It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. If you are curious about our group and would like to join, all are welcome! Come find the list here.
Started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, bolstered by volunteers throughout the year, the IWSG also has monthly co-hosts for the blog hop. For this month, Joylene, Louise, and I are co-hosts.
Would you change your past work?
Our optional question this month is: Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?
My answer: Yes. And I have. While I will not change certain aspects of old stories, I have gone back and made some revised changes to Champion in the Darkness, Champion in Flight, and Champion's Destiny - the first trilogy of books I wrote. These changes were not about the direction of the story or the main content of the story, but when I read these books out loud recently, I found way too many clumsy moments that I felt needed better line editing, so I made those changes. As an indie writer, I think this is okay to do. (Not everyone agrees, and that's okay.)
Embracing Change After a Period of Reflection
I am not always good at embracing change quickly, but I do when I realize it is necessary for forward momentum. This applies to life as well as writing. Our family has had some changes in the last few years with more to come - I'm not going to get detailed, but while many of these changes have been wonderful, some have been a mite hard, and all of them (including the good ones) caused a bit of stress because change challenges the status quo - even the good changes.
New routines need to be embraced, and sometimes traditions need to change or be replaced with new ways of doing things. And all of that works together to strengthen us, especially when we can embrace the changes after a healthy period of reflection.
But, not every change needs to happen. Sometimes, we do need to keep to something steady and sure, like our faith, or our worldview that shapes the decisions we make. But even within that, it's good to consider, which elements are the key elements? I believe in Jesus Christ, but while I like advent candle lighting traditions at church - they aren't necessary to my faith.
A Bit of Thought About Changes in Recent Tech
Speaking of changes, even though I'm not sure I want to have a big dialogue via our group on AI again, have you seen the new law around AI Copyright? I recommend giving it a skim (it's a long, government document filled with legalize): Copyright and Artificial Intelligence. I recommend giving page 8 a close read.
I have played around a bit with some of the AI models, and I think there are good uses for them - whether we use them to generate ideas for social media posts or for analysis of our books and what content might engage more readers, or even with prompts in which the AI is asked to consider five different ways to continue a storyline. If the material is taken and changed by the author, rearranged and directed by the author, then... it is copyrighted material according to copyright law.
My biggest concern surrounding AI right now is not a Skynet type scenario but the bullying I see surrounding AI in the author world - I think that needs to stop. In fact, I have left Facebook groups because of bullying that specifically targets people for using AI tools for any reason whatsoever. I have seen specific authors attacked and shamed via Facebook groups for even mentioning any of the activity I put in the paragraph above this one, or for even for discussing how they tried it out. Bullying is never okay.
The reality is AI is affecting far more different areas of our lives, like medical advancements.
Is there a way we can consider being discerning, tech optimists?
Can we embrace, or at least consider, the changes happening, with reflection?
And, if we feel a need to deny those changes, can we consider why we are denying them, what the key elements are, and what the outcome of that will be?
And then, can we please be kind to one another, regardless of where we land on these issues?
"Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. JR.
What I've been working on (some of it, anyway):
Dark Secrets - a prequel novella to Dark Blade Forged (not necessary to read before the novel)
Dark Blade Tempered (Book 2) is one of my February Revision projects and you can read a sample excerpt HERE, but note that changes are still underway. This section does have mild spoilers for Book 1, so read at your own risk for that.
