NaNoWriMo Hip Deep in AI Controversy
Feels like the idea of using AI to write defeats the intent of learning to write.
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National Novel Writing Month is fast approaching but no one wants to deal with the organization most closely associated with it because of their belief that using generative AI shouldn't be considered a barrier to entry.
I said and I quote:
“If you are using AI during your NaNoWriMo, you failed to understand the mission — to practice, improve and master your writing talents. You are cheating yourself of growth.”
I say this as a person who has participated in NaNoWriMo three times before generative AI existed and believe that the exercise of:
Considering a story — measuring an idea, deciding what genre and what age group I hoped to write to was the start of every idea that became part of my novel project.
Where did I begin the process? I begin with the underlying story conceit: the log line.
What is a log line?
A logline is a brief summary of a story that encapsulates the main premise in one or two sentences. It typically includes the protagonist, the central conflict, and what’s at stake.
The goal is to hook the reader's interest and convey the essence of the narrative encapsulating the characters, the main conflict, and the story's urgency, enticing readers to learn more.
Here’s a breakdown of the key elements in a logline:
Protagonist: Who is the main character?
Do they have a defining trait or role in the story?
What is the inciting Incident? What sets the story in motion?
Goal: What does the protagonist want to achieve?
Conflict: What obstacles stand in the protagonist's way?
Stakes: What will happen if the protagonist fails?
Outcome: What happens if they succeed?
Example Logline: “A disillusioned cop must team up with a by-the-book rookie to stop a vengeful hacker from unleashing chaos on the city before time runs out.”
The Snowflake Method
After the logline, I learned to use the Snowflake Method created by author Randy Ingermanson and is designed to help writers build a complex story gradually, starting from a simple idea and expanding it into a detailed narrative.
The nature of the logline and the Snowflake method overlap a bit but by allowing this overlap to exist, the logline made the transition to the Snowflake Method easier and more effectively written.
If you aren't familiar with the Snowflake Method it looks something like this:
Start with a Simple Idea: Write a one-sentence summary of your story. This is like the core idea or the logline of your story.
Expand to a Paragraph: Take your one-sentence idea and expand it into a full paragraph. This paragraph should outline the major plot points: the setup, the main conflict, and the conclusion.
Create Character Summaries: Write a one-page summary for each of your major characters. Include their motivations, goals, conflicts, and how they change throughout the story.
Expand the Plot: Take your paragraph summary and expand it into a one-page outline, breaking it down into key scenes or major events in the story.
Develop Character Arcs: Go deeper into your character profiles. Write a full-page description for each character, detailing their backstory, personality, and how they will evolve throughout the story.
Create a Scene List: Now, break down your one-page plot outline into a list of scenes. Each scene should have a purpose, moving the plot forward or developing a character.
Write a Full Synopsis: Expand your scene list into a multi-page synopsis, fleshing out the details of each scene and how they connect.
Draft Your Story: With your detailed synopsis and scene list, you’re ready to start writing the first draft of your story, guided by the detailed structure you've built.
I learned this over three NaNoWriMos
I did not know all of this at once. In the beginning I tried to tell a story as if it sprung fully from my mind, no outlines, no notes, everything created in real time in the hopes that the story would coalesce from Muse to Page, without significant error and without missing a beat. I was unsuccessful.
I had to learn there was a reason structures to building stories existed and even if I could improv my way through a story, it was never going to be as good as something I could build the foundation for, outlining what I wanted to cover and ensuring there was ample opportunity for storytelling and complexity because I saw them ahead of time and prepared for them through my outlines, scene developments and character designs.
I learned to outline my stories, then my chapters, and then my scenes. Each layer of granularity offered me the option to breathe life into a character in as little as a scene, when I focused my efforts through the power of structure.
I learned to do this through the effort of WRITING. Could a tool have helped me? Perhaps.
I did learn to do outlining from listening to better writers online, and reading treatments which taught me how to outline. Technically, I did gather the information I needed and then processed the information into action.
But I did not rely on a tool to create the scene, to visualize what was important and the skill of VISUALIZATION is a necessary one for a writer to develop. To learn how to accomplish, to practice using the techniques of visualization, learning what was important and what was not, knowing the difference between describing a scene and relaying a red herring or whether an object is just something in the scene or a Chekov's gun waiting to be fired later.
I was told it would take a million words being written before you began to hear your own voice, words which are more uniquely associated with you as a writer, and to begin to find the path toward a writing style that is Yours. It took me two million words before I felt as if I knew myself through my writing.
A Million Words
I tracked those words using 750 words, a tool I used to practice writing at least 750 words every day for three years. Once I became proficient, 750 became easy, especially as my dedication to my craft grew, my confidence in my writing grew, and the sense of my creative capacity expanded through practice.
I am not saying ChatGPT or whatever generative AI tool you use to write could not make you a better writer. I am saying if you rely on the tool during the hard periods when writing stumps and stymies the best of us, you will not develop the creative muscle necessary to do it again, later.
The old saw: “Practice makes perfect” is a real statement. Writers who put in the time, see the returns, in stronger, more fearless writing, with a better sense of one's capabilities and the willingness to demonstrate such abilities upon command.
Using Generative AI for NaNoWriMo
Sure you can. According to the organization, there is nothing stopping you. Their point of view as seen on their site:
“…states that NaNoWriMo does not “explicitly support” or “condemn” any one approach to writing. Elaborating further, it says that to “categorically condemn AI would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology.”
You do you.
However: In my opinion, if your goal is to be a powerful writer, one able to reach into the realm of the ideal and pull forth something novel, something innovative, and something which doesn't rely on a software generated amalgam of successful and not so successful writers whose work has been found online and presented as fact, and might not be all that good. Can you trust it? Should you?
You’re free to experiment
I did. That is how I learned that I will never use such tools for my own CREATIVE work. I recognized my creative work is that work which is larger than I and as a result, must work harder to find my way toward that work, than I would using generative AI.
It is worth it to me to make that effort, to sweat, to struggle to visualize what is most important and bring it to life through my creative process.
ChatGPT can't do that for me. I wouldn't want it to. I will create meaningful works of art, creative endeavors which shall be entirely mine.
But if you want to use such tools for your own work, you are free to do so. I won't sit in judgment because I remember how difficult it was to learn the ins and outs of my writing and creative processes.
Generative AI is a tool.
A tool I personally choose not to partake of for my creative efforts believing that as I create, I grow stronger and more capable of creating my next great work. Can you use AI and overcome this challenging learning curve of a million words being written before you begin to feel your own voice becoming real?
I think it depends on your tools, your methods of learning, your critical analysis of the process, and your directed efforts over time. In the end, your creative mileage may vary.
Writer's write. Use the tools if you think they make you strong. But consider this: When you learned to multiply, you probably also learned the multiplication tables. Later you had access to a calculator and possibly forget how to multiply in your head.
But if you were to find yourself without a calculator, if you knew multiplication, you could still manage without one because the underlying process is known to you. It would take you longer but it is completely possible for you to multiply any two numbers, with or without a calculator.
If you are without a tool, understanding the underlying, fundamental process means you are still able to get the job done, no matter what other more limited tools are available to you.
That is what NaNoWriMo was supposed to give you. The strength to engage in narrative through practice, through the development of your creative, narrative and storytelling muscles honed by rigor and challenge.
If you depend on ChatGPT to write the hard parts because they are hard, why bother at all? You didn’t write it. You couldn’t.
Trials and Tribulations
I can write anywhere, at any time, at any length, without any tools, utilizing a process I have honed through maximum effort, diligence and consistent, constant training. Training matters. No tool can replace the writer utilizing them. This is literally the point of practice. At least until ChatGPT.
Using generative large language models cannot enhance your:
1. Adaptability: The ability to adjust to new conditions and embrace change.
2. Patience: The capacity to endure delays or difficulties without frustration.
3. Determination: A firm commitment to achieving a goal despite challenges.
4. Focus: The ability to concentrate on tasks and avoid distractions.
5. Creativity: The skill of thinking outside the box and finding innovative solutions.
6. Discipline: The practice of consistently applying effort and maintaining self-control.
7. Optimism: A positive outlook that fuels perseverance and encourages others.
8. Courage: The willingness to face fear, uncertainty, or challenges head-on.
9. Resourcefulness: The ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.
10. Accountability: Taking responsibility for one's actions and outcomes.
Mastering your writing through the development of these attributes creates a well-rounded and robust approach to achieving goals and overcoming obstacles.
Writing is like any other goal-oriented skill. Consistent effort breeds superior results.
Be like Batman — with words.