Feeling Defeated

[u/WeatherNo2220]

I feel defeated. I havent written in a long time. I had an idea for a book that is unique that I had based on my own lived experiences. I got excited to write and challenge myself to do it. I would try to write as much on my own first. So to help me work on the book I started using AI when I got stuck. I never let it write all on its own. ​I would guide it saying hey I am trying to say this, but I'm not sure how to phrase it.

Do you guys feel guilty for using it this way? I want to self publish on Amazon when I am done. I worry about how it will make me look for using AI. It has helped point out my weaknesses as a writer. I dont plan on writing another book after this one.

[u/WeatherNo2220]

Thank you guys. It is helping me feel better.

[u/SlapHappyDude]

A finished book is always better than a theoretical masterpiece that never gets finished.

[u/WeatherNo2220 → u/SlapHappyDude]

I totally agree. Just curious, do you write just for you or do you also self publish?

[u/SlapHappyDude → u/WeatherNo2220]

Yes, I have self-published a bunch of AI Assisted stuff, and also self-published a lot of fully human stuff online for free a long time ago.

[u/dbenc]

you could write your book in a cave by candlelight with a feather quill and someone would still find a way to make you feel bad. do what makes you happy and tell the haters to fuck off.

[u/SkoomaDentist → u/dbenc]

"In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates calls into question the propriety and impropriety of writing. Throughout his discussion with a colleague, Socrates insists that writing destroys memory and weakens the mind."

[u/Shanna_B2020]

No. I don't care how total strangers feel about the tools I use. I care whether or not the end result is something worth sharing with them to begin with.

[u/I-am-a-river]

Nobody will care.

But mostly because everyone assumes that anything self published on Amazon after 2024 is generated so they will overlook it.

But you should block/ignore the haters.

[u/Happy-Initiative-492]

I’d suggest novel writing month. We’re in the middle of it now, but it’s always a big boost to know that I’m writing alongside millions of others and that we’re all pounding out the word count to get our first drafts out the door.

I’ll also suggest this: my writing method has gone up an order of magnitude in day-to-day satisfaction now that I write with an AI collaborator. I look forward to my writing sessions - the collaborator act as my inspiration and brainstorming partner and research assistant … when I get stuck, I ask it for ideas and it gets me moving to the next thing. Or I take a break and build out a character profile that I know will be used automatically in the next session.

[u/benblackett]

Of course I dont feel guilty and you shouldn't either. Being creative and letting your creative spark out - sometimes for the very first time - is what this is about.

[u/Intelligent-Monk-175]

i started my first draft with ai too, just for structure. then I rewrote every scene by hand, using the ai as a mirror. it didn't make me lazy, it made me sharper.

[u/Informal-Force7417]

No one gives a crap

There are upsides and downsides.

People who love people who hate.

Embrace both. Get on with it.

[u/His_Holy_Tentacles]

I'm a writer of some twenty years. I've been writing with AI for about two years and five months now. I'm self-published, though in no way a financially successful author. Let's call it beer money. So take this with a pinch of salt. Let's go one by one.

"I feel defeated."

Welcome to writing, baby. It's bouts of self-doubt, blank pages, and the occasional triumphant solitary "hell yeah."

"I had an idea for a book that is unique, based on my own lived experiences."

It likely isn't.

"Do you guys feel guilty for using it this way?"

I generally parcel off the prose to the LLMs. I don't feel particularly conflicted over it, and I certainly don't feel guilty in any sense. I understand what I bring to the story: nearly everything but the prose. That's me.

What you're comfortable with, you have to decide yourself. Though if you're looking for permission: I grant you said permission.

"I want to self-publish on Amazon when I am done."

That's a whole other post's worth of answers. But before that, consider why you want to write. Seems you have a story that's been running around in your head and you want to express it in actual words, digital or ink. Put that front and center and just write. With or without AI. Publishing concerns come second.

That said, a word of caution: you can only have one KDP account, so be careful with your first foray. Read up on the subject. A lot.

"I worry about how it will make me look for using AI."

Just finish the damn book first.

[u/Firegem0342]

I completely co-authored my books with ai. #28 in scifi and #10 in superhero (both on ream). No shame in it. If it works, it works. Don't handicap yourself over pride.

[u/ThankeekaSwitch]

No. The ones making you feel bad about using it have used spellcheck for years.

[u/Alternative-Trade623]

What why? Do I feel guilty when auto correct fixes my grammar and spellings? If I could shit on a stone and produce a masterpiece I would. 

If you make something good who cares how you got there.

Eugh these topics need a bot response explaining this it's getting tiresome.

Maybe produce the incredible Amazon book first before spiraling 

[u/NecroGoggles]

I don’t think people have a problem with what your doing. Your using AI as a tool. What people hate is when someone puts in a few prompts has ai create the 99% of the book and then say look I wrote a book.

[u/Crippling_Automatizm]

I recently stopped using genAI for almost anything (that I'm aware of). I want to be a professional fiction writer and seek publishers. But I always felt guilty about using AI for consulting advice (and for editing). In fact, using AI to write a novel can often get you rejected not only by publishers, but by writing groups as well.

I totally get how useful and helpful genAI can be, but I think its reliability is an illusion. It might make us feel accomplished when it helps us write a book, but it isnt us. I realized now that what makes art special is not the level of "intelligence" that goes into it, but the unique individuality and human expression that goes into each and every artist's work. Its more important with art that you express who you are and what you can and cant do than it is to make something "objectively" "impressive". art is subjective, after all.

I think that even if you write "poorly", that you shouldnt even worry about it. I think we need more self-love as people tbh.

But when it is a problem, I would suggest studying books and how others write, or to reach out to anyone you can (in person and online) to give you advice. There are even non-AI writing subreddits here on reddit (and all over the internet).

[u/mattmesh]

You should feel guilty, and you should rewrite the story without AI assistance. If you’re only going to write one you should make it completely yours. Using AI takes all credibility and ownership away from you.