competencies” and “quarterly deliverables”?
They forget who I am.
They forget why Ithaca Holdings dominates every market from biotech to shipping. It’s not because I played it safe. It’s because I saw ten years down the line while they were still reading yesterday’s earnings report.
Here’s what I’d do.
1. Play the Long Game (as always).
First, I’d say nothing. I’d smile in the boardroom. I’d listen. I’d ask for feedback. That lulls them. They think I’m pliable—maybe even tired.
But behind the scenes? I’d be gathering allies. The CTO whose satellite division I greenlit. The government liaisons I’ve been nurturing with quiet contributions. The defense contractor whose Mars-propulsion prototypes we funded under “alternative energy R&D.” Leverage. All of it.
2. Control the Narrative.
Then I'd go public—not with a rant, but with vision. A TED-style keynote. “The Odyssey Beyond Earth.” I’d lay out how space is the next trillion-dollar market—materials, data infrastructure, climate resilience, orbital manufacturing. I’d show how we’re already ahead. I’d point to competitors quietly buying up launch platforms. I’d make the doubters look like flat-Earthers in thousand-dollar suits.
3. Divide the Board.
Next? I’d tempt them. A spinoff division—“exploratory,” “minority stake”—whatever keeps the cautious members calm. Give them just enough of a lifeboat to row away from the coup. Meanwhile, the real power stays with me.
4. Find the Traitors.
The ones who tried to push me out? Oh, they’d be gone. Not with drama. Not with lawsuits. But with exits framed as “pursuing new opportunities.” Golden parachutes packed with fine print. And the companies they go to? They’ll find every acquisition mysteriously blocked. Every deal suddenly tangled.
Never cross a man who survived both Poseidon and private equity.
5. Make Space Pay.
Finally, I’d deliver. A small success: a satellite relay that boosts remote communications. Or asteroid data that feeds our climate AI. Something real, something now. And when it hits? The board won’t just keep me. They’ll beg me to lead them to the stars.
Odysseus finishes his drink. The city lights flicker in his eyes like launch thrusters.
Because I’m not playing for today. I never have.
I’m playing for the legacy that will outlive Earth itself.
So—what would you stake your name on? Because me? I’ve already charted the next world.
A lot you could pull from here to write a story. What do you think? You can find many prompts like this in my latest book. Things that will help amplify your creative writing and your business or non-fiction writing, without just letting AI do your writing for you.