Does using the em dash mean you’re a robot?
by Anne R. Allen
Two weeks ago, we ran a guest post here from a South African entrepreneur named Dr. Jeremy Esekow. It was a thoughtful, balanced report on a contest his company had run with human vs. AI stories.
I was not prepared for the wildly negative response. The negativity came mostly from people who saw “AI” in the header and decided they knew what the article said without reading a word. They couldn’t even read past the header to see “Guest Post by Jeremy Esekow.”
Nope. Everybody assumed I wrote it, proving I was obviously pro-AI and want robots to put the human race out of business.
Except for everybody who berated me for being anti-AI and said I refused to give the AI a fair chance.
To be fair—none of the nasty missives came from regular visitors to this blog, and most comments came via social media messages, not comments here.
Death Threats vs. the Elegance of the Em Dash
So, armed with nothing but the letters “AI” in a header, a whole lot of folks decided I deserved poison pen emails and even death. Some commenters were enraged that I had told them to stop using the em dash. Which of course I hadn’t done, because:
1) I didn’t write the post.
2) Dr. Esekow only said dropping its use was “sad.”
3) I love me some em dashes.
In fact, I love them so much, my em dash use even got a shout-out in The New Publishing Standard. Editor in Chief Mark Williams, writing about the whole Shy Girl brouhaha said this: “I hate the em dash with a vengeance, but I know authors like Anne R. Allen who not only deploy them with elegance and charm, but even know the secret of how to make an em dash in MS Word.” (Should I tell him? 😊)
Why AI Uses a Lot of Em Dashes
But it’s true that AI loves em dashes too. So some watchdogs think anything with an em dash must have been written by AI.
But, as bestselling author Chuck Wendig observed in his take on the Shy Girl drama, AI is trained on contemporary writing. And many contemporary writers use the em dash in fiction instead of more formal punctuation like parentheses, colons and semi-colons. Why? Because New York publishing taught us to.
I first heard the term “em dash”—which is a dash the width of a printed “M” like this—at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference in the mid-1990s. I’d scored an in-person critique of my WIP by a real New York editor.
The first thing the editor did was point to a colon and say in an accusatory tone “what’s this?”
Obviously, he knew perfectly well what a colon was, so I asked him what was wrong with it. He said, “are you writing an essay for an academic journal, or a novel?”
Again, I knew he was shaming me, and braced for the criticism.
He then told me that colons, semi-colons and parentheses had no place in contemporary fiction. Instead, I should use—you guessed it—an em dash.
If we follow Wendig’s argument, AI bots trained on older fiction would be full of the quirks of authors of yesteryear. Maybe your AI book would be addressed to “Best Beloved” and characters would say things like “Gadzooks” and women would carry “reticules.”
Whether or not you approve of the fact AI bots are trained on contemporary, copyrighted material (most authors do not) the fact remains that they are. They don’t train AI on public domain works because the results would sound old fashioned and incomprehensible to the contemporary reader. (Thou beslubbering, crook-pated wagtail!)
Enter the Shy Girl Drama
If you have read any news about the publishing industry this week, you’ve already heard about Hachette suddenly pulling Mia Ballard’s horror novel Shy Girl from its scheduled publication. Hachette says they discovered the novel was more than 50% written by AI.
The author denies this and says any AI use was done by her editor. And she’s suing them to prove it.
The book was first self-published a year ago and sold well enough to come to the attention of the Big 5. Which means a whole lot of people loved it. Except a handful of people who didn’t—people who thought it was written by AI. Those people went to the New York Times, and the paper did an exposé about what they believed to be the “tells” that showed the book had AI origins.
Did Mia Ballard Use the Dreaded Em Dash?
I haven’t been able to find out about the author’s em dash use, but I suppose that might have been one of the “tells” that “proved” her work was written by Artificial Intelligence robots.
So what are the other tells that label your work as AI generated?
According to the podcast by one of the readers who reported Shy Girl as AI, the narrative voice was all over the place, there was no emotional engagement with the characters, and she used improbable similes and superfluous verbiage.
I have to admit I didn’t sit through his whole critique, because I find podcasts annoying. Life is too damned short. Unless I’m on a long drive or stuck in traffic, I don’t need somebody to hem and haw their ideas out loud to fill the time. Write that stuff down, people! Writing makes a person focus and remove, um, superfluous verbiage.
Okay, I know I’m in the minority on that. Reading is on the way out. Everybody wants their “content” spoon fed to them. Sigh.
Maybe it’s not AI that’s going to destroy the writing profession. Maybe it’s lazy readers? 🙂
The Coming Witch Hunt
But back to Shy Girl. Many of the “tells” that label the book as AI generated, can—as Mark Williams pointed out at TNPS—also be attributed to amateurish or unedited writing.
What if Mia Ballard had a compelling, original story but didn’t have the chops to tell it well enough to pass muster with the anti-AI crowd? I’m not saying that’s the situation here, but Mr. Williams makes a good case. He says, “stylistic ‘tells’ attributed to AI are in many cases simply the markers of inexperienced or unpolished human writing.”
Or, as others have pointed out, these are also the “tells” of an autistic or ESL writer.
So has the Hachette decision unleashed an army of vigilantes and self-appointed watchdogs to attack successful, but less than polished books? Can any book be “cancelled” with accusations of AI use?
A lot of people fear that, so fasten your seatbelts. Here’s former agent Nathan Bransford on the subject.
Protect Yourself With Info From Dr. Esekow’s Human vs. AI Contest
So how do authors protect themselves from accusations of using AI to write their books? (We’re not talking about using grammar or editing software, but publishing books mostly created by a robot who is not you.) I’m assuming most people reading this are not robots. 😊
We can go back to last month’s guest blogpost. Almost all the “tells” the vigilantes found in Shy Girl are points Dr. Esekow made in his article. He discovered that if writers work on the following, they’re less likely to be accused of subcontracting their writing to a handy robot.
- Dialogue. Work on writing authentic dialogue that’s personal to each character. In AI, the characters tend to sound the same. How do we learn to write authentic dialogue? Listen to people!
- Pacing. Work on getting your pacing just right. This was one of the toughest things for me to learn when I was starting out. There are “beat sheets” and workbooks (try K.M. Weiland’s) that can help you learn good techniques for pacing a novel.
- Voice. Developing your own voice takes time. That’s one of the reasons it’s not a good idea to self-publish a first novel. Develop that unique voice in shorter works first.
- Remember Chekhov’s Gun. Don’t describe anything in detail if it isn’t relevant to the plot.
And I’d add to those:
- Block that metaphor! Use metaphors sparingly and wisely. And don’t get too weird.
- Eliminate “crutch words.” We all have them. Mine are “just” and “really.” Make sure you weed them out before you publish.
- Get to know your characters! Do envision a backstory for all your main characters. Make sure you know their fears and wants so they’ll act authentically.
Is There a Guaranteed Way to Protect Yourself?
Nope. Some of the anti-AI people are so rabid they send people like me death threats for simply mentioning AI in a blogpost. But you might try running a sample of your writing through an AI detector.
There’s one out of the Netherlands called Triall that offers a free trial.
If some of your phrasing or word choices get flagged as AI by one of these detectors, you might consider a change.
Or you might not. Like, if it flags you as a robot for using the em dash, call your lawyer. If you’re like me, they’ll have to pry your em dash from your cold, dead hands.
For a great overview of AI and Publishing, check out Jane Friedman’s blog.
And no, none of this was written by AI. Probably because I’m a Boomer and I wouldn’t have a clue how to do it. 🙂
***
What about you, scriveners? Has anybody accused you of using AI to write your books? Do you fear AI will put you out of business? How do you feel about the em dash?
by by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen and annerallen.bsky.social) March 28, 2026
***
BOOK OF THE WEEK
An author breaks a major publishing rule, and murder and mayhem ensue.
SO MUCH FOR BUCKINGHAM: Camilla mystery #5
This comic novel — which takes its title from the most famous Shakespearean quote that Shakespeare never wrote — explores how easy it is to perpetrate a character assassination whether by a great playwright or a gang of online trolls.
Camilla makes the mistake of responding to an online review of one of her etiquette guides and sets off a chain of events that leads to arson, attempted rape and murder.
And there’s a cat.
“Laughs and social commentary abound in this global adventure. Camilla Randall, a down-on-her luck-socialite-turned-etiquette-expert, takes on review cyberbullies while her friend Plantagenet hunts down the ghost of Richard III. Anne R. Allen has given us a hilarious satire that pokes fun at some dark topics. And we get a mini refresher course in English history to boot.”–Maggie King
Available in ebook from:
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Available in paper from:
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Audiobook from Audible and iTunes
Featured image by Jason Leung for Unplash
Like you, Anne, I love me my EM dashes (also EN dashes). Always have, always will.
Yeah, me too.
Em dashes have Swagger!
Ernie–“Swagger”–I love that!
Harald–I’m glad to hear you belong to the em dash club!
I have used em dashes in my books since 1989 when I self-published my first book called “The Art of Seeing Double or Better in Business.”
I would like to claim that I invented the em dash — but you would never believe me!
I even used an em dash in the subtitle of my most recent book “GREAT FRIENDS ROCK (How to Find Them — And Keep Them!)”
For the record, I have written 20 books that have sold over 1,125,000 copies. I have 3 books that are true international bestsellers — ones that have each sold at least 100,000 copies in print. I have used the em dash vigorously in all these books.
I am presently revising my flagship book (over 475,000 copies sold) — no, I won’t tell you the title — and will be issuing it as the 25th Anniversary Updated Edition in September of this year.
In the original edition I used the em dash prominently.
Now I am using it even more agressively and prominently — trying to double its use!
Long live the em dash — with spaces!
One more note regarding AI.
On LinkedIn, I keep making this comment:
AI will never create a book that has Soul, Swagger, and Stands out in any category. Mine do. That’s why they have sold over 1,125,000 copies.
I was just asked by US major publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing to write another retirement book.
Even more, I am Canadian and just got Simon & Schuster to be the US distributor for my self-published books. I challenge any self-published author using AI to pull this off.
After many months of making this comment, not one author has responded to this challenge. Go figure! LinkedIn is where the experts are supposed to hang out!
Again, I have my own way to Rock — That’s the way I Roll.
I’m with you, Ernie, but spaces around EM dashes? No way, Jose. At least for me and my published work. Chicago Manual of Style agrees with me, but AP does not. But you’re right about the swagger!
Harald–My current editor and I have had something of a battle about those spaces. My previous editor (and Ruth Harris) prefer the AP rule putting spaces around the dash because it reads better in electronic form. But CMOS is still in the pre-e-book age with their old fashioned rule of no spaces.
Ernie–I’m sure your unique voice stands out and proves you aren’t a robot.
I am so sorry to hear about the abuse, Anne! That is terrible. Like you, I also love me some em dashes. No way will I totally eschew them. However, the kerfuffle over them has made me double-check to be sure I don’t overuse them. Have I ever done that? Maaaybe. (No AI required) 😉
JR–I think maybe a final overview of a ms. aimed at weeding out AI triggers might be a good idea for us all, in view of Shy Girl‘s fate.
Thank you, Anne, for this balanced blog post – and the useful links.
So sorry to read about the abuse you received.
I prefer reading to listening every time. People are more able to retain what they read, and can look back and check, than what they hear.
Rosemary–I’m glad to hear from another reading fan. I just don’t have time for podcasts. And you’re right–with the written word, we can go back and check.
The abuse you received is appalling. I’m so sorry about that.
Em-dashes Rule. Long live the em-dash. I use them. Sometimes other punctuation just doesn’t do it.
I, too, don’t listen to podcasts. There’s a saying, ‘In one ear and out the other.’ That’s me.
The same goes for video instructions. I always search for written ones. With a script, you can go back more easily if you don’t understand something.
Vivienne–Oh, I’m so much with you with video instructions! I often have to write down the directions as I listen, so I’ll remember each step and do it right the first time.
So agree with you guys about podcasts and YouTube instructions. I grew up reading the back of cereal boxes! Is writing going out of fashion? Happily, my grandchildren are all bookworms, so that gives me hope. Also, I’m not stopping my em dashes!
ML–Some of the first reading we did was on the back of cereal boxes, wasn’t it? Now kids look at videos on phones, but we were busy getting wisdom from Sugar Pops. I guess it started us reading at an early age. We needed to know if there was a secret decoder ring in the bottom of the box!
I agree with those above who have commiserated with you on the appalling messages you received. For stuff you didn’t write! Gadzooks! What is the world coming to?
I think one way we can prove that our work was not generated by AI is to keep our drafts, our outlines, our character notes, or whatever else shows our process. This is old advice that was sometimes handy to prove we had not plagiarized another writer’s ideas. But that was a rare accusation, and this is going to be increasingly common. We need to keep all the stuff that shows we wrote this work.
I am not a robot. I can tick all the squares that contain a motorbike.
Julia–That is such good advice!! I should have included it here. I’m careful to save drafts along the way as I write a book. I do it in case of copyright issues, but of course it’s also going to be super-important in proving we’ve made all our own mistakes without the aid of a robot.
“I have to admit I didn’t sit through his whole critique, because I find podcasts annoying. Life is too damned short. Unless I’m on a long drive or stuck in traffic, I don’t need somebody to hem and haw their ideas out loud to fill the time. Write that stuff down, people! Writing makes a person focus and remove, um, superfluous verbiage.”
Thank you, Anne! Amen!
James–Oh, I’m so glad you agree with me! I’m a major fan of yours, so that means a lot to me.
Death to those beslubbering, crook-pated wagtails who attacked you, Anne!!!
I choose not to use AI b/c I want to keep my brain exercised and working. Using AI is like wanting to get in shape but hiring someone to do pushups for you. I don’t even use Spell Czech and Auto-Corrupt. Yeah, I’m also a Boomer who wouldn’t have a clue how to do it. So that’s our best defense against spurious accusations.
My biggest worry is young brains that may never develop the creativity, reasoning, and problem-solving skills b/c all they know how to do is enter prompts to write their assignments.
Debbie–The idea of hiring somebody to do push-ups for you is hilarious. At my age, my brain needs all the exercise it can get. 🙂 “Spell Czech and Auto-Corrupt”–Haha! Love it.
Lovely post Anne! And thank you for the mentions.
What does Hachette mean when they say that more than 50% of the book was written by AI? 5 of every 10 words? I doubt it.
I watched some youtuber’s two hour takedown (I made a summary of it – waaaay too long) of the book and it seems to me that Mia used AI to flesh out come scenes, to line edit and for research. More than anything, the youtuber just hated the book. It sounded like it was mostly sloppily written with lazy AI-editing just sealing the deal.
Jeremy–Thanks for stopping by! Your post was so enlightening. It told us exactly what to polish in our own work to show our work is 100% human generated.
I watched that youtuber too. For about 20 minutes. But he went on and on and on. And you’re right. He just didn’t like the book. It reminded me of a jealous member of a critique group: “This book isn’t as good as the one I’d write if I just had the time.” He had nothing positive to say. So why did he read it?
Whatever you think about AI—or Mia Ballard’s alleged use of it—the fact remains that her book sold enough copies to bring it to the attention of Hachette. There was an audience of readers that loved her work enough to shell out money for it and spend their precious free time reading—and reviewing—it.
Then there is the matter of Hachette, a Big Five publisher whose own editors did not catch any of the problems pointed out by a highly vocal contingent of reviewers, who mounted a de facto witch hunt against Ballard for using AI ‘tells’ in her work. (As Chuck Wendig points out, such ‘tells’ are just hallmarks of the contemporary writing that AI illegally trained on, and now claims as its own.)
Was the writing deemed good enough to pass muster on the first pass? Or did Hachette simply not use editors to vet the work—one of its main value propositions to authors? How many editors even remain on staff at Hachette or any of the Big Five publishing houses?
I have a big problem with the way Mia Ballard was witch-hunted. Having critical discussions and difficult conversations, yes. Making unfounded accusations and canceling people, no.
Traditional publishers seriously erode their credibility when they jump on a bandwagon to discredit an author. Writers no longer need a traditional publisher to reach an audience. We can do that ourselves, apparently well enough that trad publishers are now seeking authors out instead of the other way around. When publishers fail to offer quality editing and don’t follow through on their contractural obligations to authors (like registering books for copyright), they damage their central value proposition.
AI-assisted writing is a thing, and it will continue to develop and grow, whether we like it or not. I don’t choose to use it in my own writing or blog posts, but neither will I diss other writers for choosing to use it. (Full disclosure: I have used AI to assist me in my marketing materials and research. I’ve found that you already have to be a skilled writer to use it well.)
I will also use em dashes until hell freezes over.
As writers, we can do better. We can choose to act as good literary citizens, curators and collaborators with other artists, build relationships and audience through our mailing lists, insist on nuance, engage in constructive dialogue rather than gossip or cancellation. That’s also how we’ll find our readers. Our future is linked with theirs.
Linda–Exactly! How was that book so popular if it was such a mess? And if it was a mess, why didn’t Hachette do something about it before the NYT came out with their scathing article? Cancel culture can be so dangerous.
Wahoo! Human writers unite!
CS–We do need to stand together. But vigilantes and cancel culture are not helping.
Julia,
I am so glad to see your comment about keeping notes, etc. that ‘prove’ your work is original. As a developmental editor, I have been encouraging my author clients to do just that, as well as offering the idea that engaging an editor can be another step of ‘proof’ of originality, which could be extended to beta readers and such.
I do wish all those so ready to be up in arms about things would leave off their tirades about writing and AI, and concentrate on the enormous opportunities to right actual wrongs occurring in the world today.
Viva l’EM!
Maria–Keeping old drafts is so important! I’m grateful to Julia for bringing it up.
Very good post and the comments are also interesting to read through.
I’m only 15ish years into my career and have used the em-dash with flourish and confidence. I don’t want to lose that! But I also don’t want to get accused of using AI for any part of my writing…since I don’t use it for any part! All my mistakes are human. Lol
Thanks again for the post!
Elizabeth–I love the information our commenters bring! Yes, none of us wants to be accused of something we didn’t do. I sincerely hope this Shy Girl incident is a one-off and not the beginning of a witch hunt.
Terrible you were attacked!
Fortunately my terrible writing comes in a way AI wouldn’t.
And watched a video regarding a popular band on YouTube who isn’t real but AI and the guy showed how all the instruments can be broken into separate but distinct tracks unless they are AI generated which blurs them together. And the songs by this band blurred them! (Unrelated but shows how AI is into everything but there are ways to prove it.)
Alex–AI in music is a whole other can of worms! I didn’t know there were AI detectors that can tell definitively that music is AI. I wish the verbal detectors were as reliable!
Anne, first, I, too, have zero patience with podcasts. For that matter, I don’t listen to news broadcasts either. If I listen and I miss something, I’m SOL. I read anything I want to know. I’ve been reading avidly since 1957 and I have no interest in breaking the habit.
Second, I’ve used the em-dash as long as I’ve been writing seriously–since 1969 or before. I suspect I used them because the authors I read used them: Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and Bradbury. (BTW, “seriously” does not mean “successfully.”) I wrote a story a couple of years ago of about 350 words that was presented as having been written by AI. I had to expand it to 500 words for the submission. In the addition I tried to use two or three sentences that might read like AI. But I don’t really know the tells, if there are any, for AI work, so I don’t know if I was successful.
Third, I’m kind of angry that you were harassed and worse for that blog by morons who didn’t even read any of it. The sad thing is that even if they could be punished somehow, they wouldn’t understand or acknowledge that they’d something inappropriate.
Fred–I don’t mind news broadcasts if they’re scripted. It’s the hemming and hawing and repetitive throat-clearing that really gets to me with podcasts. Just a lot of time wasted. They say I taught myself to read when I was in kindergarten, and I got in big trouble when I got to first grade and the teacher made me sit in the corner while they had reading lessons, because I’d already read every story about Dick, Jane, and Sally (and their pets Spot and Puff.) 🙂
Yeah, being harassed is no fun. Especially by morons. They seem to lose their ability to think when they join an extremist group.
I love AI, as TNPS readers will know, but I loathe AI-detectors.
This past week or so, an AI detector flagged with 96.2% certainty that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was written by AI.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/frankkalman_a-website-said-abraham-lincolns-gettysburg-activity-7442140429141209088-eedVS7Bz8I
Across the globe students are being left traumatised because they have been accused of cheating and using AI to write works they say are original.
If we need proof that AI-detectors are utterly worthless, just ask Abe Lincoln.
Mark–Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for the update. That is truly hilarious. Honest Abe? Used AI to write his most famous speech? We should have known, right? But you’re right that it’s tragic when honest, probably talented young people are being accused of cheating based on what a flawed computer program says about their work.
I’m not sure why, but this reminded me of the professional baseball player a few years ago who, in a half-assed attempt to justify his use of steroids, declared that Babe Ruth probably used them. A contemporary had to explain to him that steroids didn’t exist back then.
Anne, I so love the way you humorously turn around the negative to educate those who need spanking and recommend clues and definitions and insights to all of us that always need to learn more. You’re still the best!! Thank you. J
Judy–Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
I’m not a huge fan of the em-dash, but I do use it–sparingly. And I agree how those of us who are still learning how to write well might be accused of being AI if we aren’t careful. I still have issues with getting my characters to have a distinct voice, and will admit that I am not the greatest writer but have fun with what I do. My only interface with AI is in using Pro Writing Aid and Autocrit for grammar and word usage. And those annoying pop-ups that say my phrasing needs to change are ignored.
So would someone say I put out AI written books? Maybe, but they aren’t. I have proof of that since the few I do have out were written before AI was on computers.
And like you, I have better things to do with my time than to listen to a podcast. Write it down and I will read it if it interests me. And I thought Mr. Esekow’s post was wonderfully written and thoughtful and gave good insight to the issues of AI generated stories.
AI is here to stay, but we, as writers, will still be better at our worst than most AI drivel. Don’t believe me–download a free app where you watch ads to read novels and try to get through one whole novel. I deleted the apps I tried just to see what they had within hours, unable to get past the first 3 chapters in the apps-not because of the ads, but the writing was definitely AI and boring, repetitive, and recognizable by word choice, descriptions, dialogue and formulaic writing with a lot of repetition. (And I thought I was bad at that..lol)
Keep up the great work. I enjoy your posts. And I like your usage of the em-dash–makes it less academic as the one agent pointed outl
Barbara–Many thanks! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed Mr. Esekow’s post. I like that you mention that when you write, you “have fun with what I do.” I think that’s the biggest argument against using AI to write your books. Where’s the fun in that? It’s like getting a robot to eat your ice cream sundae. Creative writers find creative writing fun. We don’t want to give it up!
I’m pro em-dash, no extra spacing, and sad that AI even exists, which certainly dates me. I’m at work on a novel that uses them—-probably—-or at least possibly—-too much. Why? Because my teenage protagonist is full of interior stuff. Plus, I’m having a lot of fun.
As usual, I love your work.
Steve–Hi there! Thanks a bunch. I’m with you on AI. Even its inventors are terrified of it. Long live the em-dash!
Isn’t using AI to review and assess for AI content like setting the fox to mind the chicken coop?
Sally–It does seem that way, doesn’t it?
This is what happens when we give ourselves over entirely to machinery, and take its word as gospel.
Sally–Tell it sister! I second your A-men.
Love this and this Boomer will
Write as she damn pleases.
Beth–As long as you’re not trad published, I think you’re safe. But if Hachette can do this, so can the other big publishers.
A-MEN!
LOL. Apparently, there is a Karen for everything under the sun. Now we have the AI Karens. Yes, I love the emdash and sometimes even endash, and I will never stop using them. No one has accused me of AI usage but if they did, I would just laugh at them.
IMHO AI is not going to take over the fiction world, but perhaps the fear of it will. I admit, I do not like AI but not because it threatens me in that way. But because it is just one more thing that allows people to go along in life and not think, use discernment, or consider things deeply. We are already deep in high tech crap for everything from companionship to leading us to locations. I would like to get rid of half of that stuff as it doesn’t really enhance one’s life, it just enables one to become lazy and ineffectual. But that’s me.
LOL, Anne, I suspect at least half the people who flamed you were actual ai robots. Ironic, yes?
Annie
Anita–AI Karens! Yup. That’s the crowd that attacked me. They wanted to talk to the manager, who unfortunately is me. 🙂 I don’t know if they are AI generated, but they are so triggered by the mention, they go into autopilot mode and start trying to cancel you. I agree that one of the problems with AI is its use by young people whose brains aren’t completely formed. This means parts of their brains will never develop. Sometimes I wonder if we took a bunch of contemporary humans back to Neanderthal times if the contemporaries would be too stupid to survive.
It’s one thing to use AI in your writing. It’s another to be accused of using it because a software developer wrote a program to detect AI using criteria that may or may not be valid. Grrr. I’m saving all my old notes and versions just in case. 📒
Kay–Saving earlier drafts is very wise. I send a copy of my WIP to myself at the end of every week. It helps in a lot of ways to have those drafts. But now we have “AI Karens” as Anita Rogers calls them, we need them even more.
I think moving forward, writers (and other industry professionals) will benefit from having an AI policy on their website, spelling it out clearly what they use AI for (if at all) and what they won’t. I know in my AI policy, I highlight that ALL of my writing is human generated. (Writing (and rewriting) is the part of the process I enjoy the most. Why would I let a computer take that away from me?)
And I’m saddened that the anti-AI movement has turned into death threats. Like we writers don’t have enough to worry about. (This world has definitely gone insane.)
Judy–I don’t know if a website disclaimer would stop these self-appointed vigilantes. But I suppose every little bit helps. Yes, the world has gone insane. People do and say things online they’d never do in real life. But the repercussions actually happen in real life.
Wonderful post, Anne! (I’m a day late on here) Yes, it’s in my publishing contracts that I can’t use AI for any purpose. Not that I would try. My attitude is more like, “Please please don’t make me learn any more technology, I beg you! I’ve learned Basic, Dos, Fortran, Cobol, and a thousand things in the 50 years since, and brain will explode if I make it learn more tech crap.” Great post, Anne.
Melodie–My thoughts exactly! I can change the correction ribbon on an IBM Selectric and program a VCR. There’s so much tech a brain can take and mine’s full. I have no desire to learn how to use AI. Why would I rob myself of my own creativity? (The MailChimp notices went out two days late. Not your fault. I think the Chimps must have been on a bender.)
Ha! I will never use AI for writing. And all my first drafts are written with a pen on paper, so there’s the proof (not that anyone cares).
Nice to see others who find video instructions more trouble than they’re worth. I listen to news and commentary on radio, but can’t fit podcasts into my life.
Sometimes I think we indie author boomers are the last hurrah of real writing. A sort of final golden age.
I do use em dashes, but only if other kinds of punctuation don’t work. As for whoever said semicolons and colons belong only in academic writing–they’re wrong!
Audrey–That was a senior editor at Bantam who shamed me for using a colon in fiction, and I was unpublished, so I paid attention. It turned out the em dash helped me find the light, breezy voice I needed for my humorous fiction. Self-publishing frees us up to do a lot of things that would get you rejected by NYC publishing. With the Big 5 acting as anti-AI police here, they may keep real writing alive for a while longer. Unless they find AI books give them a better return. 🙁
It’s getting rough out there with all the AI trying to take art from humans. I witnessed a big comment battle on Facebook where an author shared their cover, said they created it, and got assassinated in comments by people saying it was done by AI. The author responded with a video showing the cover being made, including human hands being used, and then closed the comments. 😅
I don’t use the emdash much in my books, but my blog? I know the HTML code for it! So, uh, yeah.
April is the ideal time to refresh goals and turn small daily actions into major wins, utilizing the season’s new energy for growth.
“Every day is a chance to begin again. Don’t focus on the failures of yesterday, start today with positive thoughts and expectations.” ― Catherine Pulsifer
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge international blog hop
J–I saw something about that FB battle over the cover accused of being AI. We’re all afraid of AI and where it’s going (including the AI inventors) so it makes sense that some people are seeing AI wherever they look. But it can cause real pain for innocent creators who are accused of using it when they haven’t. I’m glad that author had the evidence to defend himself.
I think the ultimate solution to this growing problem is not to give the AI-Karens, whoever they are, the time of day. They don’t deserve the attention they are getting. All they are doing is stressing out people who just want to write their stories and be let alone to do so. Creativity doesn’t do well under pressure from those who would control our every thought.
Online conversations like this one continue to give them the attention they seek, the power and control over others that they crave. We need to tell them to mind their own business, get a life, and leave us alone. We have the authority to establish our own boundaries.
This, too, shall pass …
Sally–This is Hachette we’re talking about. A real author got her book (and career) cancelled. You want us to ignore her–even if she’s innocent–and go along with whatever big corporations tell us? If you don’t have empathy for your fellow authors, don’t read this blog. Seriously. You’re being a troll.
i loved the aggressive amount of dashes in here,🤣. Great post!
Demilly–Great name for an author, BTW! Yeah, we seem to have a den of em dash users here.
Thank you! (But also, i am embarrassed 🙈 😂 and i also started the blog because i saw your post on that.) And i loved your the tone you write with. Reminds me of Agatha Christie’s voice if she ever lived in my head and had a real voice she’d speak like that. and I am definitely staying here for long, to be part of the den.
Are AI witch hunts on the horizon? What a world. I like the em dash, too. But the AI pressure has me second-guessing them. I still use them but always with the thought of how it will be perceived. UGH. The writing world wasn’t tough enough. I also prefer reading rather than listening to podcasts.
Karen–Some publishing professionals fear that may happen. Maybe not if the Shy Girl author makes her case in court. But that will take a long time. Meanwhile, things could get messy. I personally feel safe because I’m with a small press where they trust me (and know I’m a cybermoron 🙂 )But if you’re querying agents, or you’re with a major publisher like Hachette–I’d go lightly on the em dashes. I’m glad to hear from all of you who prefer reading!
Two things. First, I love the em dash and if AI uses it, oh well. They ain’t me nor can be!! Secondly, I know a lot of people like audio books and podcasts but an audio book is not the same as reading and a podcast….well, I’d rather just listen to music and read blogs like yours!!
Yvonne–Thanks for your kind words. I personally make a big distinction between an audiobook and a podcast, because an audiobook is just written words read out loud. Great for people with long driving commutes as well as the blind. But podcasts are usually adlibbed, so there’s a lot of repetition and dead air. They take much longer to get information across than the written word. I feel they waste my time. Network news has been doing this more and more lately too, with “breaking news.” Some poor reporter is out there in the middle of a hurricane, with nothing to say but “this is really bad weather” but he has to say it over and over again while we watch him getting blown around and drenched.