u/vcdone

So about halfway through my 1st draft, I heard about Daggermouth being accused of ai. The Atlantic i believe released an article right about the re-release day. It pisses me off and I promptly went out and bought the book.

I also started recording myself every time I work on my book. I have hours of work recorded. Plus I make jokes and talk about what I was thinking. And I also complain about regular life things. It's kind of therapeutic honestly..

I thought i would upload them all to YouTube and then if I get an accusation I can just direct them to my channel and say "Happy sleuthing."

The problem - every time I have hovered over a document in file explorer or have my file explorer open - it shows my full name. It would take me forever to blank out my personal information.

But maybe that doesn't matter. Ive been thinking about publishing under my real name anyway. This is the first book I've completed in over two year because I came to the realization that my brain simply won't comply when I try to push it to write to make money... so I wrote something where I said to myself "I dont care if it makes a dime." (Please keep in mind, I whole heartedly support authors who write to market to make a living, my brain - for two whole years was arguing about this - until I finally came to the conclusion that I just have to write whats in my heart. Unfortunately for me, cozy mystery and reverse harem are not in my heart as much as I wish they were because the 9-5 life is, well, it feels like a trap). Anyway, it's a passion project so I am very proud of it and myself.

Also, I cant help but think this would be impulsive- to post all of that. Also im a mom so my kids and my husband are heard interrupting me quite a lot - which i dont mind at all... but I do not necessarily want their voices and our conversations on the internet. There isn't anything bad. Questions about dinner, im pretty sure my mic picked up some farts (husband). Stuff like that.

Also a part of me thinks, if you think this is ai then dont read it... why should I bother? If my book resonates with you, great. If not, fine. I will use em dashes and I really dont intend to stop...

So, what unforseen consequences might there be if I were to post these videos? Is it even a good idea? Should I go through them and edit out my personal information and the conversations it picked up... or is it wasted energy?

PS over those 2 years where brain couldn't decide what to do, i discovered that gothic fantasy and dark folklore lives in my heart. The prose are ornate and there is plant horror and body horror. I love it so much. It is a story about something going on right now - about powerful people hurting the powerless... How even if these monsters seem unstoppable- nature always wins.

Edit: Thank you for your advice and I will follow it. I think the no ai used stamp is a great idea! Ultimately, I will not post any of the videos. The comments here have all said that it is basically a waste of time. But I think I will keep recording because it's almost like having someone to talk to. I really do not want to risk sharing that personal information or posting our conversations and it would really take a long time to edit out. I think if some one takes the time to read it, they will know that it is real and heartfelt... and if not, oh well I guess. Its just so frustrating how people call out normal things as ai. The Oxford comma and em dashes?! But what can you do in the end...