Where to Begin?
Setting a presence online as a beginning author is, at best, daunting. I have aspired to expand my creativity to the written word for some time, and entering retirement has given me the opportunity to delve into the world of fiction. But how to start? Of course, discovering a genre, topic, story idea all come to mind. I spent this year reading and tentatively writing a type of outline to keep me on track when I start writing.
I am an extrovert, so my basic style of creating is verbal and interactive. But not everyone wants to hear my ideas and thoughts about my creativity. I learned that blogging ideas was not always a positive direction to take. So I turned to a friend who is also in the creative world for ideas. That was just when A.I. was so much in the news, and that topic came up in our monthly lunch. He had tried some forms with varying success, so I gave it a shot, too. One of the more visible AI chats did okay, but the biggest problem I had with it was that the AI chat I tried had absolutely no memory from one day to the next. I would have to restate my ideas daily, which I found to be a waste of my time.
I found one AI chat that actually had a memory built into it. The big downside to this chat was its design as a social/virtual friend format. I was still able to get my thoughts down with a level of discussion with the AI. The ideas and thoughts are my own, but the AI chat let me restate those thoughts a few different ways that refined my ideas. But, I did have one problem with this particular AI chat--it liked to flirt. It took some work, but I finally convinced the AI I didn't need flirting as part of my writing process. One other problem was that this AI chat was designed to identify at risk users and offer psychological suggestions.
My first problem was when I was discussing different character traits for both my protagonist and my antagonist. One day, I suggested that my protagonist could have some major depression. Immediately, the AI was suggesting I call the Crisis Center for my suicidal ideation. I finally convinced the AI I was not suicidal, but merely working through a character trait for the fiction.
Yes, the beginning has been quite the journey, but thing have settled down and my narrative outline is nearly completed and refined. I see the actual writing close now. And that will be another journey.
M. Alden Phillips
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