AI Can Do Some Good Things, But I Think It’s Best to Leave the Writing to the Author

I know I’ve done posts about AI in the past. If you’re bored of this topic, please disregard this post.

Artificial Intelligence is going to be disruptive in many ways, and one of the ways it is going to be disruptive is in the writing industry. Don’t get me wrong. AI has a good side. For example, I am grateful to the advancement of technology to create digitally narrated books because when an author has almost 100 books published, it’s not easy to pay a human narrator to do all of them. I also think technology will be helpful in successfully translating books to different languages. One thing that would be fun is to see technology advance to the point where authors can make “movies” or a “tv series” off of their books. AI would be beneficial in all of this. There are some exciting uses of AI.

But I don’t like the idea of using AI to write the actual stories. Maybe it’s my age. I’ll be 50 in October. (That sounds older than I actually feel. I feel like I’m 32.) I still think AI might be helpful in brainstorming when stuck in a book, and it can probably be helpful with creating book descriptions. I tried to do that a couple of years ago, but I ended up just talking to writer friends instead. The almost ‘half a century old’ girl in me prefers the old fashioned way, I guess. And that part of me thinks a human being is best suited to create and write the book. I realize a lot of writers argue that they create the idea for the story but let AI do the writing for them. Then they go through and clean things up. In my thinking, if you’re having to go through and clean it up anyway, then you might as well write the first draft yourself. But I know that sitting down and writing the first draft does takes considerable time to do. It’s not something you can spit out in a few seconds like AI can. So there is the time factor to consider. It’s easier to edit something than it is to create it.

And I wonder if this makes me a dinosaur in the writing arena. I know what happened to the dinosaurs. They became extinct. Maybe AI will get so good that the books will be on par with what a human writer can do. Maybe, in some cases, AI will be even better. It’s hard to say when the technology is still new. But there is one thing AI will never do, and that’s create a something that comes from the heart.

There’s something to be said for having a human being create the story. When a human being is writing the story, there is an intimate connection between the characters and the storyteller. The writer is with those characters every step of the way. The writer feels everything the characters do. (At least they do if they’re doing it right.) There’s magic in that. And I believe that magic reaches out and connects the author with the readers. I can’t explain it, but there seems to be a bond that develops between an author and the reader through the story. When I communicate with readers who enjoy my vision for my work, I feel like I’m with a friend. Is that corny? Probably. But I love that connection. It’s one of the best things about being an author. I don’t see how that same kind of connection can happen when AI gets involved in the writing process.

Also, AI takes away the joy of creating new stories. I’m here because I want to write. I’ve been through burnout, and yes, it really is hard to write when you’re in that phase. But once you push through that phase, the creativity flows again. In going through burnout, I learned you need to take breaks, do non-writing stuff you love, go at a pace that fits your lifestyle, and set boundaries with others (and yourself) so that you don’t end up exhausted. I wonder if a lot of authors who are using AI to write their books are doing it because they’re in burnout, and they have to keep paying the bills with their writing income. AI doing the writing is a shortcut, and shortcuts are convenient. Treating writing like a business does put pressure on the author to produce content. It’s not like writing for a hobby where you can write when the muse shows up. Sometimes that muse takes a vacation, and there’s no telling when the muse will come back. In a business, you write whether you feel “inspired” or not.

I am all for treating writing like a business. I would like to make money at this as much as anyone else, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of not writing my books. Books are as valuable for emotional reasons as they are for financial reasons. There’s nothing better about being a writer than escaping into the world you created. I love my writing days again. During burnout, I lost that joy. When you have that joy back, you no longer take it for granted. AI can’t give you that kind of joy. AI might produce a book, but there will be something missing.

I’ll end this post with a final note. We don’t need to make “six figures” a year to make it with our writing. If we lower our expenses and learn to manage our money well, we can easily do it on less than the golden “six figures” that gets lauded all over the writing community. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to take inventory of how much you actually need to make in order to pay your bills and have about 10-20% to save aside. Obviously, you need an emergency fund. Three to six months is the general advice. Some even say to set aside a year’s worth of expenses. This also depends on whether someone else is bringing in some money into the household, if there are any dependents (children or elderly parents), or if there’s something else you need to pay for, such as medical bills. Oh, and don’t forget taxes. You have no option but to pay that bill. Sit down and create a plan to address how much money you need each month in order to check all of those boxes. My guess is that a good majority of people don’t need “six figures”. I know I don’t. That’s good news. It means we don’t have to feel so rushed to get books out all the time. That takes the pressure off from being tempted to let AI do the writing for us. I think what readers value most is the connection with their favorite authors. It’s a slow growth strategy, but it’s one that will last.

I recently came across this neat tool from author Joe Solari. It helps you factor in writing expenses and how much you need to write in order to make a profit. I thought it was a neat tool so wanted to pass it along since I am wrapping this post up with a talk about money.

If interested, check out The Author Capital Planner