Will AI replace writers?
The Future of Online Writing
What are your thoughts about this future for writers and what platforms and apps do you use now?
As Oscar Wilde said, “Everything in the world is about tech except tech. Tech is about power.” Technology widens our options to seize more opportunities in order to make the best out of each situation. But technology coupled with a digital lifestyle means too many apps making the whole thing too annoying to deal with. We can follow a writer on Facebook, X or Medium, Threads, Vocal, or Newsbreak, then go read their book, or story on Wattpad or Kindle, then review it on Amazon or Goodreads. We can interact on Discord and support via Ko-fit or Kickstarter or Patreon. Even read some newsletter stories on Substack. Kinda too much. It’s not that we don’t have the technologies discovered, we have them. We have the power. Look at what Spotify did to music or what Netflix did to movies. Look what Chatbots might do to writing. Therefore where are Netflix, and Hulu, for readers and writers? Where is The Future of Online Writing?
Everyone has failed because the publishing houses won’t let their books be part of any app. Startup’s attempts were a lot but the closest to such a thing is maybe Amazon’s Kindle, and that’s only because they became a publishing house on their own. Oyster and Scribd were actually doing pretty well before Amazon came along. Hmm, maybe not quite well, but as mentioned, with a few glitches in the system. While the services each offer hundreds of thousands of books and stories, many newer books are not yet available there. We need something that combines finding and following the writers we love, subscribing to those writers, reading their stories not only on a PC but on any device, and supporting our favorite ones financially with subscriptions, diamonds, perks, coins whatever currency might anyone think. We will be part of a favorite writer-exclusive community.
Therefore are we tired of writing for pennies? For platforms that don’t reward our skills? The truth is, nearly every human being on the planet is interested in either saving or making pennies. Especially to get $10000 per month from freelance writing. Ok, exaggerated a bit! One smart way to differentiate as a professional writer is to build a publication some may say, using the expertise we hope to harness from others. To succeed others say, we need to be commercially minded and target an established audience with proven demand for well-written stories. But are we truly serious about writing for a living, or is it just a dream to cheer us up when our regular, full-time job gets us down? If yes good luck!! AI is around the corner!
Did anyone know that 1,600 indie authors are earning $25k or above from Amazon book sales and most online writers never get even 50$ per month? So if our dream is to build a six-figure we need to do other entrepreneurial things. This ship of freelance writing sailed long ago. Our earnings can fluctuate a lot from month to month. One month we might earn much more than in any regular job. The next month we’ll be struggling to find the coins to buy a drink. Some might also believe that powerful writing is a product of luck. Or that great writers just have a secret gift. Nope!! Or that content is the King. Nope again!!
Always has been this struggle between marketers who presumably or not tried to implement the idea that any content with the right tools can become precious and those who always said, and here I stand, that content needs to have first and foremost Empathy. One of the best ways to help readers fall in love with our stories is to put ourselves in their shoes. Why should they give 10–20 minutes of their busy life reading our non-sense words shared digitally? Are we giving them anything to mingle with later on? Let’s be frank!! When they’re reading most people are not lurking energy and enthusiasm. They’re probably tired, maybe a little depressed, and almost definitely slightly bored of other things. So they are looking for something to make them feel emotional and rewarding. Try to bounce them with powerful words strategically inserted in paragraphs. Words that can draw the audience from one emotion to another as skillfully as any novelist or screenwriter. Maybe to impress them, to incite, to encourage them to keep going, to spark their curiosity, or any other emotions. The better the job we do at making them feel something, the more influential we are, and the better our chances of getting AI not coming our way.
Just for a moment, let’s do an example stop reading this post and turn on any major TV news channel. Watch it for five minutes and write down the powerful words from their headlines. We’ll see a lot of words mainly using fear as a trigger because it’s the most powerful emotion for grabbing and keeping the audience’s attention. Add details and paint the audience’s mind with other secret words. (sensory details) Sensory details use sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste to sketch an impression in our story. Make the readers feel. Aim for both logical and emotional connections. Kinda tough! But not impossible. One tip here. Boom!! Check and embrace AI tools for useful searcher intent. While they don’t magically grant success it allows us to understand top-ranking posts for the primary keywords and how they are structured. Based on this we will make AI to be a complementary tool that empowers us to streamline work and enhance productivity.
Great content it’s not about our intelligence or professionalism not even about the tips I’m trying to dismantle here. It’s not paper or pixels on a screen. It’s about the sparks. We go to a great music concert or a movie, and when it finishes, we feel a little bit different. This is how we need to make our audience. To feel a connection, something different, something to move them. But where will they find the experience? One that readers probably want to immerse themselves in? On what platform? A cohesive, easy-to-manage app/product should be the goal. But who decides which stories get included on the home page or genre landing pages of any of these apps? On all is a team of loving authors and editors so it’s the same as in any publishing house. It’s not what the readers really want. No good personalized recommendation system.
A great subscriptions model should compile and tabulate data on their subscriber’s viewing habits to create an algorithm AI (metadata) of genre-based user preferences. It would work like Google creating with data a scheme offering suggestions of next things to read or writers to follow. Also should point out or list the most viewed stories; most liked and most followed writers on topics or subjects. Individual preferences will be sorted and boxed repackaged for members to see them making thousands of other views. For those hoping to find answers, this will be appealing. How great would be to get story suggestions based on what we’ve liked in the past? Isn’t “discoverability” the problem many believe some stories don’t reach the audiences they should? This new “thingy app” should ask questions to users from time to time, the readers (consumers), in order to pair them with the exact next reads. Can ask not just the readers but also the writers what they’ve liked or not. They can find in what mood are in a precise moment and serve them something appealing. Also, whether they’ve tried this story or another, from there, they can offer custom suggestions built upon their specific tastes — not just the tastes of other people who’ve happened to enjoy let’s say fantasy. We aren’t just a piece of data yet that can be neatly stacked and shifted. Our tastes are ours and ours alone. The rise of streaming platforms and the desire for interaction with other users would make readers engage not only in the constant search for new content but also in the search for a multimedia experience. Will AI build it next or we humans?
Embracing this infinite horizon, we find ourselves at the dawn of a new era, where words will continue to weave tales of knowledge, empathy, and unity despise AI disruption. The future of online writing still lies in satisfying this hunger through immersive and interactive learning experiences. Those who will still be successful will be those who understand the new paradigm. So success lies in foreseeing where the world is heading and getting there first. In the end, all these services are letting something be desired.
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