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I don't really even think my fanfics are that good. Like: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37054132/chapters/92455954 is about the average of what I make.
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Feb 7, 2023 15:37
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Writing's writing, like, if you're having a good time with it hell yeah. Not everything needs to be done with capitalistic intent, and not everything needs to be created for the purpose of like, making a career as a novelist or whatever. But if you're telling people you're writing high end standalone literary epics in a convincing enough manner to trick them out of advance payments or competition fees or whatever but in actual fact you're just saying what it would be like if there was a hardcore orgy in the middle of The Fast and the Furious then yeah you're a fraud. Like with exquisite taste, sure, but still
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Feb 7, 2023 20:24
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Honestly, the only time I come up with anything original to write is because I'm daydreaming some fan fiction. It really can be the best exercise in writing because there's no block.
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Feb 7, 2023 22:28
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samcarsten posted:I don't really even think my fanfics are that good. Like: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37054132/chapters/92455954 is about the average of what I make. That reads like your having fun writing it and I can totally see people having fun reading it so you're ok imo
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Feb 7, 2023 22:35
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Hi thread, I have a blurb that needs crits. This is for book 2 of a series: new adult/adult sword & sorcery fantasy with some epic fantasy elements, quest on the high seas for a magical artifact edition. Current story is at ~130k words, though who knows where this might get to post-revisions (hopefully no more than ~150k max).Supplicant (Resonance Crystal Legacy, #2) posted:In the depths of the Endless Gate, anyone can borrow the powers of a god—if they are willing to pay the price. Most probably this is going to get comped to Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Brandon Sanderson's Well of Ascension and/or The Bands of Mourning. I'm also looking for beta readers. If this sounds like it might be something you would enjoy, then please PM me (or if you don't have PMs then let me know where I can reach you in the thread). You do not have to have read the first book (all beta readers will get a plot summary of book 1, and if you haven't read book 1 before and you would like to, I'll get you a copy of that too).
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Feb 8, 2023 04:16
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At a quick glance (with no knowledge of anything) this feels like a competent blurb. I assume that readers of the first book will be familiar with enough here that the "new" concepts are enticing, while promising a continuation of stuff they're familiar with. On a more granular level that most readers won't pay attention to, quote:In the depths of the Endless Gate, anyone can borrow the powers of a god—if they are willing to pay the price. quote:Principles are for the rich, the powerful, and the idealistic. Rahelu is none of these things: she sold her loyalty to the highest bidder. She’ll tolerate her House’s exploitative use of her talents, turn a blind eye to her Elder’s manipulative ways, and question no orders if it guarantees her family’s future. quote:Under a compulsion of secrecy, Rahelu sails with a hand-picked team through unfriendly seas, chasing a lost artifact. Legends say it can turn any desire into reality. With control of the Dominion at stake, the Houses will do anything to win. No blood feud is too old to set aside; no alliance too unsavory and no method too ruthless to contemplate. Or something that fits the character/story a lot better; like I say, I don't know poo poo about this, so you've got room for clarity here. quote:But a near-death escape reveals foreign spies have infiltrated their mission. Rahelu must unravel the web of intrigue and unmask the traitor…before they lead the Dominion’s enemies to a source of legendary power. The answers she finds point towards an unsettling conclusion about her Elder’s true purpose. quote:For legends are symbols. Symbols have power. And no power comes without sacrifice. Overall, I think it's fine, honestly, as is, but if you want to edit it more, specifics (and not even many, not details, just more specific words/ideas) could only help.
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Feb 14, 2023 14:22
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Wungus posted:
Thank you so much for the detailed crit!! You've neatly summed up what bothers me about the second and third paragraphs and it's something I've been struggling to pin down for ages so this is great. Will go away and refine as suggested.
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Feb 15, 2023 12:03
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https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4024219 I decided that I'd probably get further if I had some critique and advice on how to construct conversations that don't sound like an chimp that's never had social interaction.
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Feb 15, 2023 13:42
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https://twitter.com/clarkesworld/status/1625982159856041985 As if getting noticed in the slush pile wasn't difficult enough already.
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Feb 16, 2023 12:50
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SimonChris posted:https://twitter.com/clarkesworld/status/1625982159856041985 It's a worry but the author of that article doesn't seem to think it's a critical problem just yet.
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Feb 16, 2023 15:31
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So far it seems like a massive headache for the slushers but not necessarily a problem for authors themselves except in that it lengthens response times. There is no way GPT-3 is writing a story that gets published in Clarkesworld. At least not without enough human intervention that they're basically writing it themselves anyway.
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Feb 18, 2023 04:04
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Sailor Viy posted:So far it seems like a massive headache for the slushers but not necessarily a problem for authors themselves except in that it lengthens response times. I literally asked Neil Clarke this question last year when he was doing an AMA on r/fantasy and his response was basically "I expect to publish an AI-written piece long before I trust it with the slush pile" which at the time I thought was interesting but now in hindsight makes perfect sense.
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Feb 18, 2023 10:34
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Sailor Viy posted:So far it seems like a massive headache for the slushers but not necessarily a problem for authors themselves except in that it lengthens response times. The latter is a pretty big deal by itself. As Neil Clarkes points out in the article, the current situation isn't sustainable without changes. They can't ban someone for being a bad writer, so they still have to manually read all of these stories to determine whether they were written by an AI writer or just a really lousy human one. Also, keep in mind that this was posted in mid-February, so the latest bar only covers half a month, yet it is still more than twice the size of the entire previous month. I suspect that we are going to see a lot of markets start charging submission fees, limit their submission windows, or just flat out stop accepting unsolicited submissions. SimonChris fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Feb 18, 2023 |
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Feb 18, 2023 10:52
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On a brief and extremely unscientific survey ai can write perfectly decent stories at a 12 year old kid level. They're not good, but they're also not conspicuously bad, so if someone put some time into it I can totally see an ai story being publishable.
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Feb 18, 2023 12:26
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SimonChris posted:The latter is a pretty big deal by itself. As Neil Clarkes points out in the article, the current situation isn't sustainable without changes. They can't ban someone for being a bad writer, so they still have to manually read all of these stories to determine whether they were written by an AI writer or just a really lousy human one. Also, keep in mind that this was posted in mid-February, so the latest bar only covers half a month, yet it is still more than twice the size of the entire previous month. The number of AI submissions has been doubling or more than doubling for the last three months, and if that trend keeps up that's clearly a big problem. But AI/ChatGPT are in the news a lot at the moment. I guess things will slow down in a couple of months when people are bored of the novelty. If not, submission fees seem super unlikely to me; some places might stop accepting unsolicited or new writers, but probably more places would start limiting submission windows. Maybe we'd see something else, though, like having to include a photo of the first page of the story in longhand. This definitely seems like bad news for new writers.
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Feb 18, 2023 17:18
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The sheer number of them is wild. He also says spam submissions "hit 38% this month." I don't know if he means 38% of total submissions, but that is even crazier if so. I'm curious who the hell these people are and what their aims are. The AI stories I've seen are fascinating from a tech perspective but garbage compared to actually talented writers. Interesting that submission fees are DOA (from the comments). $3-5 is nearly ubiquitous for litfic mag. And unlike ssf, simultaneous subs are fine.
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Feb 19, 2023 04:40
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sebmojo posted:On a brief and extremely unscientific survey ai can write perfectly decent stories at a 12 year old kid level. They're not good, but they're also not conspicuously bad, so if someone put some time into it I can totally see an ai story being publishable. I've spent a fair bit of time generating fiction with GPT-3. Aside from problems with continuity, it is fundamentally limited by an inability to be creative, to add new elements to a piece. It seems impressive when you give it "X + Y" tasks (Dr. Seuss poems about Elon Musk, Seinfeld characters playing D&D, etc.) but it can't add anything more than the X and Y that you give it. Or if it does, it does so only by falling back on the most common tropes of whatever it's working with. If you ask it to describe a dungeon then it might fill that dungeon with a goblin, a spear trap, a chest of gold, but it won't present anything surprising to anyone even mildly familiar with the genre. For this reason I'm not (currently) too worried about AI replacing human writers so much as about it clogging the internet with vacuous text that superficially looks like it came from a person.
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Feb 19, 2023 06:31
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Sailor Viy posted:I've spent a fair bit of time generating fiction with GPT-3. Aside from problems with continuity, it is fundamentally limited by an inability to be creative, to add new elements to a piece. It seems impressive when you give it "X + Y" tasks (Dr. Seuss poems about Elon Musk, Seinfeld characters playing D&D, etc.) but it can't add anything more than the X and Y that you give it. Or if it does, it does so only by falling back on the most common tropes of whatever it's working with. If you ask it to describe a dungeon then it might fill that dungeon with a goblin, a spear trap, a chest of gold, but it won't present anything surprising to anyone even mildly familiar with the genre. Don't sign your posts sorry I don't mean that
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Feb 19, 2023 14:34
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Sailor Viy posted:I've spent a fair bit of time generating fiction with GPT-3. Aside from problems with continuity, it is fundamentally limited by an inability to be creative, to add new elements to a piece. It seems impressive when you give it "X + Y" tasks (Dr. Seuss poems about Elon Musk, Seinfeld characters playing D&D, etc.) but it can't add anything more than the X and Y that you give it. Or if it does, it does so only by falling back on the most common tropes of whatever it's working with. If you ask it to describe a dungeon then it might fill that dungeon with a goblin, a spear trap, a chest of gold, but it won't present anything surprising to anyone even mildly familiar with the genre. This is what has disappointed me the most about AI writers. I thought they would at least be useful for sparking ideas by generating some really crazy, lol-random, avant-garde poo poo, but instead they output the most insipid, by-the-numbers stuff imaginable, completely devoid of any creativity. If you want new ideas, you are better off pulling random words out of hat.
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Feb 19, 2023 14:51
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SimonChris posted:This is what has disappointed me the most about AI writers. I thought they would at least be useful for sparking ideas by generating some really crazy, lol-random, avant-garde poo poo, but instead they output the most insipid, by-the-numbers stuff imaginable, completely devoid of any creativity. If you want new ideas, you are better off pulling random words out of hat. I kind of understand the temptation from a superficial level, if they (wrongly) think they're going to be a succesful writer from feeding prompts into an AI. But if they are into writing as a creative outlet, it very much defeats the purpose. ChatGPT has other uses for a writer that are much more powerful: working on an outline you can feed your ideas into it and ask for critique and ways to improve it. If you feed it a scene you wrote, you can use it to help on descriptive prose if you have problems with white room syndrome, and it can give examples how to better show instead of tell. It's like a pseudo beta-reader you always have on hand. But it can't construct a compelling story from start to finish with a 'write me a story' prompt. Maybe in 5-10 years, but certainly not today - you need to do a lot of hand-holding, to the point that it would be less time consuming to just produce a first draft on your own.
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Feb 19, 2023 17:18
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AI is very good at making content fast and very little else
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Feb 19, 2023 19:57
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Ovenmaster posted:I kind of understand the temptation from a superficial level, if they (wrongly) think they're going to be a succesful writer from feeding prompts into an AI. But if they are into writing as a creative outlet, it very much defeats the purpose. ChatGPT has other uses for a writer that are much more powerful: working on an outline you can feed your ideas into it and ask for critique and ways to improve it. If you feed it a scene you wrote, you can use it to help on descriptive prose if you have problems with white room syndrome, and it can give examples how to better show instead of tell. It's like a pseudo beta-reader you always have on hand. I mean yeah, but I think 5-10 years is just way over estimating how long it will take.
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Feb 19, 2023 20:10
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Prompt: write a character description of a heavy set man with a huge rear end in noir style ChatGPT:He walked into the dimly lit room with a certain heaviness to his step. The kind of heaviness that suggested years of wear and tear on his joints, exacerbated by the extra pounds he carried. His frame was large and stocky, the kind that filled up a room even when he stood still. But it was his rear end that drew the most attention. It was massive, like two giant pillows straining against the fabric of his pants. The kind of rear end that you couldn't help but stare at, even though you knew you shouldn't. It was a sight that made you wonder how he managed to sit down comfortably, let alone walk around without toppling over. In a world of shadows and secrets, he was a force to be reckoned with. A heavy set man with a huge rear end, and a darkness in his soul that no one dared to confront. I'd say AI has a ways to go. But even so, there are a few sentences you could snipe from that description and tweak, especially if you writing commerical fiction. DropTheAnvil fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Feb 19, 2023 |
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Feb 19, 2023 20:59
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The thing I was struck with the most in my experiments is if you include anything about LGBT people it will bend over backwards to write the most toothless "this is inclusive and empowering" crap. The AI is an "ally," but in the way I use ally as a slur. You have to trick it to let gay people be villains or face certain types of hardship which feels patronizing as someone who is queer. Never mind that everything else it gives you is bland anyway.
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Feb 19, 2023 21:34
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There's not enough money in writing to be a talentless artless hack and use AI instead of putting in the work and making art. I will fistfight anyone, any time, in a Denny's parking lot if I find out they're doing this, encouraging this, promoting this, or forgiving this.
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Feb 19, 2023 21:35
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Snooze Cruise posted:The thing I was struck with the most in my experiments is if you include anything about LGBT people it will bend over backwards to write the most toothless "this is inclusive and empowering" crap. The AI is an "ally," but in the way I use ally as a slur. You have to trick it to let gay people be villains or face certain types of hardship which feels patronizing as someone who is queer. Never mind that everything else it gives you is bland anyway. I bet current Bing would write the poo poo out of gay vilains.
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Feb 19, 2023 21:59
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DropTheAnvil posted:Prompt: write a character description of a heavy set man with a huge rear end in noir style The last sentence made me laugh. I think that's the key to using it... funny or weird prompts. Like some advanced form of mad libs. When you try to make it do some fairly common literary things like describing a complicated emotional state or even just describing landscape, it falls on its rear end. You also get the feel for how it uses language real quick so I can see how slush readers pick up on it. It's fun to play with but so far from actually well written stories that I can't see how anyone thinks otherwise. I suppose I don't read much commercial fiction so I don't have a point of comparison, but eh. I didn't try to make gay villains but I did notice there is a heavy skew towards positivity. Also, it's totally a capitalism apologist.
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Feb 20, 2023 05:17
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Clarkesworld have had to close submissions now. https://twitter.com/clarkesworld/status/1627721829270814746
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Feb 20, 2023 18:49
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Clarkesworld basically never close to submissions and have a crazy reputation for rapid feedback. This is a big problem, and I wouldn't be surprised to see sub fees and more reputable places shifting to only allowing subs from previously published authors. This sucks rear end.
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Feb 20, 2023 22:11
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Wungus posted:Clarkesworld basically never close to submissions and have a crazy reputation for rapid feedback. This is a big problem, and I wouldn't be surprised to see sub fees and more reputable places shifting to only allowing subs from previously published authors. This sucks rear end. Welp I guess I'm never getting onboard. 
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Feb 20, 2023 22:21
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Violet_Sky posted:Welp I guess I'm never getting onboard. No reason to assume that. Your stuff is definitely better than the trash the chatbots are spewing. They'll find ways.
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Feb 20, 2023 22:27
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I did post a first draft of a fun project I did in the crits thread but tbh I have no idea how to get stuff published (not that my work is ready for publication rn)
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Feb 20, 2023 22:43
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Violet_Sky posted:Welp I guess I'm never getting onboard.  Glad I'm about to enter that grindhouse again. Hell yeah. poo poo's great. Can't wait to experience bij
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Feb 20, 2023 22:45
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Wungus posted:Nah. It's just an extra lovely time right now to be trying to shop out short stories, which only means the short market is like querying was in 2021. And look at how much better that landscape is now! It's not like freelance writing any is better on that front.
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Feb 20, 2023 22:53
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I wonder if the issue is people being dicks and flooding them with garbage, or is it a ton of clueless people going IM GONNA BE A STAR NOW? I have a feeling that a lot of markets will start reading the first page and bin it just to keep up. I'd hate for it to turn into some big gatekeeping thing. Violet_Sky posted:I did post a first draft of a fun project I did in the crits thread but tbh I have no idea how to get stuff published (not that my work is ready for publication rn) It's really not as hard as you may think. 1. Write until your eyes bleed 2. Revise until your rear end bleeds 3. find a writer's market guide like the Submission Grinder, Duotrope or something. (Note: SUBMISSION Grinder. Not just Grinder) 3a. You don't really have to use a service, but it helps searching. You could just start googling magazines and check out their submissions page. 3b. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES NO MATTER WHAT. Even if what they say sounds odd, do it. 4. Submit the story you finished. 5. Expect rejection (it's not personal, honest. Nor is it necessarily an indicator of quality. There are a LOT of reasons for rejection that you are not in any control of) 6. Go back to 1 Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Feb 20, 2023 |
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Feb 20, 2023 22:54
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i think a big part is AI folks trying to get something published for a headline of "venerated fiction journal publishes AI work." doesnt matter if they flood a market with garbage or squeeze out genuine authors, they just want to sell AI as legitimate and they only view journals as a way to make AI look impressive if they can accepted.
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Feb 21, 2023 00:34
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Doctor Zero posted:I wonder if the issue is people being dicks and flooding them with garbage, or is it a ton of clueless people going IM GONNA BE A STAR NOW? Submission Grinder is very helpful! Tbh, the last time I asked for publishing advice my creative writing professors told me to mail poo poo. (This was a decade ago.) I also wasn't sure how out-of-date the OP was.
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Feb 21, 2023 00:45
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Violet_Sky posted:Submission Grinder is very helpful! Tbh, the last time I asked for publishing advice my creative writing professors told me to mail poo poo. (This was a decade ago.) I also wasn't sure how out-of-date the OP was. I just read through it (again) and the advice there is timeless IMO. The way short fiction markets work has been basically the same for the last 40+ years, just the technology of submission has changed.
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Feb 21, 2023 01:15
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Does this subforum have a discord btw?
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Feb 21, 2023 03:55
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flerp posted:i think a big part is AI folks trying to get something published for a headline of "venerated fiction journal publishes AI work." doesnt matter if they flood a market with garbage or squeeze out genuine authors, they just want to sell AI as legitimate and they only view journals as a way to make AI look impressive if they can accepted. Yeah I think this is the game, because it really doesn't stack up from a purely financial perspective. Even gambling addicted crypto freaks would realise it isn't worth the time and effort of submitting a generated story (which you would surely have to edit at least a little bit by hand) for a tiny chance of winning... like 500 bucks.
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Feb 21, 2023 07:40
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