Jul 3, 20233 min read

Don't Rain on our Parade

Hey, Debbie Downers, stop telling us how bad the writing world is.

Establishing yourself in a profession, whether writing or another specialty, is hard work. It requires ongoing education, lots of practice, time, and plenty of stumbles. When you get up after each one and try harder, something good will happen.

On the other hand, if you constantly bitch about the world being against you, the only thing you get is, well, nothing.

Case in point, a recent post to one of my Facebook writing groups where AI was the topic. Someone mentioned how much these intelligence-based tools have helped them become a successful writer. Some of the responses scolded the writer -- he told non-believers to stay in their lane, ouch. However, many said generative AI tools like ChatGPT could help writers instead of eliminating their professions.

Except for this one poster. I'm sorry, I meant poser.

Downbeat Diatribe

To paraphrase, they said AI would cost writers jobs because cheap executives would hire a creator who develops scripts with the technology over a writer with original ideas. It doesn't matter to the commenter because they gave up on mainstream writing years ago.

Cue the Debbie Downer theme.

As I mentioned in a previous blog about AI, companies may utilize the technology and stop hiring writers for slave rates. Yet, once they see the mediocre results created by programs like ChatGPT, they may decide using AI full-time is a bad idea. In other words, writers won't be eliminated from the planet.

The critical Eeyore wasn't buying this philosophy. After a response from another member, Grumpy Cat continued their doom-and-gloom forecast. They said executives at the largest corporations are already ripping off writers through streaming, and a full-time career will be even harder to achieve. Unless, of course, they do something through a crowdfunding campaign. Even then, the poster said the writer would use AI to produce material.

Oy, there's a lot to unpack here. Yes, the first part is reliable to a point. It's one reason the Writer's Guild of America is striking as I write this. The rest of it is simply conjecture.

A Path to Success

Look, there's no easy path to achieve your dreams. I know this from experience. During the bad days (those before therapy and meds), I thought they were achieved simply by sitting back and manifesting success. After all, I was due a reward for my decades of hard work.

Um, no. God and the Universe want you to do your share of the work so they can assist. If not, they'll patiently wait until you do so. Trust me, it took years of stubbornness and frustration until I realized this.

I don't know the ranter on a personal level. If they want to give up and blame it on everyone else, that's on them. It's certainly done great things for those who do the same. You see their works everywhere.

I'm kidding, of course.

Instead of offering your sour grapes to a group dedicated to the art of writing, how about stepping back to see why you're so negative in the first place? Stop raining on our parades because things didn't go well for you.

Maybe, just maybe, you'll realize what you previously did wasn't actually your best work. Perhaps you took the easy route in your writing with poor plotting, grammar, and sentence structure. Perchance, saying your fecal matter didn't emit an uncomfortable aroma turned people off.