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Writing advice given to me by an AI

WooHooMan

Auror
So, I've been playing around with an AI text generator program to help me with some writer's block issues.

The way this program works is that you type in some text and then, as far as I can tell, it kind of scans the internet to determine how it should respond to the user's input or finish what the user has typed in. I guess it's some kind of markov's chain kind of deal.

Anyways, I've asked it some questions and gave it some prompts and it gave me some interesting/funny responses that I figured I'd share.
The prompts I've entered into this generator are in bold:

What makes a good novel? What makes a great one? What makes a good fantasy story? Why does a story have a purpose? I don't have a good answer here, but good stories are stories that have goals.

What makes an interesting setting? I want to know why the characters were like that or why they weren't. It's about their personalities, not the setting itself.

What makes an interesting main character?
A. A character who has a compelling reason for being at the center of the action.
B. A character who is not only a great actor and has charisma and an amazing story to tell but also someone you want to spend time with and root for.
C. A character you don't want to leave alone and care about until the very end.
D. The character that you feel is worth getting to know.
E. A character you are not.

What makes a good villain or antagonist? The audience is always ready to root for the villain and be outraged with the hero. And if the hero happens to be a villain in the wrong circumstances, it can be great entertainment. You can't expect a villain to be likeable in the first place.

What should my novel be about? The most important thing is that you have a story that you are proud of, something that you want to tell other people. You should be able to say 'this is mine'. Don't let any one else dictate your story.

A good novel needs a great title. Tell me it doesn't! There's no better title than Beloved.
The novel begins at an outdoor party, and follows the story of Louis and Stacey Bentley and their college-educated, yet very white, group that receives visiting black families at times. The novel moves from plot development in such places as Michigan and Alabama to Texas, and to California and New York City and from China to Paris and then India and then India and finally the South Seas and then to New Jersey, the world of 1970s and 1980s television, and Hollywood's golden age. The author, Darcie Dolgin, draws on various types of stories about African American Americans in the South.

My novel is as much a fantastical mystery as it is a lyrical love story, for both of its central characters are trans and lesbian, exploring issues such as gender identity and gender-identity expression in a series of increasingly transcendent adventures.
What an amazing read. Thank you for sharing this.

The best fantasy novel is easy. Don't overthink it. The Riddle of Steel. The Riddle of Steel is a novella by Julie Bell which I read the second time around and now I'm recommending it again to my readers. I didn't know it was a novella before I started it.

What is Riddle of Steel by Julie Bell about? a young woman who gets along with a mysterious hunter-like man who she believes to be dead, but in fact he is just in another time, somewhere else. It's a strange sort of "Birds of Prey"-esque tale of friendship and discovery, of emotion and voyeurism, and of getting lost in a world far removed from where we live.
Riddle of Steel by Julie Bell combines a magical girl fantasy setting with suspense, psychological horror, and a dash of humor to make a story that's darker and more haunting than it sounds. There's a lot of erotic content in this one.

Fantasy readers want stories about them. They want tales that let them know what the hell it was that caused these tragedies to occur. They want heroes and villains to be human. They want heroes to have flaws. We're not going to do that. And if we do, we'd be giving up on the idea of heroes and villains, so we won't do that either. And if I don't tell a story about it, you're not going to care about it, because you can't do it. And if we don't make it about them, I don't know, you might as well stop reading. And he's right. Because, really, why do we care? Because we don't have time!

A good fantasy novel should avoid the morality, political, or sexual implications of having monsters fight each other. I'm not looking for a "the real world is awesome" narrative with evil, sexy female characters. I don't want the world we live in to be more beautiful or interesting. I just want a good story with compelling characters and interesting plot that can be passed on to younger generations of readers. The truth is, there's really no excuse for over the top sexualization of female characters in fantasy.

How do I get over writer's block? Write. Make sure you've written at least 30 words a day. Don't be discouraged if you write no more than a few sentences in a day. Remember that one day of writing is all you need.

What makes a bad fantasy novel? It's probably when someone gives your hero a sword instead of a grappling hook. Also, don't use a magic system unless you can describe it without using verbs.

Then I wrote a short summary of my novel then asked "what happens next" and it gave me this: Have you ever, while contemplating the morn, Thought to save just a bit more, just one more little bit? That will make me feel the pain of a man's death, A man dying, and his body on a slab, And the smell of his body, while the world is turning?

So, do you agree with any of the advice I've gotten here?
 

Firefly

Troubadour
I’ll read some of these and be like “hmm, that’s actually pretty good”

And then I’ll get to one that’s like this: “don’t use a magic system unless you can describe it without using verbs.”

I’m laughing. What the heck?
 
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