A young caterpillar hadn’t heard
The Wisdom of Wiser Worms’ word…
He stuck out his head…
The news headline read:
“Early Worm Gets Eaten by Bird.”
Amidst loud chirping and squirms
And jostling and pushing in the ferns,
Mama bird does her best
to feed all her nest:
Squeaky Beaks get to eat Early Worms.
I wish I were Les who always had a lovely way of putting something into rhyme.
“There once was a wheel that squeaked
It had everyone’s attention piqued
The sound was so bad
They needed to add
More oil to it week after week.
The trouble with such wheels that sing
Is the maintenance costs they bring
Such wheels when they squeak
Much havoc they wreak
To the one who must pay everything.
So squeaky wheels, take this to heart;
Shut up, do your job, play your part;
If everyone squeaks,
the entire cart creaks:
Too many squeaky wheels just break the cart.
And in case anyone needed an explanation: None will be given! 😂
Something makes us pick up a pen (or a laptop) and start writing. Some of us make an entire career out of it. Some of us write out of compulsion; some write for specific purposes; including the hope of making money from it. Some write to document things for posterity.
Some are daunted or disheartened by the advance of AI, that takes over a lot of writing functions (such as copywriting, editing etc) that used to be solid income sources for freelance writers; the concept is: Who needs writers if a program can do the same job?
If semantics or simple formulaic fiction are your game, you are indeed in trouble from AI advancements. But if that is the case, you were in trouble to begin with – from an overwhelming amount of competition, because those are the “low hanging fruit” of the writing milieu. However, if you are truly writing to convey something of value, a new concept, a new finding, or a brand new or astonishing bit of fiction, you are without competition to begin with. If you know how to write, you should definitely find your audience.
Calling all authors in this space. Do you know why you write? Feel free to share in the comments!
(Image credit to NoName_13 on Pixabay)
Happy New Year all my peeps! May it be happy, successful and prosperous!
About Hope, Grit, Purpose and Future Vision
I’ve been getting it from various sources recently, and whenever this kind of thing happens, I get the impression the Universe is trying to send me a message:
Without hope and a vision for the future, a person perishes.
The ground-breaking psychologist Victor Frankl, during his internment in the concentration camps during WW2, was carried through by a purpose (finishing his book, even after they found and destroyed his manuscript). All around him he saw people who survived, who had hope and a future vision, and those who died, having lost their hope and belief in the future.
During hard times, Grit can carry you forward. Angrily and doggedly battling on through. But you have to have a purpose.
In my own experience my children were my purpose and their futures rather than my own became my vision. They still are my main purpose, but their future is now visible enough for me that I can relax and look a bit further and remember our (my and Iain’s) Vision and our Purpose, both for the music and the books.
Music is the vision (rather, the sounds) of a better world. The books (my own writing) are creating something fun and exciting for those who have time to read; and P’kaboo is a platform that has aways been envisioned as a launchpad for authors; the plans were from the outset to expand on this and make it about more than books, also providing a platform for artists as well as musicians publishing. I have been thinking into audiobooks, video shorts and, if we’re lucky, games; but setting this up will take time, know-how (that I have as yet to acquire) and probably finding the right people to involve. And, capital, which I’m working on in the interim.
Let’s say, Hope is a light guiding us into our future. I hope that I’ll have the privilege to be able to light the lights of Hope for people this year; and I have a few ideas….
Let’s see what this year brings!
Happy New Year 2024!
… gipsika …
Going through my inbox this lazy and surprisingly sunshiny Sunday morning, an ad for an AI rephrasing program caught my eye.
(Wait! That sounds like the ad was going through my inbox before it caught my eye! Well, what would you expect from an AI program? Can’t be too careful!)
Let’s get real: Can we really tell how much of the internet is still written by humans? I’ve suspected those funnel ads with the endlessly wallowing stories of being mass-produced for ages. (Compare to 2008, 2009 when I was hacking around looking for “how-to’s” for writing synopses, a compelling blurb, a submissions letter… it’s just as annoying/relieving as when after years of hashing together tiny gifs into click buttons, I discovered that someone had made rounded corners into a simple line of CSS-code…)
Now my question as a writer and storyteller (used to thrashing out my ideas into words and only considering afterwards) : Is there still a space for actual, human writers?
Having raised this slightly blue question, let me share for a good laugh what I discovered this morning.
I wasn’t prepared to pay money just to test a concept out, so I looked for the free online one, and here it is:
https://ahrefs.com/writing-tools/paraphrasing-tool
I put it to the test, using a small thrashed out paragraph of a story snapshot. Some of the blah-est writing I’ve ever done. I’ll share the 4 best results I got from the AI… have fun!
My text:
So I saw the unicorns coming over the hill. I ran because I wasn’t sure what was following them. There was fire in the air, the smell of sulphur. That wasn’t coming from the unicorns, they were also fleeing from it. What came next over the hill made my hair stand on end.
AI:
As I gazed over the hill, my eyes widened in disbelief. A herd of unicorns galloped towards me, their majestic horns glistening in the sunlight. But my heart sank as I caught a whiff of something sinister in the air. Suddenly, flames erupted from the horizon, and the unicorns bolted in terror. My heart raced as I braced myself for what was to come. And then, I saw it. A creature so terrifying, it made my hair stand on end. I knew I had to run for my life.
2. Diplomatic:
As I observed the majestic unicorns approaching from the hill, I felt a sense of unease and decided to move away from the area. I noticed a peculiar scent of sulphur and saw flames in the air, which seemed to be the cause of the unicorns’ distress. As I looked towards the hill, I witnessed a sight that left me feeling unsettled.
3. Luxury:
Behold, as I gazed upon the horizon, a magnificent sight befell my eyes. The majestic unicorns, with their glistening manes and shimmering horns, galloped towards me with grace and elegance. However, my heart was filled with trepidation as I sensed an ominous presence lurking behind them. The air was thick with the scent of sulphur and the sky was ablaze with an inferno. The unicorns too were fleeing from this malevolent force. And then, as I looked up, a sight so terrifying and awe-inspiring appeared before me that it sent shivers down my spine.
4. Persuasive:
Imagine witnessing a sight so surreal that it sends shivers down your spine. That’s exactly what I experienced when I saw unicorns galloping over the hill, fleeing from an ominous force. The air was thick with the smell of sulphur and fire, and I knew I had to run. But what if you could witness this too? Don’t miss out on the chance to experience the magic and mystery of unicorns. Join us on an adventure and witness the beauty of these mythical creatures for yourself. Don’t let fear hold you back from experiencing something truly extraordinary.
… I refined this last one to see how it would read as a key-phrase, and it came out with this:
AI: Persuasive, c.a. 15 words:
Witness the awe-inspiring sight of unicorns fleeing from a mysterious force.
Join me and run!
😂 I have to admit, I’ve bookmarked this little free AI. She’s my buddy now. Together, we shall conquer the Internet!
Have fun playing with her! I think she deserves a name. Help me think of one, peeps…
And have a happy Sunday!
(On moving to publish this post, I spotted AI feedback that WordPress kindly makes available to us. What a nice surprise! 😀 Out of curiosity, I ran it; and this was the result: )
The content explores the author’s curiosity about the influence of AI on written content and the role of human writers. It then shares the author’s experience using a free online AI rephrasing tool and presents four examples of the rephrased text. The author concludes by expressing amusement and bookmarking the AI tool.
Feedback:
– The content effectively conveys the author’s thoughts and experiences.
– The humorous tone adds a lighthearted touch to the post.
– The examples of AI-generated rephrased text help illustrate the capabilities of the tool.
– The concluding remark about naming the AI tool and wishing readers a happy Sunday adds a friendly touch.
Actions:
– Consider adding more reflections or analysis about the impact of AI on writing and storytelling, or the future of human writers in an AI-dominated world. (gipsika’s comment: Classic! 😂 Do I detect grandiosity in the AI?)
– Use subheadings or formatting to break up the content into smaller sections, making it more scannable for readers. (✅ good idea!)
– Proofread the content to correct any typographical errors or improve readability if necessary. (or, take the shortcut and pull it through an AI 😅)
So there are a lot of things about Elon Musk that I find very inspiring.
His entrepreneurial spirit. His space program! (YAY!) His electric cars. Tesla? Yes, please! (That is, as long as I own a huge solar cell that powers my home and can recharge my car so I don’t end up losing my shirt over the electricity bills. Can’t we have a solar car instead? C’mon, Elon?)
But, all that rinky-dink freedom of speech rubbish quite aside, I take issue with the rebranding of Twitter.
Well, I guess he had to rebrand. It’s his, now. When a business changes ownership, that usually comes with rebranding; this is expected (though strangely it didn’t happen with Disney). But, Elon – Twitter’s huge appeal is in all those birdies! Calling a post a Tweet. Conquering the Web one twit at a time. Twitter’s very twitter was iconic! It made the internet – well, a chirpy place.
So Elon, why??? Why, “X? As in, “brand X”, the common supermarket-shelf brand that nobody even remembers the name of? As in, X-Rays (because, dear Sirs, Dr Röntgen was German and it’s tough to pronounce “Röntgen-Strahlen” as we would* the “Bell phone” or the “Edison bulb” – but I digress… ). As in “X – because I couldn’t be bothered coming up with a name”? As in, “x marks the spot”, “click ‘x’ to close this page”, CTRL-X to cut something and ALT-X to quit, “XXXXX” as in – horrors – CENSORSHIP…
(Why in fact not rebrand it “Quacker” and rename all those tweets, “squawks”? 🦆 They’re bigger birds. We’ll take them more seriously.)
*sigh* it is not my place to judge a billionaire’s business decisions. Then again, he may have a lot of money, but “even me”, I too have experience how dang hard it is to come up with an original idea for a brand.
Elon, there are people who make a living finding you a brand. You can afford it! Employ them! Make work of it! Because, to think of all those fluttery little blue birdies just vanishing from the internet – oh man!!
* (It’s actually quite comical to try to teach someone to rrroll their Arrrrs like a German – or someone from the Freestate – “Vrrrrystaat!!” 🏈 )
Disclaimer: This is just the author’s opinion. Hope it’s a fun rant though.
According to the ancient Greeks, a person’s temperament could fall into one of four “buckets”: The outgoing, vivacious and fun-loving Sanguine; the bossy and highly ambitious Choleric, the gentle, slightly pessimistic and very meticulous Melancholic, and the laid-back, easy-going Phlegmatic.
Now, while I don’t like the thought of people falling into buckets, there is definitely something to that. The theory is based on real-life observation.
I’ve been following motivational and personal development programs, as well as working in Corporate for some years now; and what I notice more and more is how things too often get based on the Love of Lists.
There is technically nothing wrong with lists; they help us get through a series of tasks without forgetting, say, the Honey Crunch during shopping. But if one gives it a moment’s thought, a list is ourselves micro-managing ourselves. And if our day becomes all about lists, writing down what we want to do and writing down what we did, and writing down what we still have to accomplish…. somehow, my head is about to explode with lists.
How does each temperament respond to receiving a great idea?
The Sanguine is the optimist, the dreamer; in the Tarot (s)he is the Fool. (My favourite card by the way.) The Sanguine catches the most ideas, somewhat like a lightning conductor, and dreams them into big things. Can she transform them into reality? Well, you can be guaranteed she’ll try and nobody will be able to talk her out of it. Until she gets distracted by the next sparkly idea.
The Choleric is oftentimes a big-picture person. So if and when the Choleric has an idea that is in his esteem good enough to implement, you can bet your bottom it shall be implemented! And nothing will stand in the Choleric’s way (watch out or be flattened).
When inspiration strikes the Melancholic, the result is plans, more plans, and lists. A whole complex system of self-micromanagement, which becomes so big that he takes a step back, looks at it and gives up with a sigh, more often than not. Melancholics are also masters of procrastination, they fall into “analysis paralysis”.
And the Phleg? Well… if the Phlegmatic gets an idea, she’ll regard it with a bit of jadedness – is it worth taking the first step? What is the pay-off? Will it lead to greater comfort? Is the idea simple enough to implement? Having said that, when a Phleg decides it’s worth starting out, she’s usually unstoppable. Like Thomas the Tank Engine she’ll just keep going.
On NaNoWriMo we have had discussions about “plot planner” vs “seat-of-pantser”, concerning the writing styles. It’s essentially the same debate.
“Now, here’s the rub”, as Iain used to say:
We all have a bit of each temperament in us. We do tend to lean more strongly towards one or the other, (people around you will be able to tell you which one you “are); sometimes we “live” in a combination of two temperaments; but we also grow and develop, so it can even happen that we switch from one to the next.
But of all the temperaments, the only one that deals well with lists is the Melancholic. He loves lists. They are his playground. Lists, and structures, and totting up what he has done and what he wants to do. Scheduling every minute of the day.
The rest of us go a bit cuckoos having to live by such tiny micro-steps. Have you ever gone shopping with a shopaholic elderly aunt who can’t walk fast? Have you felt more tired than she did after 3 to 4 hours? It’s because you are having to put on the brakes all the time, working against your own muscles to slow yourself down to “keep down” with her. Shuffling is exhausting!
Living in lists and micro-schedules is a bit like that for the Sanguine and the Choleric, both of whom have high energy levels and want to run with an idea, not progress in micro-steps. The Phlegmatic sees the lists and schedules and baulks at the sheer amount of effort it will take. Only Melancholics thrive on lists.
“Growth”?
According to some, learning to set and adhere to lists and overscheduling is a growth and development process.
No – I don’t feel it is. (Any more than following Spartan-style self-torture learning to increase one’s pain endurance, on both a physical and emotional level). It’s not growth. It’s a sideways move.
I am thinking back to my grandfather, who was at age 84 still bossing his students around the stage producing operas, who still ran a full singing studio with a concert-style masterclass every winter, who at 82 jumped up onto a table to demonstrate a point to his students about something in stage craft – a move a lot of them couldn’t copy.
Did he live by lists? Ha! Did he have a schedule? Sure enough, to nail down when which student would arrive for their class, and so on; but for his personal life? Heck no! Did he accomplish great things over a lifetime? You bet!
Does Richard Branson live by lists and microscheduling? Did he, when he started Virgin Airlines, Virgin Records and all those other ventures he discussed in his original version of the book, “Screw It, Let’s Do It”? (I must get my original copy out of storage, the revised version is a completely different book.)
Remember, if you want to make big changes to your life:
You can’t micro-shuffle your way into a bigger version of your life. Bold innovation requires Boldness.
You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
In honour of Iain, my soul-mate and the co-creator of the Solar Wind series and of P’kaboo Publishers, I have started a special deal coupon on Smashwords for all six so far available Solar Winds.
The Coupon is public, but the code is:
Go get your copies; these books usually priced around 10$ each on Smashwords, are available at 2,50$ from Sunday (Father’s Day), until Iain’s birthday on the 27th of July.
To view the books, click the link below.
What hey, why wait until the 15th of December?
I’ve created a coupon for now, so that those who want to gift an e-book can do their Christmas shopping early.
If you go to our Smashwords site and use Coupon Code BS75F, you’ll get your ebook TODAY for 50% of the actual price. Forget Halloween, forget Black Friday or Christmas Specials – this is a TODAY special.
Valid until: 28th December, by when the special in the previous post kicks in until 6 January.
Here are the books:
… and scroll down to the books.
Yours faithfully.
~~~ gipsika ~~~
Just a quick heads-up for my readers:
Those of our titles on Smashwords are going to have a 50% discount on them for the end of the year, from 15 December to 1. January.
The books can be found at this link:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/pkaboo
And the Coupon Code is SEY50 .
It has been a massively busy year otherwise, so the publishing has taken a backseat, and sadly one or two titles that were with us, are no longer carried; we may still have to lie low a little longer (ooh, Federi would have shot me for that alliteration), but in the meantime, we did publish one title this year: WISP by Elizabeth Mostyn.
The release of the ebook for that is planned for just before Christmas. In the meantime, the paperback is available at this link:
the red ant 