Using AI for Synopses #IWSG

The IWSG question of the month is about AI. Have you used AI to write synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

In terms of AIs impact on creative writing, I have already written a post about why AIs won't replace creative writers. You can check it out here. 

In terms of writing the synopsis of a book, it's great to give us a hand, but it's not the time saver you'd expect. In output of AI will always need an edit, and you have to give it lots of information for it to work properly, ie a blurb, a detailed summary, or an outline. The more information, the better. Please, never use the raw AI material. 

If you've tried AI, what was your experience with it? If you haven't tried it, what's holding you back?

Note: I'm still recovering from my illness. On pain meds and so very tired all the time. Not a happy camper. And then I went and got Covid as well, thus my recent silence. I have recovered from that fun experience, at least. There is always something to celebrate! 

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.

Why AI Won’t Replace Writers #IWSG

When I was first introduced to AI for writing, I was truly impressed by what it could generate. As a test, I gave it some parameters and watched it come up with a whole story idea. I got it to break the story down to chapter titles and then I even asked it to write a chapter in full. 

Crikey. 

It was amazing. 

It wasn’t perfect, though. 

Among other things, it followed clear tropes, which isn’t too bad for genre writing. But it became very tropey, with no surprises, which in turn made it bland. This became more obvious when I gave it different story ideas to explore. The more examples I asked from it, the less impressive it became. All the stories the AI gave me were basically the same. Even the style of writing was bland, lacking atmosphere and imagery. 

While this will improve over time, I still don’t believe AI will wholly replace us. Why? 

Because AI lacks that special touch humanity brings to a story. We offer stories that are unexpected, we offer a different perspective, we can capture those special moments that shine when taken from our own unique take on the world. 

How then can AI help us? 

It can do those tasks a lot of us don’t enjoy. It writes great advertising. It can help us break down our already written story into an exciting blurb. It can help us with taglines and synopses. It can shorten research time. It can even help us through a writer’s block by suggesting possible solutions when we’ve written our characters into a corner. And so much more. It's like an assistant who is super helpful when you know what questions to ask.

AI is a tool to enhance our creativity. The best thing we can do is embrace it, to learn how best to use it, and reap the benefits. 

What are your thoughts on AI for writers?

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.