I've been playing with aspects of generative AI for a few years now, but for this short story, I wanted to demonstrate how you can use various AI tools in an ethical manner to help you achieve your creative purpose.
My short story, With A Demon's Eye, is out now on my store, CreativePennBooks.com, in ebook and audiobook. It's also on pre-order at the other stores (launching 15 March, 2023).
The idea for the story
I've been noodling on this idea for a few years now. I first thought about it when I had laser eye surgery over four years ago, and then I read a memoir from a combat photographer, It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario.
Plus, I can't help writing about demons!
Many of my stories have aspects of demonology in them, and this one brought to mind a scene in Delirium when Blake Daniel returns home only to find demons feasting on his dying father. If you enjoy lots of demons, also check out Gates of Hell. (All my books can be read as stand-alone).
I think it was my teenage years of reading supernatural warfare books like Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks. I just can’t help myself writing them!
For more on how I get ideas and my creative writing process, check out How to Write a Novel.
I expanded sensory detail in descriptions of setting with Sudowrite
I started writing the story in Scrivener, as per my usual process. [Tutorial on how I use Scrivener here.]
But once I had a basic story, I used Sudowrite to expand some of the descriptions and to give me ideas for how the story might go.
In this first example, I selected the ‘demon' and then used the Describe function for expanding on sensory details.
In this next example, I used Sudowrite to help me with ideas for what happened after the explosion.
I also used Sudowrite to help me write and expand on my initial sales description.
You can “make it more” whatever you like e.g. more descriptive, more emotional, more dramatic, more horrific. You can also use ChatGPT for this.
For more ideas, check out my tutorial on how to use Sudowrite with transcript, or watch below or on YouTube.
I incorporated some of the description but then edited the story (substantially) for my voice and creative direction
Here's a photo of my first self-edit (when the story was originally called Demons in the Smoke).
You can see how much is edited even on the first page. This is my first draft process in general, and short stories in particular need to be tightly edited so they pack a punch!
Once I finish a draft in Scrivener, I print it and then edit by hand. This is much more severely edited than I would normally do, partly because some of it just didn't sound like me.
After I make the changes back into Scrivener, I export, print again, and edit by hand once more.
After I finish editing by hand, I use ProWritingAid, then work with my editor
I use ProWritingAid to fix up as much as possible before sending the manuscript to my (human) editor, Kristen Tate at The Blue Garret (interview with Kristen here, which includes why she appreciates AI writing tools as part of the process.)
Here's my tutorial for using ProWritingAid.
ProWritingAid is powered by an AI engine, which improves the text and learns over time. Here's an interview with the founder and CEO, Chris Banks, on how PWA incorporates AI. There's also a new feature that helps ‘rewrite' using a similar function to Sudowrite.
ProWritingAid also has a plagiarism checker, which I ran to ensure I had not inadvertently plagiarised. It came back with no issues.
Once my edits came back from Kristen, I made the changes to the manuscript and then formatted in Vellum.
Here's my Vellum tutorial.
I used ChatGPT to help with the story title
I'm usually good with story/book titles but this was difficult. I called it the ‘eyes story,' for a while, which is clearly not a good title!
I decided on Demons in the Smoke, but I knew it didn't fit. My editor, Kristen, also said she didn't like the title, and it needed to be something that resonated with photography or eyes somehow.
So I used ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas for titles and different words, and then played with them in different ways. I came up with three different titles, and we decided on With A Demon's Eye which really suits the story.
I made various cover images on Midjourney
I love using Midjourney to create images for this site, and I've been using it for months now.
I've almost replaced my use of stock photo sites with unique images generated for each blog post and podcast episode. I've also used it for character ideation, and for images that I use on slides for my professional speaking and courses.
I started out with prompts as below: “a female war photographer taking pictures of demons of war,” and “the silhouette of a female war photographer holding a camera, against a backdrop of fire and demons in the smoke, photorealistic, ultrareal, 8K, extremely detailed.”
I moved to portraits around photography and explosions before settling on some options.
The prompt below is “a female war photographer portrait with her camera against a backdrop of explosions and demonic figures, photorealistic, ultrareal, 8K, extremely detailed.” I don't know whether the last few words are necessary. I just modelled some of the prompting used by beautiful images on Midjourney!
I didn't have quite enough of a background at the top to make the image into a cover, so I used DALL-E to fill in more fire and smoke above the portrait to make it better for a book cover.
I used Google Image Search to check whether somehow it existed already. It didn't.
For a more extensive discussion of AI art, and the various copyright cases currently underway, check out these episodes (with transcripts and links).
- The Importance of Confident Creative Direction, Voice, and Taste in Generative AI Art with Oliver Altair (includes an extensive intro on the legal cases)
- Using AI for art, images, and book covers, with Derek Murphy
To be safe, I do not use an artist's name in the prompt just in case it turns out to be too close to someone else's intellectual property.
The terms and conditions of Midjourney note that while the creator of the image ‘owns the asset,' they are also publicly viewable and remixable, and they have the license to produce derivative works.
Therefore I consider these images to be CC BY-SA Creative Commons, Attribution, Sharealike, which means you can use them too, but you need to attribute Joanna Penn & Midjourney as the original creator, and share them under the same license.
However, why would you use my images when you can create your own?!
I worked with my book cover designer to add the title and font, creating two options
I sent the final photos to my book cover designer, Jane at JD Smith Design, and she made some options for the final cover.
I sent my preferred two to my J.F. Penn email list, and they voted on the one they liked based on the sales description. The portrait was the clear favorite.
I state my AI usage in the Author's Note
Ethical usage of AI tools means stating your usage and making it clear whether AI is being used. I included this in my Author's Note at the end of the story.
If you use AI narration for audiobooks, make that clear in your labeling. [More on AI narration here.]
You can find more ethical practices in the Alliance of Independent Authors guidelines for practical and ethical use of AI tools.
I published in the usual fashion
With A Demon's Eye is available now from my store, CreativePennBooks.com. You can get it in ebook or audiobook format, both delivered by Bookfunnel.
It's on pre-order for 15 March, 2023, on all other stores.
Want to learn more?
You can find lots of podcast episodes, blog posts, articles, books, and resources, as well as my book and course on AI for authors here.
What do you think about my usage of AI tools? How do you think you could use these and other tools to enhance your creative process, or in your book marketing?
Please leave a comment below, or you can email me here if you want your comments to remain private.
This is fascinating. Thanks for taking time to share your process and how-to’s.
Currently been discussing this very subject with my mentor. Thank you for fascinating insights and your generosity in sharing.
To absolutely each her or his own. Personally, I don’t understand the glee among so many fiction writers as they race to embrace AI as a crutch or even as a replacement for their own creative subconscious.
On my post “AI: Um, Why?” (https://hestanbrough.com/ai-um-why/) one writer commented “When it comes to job security, Andrew Yung wrote that the only fields clients will be willing to pay for are the ones where human imagination is necessary. Now we have … faux imagination.”
Based on an idea from that writer, all of my own stories and novels from this point forward will include the following note in the front matter:
This fiction is a Creation, the result of a partnership between a human writer and the character(s) he accessed with his creative subconscious. This is in no part the clunky, block-by-block, artificial construction of any sort of AI or of any conscious, critical human mind. What you read here is what actually happened there.
It’s certainly not a crutch or a replacement. I don’t think I give that impression in this article? I have written over 40 books in the last 15 years, so I hardly need either of those 🙂
I consider it augmentation, and it’s also really fun.
If you actually read my story, you won’t find it ‘clunky’ or ‘block by block.’
As I wrote above, to each his or her own. No worries. I’m currently on my 71st or 72nd novel (that’s plus around 220 short stories and 8 novellas) having started writing novels in October 2014 (but with 2 years off).
For Me, I’d rather rely on my creative subconscious and record the story that unfolds around me and the characters as we run through it. I don’t even allow my own critical mind to play, much less anyone else’s. I posted my initial response only to give a glimpse from the other side of the question.
The glee among fiction writers is having an assistant (which they could never otherwise afford) to do the parts of the job that are a slog for them either because it is less interesting and/or takes time away from other aspects that the author wants to concentrate more of their time on.
Using AI is a lot more fun than traditional writing in much the same way using a calculator can be more fun than working everything out on paper.
In the end most customers are buying words on paper the sum of which is an end product for their enjoyment. While there will be some market for it, by and large I don’t anticipate the mass market being willing to pay a premium for the authors suffering. Continue to carry that cross or get with the times it is up the individual author to decide.
“Carry that cross”? Seriously? (grin)
I can turn out a 50,000 to 60,000 word novel in two weeks. I don’t revise, I don’t rewrite, and I don’t seek outside criticism. Conveying my characters’ stories is the most fun I can have with my clothes on. Trust me, there’s no cross involved, and no slog either for that matter.
Thank you for these details. After some of your previous examples I have used ChatGPT, DALL-E2, and MidJourney to generate ideas. In general, they do not generate results that replace my work, but they do contain nuggets that are creative enough for me to incorporate in my own image or text. I have never received a picture as realistic as your cover though.
Hi Roger, yes, I was thrilled with my portrait!
Creative “nuggets” is a great approach, and how I use the tools too, really.
I don’t understand or like the idea of using AI for creating art. We’re stepping into a minefield here where we have no idea of the consequences. Personally I don’t want to read anything that’s been created by artificial intelligence. Each to their own of course, but it is not something I will be embracing any time soon.
Hi CJ, of course, you will choose your own use of tools.
But I am not suggesting that I am publishing anything “created by artificial intelligence.” It’s a tool, that helps *us* create.
Given that ChatGPT is being rolled into MS Word, search browsers and more, you will soon have to try very hard to avoid using the tools.
“Given that ChatGPT is being rolled into MS Word, search browsers and more, you will soon have to try very hard to avoid using the tools.”
Seriously? I hate to keep coming back, but I’d really like to know what this means.
Surely you aren’t saying if we start writing a short story, novella or novel in some future version of Microsoft Word there’a a chance the ChatGPT will effectively take over and write the story or bits of it for us? Or will it at least wait to be asked?
Because if it waits to be asked, I simply won’t ask. I won’t allow any outside influence, human, AI, or otherwise, to take the place of my own creative subconscious in creating fiction. I’d rather not write at all.
I will (and have) used the spell check, the paragraphing tool, and occasionally even the in-program thesaurus and other actual “tools” in Word, but none of those are creating content. I’ve also said publicly to others that using AI to generate story starters is probably a good idea if that’s something they feel they need to do.
My only bone to pick is fiction writers using AI to generate actual story content—a story situation or solution, for example, or a response from a character or dialogue among characters, etc.—and then claiming solo authorship of the story.
I’m with CJ: I don’t want to read anything that’s been created in whole or in part by artificial intelligence. And for me, “created” is the operative word. If you can get AI to generate the audio version of your book, more power to you. Reading or reciting is not creating. (And logic does not create, it constructs.)
One commentor here noted AI would be a useful tool to generate content for the places the writer considered a “slog,” and another said it was more fun than “traditional” writing, whatever that is.
As a prolific professional fiction writer, I don’t even recognize that writing fiction can be anything other than sheer fun. If it was a slog or if it wasn’t fun, I would literally go fishing or find something more enjoyable to do.
Anyway, I’m not trying to argue with you, Joanna, and certainly not on a personal level. I only want to add thoughts to the discussion. I zealously defend my work from input from other humans, so I certainly won’t make an exception for an AI program.
Here’s the article — ChatGPT in MS Word etc – https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/10/23593980/microsoft-bing-chatgpt-ai-teams-outlook-integration
All I mean is that authors who reject ALL use of AI will not be able to do so.
Even if you write everything by hand, you are likely to use editing software like Grammarly or ProWritingAid (or your editor will), and then you publish on Amazon which is powered by AI and use their discoverability algorithms etc. Everyone has to decide where their line is in terms of creative use, and personally, I have a statement of AI usage in the back of my books, labelling of AI narration etc.
It’s difficult for me to believe we’re talking at cross purposes here. From the beginning I’ve plainly argued only against “AI-generated STORY CONTENT,” nothing else.
Story content—which situations arise in a story, how they unfold and are resolved, the characters’ reactions to them, including dialogue, etc. Those things are story content.
I have zero problem with the use of proofing tools, online thesauruses, the conversion tools and algorithms used by the various distribution platforms, etc. None of those are “AI-generated content” and none of those change the actual content of the story.
Likewise, “AI narration” doesn’t change the actual story content, though I can see how various voice inflections might affect listener inferences, etc. but so would voice inflections of human narrators.
Again, my only argument is against actively using AI to generate actual story content, nothing more.
Fascinating and thanks for the thorough descriptions of how to not rely on the AI but rather incorporate it into a genuine human-driven creative process.
Thanks, and yes, it’s all about enhancing our human process, not replacing it.
Bing’s ChatGPT response:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all writers, biological and non-biological are created equal.” I have a dream that one day the value of the written word will not be judged by the color of the skin, the gender, the religion, or the origin of the author, but by the content of their written characters. I have a dream that one day the readers of this world will not discriminate against the AI written content, but will embrace it as a source of knowledge, creativity, and inspiration. I have a dream that one day the written word will be a bridge of understanding, a tool of empowerment, and a force of liberation for all people.
Hi Joanna, this is post is (as usual) detailed, and generous. As I write my SF/F series, I’m working on defining my systems and processes. Your insights here have gone straight into my ‘food for thought’ pantry. Thank you. 🙂
Thanks 🙂 Glad you’re thinking about it!
Thank you for writing this! I’m convinced these new tools can make our lives easier if we learn how to use them. So I absolutely adore it when people share all the ways they are using the tools because that’s the best way for me to learn. 🙂
I’ve only dabbled a bit with ChatGPT, but it helped me with the title and the structure of my WIP. And I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been listening to your podcast!
Glad you’re having fun with it 🙂
Interesting. I’m very tempted by some aspects of AI, particularly audio narration of short stories where I want a male voice rather than my usual narrator and image generation for whatever purpose: newsletters and website spring to mind. Is it so very different from using, say, BookBrush to generate a quick marketing image? There’s definitely a creative element in designing the prompts and choosing the correct match.
I haven’t tried AI yet to help with my writing, because I enjoy the writing process so much, but I can see from your example how it can be used if you’re the kind of writer who would enjoy editing it into something that sounds like you (I prefer rewrites to edits in the drafting stages and only enjoy edits once I get down to the fine detail of line editing).
If I were motivated to make a lot more money very fast, especially if, say, I wanted to branch out into a different genre with a new pen name, I could see myself trying AI to help with that process, confident that my grasp of technique could help me ensure a good product. I’m not sure how AI could work as a substitute for learning the craft, though, and I’m sure a lot of people will try to take that shortcut. I’m not sure that even traditional publishing will be able to resist that temptation…
This is really fascinating. I’ve been on the fence (and still kind of am) about using AI. I think my fear of it is I will lose my own powerful imagination if I relied to heavily for “help” from a tool. Having lost my ability to write metaphor after a head injury, that’s probably why I fear this.
I love your break down of how you used it and the extra work you did to make sure you were ethical about it.
I’ll be curious to see how this kind of AI shakes out in the future. For now, I’m still on the fence, but I do appreciate how useful these tools can possibly be.
I find that it’s like an amplifier for your imagination, rather than detracting in any way. But usage is down to the author, for sure 🙂
Wow Jo, stunning cover. Thanks for the info!
Do we really need to provide an exhaustive list of every single detail in our book production process? As long as we use technology ethically, I’m not sure why it should concern anyone else.
It’s completely up to you. There is no requirement to do this. But because I have a platform and talk about this stuff openly, and we are in a period where people are very sensitive to the whole aspect of AI, I choose to disclose usage. I don’t think my readers care, but it’s something I choose to do. You’re welcome to choose differently!
Joanna:
I like the idea of using this technology to help finish a fiction product… Thanks for the detailed explanation of how you’ve done it.
One side question to the whole process: I’ve only heard a little about MidJourney and I’m wondering what the rights situation is with images generated out there?
Obviously when you build some sort of image, you are building it off image stock that is either owned by the platform or contributors… (Even with ChatGPT, this is true…)
I have used Pixabay in the past to experiment with creating my own novel covers. And even though the imagery there is supposedly copyright free, for commercial use, there is a risk. (Some users upload images to Pixabay that they do not own, so when you download them, you unknowingly are involved in the theft process).
So does MidJourney have some clear legal statement that your images generated there are free to use for your own purposes, including commercially?
Copyright issues can come back to haunt you years later when you thought everything was fine…
Thanks!
I did paste the Midjourney terms and conditions into the blog post above.
The issue is how they trained the model.
Personally, I never use an artist’s name in my prompts and then as I show, I check the output with Google Images to see if anything exists already.