I saw someone argue that LLMs are useful for "getting over writer's block" and I hate to tell y'all this, but outsourcing things like "having discipline" to a robot is (like all AI tools for writing) going to make you actively worse at the craft.
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cowards. sit there and stare at your document and write the worst sentences known to man till you figure out how to connect the two pieces of plot you were excited about LIKE GOD INTENDED 🔥
Can confirm, my old friend group all used AI, one gave me an exert written by AI. It sucked flat out. Straight up it was very obvious he had no idea what he was doing
The scene the AI wrote was similar to gay romance than what he wanted. Having one male character describe another IN IMACULATE DETAIL
Fucking go outside or to a social media platform of some kind and talk to people. You literally don't need to talk to the chatbots unless you're a pathetic loser or something?
No matter HOW bad it gets, I will never fall back on it to do the work. If it's not entirely my words (and any citations of course~), I can't put it out there as mine in confidence.
As usual it's fruitful to replace "LLM" by "ghost writer". "My solution to get over my writer's block? Ask my ghost writer to pen a chapter for me" rightfully sounds stupid.
This! I track daily word counts and my biggest impediment to writing what I want every day is not the writing process itself or the story. It's more anxiety due to socioeconomic and political situations. A LLM isn't going to help that and in fact, given the LibGen situation actively making it worse!
It would lack each persons unique writing style and personal POV / life experiences.
The LLMs are just amalgams of all scraped data, but more point of reference doesnt = better, so it produces the average common denominator rather than the interesting original ideas creative minds can come up with.
I think about when I was writing history articles, I would go on super long walks to help my brain think thru the piece and what I was missing. It's a muscle that continues to need to be worked on!
This is what gripes me every time about LLMs used for art. The point is the process!
"Writer's block" is a euphemism for a lot of different problems you could have with the creative process: exhaustion, lack of inspiration, depression, perfectionism, low frustration tolerance, a problem with the text you need to work out, a bad outline, a story that bores you, etc.
often when i get blocked, it means i need to take a day or two off art and rest and do something else like play video games—let things percolate in the back of my mind, so i can come back with renewed enthusiasm and a fresh perspective
Not all of these are problems directly related to writing. Some of them you might have to solve in therapy or by getting more sleep or freeing up time in your schedule. Notably, none of them are problems you can solve by having a robot finish your sentences badly.
those aren't even problems i can solve by finishing my OWN sentences badly, and that at least has the advantage of making me think more about my story.
I get that writer's block feels awful but imo pretending it's a magical disease that you have no power over is a great way to keep having writer's block and never develop the ability to work your way into a challenging manuscript. You're shooting yourself in the foot for very short-term gain.
My biggest struggles with the creative process are perfectionism, not finishing things, being sad, and not knowing what's wrong with my book but knowing there IS something fundamentally wrong. And the only way I get through that is by figuring out what is blocking me and finding a way forward.
Sometimes it's rest. Sometimes it's reading, calling up a fellow writer and whining about it, going for a walk, revising my outline, having a snack, putting the book away for a few days to think about it, taking my antidepressants, or just banging my head on it till something changes.
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plagiarism once-removed is still plagiarism.
;A;
The scene the AI wrote was similar to gay romance than what he wanted. Having one male character describe another IN IMACULATE DETAIL
The LLMs are just amalgams of all scraped data, but more point of reference doesnt = better, so it produces the average common denominator rather than the interesting original ideas creative minds can come up with.
This is what gripes me every time about LLMs used for art. The point is the process!
often when i get blocked, it means i need to take a day or two off art and rest and do something else like play video games—let things percolate in the back of my mind, so i can come back with renewed enthusiasm and a fresh perspective