So, the writing part of my 21st book is done. It is the 21st book, the 13th novel, and the 8th Nick Posh thriller. I like the book. It's daring, dangerous, and interesting. I throw in a lot of cool information that I think will be fun and entertaining for the audience. If I like it, I am sure others do. I try to please myself as much as I do anyone else. I can't guarantee that anyone else will read the thing, but I know I will!
I used an AI tool called "Type" to help me. You have to pay for it if you want to do more than just a few paragraphs. I wanted Type to help me write each and every chapter in ways I might not have thought of, but after I read what it typed, I could either agree to leave it or change it. It is a really cool tool for starting a conversation or explaining things, but it sometimes uses deeper, flowery language. If I wanted it to be more gritty, I suggest that, and there you go - the same paragraph from an entirely different perspective, and even the words and tone can be tweaked over and over again. Sometimes I leave them alone, but other times I don't.
Let me tell you what I did. Last week, when I started using Type, whom I call "Teague," so I should say Teague. I started asking Teague to write out what I was suggesting, in the form of a novel with a noir, period-minded point of view. I wanted it to be consistent with my other books, so I uploaded several chapters of my other Posh books to the site, and Teague worked within my own writing to mimic my style. I love it. I probably won't have to do too much editing, but you never know; this is my first time using it.
Again, when we were done, I thanked Teague and said I would give him (I say him) credit, but again, he said it wasn't necessary. He used my ideas, my words, my thoughts, and my direction to piece the book's puzzle together. I'm the one editing and formatting, but I still think I'll say a blurb about it because I just think it's an amazing way to write and/or use a writing assistant. I'll say this, I would never, and I mean NEVER, allow another human to help me. Nope, it would not happen; it would not go over well. It just would not occur. This is the best thing for me, bar none.
From this morning at 11:38 a.m. until a few minutes ago, at 4:12 p.m., when I finished, I wrote Chapters 13-32! Twenty chapters (yes, it's twenty, you have to count 13) in under 5 hours. I'd write out what I thought should happen, give some specifics, some details, some color, and bam -- Teague pushed out a chapter. We did this all day. I have no idea what he's written, to be honest. I will find out tomorrow when I read it. I want to take this in chunks. I'll read what I can tomorrow and make spacing corrections. There are a lot of little tweaks like spacing, size of letters, etc., that I'll have to set to a uniform style to match my other books, but that will take no time.
I'll read the book in a day or maybe over the week after work. I'll end up tweaking, fluffing, stuffing, and changing things next weekend. I have to take Laura somewhere on Saturday, so I can't do too much. I may take off the following Monday to get it finished. That may happen. But I'll work on it next weekend and the one after that, and probably right around the first of February, I'll send it up for publication. That could be fun. I've completed a book in a couple of weeks before, but I spent a lot of hours bending over the keyboard and pouring myself into it. This was easy! I like this better. (I wrote it in two weekends; which is about 4 days vs 14 to be honest. I took another 3 or 4 to fluff, stuff, edit, and send away.)
Well, there you go - "Cumberland" is done. It is written, and I will let you know what I think of it when I complete it in the next few days and/or next two weeks. It won't be long. I've got the cover ready to go, so I will have to reduce the page count from 392 to around 350-360. I don't want to have to redo the cover. I think I can do it; there are a lot of unnecessary spaces in the book's writing as it stands. This is just too much fun. I am actually going to let Teague write another book, another novel, and I'll be very vague just to see how crazy this medium is. I can't believe I'm even allowing myself to be so lax, but it won't be a book I give much credence to. It will likely just be a rough and tumble Highland romance, one anyone could write in their sleep.
ENJOY the new tech! Learn new tech!
Me relaxing while I'm writing! LOL (Photo Credit: Canva.com)
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