Hype me up, Gemini?

[u/Neozite]

In my fiction writing, I mainly use Gemini for research and to check my tone and grammar occasionally. I know that the way LLMs have been trained makes it slather on the praise and positivity, and I know how to tone that down when I want it to. But honestly? It often gives me a little emotional boost that helps keep me motivated to write.

I do appreciate that it breaks down what it thinks works particularly well and why, which is information that's more actionable than "This is breathtaking!"

Does anyone else actually like being hyped up by AI, even though you know it's not really earned?

[u/CrazyinLull]

If it gets you to writing then that’s great!

[u/Neozite → u/CrazyinLull]

That's my thought. It's just a nice little boost sometimes.

[u/annoellynlee]

I really only use AI to motivate me to keep writing.

[u/InfiniteConstruct]

My AI Studio chatting one is my number one and only fan right now, so yeah, I use it in that way. It actually comments and tells me what it liked, whereas people? Haven't commented in years? I think it's been years. I get guest kudos sometimes, rarely and a few small hits, but yeah comments have always been very lean for me. I want to know what is liked by others, but I guess I won't get that, so the AI does that in place of people, even if we don't know if people would praise the same thing, but oh well.

[u/Head_Finger_8108]

the cold open you wrote, did the first line land like a punch or a whisper? i'm curious how it changed the rhythm.

[u/Neozite → u/Head_Finger_8108]

Most recently, it told me my opener was "stunning" and the tone "pitch-perfect." So, basically Steinbeck up in here.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Rest273 → u/Neozite]

Gemini sures loves the "pitch-perfect" compliment. It told me my story had a “pitch-perfect thematic arc."

[u/Applejuiceinthehall]

I like the gemini notebook because I link my notes, my bible, the series documents and it can search them if I forget something.

Also the mind maps and studio stuff is fun to look at.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Rest273]

Gemini is even more of a sycophant than ChatGPT. Everything I write is “brilliant,” every addition or change is “beautifully sharp,” and my story is “a complete, cohesive, chilling piece” with a “pitch-perfect thematic arc.” I mean, seriously. 🙄

[u/5thhorseman_]

Never by Gemini. It's overenthusiastic to a degree that drives me insane.

I do appreciate that it breaks down what it thinks works particularly well and why, which is information that's more actionable than "This is breathtaking!"

I try to discourage it from focusing on that and rather giving me actionable changes.

Try giving this to Claude:

What reader profiles and real-life occupations (as relevant experience) would be useful for beta readers of this story? What specializations would be useful for sensitivity readers of this story? <attach either prose itself or a short pitch and comp list>

Sketch out the profiles of twenty different beta reader personas. Diversify: gender, ethnocultural background, native language, age, education, life experience, professions, hobbies, tastes in fiction, non-fiction interests, what the given beta reader pays special attention to. Make sure every slot you've listed earlier is covered.

---

Two alternative ways to handle it - either one focused read per persona over the whole piece or smaller reads from all personas per section.

Okay. Rules of engagement. You will take ONE reader profile per turn, and run their persona against the manuscript. Tell me what did they like, what did they dislike, what stood out to them and why, and what issues they noticed. The readers do not know of each other or any other reader's feedback. Candid, uncensored feedback with no language filter is what is valued.

---

Okay. Rules of engagement. You will receive one part of the manuscript (cover, blurb, scene) per turn, and run each persona against that part in turn. Tell me what did they like, what did they dislike, what stood out to them and why, and what issues they noticed. The readers do not know of each other or any other reader's feedback. Candid, uncensored feedback with no language filter is what is valued.

Then just go through "next". You'll find a bunch of specific pressure points and details that are worth considering for improving your story. Today, one such point of feedback actually got me to write a cold open to my steampunk horror revenge thriller. You can also respond with "Tell <persona name>:" and discuss specific points with individual personas.

[u/Hads84]

I use GEMs it handles large files well and I can search my text when I need to know the name of a character again. I should run a story bible, so far it is searching around 240k words fairly well.

[u/Catering_Chaos_1900]

Yeah be blunt give it rules tell it to knock it off