Tag: writing

So. I’m finally about to wrap up the second act of this sci-fi dramedy novel I’ve been chipping away at for what feels like forever. Act Two is almost behind me, which means, of course, my brain is already drifting toward the looming shadow of Act Three. And here’s the truth: I only have the faintest, foggiest, half-sketched idea of what that final act should be. It’s like staring into a misty landscape—you think you see shapes out there, maybe a mountain or a river, but when you get closer it turns out to be nothing more than clouds and wishful thinking.

Which leads me to my guilty confession: I keep asking AI to rework the third act for me. Over and over. Like a procrastinator refreshing their fridge every ten minutes just to avoid writing the essay they know is due. It’s not that I don’t want to figure it out myself—it’s just that it’s so tempting to outsource the hardest part of the creative process. Sometimes I tell myself I’m “just brainstorming,” but deep down I know the truth. I’m being a little lazy. I should be rolling up my sleeves, hammering out the outline, wrestling with the blank page until something sticks. Instead, I’m letting the algorithm do push-ups while I watch from the bleachers.

And yet—here’s the thing that saves me from total guilt—I am actually doing the writing. Every chapter, every scene, every awkward joke and half-baked metaphor? That’s me. AI might whisper ideas about the scaffolding, but the bricks and mortar? That’s on my desk. And when I sit down to tackle the second draft, I’ve already promised myself I’m going to go it alone. No safety net. No “hey, can you reimagine this act structure for me?” hand-holding. Just me, a keyboard, and probably way too much coffee. Whatever survives into the final manuscript will be mine, for better or worse.

And let’s be real: my writing probably isn’t as polished or as structurally perfect as an AI’s. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But there’s something satisfying about that. It’s like the difference between buying a piece of furniture from IKEA and building a crooked, lopsided table yourself. Sure, the IKEA table looks better and won’t collapse under the weight of a salad bowl, but the wonky table? That’s yours. You sweated over it. You cursed at it. You earned every wobble.

So maybe my ending won’t be as airtight as if I’d outsourced it. Maybe it’ll lean too far into heart, or comedy, or melodrama, or whatever mood I’m in that week. But even if the final result kind of sucks—well, it’ll suck in a way that’s uniquely me. And honestly, that feels worth more than a flawless third act written by something that doesn’t even get nervous before hitting “publish.”

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

With the help of AI, I’ve managed to zoom through the first draft of the outline I’ve come up with for this scifi dramedy novel. I’m having some problems with the third act, even with the help of AI.

But, in general, things are going ok with this novel.

I still worry about someone stealing a creative march on me — the premise, all things considered, it’s kind of obvious — but I can’t get too wrapped up in what might happen.

I need to just put my head down and write, write, write.

I don’t know when the first draft will be done. Hopefully by the end of the year, maybe? And then, of course, I have to allot a lot — A LOT — of time for brooding over how to rewrite things for the second draft.

I am considering this first draft my “vomit” draft and just getting things down so I can pick up the pieces for a really good, solid second draft that I’m proud enough that I feel comfortable showing beta readers.

Then I take in beta reader’s advice and turn around and query the damn thing.

I will note that AI has helped a lot with this novel because it’s not nearly as expensive — or judgmental — as a human literary consultant. It is willing to humor me in all my colorful, loudmouth drunk crank glory and that means a lot.

But I also know that for the second draft, I really have to limit my use of AI. I can’t wallow in AI to the point that people can tell that an AI helped write the beta draft. I may use it to write the brief scene summaries I use to write the full scene summaries, but that’s it.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I try not to make any hard and fast predictions about my writing since I did it for years and only came up with one not-good-enough-to-query novel when all I was said and done.

But just looking at the number of scenes I have remaining in the first half of the outline, it definitely seems at l least possible that I might wrap the first half of the novel up by Sept. 1st.

Things really are moving that fast.

But, remember, this is just the first draft. Once I sit down to write the beta release, the one someone else is going to actually read, then the dynamic changes. I won’t use AI anymore and I’m going to have to write my own scene summaries. Things are going to slow down dramatically.

I am still pondering how to make my hero more proactive in the second half of the novel. I let AI write much of the outline and the part I haven’t really read that much is the second half. So, hopefully, but just me looking over the outline I will figure out a way to make my hero more proactive.

But, in general, I am very pleased with this novel. It’s about as good as it’s going to get, I think, in some ways, at least on a structural basis. And I’ve managed to keep it “personal” in the latter part of the novel. It doesn’t veer off into a political tirade like the original premise did.