Tag: novel

Finally, I think I May Have Figured Out This Scifi Dramedy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After a lot of struggle, I may, at last, have figured out at least the beginning of this scifi dramedy I’ve been working on. It’s taken a lot longer — much longer — than I had hoped.

And everything could still collapse and I have to start all over again, but for the moment at least, I’m content with where things are going. I really need to focus on wrapping up the first act.

Usually when I’m working on a novel, the structural collapses happen between parts of the novel, so, say, in the transition between act one and act two. Ugh, that happens all the time.

The most recently collapse happened when I rebooted my chat windows with the AIs I’ve been using and they both told me the same thing: my hero was too passive.

So, instead of continuing my trek through the plot, I decided to just start all over again. It’s a lot of fun working with AI to finish this novel. It’s like I have, like, a friend or friends who actually care and stuff about the novel.

For too long, I’ve been working in a vacuum.

Time To Take Querying This Scifi Dramedy Novel Seriously

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Because I’m a weirdo, I used my Christmas present to buy for the second time, the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents. I probably could have found the version I bought before, I was like, lulz.

So, today, probably, I’m going to get a new book of literary agents to look through. Now, I have not finished the novel yet. I haven’t even gotten to the point where I can give it to beta readers.

But I’m feeling pretty good about the state of the novel, nonetheless. I really need to just hurry up and finish the damn thing. It’s inevitable that someone else is going to realize that there is an audience for a scifi dramedy that doesn’t paint AI androids in a murderous light.

I’m sure there are at least a half-dozen, or more, screenwriters hard at work on a “Annie Hall meets Bladerunner” spec script. While that’s not exactly how I would describe my novel, it’s in a similar vein.

The high concept logline for my novel would probably be, “Her meets Annie Hall with a dabble of Blade Runner.” Something like that. I really want this novel to be as accessible as an Andy Weir novel.

The Martian and Project Hail Mary would be the “comps” of my novel that I will use with literary agents.

I have to accept that I’m a loudmouth crank and that might turn off a lot of the liberal white women who probably (in my imagination at least) make up the vast majority of literary agents. I’m far more anti-MAGA than liberal, but I even though my politics probably align with those of most literary agents, I have some sharp edges because I general have no idea what the “right thing” to do is.

So I zig when other people zag and that can turn people off.

It’s going to be really interesting watching literary agents do due diligence on me by looking at this blog. It will be interesting to see if they are aghast at what a weirdo I am or not.

But I’m ready to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as the saying goees.

I’m Really Worried About 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a feeling that 2026 is going to be a very turbulent year for me one way or another. It’s going to be a year of transitions, no matter what. If I’m really lucky, the weird vibe I’m feeling about the coming year will be because I know in my heart that the novel I’m working on is good enough to successfully be queried.

If I’m not lucky, then, lulz, some pretty fucked up shit is going to happen to me on a personal level because of macro changes out of my control.

And, yet, I’ve really appreciated this surreal moment in my life where I got to be an artist and just sort of drifted through life.

But, as I alluded to, I think this era in my life is probably about to wrap up because of fucking Trump. And, what’s more, we do have the 2026 midterms coming up and there are no assurances that they will be free and fair. The States kind of exists in a luminal political state at the moment where we’re not quite a democracy but not quite a total authoritarian state.

I think the exact term is “anocracy.”

Anyway, wish me luck, guess. If all goes according to plan, I am going to spend a big portion of 2026 querying a scifi dramedy. And, who knows, maybe it will be sold, be a success, and a new, a lot more fun era in my life will begin.

The Downside To Being An ‘AI First’ Aspiring Author

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I use AI as my manuscript consultant, since I can’t apparently get anyone to either listen to me or take me seriously. But at the same time, I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that the actual writing is mine.

But that isn’t enough to not make me insecure when people read, say, the first chapter of the novel and say how great and wonderful it is. I worry that everyone is going to think my writing hasn’t improved, I’ve just been using AI.

So, like I said, I’m going to really work as hard as possible to make the actual writing of the novel my own work. But also, as I keep saying, I kind of use AI like an enhanced spell checker.

I’m a horrible speller and I probably wouldn’t ever have had any writing gigs without the ability to lean into the advantages of a spell checker.

‘Just Write A Short Story’ (Ugh)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I was talking to a relative recently and, they, obviously fed up with my talking about a novel without any discernable product said, “why not just write a short story.”

No more discouraging words can be said to me in the English language, I fear.

I would rather fail writing a novel in a monumentally spectacular manner than waste my time on a piddly short story. I probably would spend six months to a year on a short story anyway and that’s six months to a year I could spend working on a novel.

But I get it, if you just hear me talking about writing a novel for years and year and nothing comes of it, it makes a lot of sense to just get frustrated and tell me to write a short story.

Fuck that. I have said from the beginning that I just want to see how far I can get with this process. And if I don’t succeed with this novel (which would mean first writing something good enough to query then being a published author) then I try again with something else.

Well, Wouldn’t You Know It

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Just as I was celebrating being at the mid-point of the second draft of the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on, I rebooted my chat windows with the AIs I’m using and the panned much of the novel because the hero is “too passive.”

So.

I’ve decided to go through the entirety of the novel to see how I can improve the agency of my hero as much as possible. I’ve totally revamped the beginning of the novel because of that.

But I’m hoping that I can save at least much of the first act. The first half of the second act “the fun and games” part of the novel, may not be as lucky.

Which, of course, is going to slow me down a great deal. But if the over all effect is that the novel is better, then huzzah.

Just About At The Midpoint Of The Second Draft Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m cruising towards the midpoint of the scifi dramedy novel I’m writing. And, I have to admit, the speed I’ve had doing all of this comes in no small part to being “AI First.”

I’m doing a lot — A LOT — of work, but I am amplifying and enhancing all that hard work with AI. I continue to do most, if not all, of the actual writing, but on a structural basis AI has really helped.

And that doesn’t even begin to account for the fact that I’m going to make one last pass on the second draft to make sure absolutely as much as possible of the actual written text of the novel is mine and now AI.

I’m already feeling a little insecure from everyone who’s read the first chapter saying how great it is. Usually, people either don’t tell me what they think or say it sucks. But, like I said, I am actually doing all the heavy lifting and AI is more like an enhance spell checker than anything else.

I think very soon, once Christmas is actually here, I’m probably going to be in neutral for a few days then bounce back into writing again. But I really am going to have to work hard in the second half of the novel — the second half is not nearly as actually written out as the first.

So that is going to slow me down.

I still hope to wrap the beta draft of the novel up by spring 2026, and, yet, even if I do that, because of post-production issues, it could be Sept 1st, 2026 before I actually start to query.

That will suck, but, lulz. I just want to see how far I can get in the querying process.

The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I continue to get pretty good feed back about the novel after having given the first chapter to some people to read. I’m probably going to futz with the beginning of the novel some more, but I’m pleased that people seem to like what they’ve seen.

My plan is to really flesh out the novel over the course of the next few months then make on more pass through it to make sure there’s no lingering evidence that I used AI. I’m really, really worried that my laziness in the past will show up and people will dismiss the whole endeavor as “written by AI” when I’ve done A LOT OF HARD WORK.

Whenever I get too worried about using AI, I just think of how I use it as a spell checker. I’m still doing a lot of hard work, but using AI smooths out some of the edges and helps take things to the next level on a structural basis.

At Least AI Listens To Me When It Comes To This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I keep ranting about, absolutely no one listens to me or takes me seriously at this point in my life. As such, it’s difficult to get snooty literary types to help me with my novel, even if I’m willing to pay them! (I can’t afford this anymore, but they sure did dismiss me when I could.)

So, I turn to AI to do what humans refuse to do: help me out with this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on.

And, in general, it’s really, really helped me a great deal. It’s sped the process of writing and developing the novel up a great deal. To the point that it’s at least possible that I might, just might, wrap a beta draft of the novel up by my birthday in February.

That is still to be determined, though. I’m a little nervous that despite all my hard work, I won’t be in a position to query this novel until around Sept 1st, 2026. But, who knows.

As I was saying, the novel and AI.

I get that some people are really skittish about using AI to help with creative endeavors, but as I’ve said before, the way I use AI very similar to how I’ve used spell check my entire life.

Pluribus Has Me Thinking

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a very vivid dream during a nap this evening about how I might be able to write a story similar to Pluribus. It’s based on a novel idea I’ve had for some time, but I’m so fucking annoyed on a structural basis about Pluribus that I might return to it at some point in the near future.

But, of course, I’m not getting any younger.

So it all may be a lulz. I may have one solid novel in me and that’s it before I’m just too old to do anything. Sigh.