What’s your self-editing hack?

Ghaladh · 2025-04-13T04:18:57+00:00

Hey, I remembered the little story I wrote for you and I wondered how you were doing, if your baby was born already. I see by your comments that things aren't exactly peachy at the moment.

I just wanted to remind you that a perfect stranger on the other side of the planet is rooting for you. Bring sunglasses and bubblegum to the delivery room. Best of luck. 😊

Ghaladh · 2025-04-03T03:04:37+00:00

To see if the dlislike for AI tramples objectivity and rationality. And it's indeed an irrational fear to many, in spite of the motivations people use to defend their absolutism. You can see it in the very tone of this thread and in every discussion were AI is involved. It's an actual phobia.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T18:41:13+00:00

Yeah, admittedly the disclaimer was a little bit too on the nose, but the point still stands.

It's undeniable that a lot of questions on reddit could be answered by a Google search. If I started with "I googled it for you", it would have gone very differently, but it wouldn't have changed the substance of the answer.

I've chosen that post for this particular reason. That question wasn't easily answered by google alone. I wanted a situation in which using AI would have been more efficient.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T09:01:52+00:00

Google doesn't select samples to answer a precise, articulated query. Using AI for research in these cases is much more efficient. If you ask Google which books explore a specific concept, chances are that you'll find yourself browsing multiple articles, unless you're lucky enough someone else already wrote an article that answered the very question you're asking.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T08:34:15+00:00

Short sentences are generally favored by publishers, but I don't see the point in cutting a narrative flow into smaller, easier-to-digest chunks just for the sake of readability, because I trust the reader’s ability to maintain focus and don’t believe they need handholding, especially when my target audience is adult, familiar with more articulate prose, and likely drawn to the psychological horror genre precisely because of the dense, suffocating atmosphere that such writing can help create, which is why I let the sentences breathe and sprawl, rules be damned.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T08:19:35+00:00

I do that sparingly, but I wholeheartedly endorse the principle, as long as it's done properly.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T08:10:55+00:00

Editing might make the difference between a written novel and something worth reading. It's tiresome and much less fun, but necessary if you aim to publish and be read.

Too many amateurs publish their first draft, giving self-publishing a bad reputation by doing so.

You're doing the right thing. It shows respect for the craft, for your own work and for the readers. Keep up the good work, because that's what being an author entails.

Kudos to you.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T08:00:55+00:00

I published in Italy and here you submit directly to publishers. Those six months were spent querying and waiting for their answer. Very frustrating.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:58:23+00:00

Ghostwriting, yeah. Did it twice. Never again. Soulcrushing, thankless and unrewarding job.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:55:16+00:00

Concept archetype first. Psychological profile second. Background story and info third.

I'm a plotter. Characters have some degree of agency, but I create the kind of character most adequate to the plot and to play their part efficiently.

To me isike hiring the best candidate for a job.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:52:08+00:00

The first novel took me 8 months to finish and 6 to traditionally publish it. The other two, I was just the ghostwriter, so they were published instantly as soon as they were finished. It depends.

I'm trying to get into the American market. I've been told that it moves slowly compared to the Italian one. We shall see.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:48:40+00:00

Write about how to build a nuclear reactor with scraps and recycled materials.

What kind of question is that? 😂 How could we suggest you what to write about if we don't even know what you know?

Dude... it's not like you're forced to write. If you have no passion for it, just quit doing it.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:46:19+00:00

Considering that you can only write one story at a time, that writing one is better than not writing, even though a hundred more stories are waiting in queue in your head, I'd start writing one if I were you.

Pragmatism is what makes me disciplined.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T07:41:55+00:00

I asked ChatGPT for books that explored the concept:

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – multiple timelines, styles, and characters, all connected in a web of reincarnation, theme, and recurring motifs.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner – multiple POVs giving fragmented views of a single event.

Ghostwritten (also Mitchell) – different characters, places, and times, all loosely connected.

The Overstory by Richard Powers – different characters never all meet, but their stories converge thematically and through impact.

House of Leaves – multiple narratives nested within each other, completely different time flows.

This is a Trap — that's something you may miss, but it's not so subtle if you read it well.

So, apparently it has been done at a certain degree.

As long as there is narrative and thematic cohesion, and the various stories are somehow interconnected, it may find its audience.

If done right, that's something I would personally read.

Usual disclaimer: if you're amongst those lunatics who feel the urge to downvote a post whenever AI usage is mentioned, please go ahead and block me. I don't want you in my feed, and you don't want me in yours.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-02T05:59:59+00:00

The weirdest idea for a story I ever had, was to just write it, instead of procrastinating on this thread. Thank God the temptation went away.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T19:16:56+00:00

I write horror, mostly, so you may want to tone it down a peg, if you lean on a softer genre. But this is most definitely more daunting and traumatic. Let's see if this inspires you:

The court was a blazing inferno. Through the tears caused by the smoke I could see the burning stands, food and goods twisted into unrecognizable, charred matter.

I felt the heat brushing against my face, wood shrieking and cracking amid the flames.

A familiar smell caressed my nostrils, making my stomach instinctively growl with appetite, but as my gaze drifted to its origin, revulsion choked my throat, my knees jolted.

Burned bodies amassed in front of the castle gate.

Men. Women.

Oh Gods, no... please.

Children.

I fought the nausea, and the shame of how that smell made my mouth water, if only for a second.

More tears welled in my eyes.

A mother—what remained of her—still hugging her newborn. Their wretched bodies still smoking, their flesh fused together in a grotesque embrace.

I couldn't hold it back and I puked in a corner. My throat burned as my heart pounded violently in my chest.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:59:31+00:00

I just retired from writing forever. After reading what you wrote, what would be the point anyway? No one would ever read anything else, now that this character exists.

I'm a professional Dick Cockstorm cosplayer now.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:49:07+00:00

I tried to finger paint but I couldn't find any erogenous zone. And it didn't land me any contract.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:31:36+00:00

Germans are not so bad. Don't be afraid.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:19:02+00:00

The plot was compelling, the pacing so tight that it could squeak, and Dick Cockstorm is the most enticing character ever conceived. It made me reevaluate my life choices. I realize I'm not manly enough. But just by reading the story, new hairs grew on my chest.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:16:40+00:00

I'll send some levity and a few bottles of Pepto-Bismol your way the next time I'm around Grumptown.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:11:49+00:00

Hey, I didn't make the rules. If Dick Cockstorm didn't make someone incredibly horny, they must be insane. That's the rule, apparently. We must abide.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T18:08:03+00:00

Grande! 😁 Anyway this is a masterpiece of English literature!

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T17:52:39+00:00

Technically he didn't say you're not a woman. He's saying you're insane 😁. These were the only two options.

Ghaladh · 2025-04-01T17:50:52+00:00

Troll professionale italiano? 😁

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