Artificial Intelligence - Can you spot it? and is it the death of the writer?

 

In the Royal Marines, I used to call them TLA's, three-letter abbreviations. These days there are many two-letter abbreviations, and the most prominent one currently is AI.

Artificial Intelligence has undoubtedly been in the news and the courts in America. Do we need to be worried as writers?

I mentioned this to a writing colleague of mine when we were discussing the newly announced ChatGBT app on his Youtube channel. My fear was and still is that I could lose out to work completed by an AI bot. His answer was;

"Nobody writes like you, and nobody writes like you. AI won't change that."

I like William's positivity, but it was a surprise when I discovered that a writing app I use daily now has an added AI text generator

William's show suggested that AI should be considered a tool for writers. He then went on to show ChatGBT in action. The first and obvious problem is that it needed to be faster. To compound that problem, the questions he asked either had no answer or gave answers patently trawled from the internet. Only a little AI, if any, is present there

What is AI, then?

AI, short for Artificial Intelligence, is a field of computer science that focuses on creating intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as speech recognition, decision-making, and problem-solving. AI technologies include machine learning, natural language processing, neural networks, and robotics. AI aims to create machines that can learn, reason, and adapt to new situations, ultimately improving our lives and transforming how we live and work.

Can we trust what we see? After all, to use ChatBGT on Bing, you need to have a Microsoft account. ChatBGT then has access to all the information about you over the internet. That's a significant advantage to the AI stakes for a start. On balance, I would treat anything coming from an AI bot similarly to how I treat research on the internet. If I'm researching for an article, I, the writer, must ensure information is first-hand and accurate. An editor would only publish something that has been appropriately researched. Would an AI bot go to a WiKi page that could have been reviewed and updated with spurious information? We have a long way to go before article writers and professionals from all fields can trust the work coming from such bots.

That's my brief view on AI for writers, or is it? I'm not currently a fan of AI entering the realm of writing and the arts. They are very human pleasures because they are something that humans gain solace and enjoyment from. Where would be the fun and joy of me loading up the basic plot for my novel and asking a Bot for 90k words in 45 Chapters and leaving it to get on with it? Something to think about.

Do you have any views on AI? Would you use AI for an essay? Could you spot AI-generated work?  

Just to let you know, there are a few lines in this piece generated by AI 😉

Substack - A New Venture and more Writing!

 

As if I didn't have a busy enough writing life, I've found something that will give me more writing to do in a week but, at the same time, may bring some rewards.

Substack - no, it's not a song ( think about it) was launched six years ago and is a blogging/email newsletter hybrid thingy. I say thingy. I don't know why I say thingy, but thingy it is.

I have posted a few posts on Facebook about my starting to use Substack, and this week I will explain further how it works and how I plan to use it.

I have registered on Substack, and that has given me a URL

 https://stuartbilverstone.substack.com/ 

Having registered, I can leave that URL loafing around in emails, in the middle of blogs, social media posts, etc. That gives people the opportunity to visit my Substack page. To be able to register with the page, they will need to input an email address. As I have set the page up as a Free Access page, all that is happening is that the page is building an email list. That list remains private and only for me to use. 

When I post a newsletter/ blog on the page, it will email everyone on the list, saying there is a new post and the link.

Substack allows placing your writing behind a paywall (Dominic Cummings, for example, put his shenanigans behind a £200 paywall). I have not taken this option, meaning you can safely register and know that I won't be asking for a subscription. That's not to say I may offer extra enhancements to the page through a subscription, but that is many miles down the road. I will need a lot of emails to do that, and that will be down to me to boost that with my content and encourage more people onto the page.

What happens next? There is a post on the page, last week's blog post, which has had 13 views, and currently, I have four subscribers. Thank you to Mrs B, my Sister, a fellow writer and my old mate Bob.

I plan to post regularly on there, initially two weekly, aiming to get to weekly very quickly. I don't wish to post the same content as this blog page. I have a 'Writing Tips' piece that I am working on for the following post/newsletter.

There we are, then. Substack is a new venture for me and will be much more writing. My blog continues, and my novel is nearing the final third. I shall still be looking at entering short story competitions, and of course, there is the full-time job with the NHS, which brings in the real money!

Remember that URL, and I hope to see you on the page.

 https://stuartbilverstone.substack.com/ 

The Demise of a Magazine title - Could this signal the end for all Magazines?

 The subject for this blog came quickly to me this week. Despite the Covid virus making a little visit to our household, happily, I have managed to maintain most of my writing productivity.

You might have seen a post I made on my Facebook pages earlier this week.

Writers Forum is a magazine I found on the shelves of W.H. Smith's in Exeter a few years ago. It drew my attention straight away. Containing excellent features, writing tips and competitions, I took the advantage to subscribe immediately.

It is always a delight for the magazine to arrive in our letterbox each month. I often read it from cover to cover in a day or two and keep it handy throughout the month to have a go at the daily Kickstarter calendar published in each edition.

I had several letters published and even had the Star Letter one month. Several short stories entered their competitions, and I only recently contemplated submitting part of my novel for critiquing on their pages.

Strangely, this month was the first time I had yet to read the editor's column. It is the first column in the magazine, after all. If I had done so, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked at the email I received from the magazine the following day advising that this latest publication would be its last.

I'm genuinely shocked and, to be honest, a little bemused. During the pandemic lockdowns, I completely understood why they paused publication for several months. Advertising revenue must have gone through the floor, and shop sales disappeared. It was great to have it drop through the letterbox again later in 2020 as things struggled to get back to some sort of normal, despite the government's best efforts at the time. I guess the distribution and advertising revenues haven't returned significantly to make it viable to continue. 

Having never thrown away an edition, much to my wife's disgust, I have a fair old collection of back copies stashed away. I shall treasure them, and I'm sure I will often look back on them for further guidance and inspiration. My thoughts are with the editor and staff, who have probably lost a significant part of their writing income—sad times.

Are we starting to see the end of the printed magazine market? It was mooted a few years ago that this may happen. When I go into W.H. Smiths in East Devon, they will still have an extensive range of magazines for sale. My personal view is that there are a lot of titles covering the same subject, titles that are just a one-off publication for an online game or similar. Rest assured, there will be a plethora of 'celebrity' magazines detailing the everyday lives of multi-millionaires that most of us have never heard of. Country sports have several publications, as do gun and rifle pursuits. There is a dog and cat market too. And, of course, there will be magazines about the upcoming coronation of King Charles III.

That's all a bit of a waffle, but I will say that those publications don't offer opportunities for freelance writers. 

Many writers would beg to differ with me. But from what I can see on the shelves, money is made from the odd ribald joke and funny stories written here or there, and maybe a 'Jeremy Kyle' style of personal story to sell. The market is more restrictive than ever for the independent writer. There are magazines that I have studied in depth to pitch to the editor, only to conclude that it is not worth the effort as their copy is almost written 100% in-house. After studying one magazine, I found it almost exclusively to be a vanity project for the 'editor', which I still see today across their social media output.

That is not to say that the online market has died away. Up until recently, I subscribed to the 'Readly' app. From that, I could access global markets of newspapers, magazines, and markets in this country. I ceased my subscription as I wasn't using it very much, and I could use that expenditure on another writing project. I'm sure that I will go back to it soon.

I have succeeded with magazines, Devon Life, to name one. However, things changed there a while back. Archant Publications sold it and other publications to Newsquest, who quickly closed down Cornwall Life and made significant editorial changes elsewhere. I have yet to pitch to them since those changes, but I'm always looking for something to pitch.

For now, my focus will be on completing my debut novel and building an audience for it before publication. As ever, I enjoy just writing, and I'm enjoying the ways I have found to encourage my productivity. I am well ahead of the plan, and all being well, that will continue.

I encourage any keen writer to write and then write more.

5000 writing prompts? There must be at least one in there that will pique my interest. Thankfully there is, and all being well, I will pique your interest with it too.

This week is a round-up of the websites and YouTube channels I use for inspiration and recommendations for writing.

I spend much time on YouTube, which is good and bad. Getting trapped in those YouTube wormholes, and minutes later, there's no writing.

There, I came across the websites that have inspired my writing and productivity.

William Gallagher is a real writing hero of mine and many others and is an all-around inspiration to everybody to get out there and write.

https://www.youtube.com/@WilliamGallagher

His opening lines to his weekly 58Keys broadcast are the best,

"Hello, I'm William Gallagher, and this is 58Keys, which, as ever, as always is for writers like you and me, who use and write on Macs, iPhones and iPads."

And it does what it says on the tin! It's where I learnt about Focus on the MacBook and iPhone which stops you from going down aforesaid YouTube wormholes!

A full-time Freelance Writer, William has many achievements on his CV. For those who can remember Ceefax, William wrote those pages. He's written radio scripts for Dr Who and is a regular writer and guest on Apple Insider.

William has been Deputy Chair of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. He is a mine of information for the writer, and I have spent many hours on Zoom, feverishly typing away on his Two Biscuit writing sprints. They are fantastic for my productivity. William encourages young writers and regularly runs workshops.

William also has his blog, http://williamgallagher.com/selfdistract/ . The latest posts drop on a Friday morning.

Also on YouTube is Mark Ellis, https://www.youtube.com/@MarkEllisReviews Mark reviews Apple products and all sorts of tech. His honest approach and diligent research are really valuable when looking for tech to purchase. I have used some of his recommendations for Apps, proving really useful.

Martin Sketchley https://www.youtube.com/@sketchley is chair of the West Midlands Branch of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. VLOGGER, published novelist, writer, editor and Royal Literary Fund Fellow with 30 years' experience across business, fiction, other non-fiction, scriptwriting and education, Martin has a wonderful channel about ( and I quote), journaling tips, morning pages, reviews, prompts and insights into writing, creativity, productivity, mindfulness, reviews of products, and how to live a more analogue life in the digital age!

I certainly get my journaling tips from Martin, and like William, he also has a web page, https://martinsketchley.com/blog/ . I recommend journaling to anyone. It is a very relaxing form of writing. All you need to journal is a pen and paper. However, at the moment, although I have several journaling notebooks, I currently use an app called Day One, and I love it.

I've probably bored you enough with my novel Beasting Dartmoor, but nothing is boring whatsoever about Jenny Kane and her site https://www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk/. 

Jenny and her colleague Alison have several courses on offer, and the testimonials speak for themselves. They are worth signing up for after participating in a couple of them.

These are the go-to sites that I regularly use for my writing and writing tech guidance. Indeed, without finding William, I wouldn't have the productivity of writing and the fun that I have achieved my goals. I will fulfil my long-held wish to publish a book with Jenny's support and guidance. 

I love writing. It's good for my well-being.

I hope that these sites will pique your writing interests too.  

Numbers in writing? Surely Not

 I missed out on celebrating my 50th Blog Post last week. Never mind, I'll be looking forward to a centenary post by the end of the year. That might be something to celebrate.

As usual, it's Thursday evening, and I'm thinking, "What shall I write about this week?"

The fifty-first post will be about my novel, Beasting Dartmoor (working title).

Numbers have dominated writing for the last couple of weeks. How many words can I get down today?

Is that what you normally think about as a writer? Numbers? Well, yes. 

I'm looking to complete my debut ( sorry if that seems pretentious) novel later this year.

To enable me to do this, I need to write about 250-300 words for at least four days a week. Happily, I am achieving that and, most days, exceeding it. I still have a lot of material to go into the project, and in the next week, I should be approaching the 20k word count.

The genre of the novel is a crime/murder thriller. Well, I hope it’s going to thrill the reader. 

As it currently stands, there have been four murders, the authorities are at a loss as to what is going on, and there is a figure in the shadows. It is principally based in the Dartmoor, Exeter and South Devon areas, although there are sojourns to London and a village in Somerset. 

I have a gap in the storyline at the halfway point of a chapter. I need a short story to lead into the next chapter. This may be the point to tease in the main antagonist. This person has just been a shadow to my protagonists, Greg Reid & Detective Sargent Marie Fliss. I have a description of the character I have in mind for this crucial role in the story.

Numbers again. I need roughly 800 to 900 words to complete the chapter, which is three days at the average word count, but it could be an hour's work if I'm on a roll. A bit of planning and we'll see what happens

As part of my 'Novel in a Year" workshops, I have an opportunity to have a piece of my work reviewed. I'm about ready to send off the first 5k words, which is both exciting and terrifying. I will also let a colleague at work read the first few chapters. She is a poet, and there is a reason I would like her to have a read. She might guess who my characters are,

There we are, then. Some exciting times for novel writing are coming up over the following months, and the motivation is at an all-time high.

Dark Skies and Street Lamps

I decided to take a Daily Kickstarter from last month's Writers Forum magazine for this week's Blog.

The sky at night - not the well-known programme, the dark sky above us each night. But how much of it are we seeing?

As Yorkshire's National parks and other wild places celebrate their Dark Skies, would you like to see fewer or no street lamps where you live?

Those that know me will remember that I have been a keen astronomer. My love of our Solar System and the Universe started in Primary School in the late 1960s. When Kathy and I moved out to Stoke Fleming in South Devon, I got my first telescope and started viewing the cosmos.

The rear garden of our bungalow faced south over Start Bay. It was and probably is still a

very dark sky. From Spring onwards, the Milky Way appeared from over Start Point in a beautiful display. We are looking at the third spiral arm of our galaxy, The Milky Way.

My first steps with a telescope brought an incredible view of the great planet Jupiter with its four main moons. When we lived in Stoke Fleming, I was fortunate to view nearly all of the planets in our Solar System, including Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. I was lucky to view the blue planet Neptune. It is truly amazing to understand that by looking through a telescope, you are not only witnessing worlds many millions of light years distance but are looking back in time. My Maths teacher, Mr Simmons, always told us that travelling back in time would be easier than going forward.

We have Exmoor National Park in Devon, which has Dark Sky status. In Cornwall, Bodmin Moor and West Penwith have the same accolade.

When we moved to East Devon, we eventually settled for a few years in a lovely bungalow with huge gardens front and back. Unfortunately, the back garden was west facing, and the orange glow tainting the sky was Exeter. I was able to see a few sights. Kathy even bought me a star for Christmas which flirts around the western horizon. To see the southern sky, I had to use the front garden. The view was spoilt by…yes, you guessed it, street lamps.

Councils have been trying hard to lower light facing upwards by investing in LED, Light Emitting Diode, Smart Street and Intelligent Street lighting. However, in these days of ever-increasing costs, these have taken a step backwards.

Not too far from where you are, even in towns and cities, there is a little place that can be your own personal dark sky. Take a look upwards. You'll be amazed at what you can see.

My first effort at Jupiter and its Moons

Links:

https://www.darksky.org/

The Writing Industry - Is this where woman can regularly break through the 'glass ceiling'?

 

What I will write about today may promote some comments, and I would love it if it did. First, let me say that this piece is written not to be detrimental or discriminatory to anyone. It's a pleasing observation of what I am finding and experiencing in the writing community.

Hopefully, we've got that out of the way and can continue.

I have delivered every month, two leading writing magazines. I diligently read the from the front to the back cover and thoroughly enjoy their contents...even the poetry!

The one thing I notice each month in both is the number of female contributors that outweighs the number of male contributors. That is, the writers of the articles and the letters submitted to the editors.

Likewise, I'm the only man in the 'Novel in a Year' workshop I started last Saturday.

Undoubtedly, there has been a significant number of highly talented female authors. Author of Handmaid's Tail, Margaret Attwood, is a great proponent of women writers. The late Hillary Mantel, a local writer here in East Devon, had outstanding success with her 2009 novel Wolf Hall, a massive hit on Television. Seeing that they are getting the recognition they deserve is pleasing.

Let's look at the Television too. One of the greatest shows in recent years, Fleabag, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and with Sharon Horgan and Emma Thompson, represent some of the best screenwriters in this country and globally. 

In the film industry, some of the biggest blockbusters have female writers. Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh were responsible for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Linda Woolverton is a resident writer for Disney with past credits for The Lion King and Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

On Twitter, I follow many female writers, editors, agents and publishers, and there is no doubt that there is a fabulous female presence in the writing industry.

Is this one of the industries where women have been able to break through the 'glass ceiling'? I sincerely hope so.

So, where are all the men writers, then? I hear you ask.

Well, they are about. Harlen Coben was on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning promoting his latest book, I will find you. Celebrity writer Richard Osman has a series of crime novels starting with the Thursday Murder Club. No matter what you may think of celebrity writers, each of Richard's three books has hit the top of the bestsellers immediately after publication. He must be doing something right! Let's not forget some of my favourite writers, John Le Carré, Thomas Hardy and Ken Follett. International bestsellers include John Grisham, Neville Shute, Ian Rankin and Lee Childs. All are fantastic writers in their genre.

So there may be a chance for me yet, I'll keep plodding along with my bits of writing here and there, and I will finish my blockbuster novel sometime this year. You never know. I might appear on Television as a new talent promoting my writing one day.

Fruit Cake?

 Fruit Cake is unfairly maligned - That's the statement.

First up, Full disclosure, Fruit cake is my utmost favourite.  

An often asked question. What did the Romans ever do for us? Fruit Cake, the Romans, gave us Fruit Cake.

That is likely not the answer you were expecting.

The earliest recipes for Fruit Cakes are traced back to ancient Rome. Ingredients then included were pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and raisins mixed into a barley mash. Later on, in the middle ages, honey and preserved fruits were added.  

Fruit cake recipes proliferated throughout Europe. The recipes varied significantly by country, depending on the ingredients available. Church regulations over the observance of fasting forbade the use of butter; however, Pope Innocent VIII (1442 - 1492) granted its use in his Butterbrief of 1490. It permitted Saxony to use butter and milk in Stollen fruit cakes.

In 17th century England, fruit cake was yeast-based and used Rum and dried fruits, which extended the shelf life.

Pianoforte

 In Italy, Panoforte (meaning strong bread) is a dense, chewy cake,   heavily flavoured with spices, dating back to the 13th Century Sienna in Tuscany. Also, there is Panatone, filled with dried and candied fruits with a bread loaf consistency. It's now well known across Europe and this country, especially in shops like Lidl and upmarket places such as Fortnum and Mason in London.

In England, rich dark fruit cake is traditional fare at Christmas. They were also traditional for wedding cakes, where the top tier was preserved and saved for the christening of the firstborn child. This tradition has fallen foul of the influences of our American cousins. Sponge and heavily creamed cakes seem more in favour.

Our wedding cake was four-tiered. The bottom two tiers, made by myself, included nearly a litre and a half of Rum, dark brown sugar, butter, eggs (from the farmer in the village), Black treacle and flour. The bottom tier was 20 inches and took nearly five hours to cook. The top two tiers were vanilla and chocolate sponge cakes.

Throughout the 90s, whilst serving with the Royal Marines Band at BRNC Dartmouth, I had a little side hustle making christening cakes for band members. There were quite a few young families in the band at that time.

My Mother used to make Grandfather, her father, a Dundee Cake each Christmas. Dundee Cake is a traditional Scottish fruit cake flavoured with Whisky and decorated with almonds. Being a proud Yorkshireman, my Grandfather always had his piece of cake with cheese. I am trying to remember which cheese he had. He had a favourite Danish blue cheese, but I think that was that one. I, too, like to have cheese with my fruit cake, a lovely mature cheddar is my favourite, and I go a little further and have an apple.

In answer to the question, is Fruit cake unfairly maligned - probably yes, but plenty of people enjoy it.

Now, what am I going to have for afternoon tea?

Weird Writing Prompt Happenings and the First Writing Tip of the Week - It's all happening here!!

 I've written, more than once, that I subscribe to two monthly writing magazines. I have succeeded in both getting letters published, and I have entered several competitions in them.

I look forward, each month, to when they arrive through the door at home. They are two slightly different publications, both doing the same thing, encouraging us to write and assist with all the 'technical' stuff while writing stories and poems.

Both magazines regularly have a couple of pages of writing prompts. These are brilliant ways of waking the writing muscle daily and can lead to something else, as did the one I tried on Tuesday. 

It was rather weird. As we approached where we were going, I spied someone on the roof of a bungalow. The man was removing roof tiles and stacking them up. Fair enough, but the Health and Safety Officer in me sparked my 'spider' senses. He wasn't wearing a safety harness and had no scaffolding or safety surround. If he slipped or fell, he would be in real trouble.

Getting back to the writing prompt, what do you think it was? Here is the prompt;

Create a scenario starting from the question: Why is that person on the roof?

Who is telling the story?

Why and how have they observed the person on a neighbouring rooftop?

What is going through the observer's mind?

What might happen?

Write a new piece of prose or poetry stemming from watching the person on the roof and wondering what they're doing.

After about an hour of writing, I came up with a story which I think that with a bit of editing and reworking, could be the next story for my entries to the Bath Flash Fiction awards,

I seek further writing prompts to stir the story writer in me. I am enjoying entering these competitions. You never know; I might win one someday! 

Tip of the week - always email your work to yourself. You'll have a copy saved, and it will prove your copyright.