I have a course coming up, one that I’m teaching. I asked an AI writer to draft a press release for it. Here’s what it came up with, with my annotations in italics and in square brackets.
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The shelves in libraries or bookshops labelled Science Fiction and Fantasy interest me only for the former, not the latter. Games like Dungeons and Dragons have never appealed to me, and much as I like maps and strange lands, the works of Tolkien leave me cold.
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I haven’t read much yet because it came only a few days ago, but have discovered already that someone regards Hamlet as a sort of school spree killer.
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“This should do it.” My father was responding to my mother’s growing exasperation with the two-year old me constantly getting under her feet in the kitchen.
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Who would have thought that a material as commonplace as paper could have such a rich history and profound effect on our lives?
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As someone who had little in the way of mathematical prowess at school, I initially opened Prime with some trepidation.
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Many people advocate free writing as a way of cutting through writer’s block. Well, it’s never worked for me, and it doesn’t seem logical anyway. If you can’t think of anything to write, how would allowing your mind to just generate stuff do any good?
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On the surface, this would seem to be nothing more or less than an example of performance art presented as literature. However, there is much more to it than that because Johnson has introduced elements of randomisation…
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Just about every sentence contains a gem of advice. For example, Stein writes…
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Here are a couple of suggestions for your reading pleasure. They are not Christmas books, but big hefty tomes that need a bit of time to wade into.
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Back in April 2023 I reviewed The Writer’s Journey, and this is a companion volume by the same author.
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A good way of honing your writing skills is to rewrite a simple story in different styles. That’s what I’ve been up to over on my Eclecticism newsletter. I post a new style every Sunday, and often on the following Friday I explain how I did it, what the challenges were, or the literary devices I employed.
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The curtain goes up, to reveal Terry slaving over a hot keyboard. He turns to the audience….
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I decided to find out! In this post I show the results of:
Asking AI to create some personas, ie target readers.
Come up with some blog post ideas.
Write an outline for one of them.
Write an article for one of them.
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Blogging has become an integral part of our modern online culture. With its ability to easily share thoughts, ideas, and expertise, blogging serves as a platform for individuals to express themselves and connect with a broader audience.
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I will be running another online course in blogging in the evenings of the 17th and 24th November 2023.
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Two bookshops reviewed! “Although the place gives the impression of haphazardness, what with armchairs and stools all over the place, it is anything but.”
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This title charts what we might call the journey of a book, from the earliest shape of a story, through to cover design and blurb writing
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A broad sweep like this will inevitably overlook some aspects, and the lightness of tone might not appeal to academics – but…
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I love the subtitle: A history of thinking on paper (my emphasis). I do think there’s much to be said for writing on paper, and there is no paucity of research showing the benefits of analogue over the digital approach.
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