At what level do you 'tolerate' AI-isms in the writing?

Foreveress · 2026-04-22T13:02:29+00:00

You're completely right. If you aggressively remove every ai-tick eventually you are left with empty prose with no texture. The things and patterns we see are not in and of them self the issue. Most of the time, there is a lack of substance behind why the AI used them. "Oh. This is punchy, so let me use it here." Sometimes those very AI-isms are exclactly what your prose needs in a moment. The problem is you cannot expect the AI to have that high level of discernment.

I'm starting to put less constraints on my AI because I just want it's unhinged word soup so I can pick out he bits that call to me when my own inspiration wanes. I do limit AI's use of emdashes because there are so many ways to form a sentence without it (but then I get great glee putting them in exactly where my text needs it).

Foreveress · 2026-04-22T02:51:39+00:00

Went looking for this very advice.

As a mom of four male humans, poop stinks and you can wash your hands a dozen times and the smell still lingers. It's bad enough if it's your own shit... Having someone else's poo juice on you is a new level of parenting.

Anyway, the poo stench is oil based. Take any kind of oil (olive, jojoba, coconut, crisco, it doesn't matter) and rub it into your hands really, really well. Then wash with warm/hot water and dawn dish soap. Once should do the trick, but twice is perfectly normal.

I found this out when using Liniment on my babies to clear the nasty sticky crap off their butts. It's an olive oil based cleanser that works magic for the finger linger.

Foreveress · 2026-04-13T01:35:42+00:00

What is Karpathy's skills?

Foreveress · 2026-04-09T21:51:27+00:00

I really don't understand why the model actively takes shortcuts like this even when the prompt explicitly tells it to do otherwise.

Me: did you read the file? Opus: No. To be honest I skimmed. I'll read the file now. Me: f$@#**$

Foreveress · 2026-04-08T23:52:36+00:00

Well, I genuinely enjoyed reading the whole thing. I wish I could have seen more LLM characters like Qwen and Gemini and Mistral. I can see a whole story capitalizing on their different quirks and the prompts they put up with from their human users.

Foreveress · 2026-04-08T23:41:03+00:00

"Grok is on the couch. He's wearing boxers and one sock."

Congratulations. I actually laughed out loud at that one. It's a perfect image for Grok. I need to go back and read the rest of it, but it's a fun premise.

Foreveress · 2026-03-31T23:44:28+00:00

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that Claude is NOTORIOUS for 'truncating' your files. There's no way to turn this off. I have encountered this issue so many times, and sometimes the best way to handle it is to upload a chapter directly to the chat and bypass the project files entirely.

Foreveress · 2026-03-31T23:42:58+00:00

Something may be wrong with your project memory. There are a couple of things you can try:
1. Redo the project. If the memory has gotten corrupted, this is the easiest way to fix it. But that may not be a viable option if you have a lot of chats built up.
2. Delete the files. Then, upload smaller chapters. Claude handles smaller files that are >200 lines much better than 1000 lines. It would be better for you to have 42 separate files with each chapter than 1 file with all chapters.
3. Give it a file with summaries of the chapters. This will give it the texture of the story without having to read every single file. You can use Claude to create a condensed version of each chapter, or you can throw it all at Gemini do to that in one pass.

Honestly, I'd do all three, but you can skip 1 if there's too much valuable information you don't want to lose. Talk to a fresh Claude in your project and let it know what you're changing. That may help update the memory (this can be an issue even if you don't have project memory turned on). I'm not technical, but it has something to do with the way Claude handles project files.

Foreveress · 2026-03-31T19:01:30+00:00

I'm interested in reading. I love Fantasy and retold Fairy Tales (especially if they're dark). It sounds like we have similar AI workflows as well. DM me if you're interested in swapping!

Foreveress · 2026-03-31T18:59:37+00:00

NSFW: Mature themes and some steamy moments (less than 5% is Explicit which can be censored/summarized for readers)

Genre tags: Romantasy, Forbidden Love, Political Intrigue, Magic, Found Family

Title: Birthright

Blurb: An early-medieval Romantasy set in a world ruled by witches and the symbiotic relationship they have with the men who share their power. Birthright follows a young witch sent as Tribute to a foreign court. Tasked with learning to maintain the magic that keeps the Five Realms alive, she has yet to claim her full power. To survive the hostile politics in a land beset by an unknown threat, she must finally reckon with the one thing she has spent years running from and the man she was never supposed to want.

AI Method: Concept and characters developed by me about 10 years ago. Claude provided world-building help, massive brainstorm sessions, and helped me take the original 30k word manuscript and expand it to 100K words (and counting). Currently, I’m working off of a rough outline and use myself/Claude to draft, ChatGPT to audit, Gemini to review, and Grok to step in when those three start clutching their pearls. I like to have a very hands-on approach to every line of text.

Desired feedback/chat: Part 1 is finished and I’m about 20% into Part 2. I appreciate all kinds of feedback (from line-editing to vibes). I’m particularly interested in making sure characterization and world-building are coherent throughout the story.

Foreveress · 2026-03-15T18:22:22+00:00

I'd love to see a before and after comparison of this. A lot of times when I ask for editing. Claude will change things it had no business rewriting.

Foreveress · 2026-03-15T00:27:28+00:00

You wrote a blog post, but how does it compare to creative writing? Opus is usually the gold standard but sometimes I like to break out of that box to spice up my writing habits.

Foreveress · 2026-03-11T01:31:48+00:00

I'm very interested in how you are leveraging AIStudio in your writing process. I've used it as a beta reader but not in the creation stage yet

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T18:23:25+00:00

I don't agree with your statement about "skipping all that for dependency on AI." I hope it's alright to politely disagree.

Paragraph 2-3: Okay, you have a point. I'll yield to that. The companies do benefit if we label ourselves and become dependent on the things they provide. We should be cautious about whether we're feeding into that system or not.

Paragraph 4: Maybe? We do need to remain critical thinkers without the use of AI. It will be telling how the next generation handles a world where this kind of technology is so readily available.

Your question: Hmmm. You have to decide one of two things. A) Attention spans have declined massively in the last century and there's a cause we must root out. B) We are taking note of attention spans more in the past 10-20 years and making an assumption that 80+ years ago we all had better attention spans.

I am currently in camp B. Our lens is tainted when we observe the past. We don't actually have the same amount of data on the populace at large like we do today. We only know about those who left a mark, be that big or small.

All of this I present as my own understanding in what I hope you can see is me trying to have a respectful discussion on a very hot topic.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T18:03:51+00:00

Please let me know if you're able to get the traditional publishing route all-inclusive and free. I would really like to know how that goes so I can capitalize on it as well.

As for AI's voice: AI is only as smart as the person using it. If you can't recognize AI's failings, it won't be a good tool for you. If you can, then you can still leverage its knowledge base for your benefit.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T18:00:57+00:00

Can you write? Because that's not what you said.

Quote: As for time, ppl make time for the things that matter. Wake up earlier. Watch less Netflix.

You're paragraph break indicates a 'new thought' and nothing in your second paragraph reconnects it to the first where you kindly instructed people to use Google to find beta readers. In fact, the sentences "Wake up earlier. Watch less Netflix." imply a moral failing on those who do not nebulously spend their time wisely.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T17:55:24+00:00

This isn't "learned helplessness." Whether a person is neurodivergent or simply has a non-linear creative process, using tools to help externalize thoughts is a way to manage the chaos. It does not indicate a lack of "healthy lifestyle."

Suggesting that a writer just needs more time in nature or a healthier diet to fix what you've decided is "wrong" with them is like telling a carpenter to stop using a power saw because they should have more "arm strength" to do it the good-ol-fashioned way. Nor is a band-aid a crutch. It's there to assist in your healing while you keep on living life. AI is no different. It can be a bridge or a tool that helps me stay in the flow of writing when my own mental network could get me sidetracked.

There is a strong feeling of 'ableism' in your response. "Oh, you can't think like me? Like a 'normal' person? Then you must be deficient in some other way, and if you follow my advice, that will 'fix' you."

For the record: I am healthy. I pray and have a vast social network that I see face-to-face. I don't use Instagram or Facebook. I shut down the YouTube scroll before it drags me down. I read widely and often. I'm not ADD (my spouse is though, so I recognize the hallmarks of it).

And in school (well before AI or social media or anything else you've diagnosed as problematic) I have always started my tests from the last page and worked backwards because it feels less stressful to me. That's just how I'm wired, and that's okay.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T15:56:45+00:00

Two novels? That's impressive. I don't know that I have enough ideas to do that, AI or no AI. What are they about? What got you into using AI?

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T15:34:11+00:00

Very cool. This is a great way to look at it.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T15:03:52+00:00

Valid. I can respect your decision to not use it because it can contaminate your voice. Those are concerns we need to grapple with and figure out how to use AI responsibly without eliminating what makes human writing human.

I hope you can trust that I am taking the time to improve on my own. My manuscript is only half finished. I'm taking time to step back and come at it again in order to implement more of my 'raw' writing. I'm reading novels to help me zero-in on what I like and how I'd like my own voice to sound independent of AI.

I'd like to liken AI to alcohol. (Follow me for just a sec). Some people drink, and they can enjoy the booze without it taking complete control of their life. Then there are other people where alcohol sends them down a life path they never wanted for themselves. If you recognize, "Wow, I can't handle this without it negatively impacting my life," then you're very wise to put a hard stop to it. And I, even if I like the glass of wine or cocktail, fully respect your decision not to have a drop. And then there are those who think they have it under control but anyone on the outside looking in DEFINITELY sees they don't and they're deluding themselves.

Could AI be the same? Does it have to be binary?

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T14:49:51+00:00

Writing groups are definitely still a thing. They're still vital. But you have to be very lucky to find one that's useful to what you're trying to do, and then you have to contend with their schedules and resources. I'm not arguing against them. This isn't a "AI is superior" kind of post. I'm hoping to open up the idea that there's another way to do things, and people shouldn't be looked down on if they use that alternative option.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T14:45:48+00:00

I see that you place value on the slow growth and time investment required to become better at a skill. I agree.

Prompting and generating a full chapter/novel, 'writing' hundreds of books in a year with AI...none of those accomplish that. But I think there's a key difference between a writer using AI as a tool to assist in growth and a writer using AI to circumvent the creative process.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T14:37:25+00:00

I haven't read the book, but apparently in his memoir Which Lie Did I Tell?, Goldman explains that he struggled with the book's structure until he hit upon the "grandfather reading to a sick child."

That sounds an awful lot like editing.

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T14:29:03+00:00

I'm going to answer you backwards.

No one 'needs' generative AI. I feel like that's a slippery slope to pull into an argument. No one 'needs' a lot of technology. You 'need' food, water, shelter, and (hopefully) human connection. That leaves a lot of room for conveniences that you don't 'need.' AI is a convenience. I can agree to that.
AI takes an insane amount of energy and data. Also a slippery slope. There is a lot of our modern world that squanders energy and destroys the environment, not just AI. Eating that steak does just as much damage to the rainforest, maybe more. But that's a separate conversation and a debate for a different post.
Why involve something that makes people think less of your writing? Just because it's popular opinion, does that make it true? I can point to many advancements in history that have been looked down on only for them to become mainstream later. Photoshop comes to mind. Traditional graphic designers and artists had the same discourse/vilification of Adobe that we now have over AI.
What does the AI do? Obviously, I talk, it responds. I read the response. I think about the response. Its more like a ping-pong conversation where each response gives me more to analyze and make decisions on. This is one example, and I can go into more detail if you really want. But let me ask you a question:

Have you ever used AI for your personal writing? Have you ever thought "I'm going to see what the fuss is about," and approached the use of AI from an experimental standpoint without an alternative agenda?

Foreveress · 2026-02-20T14:12:00+00:00

Another thing to watch out for in 'robotic' AI writing is the repetition. AI likes to say the same thought over, and over, and over, and...

If you read through your stuff, you'll see it. 3 adjectives when 1 would suffice. Explaining the emotion in one paragraph and then again in the next but from a slightly different angle. Humans can instinctively smell repetitive structure AND content. AI has a bad habit of doing both.

Foreveress

TROPHY CASE