My Journey with AI: Why I Created AI Magic for Authors

You know that feeling of watching a train wreck – curiosity keeps you rooted even though you're not sure what you're going to see? That's exactly how I felt when I first heard about ChatGPT. There was a train wreck happening and I needed to see it.

After spending 26 years in IT, helping people navigate through countless tech changes, I've seen plenty of panic and misconceptions about new technology. So when ChatGPT hit the writing community like a tornado, sparking fear and knee-jerk bans before anyone really understood what it could do, I was curious. What could spark such an extreme reaction in a community who’d see their fair share of technology and the changes it brought?

Getting Real About AI in Writing

Look, I get it.

AI generating sentences – which can then be stringed together to make stories. And it sounds like human speech…

Of course, on first glance, this is terrifying. As writers, we pour our hearts into our stories.  We live them. We massage them. We spend hours, days and sometimes years, bringing the story into the world. How can a machine write something which profoundly impacts the reader?

It can’t.

Here's the thing – my years in IT taught me something important: technology must have predictable outcomes. It doesn’t deal well with ambiguity.  It must follow a mathematical formula. Don’t get me wrong – the things computers can do with this model of thinking are amazing. And yet, as writers, ambiguity is our journey until we are able to fit all of the pieces together and only then is ambiguity gone.

If AI doesn’t do well with ambiguity, then what is it good for? Here’s where my curiosity kicked in and down the rabbit hole I went.

What I Actually Found When Using AI

Ah yes, my first writing experiment with AI…

I was working with my editor, Alice Sudlow, on a tricky part of my story. I can craft action scenes as easily as breathing. But the protagonist's emotional journey... that’s my Achilles’ heel.

Alice and I had mapped out the emotional stages – from self-rejection to self-acceptance. Standard stuff, right? But something was missing. So I thought, "Let's see what happens if I feed this to ChatGPT."

I threw everything at it – the hero's journey, the heroine’s journey, the five stages of grief, psychotherapy models - the whole works. Told it to map out the emotional character arc.

What came back... well, it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't a basic outline. It was a roadmap that made me stop and think. Made me see my character differently. Made me question my own assumptions.

Alice was amazed. And yet, with her years of experience in storytelling, she spotted places where we could add more depth to give the reader the emotional experience we are looking for in a book.

These days? I use ChatGPT like a writing buddy. Brainstorming. Editing. Scene mapping. And yes, it's fast. What used to take weeks now takes hours. But here's the thing I’ve noticed – It cannot replicate me, my style and my way of viewing the world. It can't feel the pulse of a story the way I do. It can't sense those subtle layers, those gut feelings, that emotional depth that makes a story breathe.

Guess what? I now have an assistant which can help me do some things faster and more efficiently.  Just like a human assistant, they can’t do what I do in my own, unique style – write stories which are engaging, creative and entertaining.

Why I Built AI Magic for Authors

The longer I immersed myself in learning about AI, one thing kept coming up – How do I learn about what’s out there that I can use in my writing? Tools which have been around for a long time are adopting AI – and doing what with it? New tools were popping up like mushrooms after a good rain. Am I going to have to look at every one? Turns out most of them are for marketers, businesses and content creators. Not for people who breathe life into stories.

Authors needed something different. Something that cut through the noise.

That's how AI Magic for Authors was born.

But I wanted to go deeper than just providing general information. I wanted it to be customized to the individual. Was there a way to offer a match between the author and the vast array of AI tools?

Here's the thing about authors – we're all different. Some of us plot everything. Some of us fly by the seat of our pants. Some of us write in bursts of inspiration. Others chip away steadily, day after day.

So I dug into personality frameworks – David Merrill's working styles, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs. And created something new: the Writer Working Styles framework. Because with all these AI tools out there, why not match each writer with tools that fit into their Working Style almost seamlessly?

The Real Deal About AI and Creativity

Here's what AI Magic for Authors is really about: keeping you in control. Your story. Your voice. Your rules. Tools that fit you.

Think of AI as that friend who's great at organizing your notes, bouncing ideas around, handling the grunt work.

But the magic of storytelling?

That spark that brings characters to life? That's all you. AI can gather info, but only a human can weave them into something that matters. Something that moves people.

Let's Get Real

AI isn't going away. It's like that guest who showed up uninvited but turns out to be surprisingly helpful. For us writers, it's not about being replaced. It's about finding a new ally in our creative journey.

That's what AI Magic for Authors is about – a place where you can explore AI's potential to learn how to enhance your writing process.

Whether you're excited about AI or still eyeing it suspiciously from across the room, I'd love to have you join me on this adventure.

Because with the right tools and the right mindset? The possibilities are endless.

So happy you dropped by.

Lorraine

Bestselling Author and A.I. Writing Consultant / Creator of The Writer Working Style Assessment

Take the Quiz!

If you're curious about your working style and tools that might fit it, head on over to https://AiMagicForAuthors.com and take our quiz. Answer the thirteen questions to pinpoint your unique working style and provide advice that enhances your writing process.

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