Tag: writing

2026 Will Suck

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

For reasons personal and not so personal, I fear 2026 is going to suck and egg. For my part, my life is going to change in ways I just can’t control starting as early as late this month.

But I also think that 2026, because there’s a mid-term election, is a prime candidate for year we actually have a civil war or (Blue) revolution. I could totally see Trump doing something crazy in regards to the the 2026 midterms and, lulz, the country collapses into a civil war (or Blue Revolution.)

I say this in the context of Trump and MAGA clearly thinking they will never hav to either be held accountable or ever leave office. So, lulz. It could be that 2026 is kind of the very last fish or cut bait for Americans when it comes to what’s left of our democracy.

If Trump really does fuck with the 2026 mid-terms and…nothing happens, then, welp, it was fun while it lasted. We made it barely to 250 years of empire and then it all just faded away into tyranny.

I do hope, however, that I might as early as spring 2026 finish a novel worth querying. And, honestly, I just want to write a novel good enough that the people I send it to…finish it and give me an opinion.

That would be quite an accomplishment, given my history with such things!

At A Loss (For The Moment)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have been using AI to game out the outline of my scifi dramedy to reasonable success. But, as always, I run smack into a problem when I take the wheel, as it were.

When I start to go through the outline and change things relative to my own vision of the novel, sometimes I really have problems figuring out what to do. That’s what’s going on right now with the first chapter which I, yet again, working on.

I really feel like I’m spinning my wheels, yet again, on this novel, but lulz, the novel is getting much, much better because my hero is becoming a lot more proactive. That’s been a real problem with this novel — and all my novels that I’ve attempted: my hero has been too passive.

I think that says more about how I view the world than anything else, but again, lulz.

Anyway, so right now, things are like this one chapter of setup and then the inciting incident happens in the second chapter. I’ve finished fleshing out the first three scenes, which is good. But the next two scenes are really causing me troubles.

As an aside, I’m really annoyed at how leery of sexual content all the major LLMs are as I work on this novel. One of them even accused me of being “lazy!” But, I think they probably had a point. I do tend slip into writing spicy scenes when I’m bored or can’t figure out what to do with a scene.

But it really is a pain to move the creative ship of state from what I’m given by the AI for an outline and turning into something that interests me, or I actually want to expend the time writing.

Wish me luck

The Third Act Of My Scifi Dramedy Is Something Of A Mystery At The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have spent all day filling out the first and second acts of this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. But, for the time being, I’m very uncertain about what the third act will be, even though I have written out a simple, tentative outline for it.

So. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do.

I think what I might do is simply start writing again on the novel and just punt the issue of the third act down the road. I’m really pleased with what I’ve come up with for the first and second acts, but the third at….oh boy.

I got Gemini 2.5 pro to help me with some form of third act but I’m not very happy with it. I know in my gut what I want to do for the third act, but it keeps getting shot down by various AIs that I use to help me with the novel.

Ugh. Technology.

But, like I said, I think I’m going to just write on the novel and not be so worried about the third act just yet. I still have lot of time. I fixed a major structural problem with the novel whereby I did not have a “fun and games” part of the novel.

Now I do, which is cool.

I think I’m going to just chill out for a day or so then start writing again after I’ve given myself some time to reflect.

Outline Collapse & Rebirth — AGAIN

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

My outline collapsed AGAIN. But this time, I think I may, just may have figured things out. Maybe. The biggest issue that’s been fixed is my “fun and games” portion of the novel really is fun and games, not a dark spiral.

That really helps a lot.

At this specific moment, I’m at the midpoint of the novel’s outline. I am either going to keep moving along, or take a little bit of a break for the rest of the day. This fleshing out the outline has really taken a lot out of me.

But I continue to have lingering, chronic teeth issues and I’m afraid the jig will b up sooner rather than later and I’ll be in such severe pain that I can think straight, much less work on an outline. I’m hoping I can stagger along long enough for my dentist appointment later this month.

But, I don’t know.

Anyway, AI is really helping me a great deal with the outline. But it’s not perfect. It’s too easy to just use it all as a crutch, only to find out that the AI has totally fucked things up by hallucinating and everything has to be redone.

This has happened more times than I would like to think.

Wish me luck.

Worried About The Singularity Making My Scifi Dramedy Novel Moot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Predicting the near future is tough. I keep putting my self on the edge of what may happen, not knowing if by the time the novel actually comes out it all may seen rather quaint.

But, given what the tip of my technology spear is, I kind of have to indulge in those type of calculated risks.

The big thing I’m most worried about is the idea that the Singularity will happen between that magical time I actually sell the novel and when it actually comes out. That would really suck. The Singularity and a civil war / revolution happening are my two big fears about this novel, over and above if I will ever actually get it sold before I die.

Anyway. It’s just on of those things. My dad said no one ever got anywhere in this world without taking a risk and he was right. So, lulz? I just have to accept that I’ve kind of gotten myself into a situation that I don’t really have any control over. I really like the premise of this novel, but there are some innate, inherent risks associated with writing the type of novel I want to write.

Especially given the way I want to publish it, which is the traditional manner, rather than self-publishing. I will just be glad when this damn thing is over with and I go to the next phase, which is querying.

I Guess My Female Romantic Lead is More Like Alexa Chung or Emma Chamberlain Now

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I found a new setting for the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on and, as such, I realized I needed to ditch the Emrata element of this novel and make my female romantic lead a fashion It Girl.

Emma Chamberlain

In my mind, she’s more Emma Chamberlain than Alexa Chung, but lulz.

I just need to shut up and write, as they say. But I’m totally extroverted and have no one to talk to, so I vent on this blog.

But, in general, I’m reasonably pleased with how the novel is going, even with a dramatic reimagining. It’s just a matter of putting in the hard work and getting things done.

I just hope things don’t collapse again. That really sucked.

Black Mirror Is Probably Going to Totally Steal A Creative March On Me

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The premise of my scifi dramedy novel I’m working on is very much similar to a Black Mirror episode of TV. So, I’m kind of worried by the time I finish the novel that people will dismiss it as just a really long Black Mirror episode.

And, yet, I can’t think like that.

I have to keep going. I can’t just give up because of something that might happen.

Though, I am a little nervous my idea literally already has been a Black Mirror episode and I just don’t know about.

I Resemble That Remark

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
In another instance of Tik-Tok knowing a little bit too much about me, I got pushed a video of a female comic who essentially nailed my novel ideal down exactly and made fun of it.

This has rattled my cage on more than one level.

One issue is I really need to confront head on the criticisms of the comic as I write the novel, at least for own peace of mind. I know she was just joking around, but there was a serious undertone to the humor. I need to buckle down and really confront head on her observations in the text of the novel.

And, yet, I have to keep going. This is a really good idea and it’s just a matter of going through and writing the thing out. I have — with the help of Claude LLM — a general sense of the novel’s flow via an outline I just have to fill out.

It is going to be interesting to see how long it takes me to do that. I still would like to wrap this thing up by late spring 2026, but…I don’t know. I can’t afford to have the novel collapse in on me too many more times.

Collapse & Rebirth

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Welp, the Emrata-inspired part of the novel is no more, or, at least, its context is going to be dramatically different. The whole novel collapsed once I started working on the “fun and games” part of the beta draft.

My hero was was, way, way, too passive. He did not move the plot forward in his actions and there came a point when I realized the whole plot was collapsing in on itself. I just did not believe in what I was writing anymore.

So. Back to the drawing board. I have started an entirely new outline. I’m really leaning into the astonishing creative writing abilities of Claude LLM to help me develop this new version, to the point that I’m seriously thinking of subscribing to it. I don’t know if I’m prepared to pay $20 a month for ANOTHER LLM, but it’s so good at what I need it to do, that I’m tempted

Very tempted.

I’m just barely making ends meet at this moment and I don’t know if I’m prepared to incur yet another monthly bill. I think if I can get off my ass and cancel some of the streaming services that I never, ever use that I can better afford Claude. But, I don’t know, I’m not QUITE there yet.

But I’m drifting in that direction.

I still really enjoy using Gemini 2.5 pro, it just glazes me too much and while it’s really good at conversational stuff, it is somewhat lacking in creative writing.

Anyway. I’ve been down in the dumps the last few days since this plot collapse took place because it’s like, “Fuck. Not again.”

I’m running out of time. And, yet, I do have AI to help me, so will hopefully speed the process up some.

Ugh. A New Worry About This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I can be really insecure about my writing at times. And today is no difference. I am worried that me basing my novel, essentially, on how beautiful Emily Ratajkowski is will come across as…uhh….creepy?

Emrata

And, yet, it’s not fan fiction. I don’t use her literal name. Think of her as more of…a muse.

So, I think I just have to prepare myself for that possibly, while staying true to myself. I think it should be fine, but I guess I had to kind of get that particular fear out of my system.