The Sentiment has Changed Again
Writers for or against AI … ?
I think the sentiment about using AI for writing a book has changed yet again.
Feel free to correct me or disagree with me in the comments. I’d be totally cool with that because I’m trying to see the truth and understand, not to prescribe.
It’s become this feeling of “Yes I could use AI to help me write my book, but why would I? That’s the part I like.”
Using AI for all the other parts around publishing a book doesn’t feel like it’s taboo either.
Use AI to edit your book? Cool.
Use AI to do the marketing copy? Fine.
Use AI to help you position it in the stores better? No prob.
Use AI to brainstorm when you get stuck? Go for it.
But use AI to help you write the book? Why?
“That’s the part that let’s you be creative. That’s the exciting part. That’s what probably got you into this career in the first place. You could let AI do that for you, and if that’s the strategy you’re using, go for it. But I’m not going to because I want to do this part.”
That’s a representative statement that I’ve heard from multiple authors.
It’s obviously not everybody, but I think that’s how the general sentiments of the industry are turning.
What do you think? Is that right? Or am I wrong?
AI for ancillary tasks versus the actual writing process—that’s the real question here.
I see folks in three camps:
AI is evil.
I want to do the writing myself—that’s the fun part!
If I don't produce 27+ books a year, I will never be able to quit my job. All hail the GPT Turbo 16XX.
The "AI is evil" folks will always push this angle. The other two groups are more interesting. The prolific writers aim to push out as much content as quickly as possible, leveraging every tool to do so. They may flood the marketplace with work that’s often unworthy of being printed. In my opinion, they'll use every shortcut available to get books out.
This article focuses on the middle group. But what does "writing my book" really mean? It’s a complex phrase with many parts.
I've talked to others about this before. I don’t always enjoy "putting the actual words to paper." Sometimes it’s great; other times, I’d be happy to never do it again. What about writing scenes but letting AI write the dialogue? Or creating characters but letting AI describe their appearance? Or asking AI what personality type a character should have in the next scene, or how to describe a setting?
At the end of the day, AI is just a tool. Different people will use it in different ways, and that’s okay. Many things go through cycles. Parts of writing you enjoy, I might hate.
What I believe is happening is that many writers have tried the tool and found it took the joy out of the part of writing they connect with. So, the voices calling to return to "real writing" are loud right now. Is it more people or just louder voices while we shift through these cycles?
Enjoyed the article!
I've heard those exact words from one of my clients last week: "...but writing the book is the part I enjoy!" This seems like a legit sea change to me: the dying away of both sorts of hysteria (positive and negative) and a pragmatic perspective of generative AI as a "writing tool." And not one to churn out all your books for you (those writers seem to be a minority), but one that you use to make the unpleasant parts easier. That seems to be the new "most common understanding" and "most common emotion" (pragmatic acceptance).