When times aren't great

 

Unexpectedly, this has been my week for allergies. Argh. I am taking an antihistamine and decongestant, which makes my usual shakiness (from familial tremors) worse, which makes typing no fun. I thought instead of words, I'd share a picture and a small video of what soothes me when times aren't so great. 

 

These were taken last week. *s* I do not know how much longer the video will take for readers to view. Maybe let me know. I have another longer video but again, unsure if it's worth it for readers here. They are fun to watch.

How we bloom

 

My new topic involves something we've been reading plenty about-- some of us with books purportedly written by an author but that were AI generated or from Chat GPT. 

There is a rather famous quote from the Marx brothers originally and evidently paraphrased a bit by a comedian. "Who you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?"

That's the thing today, who can you believe with not only the ability of our eyes to lie, but also this new world of AI generated writing. How worried should we be about it?

One thing is-- when you see a speech by a politician, watch out as it can have been changed to say what that person would never have said. Movies can generate new faces for the stars, that are much younger. We just saw that with an Indiana Jones film. 

Amazon is going to ban those who publish three books the same day. I don't even know why someone, who is using AI would want to do that many, but apparently some have or there'd not be the ban. Amazon does not want these computer generated books. They want them by real, creative minds. How do they assure that?

This article was out today about what some famous authors are doing about the situation-- or trying to do. Top Authors with a lawsuit.

These are writers, who sell in the millions of books. If they are concerned, should we be who sell far less? What they say is the Chat GPT or the OpenAI source is using what they wrote to learn their style and then duplicate it. The argument by OpenAI is, this is innovation. Except don't we ask who it profits. What authors want is, companies cannot use their books to train AI without their permission and maybe paying some money. Makes sense to me and hopefully it will the courts.

It might seem this is only an issue for writers but what about readers? When someone buys a book, they are looking for inspiration and an exciting or educational read. If it's only duplicating what has been written, what are the odds of that?

 So, now, here's how I see this whole issue of AI and Chat GPT? First of all, I am open to advancements in technology. I've seen them. When I wrote my first stories, they were cursive on blank paper. Then I got a Royal typewriter where you had to type firmly to get the letters to show up and use whiteout for mistakes. I had an electric typewriter when I needed to type Ranch Boss's thesis. I thought it was the way to write a book. 

Years later, he suggested I try the Atari he had bought. No way, it'd never be the same. Then, I found out I could move a paragraph to a new spot when it's where it belonged. Also, no more whiteout or little white papers. From then on, it's been one advancement after another to where I am today with a laptop, monitor and keyboard with computer telling me when I misspelled a word. 

With the internet, I graduated from using card catalogs for research, when I'd jot down the info on note cards, to now using the search engines-- although I don't trust what I find totally and buy books that I learn their titles from the online research. 

As a writer, I have no interest though in AI or Chat GPT. I have used Grammerly to help me know when I've used a word too often but that's not the same as AI.I don't want a system to tell me how to write a sentence-- not here or anywhere. 

Yes, it appears some are using it to write their books faster than I could ever do one. The same would be true if the writer followed a formula. I do not and don't want to do so. I wonder if those writers will develop their own innovative ideas.

For me, from school on, when we do our own work, we learn from it. Writing one books helps me get better at the next one. Would using artificial intelligence do that for me-- or anybody. 

If someone wants to be a creative person, do your own work. It pays off in the end.

These hedgehog cactus are blooming again because of the rain we had earlier. We bloom likewise by how we water and feed ourselves.

 

words and their meanings... or not

 

Let's start with-- What is a trope?

Next could be-- it's the word I was avoiding last week. I had looked up the dictionary meaning before deciding against using it in the blog. But then, I began to think about the various ways it can be taken. With the expansion, it seemed like a good subject as it's broader in its meaning that I read from the dictionary. 

First, the dictionary meaning that I found: cliched, figure of speech, common or overused term... 

With that, it's easy to see why I backed off in terms of connecting it to my writing.  What writer wants to think their theme is cliched?

That's not how I've heard of it for marketing books. It was used as we'd use keywords. Let the reader know what they'll get. I thought that once they see  your book via a trope, it's up to you to show them why your book is different. Tropes are important as readers do have to find books in searches. 

As I expanded my thinking, I thought of the various ways a trope might be used by a writer. First is when looking for the next topic or theme, what do readers want? It would depend then on whether, as a writer, this pays the bills, or if you can afford to write what your muse is delivering to you via dreams, reading, or what you suddenly think of from seemingly out of nowhere. What fascinates the writer, then how to mix it up with the tropes that are selling best in that specific genre.

For the literary minded, trope is probably a bad word, and it's easy to see that if someone studies the NYTimes best selling list. Does a book about drug dealers have a trope? How about from a child growing up in a horrible home, and now wanting to share what that meant? Maybe it does but some of the bestsellers, thinking Where the Crawdads Sing, and I have no idea what the trope, for it, would even be. Yes, I have read most of that book as I loved that title.

Where it comes to using tropes, it can be a cover or title that the writer has to find after writing the book-- or maybe sometimes, before writing it, as a way to keep on a path.

For me, I come up with titles later. Sometimes it works well for me and to hopefully find readers but other times, not so much.

With bringing out my eight new books, which are rewritten older books, I am thinking of tropes that might work. If the writer uses Amazon to sell books, they have their own set of rules that must be considered-- whether called Tropes or Categories.

BTW, I chose a sunset photo to head this blog because sunsets alone can be seen as tropes. Maybe cliched as in used a lot, but they do speak to us-- one way or the other.

 

discombobulated

 

I am feeling discombobulated these days. For example, I am thinking many directions, from nature to politics to relationships, to what I should do or not do based on what I am reading or my life. See, that's the problem. I don't have a fundamental direction as I've had many times in my past. Not sure what to blame that on.

Because we are working on new covers and/or titles for the eight, pulled, Arizona historical romances that are also westerns, I thought I might use a word I'd heard recently that sounded good-- until I looked up its meaning. Forget that and I won't even reveal it here since I didn't want to use it anyway. Let's just say, its dictionary meaning was not flattering in terms of using it. It is not discombobulated. That's me lol

Trying to get these eight books ready to go, three weeks or so apart, has me worried and might be part of the discombobulation. The first one came out with a different title in 2012. Yet, to bring it out again with the additions I've made, I have to call it a new book other than in the blurb where I must mention its previous appearances-- except no way do I remember them all besides the first one. I am not even sure where I can promote the book given it's new to Amazon's thinking but not to some readers, who bought it originally. I might add I can't give it away since it's not an edit but a revision... It does have a new ending, but the story has stayed the same for the gist of it-- other than improved editing. 

So rather than write about what I am working on, I want to share the newest pictures from our little piece of desert. I mentioned earlier that the cacti bloom at different times here, with the last ones, what we call barrel cactus. It is from the family Cactaceae, native to North and South America.

There are more technical terms for it, but all the ones we have were either here when we arrived or are growing now. Cactus do that-- produce and reproduce. The barrel cactus are putting on their show now.  I am not sure how old they must be to bloom, but the babies don't do it. Their fruit will form afterward, which desert animals will eat in the winter. I even saw a ground squirrel climb the spines to get at the fruit. Desert critters are tough.

 

You will probably notice the bee in some of these. The saguaros entice more bees, but one is welcome.
 

 

Super Blue Moon and writing

This was the week of what is called the Super Blue Moon. Super because the moon is closer to earth than other times. Blue Moon because it's the second full moon in the month. Some consider it to have spiritual power. It definitely influences the tides, which led to concern for the recent hurricane coming out of the Caribbean, hitting Cuba, then heading for a side of Florida that doesn't usually get forceful hurricanes, like a Type 4.  

Because I've been writing blurbs for when we bring out the Arizona historical romances, as new books after having to pull them, I thought maybe some were not aware of the difference between a synopsis and a blurb. 

A synopsis uses the basic outline of the book and with more words, lets a possible agent or book publisher know the story. It follows the entire plot, with minimal words and has the ending also. It is, of course, intended to make the book sound good; so words are carefully chosen to tell the tale but in a way flattering to the story. If someone wrote a solid outline first, it makes the synopsis easier.

A blurb, on the other hand, doesn't want to tell too much. It's intended to intrigue a reader and make them curious as to what happens. They are not easy to write, in my experience.

 

Writing eight of them, one after the other, was more difficult; but, I did it with the idea it was a rough draft. It was made easier that I had just edited all but two of the books. They will come out one a month or maybe three weeks between. I have time for the last blurbs to be improved.

The way I do a blurb would not suit all books, but I think they best let the reader know the gist of the characters' issues as well as make them wonder what makes it difficult. The nature of romance tells the reader the couple will get together. What makes it worth the reader's time to find out how that happens.

I start with the female protagonist for a paragraph, then comes a paragraph for her possible love interest. The final lines will relate to what it would take for these two to make it together-- without giving away the whole thing. When a book has violence or is spicy, this is also the place to let readers know. 

(The Super Blue Moon photos are from our Tucson home)