u/Afgad

In my post calling for more craft talk, several of you recommended that we highlight a topic to discuss for each week just to get the juices flowing.

This week's topic is everything about editing.

I've heard it said before that there are no writers, only rewriters. Editing is an essential step for any serious author.

In the age of AI this is especially important. If your workflow generates text with AI, you may want to edit your voice back into the prose. How do you do that?

Otherwise, we still need need to do other editing: structural, Dev edits, copy editing, etc. How do you tackle these steps?

Make posts this week about your editing approach.

As before, do not reply to this post to discuss the weekly topic! Make new posts!

Reply to this post only with what you'd like to talk about next week. The most upvoted suggestion will be next week's subject.

​

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

I woke up this morning with the solution to a problem paragraph already formed in my head. I opened my novel and typed it in, and it worked.

This got me thinking about the old adage to "sleep on it."

I've heard in various places that it's recommended to step away from a manuscript for days or even months to come at it fresh. That seems extreme to me, but I've never done it. I maintain the entire continuity and phrasing of my story in my mind, and I fear stepping back for a month would make me forget a lot of key details.

But, sleeping certainly helps me beyond just keeping me rested. I routinely will write/edit a chapter, sleep a day, and then come back to it in the morning. If I don't wake up with solutions already in mind, I often will find new problems I hadn't seen the day prior.

How do you use sleep in your workflow?

In my post calling for more craft talk, several of you recommended that we highlight a topic to discuss for each week just to get the juices flowing.

This week's topic is all about style.

One of the things that makes an author fun to read is their authorial voice and their writing style. I agree that this is essential for a story to be any good. But, what is it, exactly, and how can we hone different styles to be entertaining? There is no one-size-fits-all "write like this and then it's good" when it comes to style.

Make some posts discussing your style, what styles you love to read, how you found your own voice, and which styles go best with which audiences. How does style live in the prose?

As before, do not reply to this post to discuss the weekly topic! Make new posts!

Reply to this post only with what you'd like to talk about next week. The most upvoted suggestion will be next week's subject.

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Howdy everyone.

I recently made a call for craft talk. This received fairly positive attention, and several of you left helpful comments and sent lovely DMs. One such message was the suggestion that we add a dedicated craft talk flair. I loved this idea.

So, I'd like to introduce the Writing Craft Talk flair!

This flair is for posts focusing on the writing part of WritingWithAI. This flair is for discussions about how to judge the quality of writing. How should something be phrased? What techniques communicate which emotion? Grammar, pacing, and structural questions would all go here. Which style is best for which audience? What tropes work where and why?

It's for anything related to what distinguishes good writing from bad.

Because this is WritingWithAI, you may, of course, discuss any overlap this has with AI, such as AI-isms, AI writing ticks, and the like. Just make sure to use the Prompting flair instead if your focus is on prompt design.

Furthermore, several of you requested a weekly discussion topic. Here's what I'll do: Every Tuesday I'll post a new "Craft Talk Topic" for the week. In that thread, you don't reply to the topic. Instead, you reply with what topic you want for next week! The most upvoted topic is the one I'll suggest for the next week's theme. That week's topic should then be discussed with entirely new posts so we're not stuck with thread after thread of "Is it OK to use AI?" in our feeds.

Of course you are free to use this flair to discuss ANY writing topic at ANY time. Don't limit yourself to the weekly topic. The weekly topic is only meant to get the juices flowing.

My hope is, over time, posts using the Craft Talk flair will outnumber posts discussing ethics. I don't know about all of you, but I'm ready for us to leave such debates for aiwars and to focus on learning how to use these incredible tools to make amazing stories. To do this, I need all of your help.

If you have any suggestions for how to format this better, now's the time to speak up! I'll get started next Tuesday, so we've got some time to talk.

(Also, please suggest topics for next week so I don't have to think of one.)

Hello everyone.

I am a mod for this sub because I want a space where people can learn how to use AI to write without the noise of constant harassment. AI tools are new, and many of us are new authors using them. I want this sub to be *the* place to go to learn how to write with AI.

There are two directions to take that. One of those is negative: removing jerks and trolls who come here to discourage and harass us.

But the other direction is positive: talking about how to write.

You all are very smart and I am impressed every day with some of the threads discussing how to use our AI tools to optimize our outputs.

However, one thing we're missing is discussion on the writing craft itself. Learning what a good narrative needs is important, because, at the very least, we are then better able to articulate to the AI what mistakes to look for. How can we do that if we cannot discern that, ourselves?

Unfortunately, I spend so much time on the negative (banning antis), I don't have time to write the craft talk posts. It's all I can do to maintain and support the Reciprocal Beta Reading thread, which is my main contribution.

So I'm calling for your help.

Let's get together and write posts discussing the intricacies of what makes prose really pleasant to read.

Here's some ideas:

* When are AI-isms actually appropriate to use? Pick one and analyze "this use case is good, this other use case is overwrought or overdone." The em dash isn't a problem unless there are twelve of them on a page.

* Why choose one POV over the others? When should you use third person omniscient versus second person?

* How does audience affect what writing techniques we use? When is throat clearing appropriate?

* Trope talk: what tropes are indispensable for which genres? When can we rely on a trope to convey information normally reserved for exposition?

Take one of the ideas and make a post about it. Or make your own post, pondering some questions that have been in your mind.

Don't worry if you don't know the answer or don't consider yourself an expert. That's what the discussion is for.

And if someone harasses you for it? Well. That's when I come in.

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Welcome to the blurb thread!

This is our sub's equivalent of a writer's group. Come here and share a blurb of your story. The thought is to let everyone see what you're working on so they can think, "Oh hey, that sounds fun. I want to team up with this person."

Then, you share your own story, and the two of you collaborate to improve each other's works.

I've had so many good interactions with people from this thread. Please don't be shy! Even in the age of AI, the best way to improve your writing remains human interaction and critique. I am confident when I say If you don't have this component in your workflow, you're not meeting your potential.

Importantly, this means post every week if you're still hoping to engage. Don't be shy. I want you to do this.

There are tons of reasons why your perfect reader could have missed your blurb last time. Don't be discouraged!

And remember: "I'll read yours if you read mine" isn't just acceptable, it's expected. Reciprocity works.

Here's the format:

NSFW?

Genre tags:

Title:

Blurb:

AI Workflow:

Desired feedback/chat:

Howdy everyone,

I sent out mod invites after the poll got about 80 responses and there were clear leaders. If you don't like how I handed things off, fine, but at least it's better than whatever happened before.

I may remain a mod for a teensy bit longer to help with technical issues. Believe it or not, the modding tools are a nightmare of usability. Some things are on PC only, some are on phone only, and I can't even reorder the mod list until I've been a mod for 90 days *even though nobody has been a mod longer than 5 hours*. It makes no sense. But, I won't take any mod actions not at the direct request of your elected mod team, and hopefully I can resign by the end of the day. I've said it before and I'll repeat: I do not want to mod this community.

The one rule I wanted to suggest to all of you, is to not make a rule against AI content. Instead, issue a rule against discussing AI at all. Honestly, why even have it on your sub?

First: It's off topic. There are lots of subs to debate the ethics or usage of AI. Go discuss them there.

Second: It's unenforceable. Well crafted AI-assisted content is indistinguishable from proper writing. There are a ton of studies of this. People often can't tell the difference even between **raw** generations and traditionally crafted text. If the author edits or only uses AI a little bit, there's no way for you to tell if AI was in the workflow or not. You just can't. AI detectors are no help whatsoever.

False positives are the main reason I would propose this angle. New authors often have the same "tells" as AI completely by coincidence. Go read fanfiction from 2010 and tell me I'm wrong. If someone hand-writes something, shares it here (in whatever place you allow self-promotion), and then gets dunked on for "AI slop", all it does is discourage them, and for no good reason. It's just better to tell them the specific reasons their writing is poor and to help them. "It sounds AI" is not helpful. If you have an anti-AI rule, you may end up banning a totally innocent person instead of the people harassing them.

You may not think this is a thing, but on r/WritingWithAI a *very* common post is "Why are these people all saying I'm writing with AI when I didn't?"

New authors post what they wrote, all by hand, and then get swept up in witch hunts just because they like the em dash. It's terrible and undeserved by any measure. There is not a small number of people who frequent our sub to learn how to write simply because they were driven off normal writing subs, *even though they didn't use AI*.

If you make rules against self-promotion and rules against spamming you'll catch all the bots and problem posts. If you have a rule against discussing AI, you'll never have to see posts about which LLM is best at this or that, or how to get ClaudeCode to become a better editor. Those things are probably off-topic anyway.

That is my sole suggestion.

Have a great day. I'm sorry this happened to your sub.