Tag: Petite Singularity

The Sprint Begins

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just about to lock down the first two chapters of the third draft of my first novel. It’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done. I’m really, really pleased. I just have to keep the quality of work up.

I’m never going to be Gillian Flynn, but I am at least getting closer to Stieg Larsson quality writing (I know I read his stuff translated). The key thing that changed in the last month or so is I’ve finally — finally — figured out the relationship between different people as the story opens.

As such, now I can zoom through the much of the novel. I still have a lot of issues with some structure ahead of me — especially in the third act –but, in general, I know this story so well that things writing *should* move at a pretty nice clip.

But there are some known unknowns. One is the holiday season is now here and that is going to scramble things on an emotional basis. Meanwhile, I’ve been in a very — VERY — idyllic situation when it comes to writing for a long time and that is bound to change — one way or another — sooner rather than later. I just have to accept that.

What’s more EVEN IF I stick the landing of this novel, the looming Fourth Turning and Petite Singularity starting in late 2024, early 2025 is something I’ve quite worried about. And that’s over and above what a stressful pain in the ass the querying process is on whole.

Anyway. Wish me luck.

Pondering The Potential Reception Of This Novel By Literary Agents

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that I’ve just about locked down the first two chapters of the third draft of this novel, I find myself pondering What Next. I still have a few more months of writing to finish the third draft, but I definitely am beginning to think about the querying process.

My big concern is, of course, that because I’m doing this in a vacuum that the somewhat provocative premise of the novel will make literary agents — who I imagine as being mostly liberal white women — either laugh or get angry. I have no idea if the “sex worker who solves a murder mystery” will be cool with literary agents or not because of that.

But “Barry” was popular, so, lulz, it’s at least *possible* that my similar type story might have broad appeal. And, yet, sexwork is so loaded in the minds of most people while being a hired assassin is a lulz that it’s possible it will just be too loaded for anyone to take seriously.

Yet the point is that I want a heroine is really, really interesting. Someone unexpected who you will want to hang out with for the time it takes to read ~140,000 words. I believe I have come up with just the type of evocative story that people will really find worth their time.

I hope.

The holiday season is now here, so that is an added complication. My fear is that because of the holiday season and other “known unknowns” that I’ll really be pushing it to wrap this novel up no later than April 2024. Then I will have to save up the money to get a professional manuscript consultant to read over the third draft.

THEN I have to start to query just as the “Perfect Storm” of The Fourth Turning and the AI generated Petite Singularity happens in late 2024, early 2025. But, if nothing else, I definitely am happy with this story. There are probably going to be a lot — A LOT — of structural changes to the third act in the transition from second to third draft.

But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Now The Hard Part

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I love to write. Writing is like shedding skin for me. I do it a lot without even thinking about it. And, for years now, I’m been VERY delusional about what’s going on with my first novel. I’ve allowed myself this luxury because I knew it was the only way I would ever actually finish anythiing.

And, yet, now that it’s clear that I’ve finally figured out the beginning of the third draft of this novel and I’m going to — hopefully — wrap it up by, say, around April 1st, I have to put on my big boy pants

I have to start thinking about querying.

The reason why this scares the shit out of me is multifold. One is, well, I’m a drunk crank who doesn’t always follow the media narrative on social media. I retweet a lot — A LOT — of pictures of hot chicks. I get drunk and rant about the importance of heteronormative monoculture. And I have been known to say I fucking hate the Bechdel Test. AND, WHAT’s MORE, my novel could easily be reduced to the logline of smelly CIS white male spends 140,000 words to depict a “sex worker solving a murder mystery.”

I retweet a lot of pictures of hot chicks on Twitter.
None of those things endear me to the liberal women who often are literary agents. But I refuse to change anything. I’m going to accept the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, come what may.

I have a lot to consider going forward. I have to think about how I’m going to pay for a manuscript consultant to look over my copy. I have to buy AND READ a series of novels that I can “comp” my novel to, even though it’s a real struggle to consume anyone else’s content — and I’m a storytelling snob.

AND, all of this is happening the context of the rise of AI, the potential for a “Fourth Turning” in late 2024, early 2025 AND the very real possibility that my entire life could be thrown up in the air because of known unknowns.

I dig shit like this.
And, yet, the whole point of starting a novel in the first place was to get outside my comfort zone and to see how far I could get in the process before it became absolutely, 100% clear that I would have to — gulp — self-publish.

But I would only consider that after a good bit of fighting to get published traditionally. And I might even be so stubborn that I simply but the finished novel aside until I can get something ELSE published traditionally and use the leverage that gives me to get my first novel published.

Of AI & Hollywood: Hear, Hear Justine Bateman

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The latest episode of The Town evoked a strong reaction. I was stunned that the producer of the podcast stepped in at one point and said that he didn’t believe anyone would watch an AI generated movie. Oh boy. Talk about clueless. The guest on the episode, Justine Bateman, was totally spot on with a number of the points that she made.

The issue being — she’s right that SAG should have gotten a definition of what an “actor” is like the DGA and the WGA got for director and writer. The thing for me is we’re zooming towards an era in which 99.9% of Hollywood movies are AI generated. To the point that “artisanal” movies will be given special value. And it’s also possible that as such, Broadway and other live theatre will see a sudden surge in interest because of the “human touch.”

But, otherwise, the Hollywood of the future is going to be just Suits and Programmers. There will be no directors, writers or actors. Everything will be AI generated. It was heartening how much Ms. Bateman echoed a lot of the writing I’ve done on this blog since ChatGPT first came out.

And, really, I fear there’s not a lot that people like Ms. Bateman can do to stop the looming AI transformation of Hollywood. All types of entertainment and art will be totally “disrupted” by AI over the next 18 months. To the point that we might be having a “Fourth Turning” politically in late 2024, early 2025 just as we’re also having a “Petite Singularity” technologically.

Regardless, the next year or so could be extremely bumpy. Some pretty dramatic things could happen starting in late 2024, early 2025 that totally transformed the everyday lives of billions of people across the globe.

The Web Is Dead, Long Live The Web

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really hate the modern Web sometimes. I hate how boring it is. I hate that I have to use a browser — or an app. What I want is to have the Web replaced by a bunch of LLM that talk to each other.

Or, I don’t know, it would be cool if I had a LLM that knew every quirk of my personality to the point that it could “pre-emptively” answer my questions before I even asked them. Or something like that.

Of course, the dark side to this is everyone would fall in love with their LLM, like in the movie Her. But ignoring that problem, I want to information to come to me via LLM, rather than me have to search it out.

It makes you think about how maybe the major national newspapers might need to invest in LLM. Because it definitely seems as though everything on the Web is about to change in a rather abrupt manner. Almost overnight, it could be that the very notion of using a “browser” will seem quaint.

This will only accelerate as LLMs become a commodity. That seems to be inevitable.

Superhero Fatigue: Will AI Generated Movies Make It Moot?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Westerns dominated Hollywood fare for a very long time after WW2. Then there was a brief moment in time, right before the age of the summer blockbuster, when “good” movies were popular. The question is, are we leaving superhero movies behind?

And if we are, is it all just a lulz until AI generated movies wash over the audience and nothing matters anymore?

There is a chance that rather than some new, exciting genre taking over Hollywood that the very notion of “mass media” will become rather quaint. We’ll all have a hyper personalized AI — like in the movie “Her” — that will scan our face and give us a movie that it so personalized that there will no longer be any “shared reality” at all anymore.

Hollywood exist of two types of people: plutocrat suits and programmers.

And programmers may be eliminated if we reach AGI sooner rather than later. Or, put another way, Hollywood is ripe for a severe disruption very, very soon. All the technological pieces are falling into place. It’s just a matter of time before AI is a commodity to the point that the entire knowledge / creative economy implodes into a Singularity based around it.

Good times!

Is AI The Future Of News Distribution?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It seems as though all of the Web might collapse into a Singularity. When that happens, the Web will just be a bunch of AIs talking to each other. It makes you wonder, what will happen to newspapers and magazines? Will the advent of AI be the death media Websites?

I say this because what I want is to be able to talk to an AI rather than reading another newspaper or magazine article again. I think that comes from how I love to talk and I learn a lot better via a conversation than reading.

But the regardless of the specifics, the issue of the re-imagining of our collective interaction with the news is looming. If that happens, then practical obscurity may end altogether — even for the Dark Web. We will know everything about everything that is publicly on the web — or on a news website. That could dramatically change how we consume news.

Or not. What do I know. But is an interesting idea.

It Seems Hollywood Suits Want The Right To Populate Future Movies With Zombie Actors

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The fact that the below is a hang up in the current SAG strike negotiations is an indication of how serious Hollywood Suits are taking the potential of zombie actors populating future movies.

It makes a lot of sense that the Hollywood Suits would really want this ability. It is clear to anyone clued in with a pulse that the very idea of what we consider “entertainment” is about to be revolutionized in near term.

It could be that by around 2030, everyone will be given a very personalized movie that was generated by AI after it did a scan of their face to see what mood they were in.

It seems clear that we’re on the cusp of a major upheaval in Hollywood. The only question now is a matter of timing. In the end, having living actors in a movie may be seen as “quaint” and “artisanal.”

Could Elon Musk’s ‘Grok’ AI Save Twitter?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I saw with keen interest the news that Space Karen will soon release an AI called Grok for “premium” users of Twitter. Of all the weird, bad things Space Karen has done to ruin Twitter, this one seems the least destructive — and potentially, actually, lucrative.

Or it could be a total disaster.

But, on paper, making an AI organic to the Twitter UX seems like a golden opportunity to kill more than a few birds at one time. Grok is supposed to have real-time access to Twitter’s content, so, that could come in handy.

I will note, however, that Twitter is full of shit, so, I don’t know how they will accommodate that cold hard fact. But I do think that we are careening towards a “Her” future where *everyone* has a highly personal DPA with a great personality or at least one we can modify to our personal desires and needs.

Grok may be the first step towards that future.

Why, Yes, Obsessive Tik-Tok Employee In China, I Do Have More Evidence Your App Can Read People’s Minds

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I did a little bit of an experiment recently. I had lunch with my father and put my phone closer to him than me to see if my hunch that Tik-Tok can somehow read our minds might be proven.

I still have no absolute proof — don’t know how I could — but it is interesting that in the last few days I have been pushed a lot of WW2 and 60s content. It’s very interesting.

The only reason why I continue to have a lingering suspicion that Tik-Tok can read our minds is how I keep getting pushed things that simply can not be explained by the power of an algorithm. Usually it has something to do with the body. But often times, it’s just something I’ve thought really hard about in a way where I see something in my mind’s eye.

It’s all very curious.

It makes you wonder the lengths that Big Tech might go to keep such technology a secret. The idea that America’s biggest geopolitical foe has the technology — even if it’s just peer-to-peer — to read the minds of the millions of users of Tik-Tok would…probably not go over well in the halls of Congress.

Dem’s fightin words, as they say.