WRITING TIPS

A Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, or New Year’s Gift: A Bank of Non-AI Writers to Support

For those weary of wasting time reading certain “content”

Happy Holidays,

To those who recently celebrated Diwali or Tihar. To those planning to partake of Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa festivities. To those skipping everything and celebrating survival and life while awaiting 2024…

May abundant kindness and contentment alight upon your home and in your hearts.

Terrific Writers Tagged

It’s typical to tag people at the end of an article.

That required plowing through someone’s piece to discover why you are so honored — or offended, depending on how annoying you find it — feels contrived.

If you are a Tag Hater, please accept my profuse apologies.

There is a method to my holiday madness…that bears no relationship to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or pre-Xmas sales. Why?

Two Reasons

1. To extend profound thanks for original quality writing by you, a human creature, not AI-generated.
2. To announce to fellow dear Medium folk, who also are sick and tired — my sweet mother used that phrase — of wasting valuable time reading pablum spit out by the newest hot top writer, ChatGPT.

Bonus

Then, these bonuses…like buy one, get two free.

🚩 I have interacted with you via comments and know you as genuine, delightful folks

🚩I often delight in great guffaws from your writing

🚩 I usually learn something valuable or observe far better wordsmithing than my own

Johnny Poitras, CarolF, Jome Nartatez, Natalie, Guy Nave, J.C. Anne Brown, Priyanka Sinha, R C Hammond, Toni The Talker, barry robinson, Paul Dotta, ✅ Doc Samurai Sam, DJ Hopkins, Darren Weir, Darrin Atkins, Annelise Lords, Curt Melzer, Seda Anbarcı, Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Gabriel Piemonte, Malky McEwan, Liberty Forrest, Author, Rick Allen, Trisha Faye, Frances A. Chiu,🌬️Mitch, FranMorelandJohns, Orrin Onken, Viraja Teggihal, Chaithra Mailankody, Benighted, Ted Czukor, Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe, Colby Hess, Adrian CDTPPW, Paul S. Marshall, James Bellerjeau, John Hansen, Josh Hinton, Dixie Dodd, Evan Morgan

Readers

Hence, if you are unfamiliar with these folks, you, too, may like them.

I tried to ascertain a way to “sort or categorize” their topics. That proved complicated and time-consuming because many write about various subjects.

Compound Interest

We know how compound interest works, yes? If not, drop a comment, whereupon someone will quickly pen a piece. Or ask Mr. ChatGPT.

This request can have the same multiplier potential. For example, if RC knows six additional writers, he can add them to the list.

DJ and Carol can do likewise. Anyone can weigh in that they are human-only writers. The more who sign on for the gift-giving of being non-AI writing scribes, the better.

Ideally, like-minded readers also will find some new writers to follow and read.

Holiday Gift

This list of names is my holiday and New Year’s gift to you. Because my duration on the site is short, my culled list of authentic writers remains limited.

It would be thrilling to accumulate 300 — or thousands of — writers whom either YOU know or who respond, vowing that they don’t use AI.

For example, one of the writers above, in his “About Me,” states that he never uses it.

I shall be adding new finds to my own ‘naughty and nice’ list.

Selfishly, my healthy stable of genuine human beings to read will have grown exponentially.

That would be your holiday gift to moi, for which I warmly thank you in advance.

Even Greater Multiplier Effect

Others may decide to publish a similar piece and bring their readers and beloved writers into the fold. Please please do so.

Submitting articles to other publications would be fantastic. The result could be impactful if dozens of even brief stories were written.

It’s sort of a challenge, but not actually. Or like the chain letters of decades ago. The more widespread the cry, the better!

Caveat Emptor

Not all of the terrific writers on my list will necessarily reciprocate, i.e., read your articles because you read theirs.

That’s a given, isn’t it?

1. We all have different interests. What appeals to me may not tickle your toes.
2. If you comment on their stories, most kind souls will pop into your profile. But alas, if Commenter writes about crypto, and Writer doesn’t know the definition of crypto, she won’t be a readin’ youz work.
3. Some have their preferred reading list and aren’t interested in my writing. That doesn’t dissuade me from reading them. I’ve never been keen on the “you read me/I read you” philosophy anyhow.
4. Many of us read to learn. Others are such bloody good wordsmiths, I feel honored to occupy the same space with them.
5. A passel of writers sees no utility in organizing their writing into lists to make it fast and easy for us to read their pieces.
6. Many readers quit reading those authors, but that’s fine, too. Obviously, those writers don’t care.

In case anyone missed these, these links suggest why Lists with work organized are beneficial for readers.

Objective

This is not meant to be a read-for-read group or mutual engagement but rather to curate a pool of quality human writers.

The ultimate goal is saving us valuable time!

Blood Oath

✔️Okay. Blood oaths were junior high, secret fraternities, and Angelina Jolie/Billy Bob Thornton.

✔️Cross my heart and hope to die — too religious or sacrilegious?

✔️How about plain old “My word is my bond?” That’s refreshing, yes?

✔️We hereby pledge not to use AI to write our stories! We are authentic. I didn’t actually suggest an AI drug test. But the vow to remain “AI clean,” akin to being drug-free in a urine test, would be refreshing.

AI Giveaways

We might be fooled once or twice. But here are a few telltale signs.

And, after reading so much “manufactured content,” we’re all becoming faster on the draw — spotting AI more quickly, not wasting time reading, nor rewarding the writer with interactions.

It’s taken me a while to discern it. But my sense is improving, and yours will also.

Thanks to several fellow Medium friends for tips on how to spot it more easily. One wise writer, whose piece is linked below, recommends quickly scanning the first paragraph or two. That’s excellent advice.

🛑 The boilerplate: Let’s dive in. Today we’re going to talk about. Grab a coffee. Let’s delve into. Roll up your sleeves. Settle in. Today’s lesson is...

Some habitual users have become more clever and edited those phrases out. So, we need to look closer.

🛑🛑 No soul, no emotion. If the article reads as a research piece, it probably is. Ask: do I feel the voice of a person?

I’m not talking about research or academic writing with citations and references. I read many of those pieces AND appreciate them.

I’m referring to the rote “cut and paste” jobs. Ask Google a question, then copy and paste.

Or Wikipedia or other “source” material. Or whatever the ChatGT site spits out.

🛑🛑🛑 Change in tone. A few paragraphs sound as though they might be human-written.

But suddenly, if there is a more formal tone OR a completely different feel to the prose, it’s likely at least partially computerized writing.

Everyone complaining sees a lot of this by more adept AI users.

🛑🛑🛑🛑 Comments. Where a bot-generated comment to a story regurgitates or restates passages.

Have you noticed that it’s always in complete sentences, in perfect English, and correctly punctuated?

Not like the sentence fragments I often leave, with an emoji or two, a typo, or a missing comma.

It, too, lacks emotional content.

🛑🛑🛑🛑🛑 Recently Published Articles. Natalie, R C Hammond, and Josh Hinton have written these superb pieces about the AI invasion. Muchas gracias to you all!

Josh’s well-researched piece Dear Medium, Do Better is a sad commentary about the extent of the continued gaming.

His screenshots, with blow-by-blow descriptions, make it so obvious, and it’s probably more prevalent than we imagine.

AI Aficionados

This isn’t meant to shame those who choose AI. Each to their own. AI isn’t going anywhere and will only become more sophisticated.

It’s just that many of us prefer reading work written by actual human beings and authentic storytellers.

Medium’s policy is that people are to disclose if they have used AI when writing a piece. I have seen only one such disclosure.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading.

If you eschew using AI, please comment with your or other authors’ names to participate in the Human Writers Club for Happy 2024 AI-Free Reading! And, please write your own articles, linking any of the other stories above.

©12.04.2023. All Rights Reserved