An Ocean of Stars

Obviously a publisher is a business and a business needs to make money, but the idea used to be that you'd have a couple of very successful authors who bring in so much cash that they subsidise the new kid who is building a back catalogue of books that sell okay until they get name recognition and pay for themselves. I was told back then that a couple thousand pounds was very reasonable for a debut novel because you want to get royalties for the sales exceeding your advance and that way the publisher sees you as a profitable investment. The last couple of years I keep hearing about six figure book deals for debut (!) literary fiction (!) novels, what on earth?

I am anti-genAI, especially in creative fandom spaces, but I'm even bigger against witch hunts and harassment. Because that's all what this "exposed authors" document list (and future lists) is going to do. It doesn't matter if there's a big disclaimer about NOT attacking the people listed. The internet will do what the internet does nowadays and backstab anyone they deem unworthy, especially toward ones that they've been given the greenlight to attack. The obsession and paranoia about wanting to make sure that every single fandom creation is not made with AI is, quite frankly, getting out of fucking hand. No, I don't want to read AI works. But I don't have enough time in the day or much less the ability to care about checking. If I suspect something is amiss, I'll just do the fandom of old: Don't Like, Don't Read. Don't Like? Don't Engage. Hit the back button.

No one owes anything to anyone. No photo proof. No video proof. No screenshots or anything else.

There are people out there using grammarly to edit their work because English might not be their first language, or they don’t know enough people to find a beta, or they’re dyslexic, or god knows how many other reasons.

There are people out there who are on the spectrum and their written work reads like ChatGPT because that’s how their brain works. There are people out there who are so goddamn skilled at what they do, others struggle to believe it’s real.

Do you know who else was like that? Michelangelo. Do you know *how many people* have stood in front of the statue of David and thought *how the fuck did any human create that?*

There are soo many telented people out there who are infinitely better than you, be it written word or drawn image, or hell, even a photoshopped picture. Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do.

Stop adding to the witch hunts. Stop trying to cancel people loudly.

If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

It's impossible to detect whether text was created by AI because the patterns AI writing follows come from human writers

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

but there are so many stories i've read over the years that could be summarized into a few sentences of bland-sounding plot, and it's the execution that matters. it's the writing. it's the writing!

a talented writer can turn a bland plot into a story you want to devour. and someone who only cares about ideas can take the most interesting idea ever conceived and make it unreadable/unwatchable.