Category: Media

My Biggest Worries About My Novel At The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

  1. Too Much AI
    I am very self-conscious about there being any AI used to actually write anything in this novel. My hope is, through the editing process, I can eliminate any “AI speak” that may have slipped through the development process. I have worked so hard on this novel, I would be devastated if it was unpublishable because I had used AI too much to actually write it. (Which I haven’t.)
  2. It’s Too Spicy
    There is a lot of sex in this novel. And I’m worried that the very nature, the very premise, of the novel will be seen as “too trashy” for the liberal white women I imagine make up most literary agents. But who knows. The novel is shaping up to be pretty good, all things considered.
  3. I’m Too Big A Kook
    I’m really worried that whenever I get into the querying process and literary agents are doing “due diligence” on me that they will read this blog, or my social media presence and be extremely spooked that I’m just too big of a weirdo to sell a novel. But we’ll see, I guess. Stranger things and all that.

Feeling Insecure About My Novel’s ‘Comp,’ Annie Bot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The core difference between my novel and Annie Bot is mine is told from the POV of the “owner” of the android. Similar premises, in a sense, but told from the exact opposite POV.

Now, I decided to tell my novel this way because, well, lulz, the woke cancel culture mob demands that men only write from a male POV and as such, lulz, I have to write it the way I am.

Of course, given GenZ’s general “no sex please” sentiment that is ANOTHER issue that I have to worry about. My novel has a lot of spicy content in it for various and obvious reasons.

But I worry that 1) Annie Bot is better written than my novel and 2) the woke cancel culture mob will poo-poo my attempt to write a dramedy about a man’s relationship to an android he subscribes to.

And, yet, I really like what I’ve come up with. It is, all things considered, pretty good. It’s quite an entertaining yarn, if I do say so myself.

Turbulence Ahead

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m beginning to believe that the long dreaded turbulence I’ve expected for my personal life is going to happen soon. It could totally throw the context of me working on this novel out of whack.

And, yet, I’ve been grateful for how long I’ve had the idyllic situation.

At this point, I just want to finish a novel that I’m proud of. Any thing else that might happen will be icing on the cake, as it were.

I still haven’t read Annie Bot. I still haven’t read any of the books I have on querying. I just can’t bring myself to do such things just yet.

I think once I actually finish the novel — no matter how trashy it might ultimately be — that is when I will really start to take querying more seriously. Right now, it’s still something of an abstract.

Edging Ever Closer To The Midpoint Of The Latest Version Of The Scifi Dramedy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I keep saying, I’m cruising towards the midpoint of the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. Things are very much in flux and I hope to nail things down good enough that once I make another go at reading the novel I won’t have to re-write so much, if hardly any.

The next go through will simply be to absolutely double-check that there isn’t too much “AI talk” in the copy. I want it to be as much in my own, human voice as humanly possible.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to get through the second half of the novel once get into it. The second half of this novel has been, in previous versions, not nearly as well written out.

But, we’ll see.

I probably will get to the midpoint by….maybe next week sometime?

A Few Small Quibbles With ‘Project Hail Mary’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really liked both the book and the movie Project Hail Mary. But the movie really had a few elements that made me annoyed.

The first and biggest one was how our intrepid hero was able to figure out how to pilot a huge space craft that he otherwise should know nothing about. I would have introduced an AI of some sort as a character that would have taken care of all that and filled that particular plot hole.

Meanwhile, another issue was the selection of The Beatles “Two of Us” for a very crucial scene, when, I think the case could be made that “Get Back” was a lot better. But I get it — they wanted to convey a lot of information with one song and in this instance, “Two of Us” did a double duty that “Get Back” could not.

Anyway, I really liked the movie. It was really good.

The ‘Shy Girl’ Controversy Has Me Paranoid About My Novel’s Fate Since I’m An ‘AI First’ Author

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I’ve said before, I see AI a lot like how we might have viewed a spell checker back in the day. I’m a horrible, horrible speller and any success I’ve had as a journalist in the past — and there wasn’t much — came from heavy, heavy use of spell check.

And, yet, I totally get why it’s a Big Deal that the novel Shy Girl was a whopping 75% AI generated. That’s way too much.

And, honestly, I would like to think after the process of editing is done that there will be minimal “AI talk” in the novel I’m working on. And I have to admit that I’m really self-conscious whenever I use AI to “gently” edit my copy.

I worry that just by doing that, at all, that that will show up as “AI generated” if put into detection software. But I have done so much fucking hard work on this novel. I really have. And I try every which way but loose to ensure that the novel is in my voice as much as possible.

But everything is horrible and everyone is dumb, so I have to be very aware that even my minimal use of AI when it comes to writing my novel will be seen as “Oh, he generated AI slop.”

Ugh.

Double Ugh.

Anyway, I’m trying the best I can.

Beginning To Approach The Midpoint Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel (Again)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m in what I’m calling the “color correction” phase of this novel’s development. I’m trying to not rewrite anything — or as little as possible — but I keep failing. I’m supposed to just be editing when absolutely necessary to kind of get everything in shape, but I find myself just giving in to the temptation to rewrite entire scenes.

That proclivity, of course, is slowing me down.

The next stage of things will be a lot quicker — once I’m done with this version of the novel, I’m going to re-read it one last time before handing it over to Beta Readers. I just want to make sure I put things in my voice as much as possible, just in case any “AI speak” slips past me when I get AI to “gently edit” the text of what I’ve written.

As of right now, at least, I continue to be on track to query around Sept 1st. I still — still! — have three books about querying I need to read and yet to date refuse to do so. I’m skcart, as they say.

I’m scared that after all this work, I’ll stumble across a passage in the querying books that makes it clear that I can absolutely never successfully query this novel. Ugh. And, yet, I also know that I have to read the books.

I am probably going to start serious development work on a new novel once I wrap up this novel, so I have something to work on while I query.

I Fear Liberal White Women Will Think This Scifi Dramedy Novel Is A Little Too ‘Trashy’ For Their Tastes

This novel is not intended to be high art; rather, it is meant to be engaging, accessible, and enjoyable, even as it moves toward a somewhat melancholy conclusion. In that sense, I would compare its ending to that of the film Her, as the two share certain emotional and thematic resonances.

At its core, the story follows a sexbot sex worker and the unusual agreement she forms with her subscriber. I find the premise compelling and rich with narrative potential, though I am aware that its subject matter may give some pause—particularly within more traditional literary circles.

That said, quality ultimately matters more than categorization. If the novel succeeds on its own terms–if it is genuinely engaging and well-executed–then its more pulpy or unconventional elements may prove less of an obstacle than I sometimes imagine.

I have also found myself reflecting on the role of AI in my writing process. At times, I have used it for light editing—much in the way writers have historically relied on tools like spellcheck or grammar suggestions. Given the amount of effort I have invested in this work, I would find it frustrating if such use were misunderstood or dismissed outright. Still, I recognize that sensitivities around AI in creative work are real and evolving.

For what it is worth, I am careful to revise extensively in my own voice, ensuring that the final product reflects my intent and sensibility. While I am aware of broader conversations about AI-generated writing, I do not see those concerns applying in any substantial way to this project.

As for the novel’s more provocative elements, it is difficult to predict how they will be received. It could go either way. However, my instinct is that the story’s underlying strength—its emotional core and narrative drive—will ultimately carry more weight than any perceived “trashy” qualities, particularly with those whose opinions matter most in the publishing process.

I Have To Say, This Scifi Dramedy Is Shaping Up To Be Pretty Good

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I plow through this latest draft of the novel and rewrite more and more scenes completely, the overall effect is pretty good. As I keep saying, I’m probably going to read this thing one last time after this just for some last-minute editing before I hand it over to beta readers.

Of course, finding beta readers willing to simply do what I need them to do — read the novel — may be so difficult that I just trust my gut and go straight into querying. One fear I have is my beta readers will, for various reasons, think the novel is too “spicy” and get turned off, even though in general the novel is actually pretty good.

Just today, I realized there were some ways to make the novel a little bit more deep. I don’t know if I’ll be able to add those elements, though. But it is something to think about.

But, in general, I hope to keep going onward and up ward. I really do hope to wrap this process up in time to query the novel by Sept. 1st. I am very, very weary of querying, since it will be my first time doing it.

Once I wrap this novel up and start querying, that is when I can start working on the next novel, even though I’m probably a little too old to creatively do anything but just stare out into space and feel bad about how much time I squandered thinking about a failed expat magazine in Seoul.

I’m Reasonably Pleased With The State of This Scifi Dramedy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m cruising through this latest draft of the scifi dramedy I’ve been working on at a pretty nice little clip. It’s always possible that I may run into some part of the novel that is just too difficult to easily rework, but that has yet to happen.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with what I have.

I am, as I have said, a little worried that it’s a little too “spicy” on a consistant basis. But, given what the novel is about — a sexbot — I think, I suppose, that you can give me a little bit of wiggle room on that matter.

But I do worry that the average reader will be put off by how much sex there is in this novel. And, yet, I just don’t know. I really don’t know. It could be one of those things where people will be completely blase about the amount of sex in the novel and will be a lot more worried about my use of AI to develop it and to “gently” edit it.

That would be, as they say, rather ironic.

Anyway, one issue that I’ve had, that of the novel being a little too “episodic” has largely been fixed, at least in the “fun and games” part of the novel. That’s where I am at the moment, rewriting the fun-and-games part of the novel.

Claude LLM is a really good writing partner. Though I still use Gemini LLM as well, just maybe not as much. Both are really good tools for development.