To B or Not to B?--by Reb MacRath
AI brings us all to Plan A or Plan B, each of which has its gradations. Plan A, at its extreme, allows the use of AI as an equal or even main partner in the creative process. Hardline Plan A-ers may yield to all of their AI's stylistic suggestions as commands. Along with most of the writers I know, I find this repulsive. If I want an incomplete sentence or a dangling participle or some dated slang, it's my book and the decision is mine.
Even so, I found myself in a quandary with a completed novel I'd worked on for six years and had had professionally edited. You see, after four traditionally published horror novels, I'd turned to my first love, crime thrillers, and worked in a shorter form--40K words--for more than decade. The short length was a deal breaker for any agent I approached. But I loved working in tight spaces with no padding. So, no tears. My refusal to compromise cost me a traditional career, bringing me to the company of other indie-minded authors.
HOWEVER!
The new book, Desert Stands, weighs in at 60K words--longer than anything I've written since the old days...still, possibly too short for trad publishers and agents. But this novel, I'm convinced, has strong commercial appeal. Leverett Butts, a long-time friend, suggested querying a few agents before taking the book straight to Kindle. I felt I could handle the query with my past publishing and copywriting experience. Query style and format have changed since the late 80s. But the essentials remain: single-sentence pitch, hook, etc.
My dilemma was the outline. My old long 'running' outlines ran as long as fifty pages. One that long would bury me. Furthermore, my new narrative would be the devil's own business to outline. Hey, after all the work I'd done myself, would anyone begrudge me if I turned the outline over to AI? Wondering how others felt, I posted a thread on Facebook.
The thread attracted more hits than anything else I've posted. Far and away, writers opposed the use of AI in any capacity though some argued reasonably that writers should feel free to use any tool at their disposal. A few thought it was lazy to turn to AI. And one told me flat out that I'm in the wrong business if I can't do the job myself. Still, I came close to giving the job to AI. After all, outlines are ultimately meant to be read by publishing bean counters who control the purse strings but almost never read books.
HOW PLAN B SAVED THE DAY
Oddly, working on the single-paragraph hook for my query sparked my confidence in my power to seduce and summarize. I liked the challenge of producing an outline with as much brio and sass as the query. And when a message came from the great Alex (Mister Excitement) Shaw, suggesting I begin with ten bullet points upon which I could build, I was on my way. One bullet point a day, to be revised as I go.
Regardless of whether I find an publisher or agent who's open to a hot short book, I'll be able to discuss it briefly with anyone, anywhere.
What are your thoughts on the use of AI?
This is my report.
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