LSRI: A computer model of "how we write"

MEXICA is a computer model that generates plots for short stories based on the engagement-reflection cognitive account of writing, described by Mike Sharples in his book “how we write” (Sharples, 1999). During engagement MEXICA generates material guided by content and rhetorical constraints, avoiding the use of explicit characters' goals or story-structures. During reflection the system breaks impasses, evaluates the novelty and interestingness of the story in progress and verifies that coherence requirements are satisfied.

In this talk I will give a brief introduction to automatic story-generators. Then, I will explain the main characteristics of the MEXICA system, I will show how a computational representation of emotions is employed to progress a story in a coherent way and generate novel situations, and how the dramatic tension of the story in progress might be employed to evaluate its interestingness. Finally, I will mention how we are employing MEXICA as starting point for new research projects.