There’s been quite a lot of talk lately among novel writers about AI, or artificial intelligence. Supposedly, AI can now write books. Needless to say, this has a lot of authors upset, and I most certainly will not be using it. Here’s why.
I have my own unique writing voice
All authors have their own unique writing voice. Just like our speaking voice, our writing voice is our way of putting our thoughts into words. My writing voice is real. It’s who I am. My writing style may vary, depending on who I’m writing for, but not my voice. Back in the early 2000s, I wrote a series of historical novelettes for young readers. (Which I wrote under a different name.) Because I was writing for children, I used shorter sentences and simpler words. My voice, however, remained the same. I will not allow a machine to take my voice away from me.
Writing fiction is very much a form of art
Fiction writing, whether it’s a novel or a short story, is very much an art form. We fiction authors have the ability to tap into our wonderful human imaginations and create stories. We also create imaginary people and bring them to life. Over the years readers have told me how believable my characters are. It’s the best compliment anyone could possibly give me. However, I honestly can’t explain exactly how I create my characters. I start out with a few basic ideas, such as their age, their background, and a few physical characteristics. The magic happens when I put them on paper. As they come to life, they tell me who they are, and it’s not always what I intended. It’s a weird, wonderful, and sometimes dysfunctional relationship. I also put a lot of love into my stories. No machine can do that.
I will continue writing my own blog too
I’ve had a blog since blogging first became a thing. This too was in the early 2000s, so I’ve been doing it for about twenty years, give or take a year for two. Granted, my blog hosts have changed since then. My first blog host was Blogger. It was an easy-to-use Google platform. Point, click and go. Best of all, it was free. However, it was also very limited. I eventually outgrew Blogger and moved my blog to WordPress. After twenty years of blogging, I feel pretty confident in what I’m doing. I don’t need a machine to do my blogging for me.
Being a novel writer is who I am
Writing novels is my life’s calling. It’s what gives my life its meaning and purpose. I will continue using human editors and proofreaders too. Cynthia Roedig has been my editor since my debut contemporary romance novel, The Reunion. I knew her before I started writing, and we have the same twisted sense of humor. She writes the most interesting comments in the margins. Through trial and error, I have learned to put the coffee down before I read them. Otherwise I’ll start laughing and the coffee goes out my nose. She also puts a little bit of herself into the novel with some of the word choices she makes during editing. We’re a team. No machine could ever replace her.
I still miss Gloria, my proofreader, and I always will. She passed away a few years ago, and while I’ve worked with other amazing proofreaders since then, none are quite like Gloria. She loved my books as much as I do, and it showed in her work.
As I’ve stated before in other blog posts, I write romance because it’s about the relationships we have with others, and I can delve into the human experience. AI, or artificial intelligence is just that. Artificial. It cannot feel emotions. Therefore, it will never understand what it means to be human.
Marina Marindale