In today’s Journal
* Personal Responsibility and Generative AI
* A New Novel (or Series)
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Personal Responsibility and Generative AI
Recently I was glad to see that Amazon now requires publishers (writers) to verify, by ticking a radio box, whether any part of the story or novel they’re publishing was the result of generative AI.
Why? Because it goes to personal responsibility.
- Ticking the first box amounts to an admission that yes, the writer created the work at least in part using generative AI.
- Ticking the second box verifies that no generative AI was used in creating the work.
Because I am proud to always tick the second box, I applaud that new requirement.
Now YouTube has rolled out new policies requiring a similar disclosure (see Of Interest).
I don’t recall whether the aggregator D2D or any of the non-Amazon platforms to which they distribute stories (B&N, Apple, etc.) require a similar virtual statement. If they do not, I hope they will do so soon.
If a writer uses generative AI to produce stories, s/he should be proud enough of that to disclose it.
If s/he is so ashamed that s/he would rather hide that fact from readers, maybe s/he shouldn’t be doing it. Just sayin’.
A New Novel (or Series)
Yesterday, I was really pooped after wrestling with YouTube almost all day Sunday and then through much of Sunday night and early yesterday morning.
But I played with the Jimson Stage thing for awhile yesterday. It was a good opening, but meh (Thanks, Ann), I just wasn’t interested. Know what I mean?
Sometimes, no matter how good the fictional world is or how unique and interesting the characters are, and no matter how much the story wants to run, I’m just not into it. Shrug. Maybe it isn’t the right time yet.
I didn’t even log the 1700 words or so I wrote on it. If I do something with it in the future, I’ll log them then.
I’ve had openings that didn’t run before, but this was different. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever been handed a good story on a platter and bowed-out. I’ve had characters bow-out plenty of times, but I’ve never said, “Nah. I don’t wanna.” Until now.
So I’m starting a new novel today. I already know I’m hyper-interested in the world and the POV character(s), and I already know they’re chomping at the bit to tell their story.
So officiallly I didn’t write any fiction yesterday. But I did take a look back at a few other stories and novels to refresh my memory of some names TJ Blackwell mentioned off and on from “the old days.” That bit of “research” was necessary so I don’t mangle a name or rename a character from the past in this new story.
I suspect I might even have a new series on my hands. And frankly, I hope so. I love really interesting characters andn how they make a story take off.
Imagine the Blackwell Ops world without much of the new technology. No VaporStream device (hmm, unless the characters divulge something they’re using that is not yet available to the general public), no cell phones, no laptops.
That’s the world in which I will get to run and play with TJ Blackwell and his colleagues and friends. Woohoo!
And of course, I wish you all the same unbridled joy with your writing. I hope you will trust yourself and your characters. I hope you will believe in yourself, and Just Write.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
YouTube now requires creators to disclose when realistic content was made with AI
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 610
Writing of TJ Blackwell: The Origin Story
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXXX
Fiction for March…………………….…. 32766
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 197358
Fiction since October 1………………… 500414
Nonfiction for March…………………… 19730
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 118920
2024 consumable words……………… 316278
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 4
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 86
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)…… 239
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.
If you find this Journal of value, please take a moment to punch the Share button at the bottom of this post. Or you can make a one-time or monthly donation via debit or credit card or PayPal. Donate Here.
I still can’t see how someone can use AI and call themselves a writer. By all means, go ahead and use it if you want to, but why call yourself something you aren’t? Makes no sense to me and I’ll never understand why writers (or whatever you wish to call them) use it when writing isn’t hard at all.
You and me both.