Do I Use AI?
- Avree Clark
- May 27
- 6 min read
Do I use AI in writing?
EMPHATICALLY, NO!!!!
Do I use AI to assist me in my research?
Another firm NO!!!!
Have I used AI in any aspect of being an author?
Yes, and I will share with you just how and where AI can be a very useful part of the process . . .
Is AI ever acceptable to use?
Though I'm of the opinion that AI should NEVER be used in any form to write ANY books, I will say that there are a few appropriate uses for AI.
I first started using AI—ChatGPT specifically—after a reader named Molly recommended I try using ChatGPT to upload an image of a newspaper clipping and ask it to transcribe the article for me. This suggestion came about after I had mentioned, at a book club, that my voice was recently returning after losing it while using voice transcription in Word to enter in the HUNDREDS of newspaper articles I had clipped for my book with a project name of Project Diabolical and an eventual working title of Born Devil—which would eventually become All Manner of Evil. (I'll explain working titles a little later in this post.)
Molly had made a good suggestion, but I did not want to get my hopes up that it would actually work. But it turned out that using ChatGPT to transcribe my newspaper clippings was a godsend in more ways than one . . . First, it ACTUALLY worked, saving me many hours of voice recording and/or typing! Second, it gave me something to do while I was laid up in bed unable to use my neck for days due to the degenerative arthritis from my C4-C6 discs. Not fun!
Want to see precisely how I utilized ChatGPT in transcribing my articles? Watch this video . . .
Where else have I benefited from AI?
In rebuilding my Wix website from the ground up!! My original website was a single page with no menu. I was becoming quickly overwhelmed learning so many other things that I was tempted to hire a professional website builder—though I knew I could ill afford to fork over the cash at a time when funds were needed to publish. Upon speaking with my husband, he suggested I carve out a week or two to give it a go myself and if I wasn't happy with the result, we could look into hiring someone . . .
I decided to turn to good ol' YouTube to watch numerous videos on site design in Wix. Getting onto Wix, with shaky fingers, I set out to begin the process of creating an entirely new site . . . when something happened!! Wix suggested I try using their new AI site builder Aria by answering a few questions about what I was wanting out of my website and for what use it was for—author being one of the options. I decided I had nothing to lose and that I could always scrap it and, perhaps, use some of the ideas it generated in creating another site or when hiring someone else.
In the AI prompt I explained that I am an author of historical fiction who is looking to start an author blog and would like pages for books, about, press, and events. Within FIVE minutes it churned out a GORGEOUS website! It then prompted me to pick my site brand from DOZENS of choices, which it then transferred all the font and color changes in one go!! The overall aesthetic was EXACTLY what I had been picturing, as if Aria somehow read my mind!
I took the next two weeks to replace some of the images with other AI-generated images using Wix's AI Image Creator! I did tweak most of the wording it used as a place marker, but it served as a great jumping off point for what content I wanted and needed on my site. I'm so unbelievably happy with my website now, and I honestly did not think I—as in lil ol' me—could do this without outside help. In FIVE minutes I had amazing scaffolding where I then could be as creative as I wanted with populating all of the images and adding various directing buttons and forms, made so simple!
Any other acceptable uses of AI tools?
I think AI could be useful in creating social media content with Canva AI or even asking ChatGPT for post ideas—whether blog or social media—which I have yet to try. Another acceptable use, I found, was in coming up with early cover concepts to provide motivation to finish writing a first draft and for direction to possibly share with a cover designer.
Here are the concepts that ChatGPT churned out for me after I entered the prompt of: "Create book cover of book titled Born Devil by Avree Kelly Clark. Have silhouette of a man wearing a bowler hat and the Chicago World's Fair in the background" and it gave me this . . .
I then asked for the cover to be recreated with a man in his thirties with facial hair and asked if the subtitle Murder at the Chicago World's Fair could be added, and I got this . . .
I decided to start a fresh request directing: "Create a 6x9 book cover with a silhouette of a bearded man in his thirties wearing a bowler hat at the Chicago World's Fair titled Born Devil written by Avree Kelly Clark" and this is what I got . . .
Now, you may be wondering why I did not go with any of these concepts. It was for the BIG reason that a very popular book on H. H. Holmes, titled The Devil in the White City, used a graphic involving the Chicago World's Fair on the cover, and I really wanted to try to distance myself from anyone thinking this was just another attempt at what Larson did. Not to mention, only the prologue of my book takes place at the Fair and the rest of the book takes place the years following the Fair, in 1894 and 1895—covering the very exciting complete investigation into Holmes! I absolutely love the game of cat and mouse that went into capturing this diabolical villain.
So that leads me to answer: What is the difference between a project name and working title, and why is it different from the published title?
A project name is something an author can use to refer to their WIP (work in progress) publicly that may only offer a clue to the book's context without giving too much away in the early days, especially if you don't have a title yet. My project name was Project Diabolical.
A working title is one that is bandied about and used as a place marker in places when you're trying to protect your ACTUAL title so it doesn't get used by someone else first. When picking a title, you want to try to pick one that has not been used, which I've learned is a tall ask! So at the very least picking one that has not been used more than a time or two, as people might inadvertently buy the wrong book‚ especially if you're an unknown author. How do I know this? I've heard from two angry people who accidentally purchased the 1931 book Malice Aforethought by Frances Iles rather than mine, and they expressed their frustration—one online and one in person—at having bought the wrong book. As if that were somehow my fault. This can certainly be an interesting business. ;)
There is one other book titled All Manner of Evil at the moment, so I really hope I don't run into the same issue. It's VERY challenging to come up with a title! For my first book I had eight notebook pages filled with title options—all of which were already taken!! It's the Wild West out there!
So why did I not go with Born Devil for my title, especially since it did so well as a working title when talking to people? Well, for the simple fact that the aforementioned The Devil in the White City already used devil in the title . . . so even though I used a direct quote from Holmes as my inspiration—with him stating to the press: "I was born with the devil in me"—I did not want people to think my book is trying to copy TDitWC, since our books could not be more different . . .
TDitWC is 2/3 the Chicago World's Fair and only 1/3 (less than 120 pages) coverage of Holmes. So I felt confident that my writing a 550-page book ALL about the investigation into Holmes was necessary to write and share. Never mind the fact that I cut out 82,000 words between the first and final draft!
I hope you enjoyed getting to see a little bit more behind the scenes for what goes into conceptualizing a cover and where AI can be useful if used responsibly. I love being able to be transparent about the entire process with this blog, and I hope you're entertained or encouraged to embark on a writing journey of your own one day if you're so inclined.
Until next time . . .
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