Do You Listen?

 

Anyone else dealing with lots of the crappy white stuff?

Whether you are. Whether you aren't.

Listen up for second.

They say...who they are, beats me....but they say that each snowflake is different. No two are exactly the same.

And that's it for me. We are done. No need to listen any longer.

Wasn't that an easy post? You calling me lazy? Didn't we go over this? I'm just not listening.

Okay. I guess I wasn't thorough enough to be through. Or through enough to be thorough? Take your pick on which one you like best.

Why do you listen?

We aren't talking about things like when that little voice in your head tells you not to run the very slow driver off the road. Listen to that. Unless you're into four walls and a cell for a few years. I suppose that would be one way to get some writing time.

We are talking about all the nitpicking. The scoffs. Sometimes even the good stuff.

Yes. It is nice to hear the good stuff, but does it change anything with your finished work? Does it help you improve? If not...Don't Listen! You don't ever want to be up in your own head so much that you forget to strive to improve.

How does this relate to snowflakes? Well just like every snowflake is different, so they say, every person is different. You will never please everyone. No matter how much you want to, how much you try, how much you beg, it will never ever happen. Trying to please, listening to please, or anything of the like will just make you miserable and/or leave you insane.

Instead, stay mostly sane and not miserable and know that even though, much like snowflakes, you can't see it behind your screen, each person is different. Unless it is critical, whether bad or good, and you can learn or grow from it...Don't Listen!

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. There is good advice, but then there is bad advice disguised as good advice. Maybe the latter is what this is. Who knows? Ask a mime to get an answer. That last one is likely bad advice, so don't listen.

If you make it a habit not to listen then you will make it a habit not to let things bother you.

Pretty soon many writers, probably been a fair amount already, will get accused of using AI to write their stories.

Again, you know the truth, don't listen. The more you engage with those who are just trying to get under your skin, on your back, or whatever other idiom body part saying you can think of, then the more they will engage.

The only opinion people like that want to hear is their opinion coming out of your, or another's, mouth.

Don't listen.

And if you need help not listening then picture yourself as two dogs who act deaf, but are always ready to bark at a squirrel. Maybe you could even try barking at the trolls. Could work. Hey! A rubber room gives you plenty of alone time to write as well. Also, it's more fun and bouncy than the other type of cell.

But who am I? Maybe you have a better way. If so....Don't Listen!

Unless your way is to pretend to be an ostrich and stick your head in the ground. That can't be good for you. Think of the worms that may crawl into your ears.

What do you do not to listen? Do you listen too much to what is said about your work? Do you listen too much to what is said about you in general?

Feel free to leave any tips. I might listen. Or I might bark. 

Depends on the day.

Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day and Writing/Marketing Scams

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. We encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

The awesome co-hosts for the February 4 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees, and Sandra Cox!

February 4 question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

Marketing Scams

A lot of marketing scams are out there, eager to take advantage of unsuspecting people. Writers and authors need to become familiar with them and avoid their pitfalls:

From Tod Newman - When AI Becomes a Weapon: The Rise of Sophisticated Book Marketing Scams

Anne R. Allen has a couple recent articles -
Update on those Flattering AI Book Marketing Scams
New Scam Alert for Authors

From Rod Raglin - New sophisticated publishing scam targets struggling authors on Amazon

And from Writer Beware, their top writing scams of 2005. There are a lot!

Keep on top of the information and don’t get taken!

Are there any other scams or sites warning writers that we should know about?

Artificial Intelligence

2026 is going to be an interesting and challenging year for authors and publishers. There has been a huge shift in how creative writing is produced, and it’s due to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is already having a serious impact on what people write, how they write it, and how readers react.

Pixabay

Proponents for AI say that it increases productivity and helps in overcoming writer’s block. They tout the fact that writers can delegate the “dishwashing” aspect of writing to AI. 

For example, AI can generate plot points or character names. It can make things like tone and style consistent throughout a manuscript—especially a lengthy one. Certainly, it can catch many of the grammar and punctuation mistakes, eliminating a lot of line edit issues. If you’re publishing online, it can create Keywords and SEO in a matter of seconds.

Opponents call into question the ethics of using AI because it is trained by models of work that have already been created by someone. If a writer asks for AI to generate a story based on their idea, and it kicks out a complete work, are they the creator, or is someone else who has helped train AI? 

Here is what one search asking that question produced: 

“…the human author is generally considered the author if they provide significant creative input, guidance, and substantially rewrite or arrange the AI's output…”

There are no descriptors that delineate what significant creative input, guidance, or substantial re-writing mean. 

Both proponents and opponents warn about the cost of a heavy reliance on AI. It can produce a flat, generic tone, it can generate false information, and it can lack uniqueness. 

Even though the industry says that AI is a “collaborative tool,” and not one meant to replace humans, one main concern that has been expressed is that as writers come to rely on AI, it may lead to lessening or ending the need for human writers.

But what about readers?

It seems that readers complain a lot about the lack of accuracy, authenticity, and especially the non-human feeling of AI-generated writing. The interesting thing is that while they complain about this non-human writing, people are reading it. 

Here's an interesting article about just that. The Irony of AI Complaints.