In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* A New Story
* Stephen King on AI writing fiction
* The Writing
* A Reminder and Two New ePulp Magazines
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“I decided I didn’t want to waste any more time…. I revisited my favorite stories and writers, listened to Brabdury’s lectures at UCLA on YouTube, and even looked through your Journal Archives to give myself a hard reset. I did this for a few days before showing up at my writing desk. I’m throwing my hat back into the Bradbury Challenge.” Frank Theodat
Take heart, folks. It’s never too late until suddenly it is.
“You’ve been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented.” Sasha to Barbie (see the second item in “Of Interest”)
Vin, I thought you might like this quote. (grin)
A New Story
I’m not sure why I never remember to announce these in advance, but I had a new story go out yesterday over on the Stanbrough Writes substack. See “Pearlized” at https://stanbroughwrites.substack.com/p/pearlized.
If you want, you can also subscribe just after the story. It’s free.
Stephen King (and me) on AI writing fiction
My friend Gary V. sent this along a couple days ago. King’s reaction is pretty much what I would have assumed (and hoped, frankly) but not quite as gruff as my own thoughts. Click https://mashable.com/article/stephen-king-ai-fiction.
In sharing my own thoughts, originally I went on at some length, but I decided to pare it back. Because really, what possible difference could it make? To some, cheating is a palatable or even desirable option, and nothing I say will change that. So here I am.
When people use AI to generate fiction and then call it their own,
- they aren’t actually writers no matter what they call themselves, and
- they are cheating the reading public, plain and simple, even if they warn them in advance they are being cheated.
Of course, some say, “But really AI is only another tool to help me create original work.”
Okay, snicker. Whatever you have to tell yourself. But you wouldn’t be saying crap like that if you didn’t know you were cheating. And you know it.
Yeah, yeah, I know, the times have changed.
But one thing has never changed or even wavered: the knowledge you hold within yourself of what is right and what is wrong.
Rich or poor, ill or able-bodied, male or female, your personal integrity is down to you.
As my buddy Wes Crowley would say, “Upright is not a matter of degree.”
The Writing
Surprise! The estate sale was so huge and so busy, we curtailed our visit. We plan to go back tomorrow when we hope things will be a little less hectic.
So I got to write a bit on the novel yesterday. Not a stellar day, but I should still get to write more today too. The story is flowing well.
A Reminder and Two New ePulp Magazines
I think I’m back on the right day again, so you who are in the Bradbury Challenge, get your story titles, word counts and genres in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday if you want me to report them.
The quote of the Day today is from Frank Theodat, who has rejoined the challenge. Welcome back, Frank!
According to the editor of online magazine Soaring Twenties, Frank “now presides over the fantastic Pulp, Pipe, & Poetry substack.”
You guys are writers, so I suggest you check out both of those magazines. And good luck.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Red Herrings, Foreshadows and Creating a Mystery” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/08/red-herrings-foreshadows-and-creating-a-mystery.html.
See “Over The Decades (Niche Marketing Part 9)” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/over-the-decades-niche-marketing-part-9/.
See “The death of storytelling” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-death-of-storytelling/. People who are not writers who use AI to generate stories will not affect storytelling to any great degree. Only writers using AI can do that.
See “France hopes to force Microsoft Edge and others to censor…” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/france-hopes-to-force-microsoft-edge-and-others-to-censor-websites-at-a-browser-level/.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 640
Writing of Blackwell Ops 9: Cameron Stance
Brought forward………………………… 4087
Day 1…… 1595 words. To date…… 5682
Day 2…… 2101 words. To date…… 7783
Day 3…… 2573 words. To date…… 10356
Day 4…… 1588 words. To date…… 11944
Day 5…… 2135 words. To date…… 14079
Day 6…… 2019 words. To date…… 16098
Day 7…… 3067 words. To date…… 19165
Day 8…… 1562 words. To date…… 20727
Fiction for August……………………… 27243
Fiction for 2023………………………… 141790
Fiction since August 1………………… 27243
Nonfiction for August…………………… 20740
Nonfiction for the year……………… 170640
Annual consumable words………… 312430
2023 Novels to Date……………………… 2
2023 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2023 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 73
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)… 232
Short story collections…………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.