How GPT-4 Rescued Me: Filling in the Blanks.
Using Generative AI as Your Creative Assistant.
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An Awful Feeling
So, I sat down to start with this week’s article. I thought I’d a few ideas knocking around. All I had to do was pick one, flesh it out, do my research, and write the thing. The first order of business was selecting an idea, which sounded simple, but as I went through my list, I wasn’t getting any feelings about any of them. Worse, they were all pretty boring anyway. I was suffering from Writers Block.
No problem, relax and think about a topic that I find interesting—nothing, nothing at all. I was suffering from a classic case of writer’s block. Anything and everything I had was quickly thrown into the mental trash pile. It was a long day with a tiring commute, so maybe I’m tired. Forget it for this evening, I thought; get a good night’s sleep and try again tomorrow.
Tomorrow came, and tomorrow went with no improvement. I was completely stuck and at a loss, and panic started to surface in my mind. What to do?
I’ve used GPT-4 for a few months, primarily for title and subtitle ideas and general outlining. But have used it extensively for research purposes, suitably cross-checked for accuracy. Why not ask GPT-4 for some fresh ideas?
Writing in the AI Age: Navigating the Terrain of GPT-4 Generated Articles
Understanding Writer’s Block
There are so many definitions to be found on the internet, but just picking one at random from urbandictionary.com, Most definitions follow along the same lines:
A condition that may occur while writing. It causes the afflicted person to be unable to think of what to write next. Typically, the less interesting the topic is to the writer, the higher the severity and chance of occurrence.
Looking back over these last days, perhaps my problem was that I didn’t find any of my ideas interesting. The more I thought and worried about it, the deeper my blockage became.
For me, the entire situation wasn’t all that serious; the only deadlines I have are self-imposed ones. But for professional writers, we can imagine how impactful this can quickly become in all writing disciplines. From Copy Writers to Journalists to Authors, the impacts may be frustration, wasted time, and finances. Any delays or reduction in producing quality work may also harm dependent businesses and their clients.
Reputations are difficult to build but can be destroyed in seconds. Think of a Journalist, for example, suffering from writer’s block. They are given a story to write together with a tight deadline, as the deadline approaches, with no sign of their writer’s block being lifted any time soon. They may be tempted to throw out something quickly, quality be damned. The editor will likely reject the story, and their reputation is dented. If it happens too often, they will be in real trouble.
GPT-4 to the Rescue
I got to thinking; one of my potential plans is to start a business or a new service for my existing business, offering the quick generation of business content using Generative AI tools. Why not ask GPT-4 for a list of article ideas? Here is my first prompt:
I want to start a business providing AI-generated content, documentation, blog posts etc., for existing small businesses. Please give me a list of 20 short-form article ideas to talk about using Generative AI in this context.
I wasn’t happy with the first attempt and asked GPT-4 to regenerate. This time was better but still not what I was after. However, one or two suggestions could be interesting, even at this early stage of the conversation. Now we are getting somewhere; here is the first follow-up prompt:
Based on item 5, give me a list of 10 suggested titles. The style must be semi-informal but professional. All titles must be immediately engaging and score highly for SEO. Please give me five subtitles for each suggested title in the same style.
Again, the result was not what I was after, so I tried again:
Try again, but this time based on item 14. Only give three subtitles for each title.
I immediately spotted a perfect suggestion that had everything to do with overcoming writer’s block. Exactly the condition that I was suffering from, this is the last prompt:
Thank you. Based on title 1 and subtitle 1, please give me an outline for a short-form article targeting no more than 1500 words.
I know nothing is gained by saying please and thank you to AI, but I like to keep things civilised. Next, I copied the suggested title, sub-title, and outline. I rewrote my title and sub-title, then cut the sections in the outline that I wasn’t interested in and reordered the sections I was.
The result is today’s article, with very few AI-generated words remaining, possibly just a few here and there. This was all I needed to overcome my blockage, and now I’m flying again.
I’m an idiot, or am I? Starting a business after 60
The Benefits are Obvious
The ridiculous thing is I have been using GPT-4, and other tools, for a few months now to brainstorm various ideas, which has always helped. I am often given entirely new directions to pursue. I can’t think of a better way to quickly generate buckets of ideas from which a creator can cherry-pick depending on their mood and go from there.
Generative AI tools like GPT, Bing, Bard (just released today in Europe), and many more are superb resources for ideas and exploration. Different tools are more suited to different tasks and are all subject to their limitations. The trick is understanding and compensating for these limitations; practice does make perfect.
The Wordy World of AI: Mastering the Art of Co-writing with Generative Tools
My (Current) Creation Process
I mainly use GPT-4 for text-generated ideas, titles and outlines. I use the results as a basis but hardly ever use any generated output without some extensive rewriting. Midjourney provides the images for my content, where required. I’ve only recently started using it; check out my last few posts for examples.
I use a variation of the process detailed above for my articles and posts. I first start with an idea:
- In GPT-4, I ask it to generate several lists of titles and sub-titles, selecting one or two for further prompting. I include the styles I want for all generated output.
- Staying within the same GPT chat, I ask for short-form article outlines for each selected title and sub-title.
- These steps are repeated until I have something I’m happy with.
- Copy and paste into Ulysses and heavily edit the title, sub-title, and outline section headers. Removing and reordering sections as I go.
- Write the article (obviously).
- Generate one or more images, as required, in Midjourney and add to the draft.
- Check and correct with Grammarly.
- Publish, then manually adjust as required in each target platform.
There can be many more in-between steps, but it isn’t that complicated. I’m always looking for ways to improve efficiency, but it is fun, mostly.
Don’t forget to Fact Check
One of the most publicised limitations is that these tools can give factually incorrect answers. But they dress it up in such a way that it does sound plausible. When generating any fact-based content, you must always cross-check and verify. I can imagine how embarrassing, which is the best-case scenario, that could be for a creator in any discipline.
Likewise, generating consistent content in the same or similar ‘voice’ can be challenging. We can give GPT-4, for example, the same prompt but in different chats and get different answers every time. This is a severe issue for businesses that must maintain their brand voice across all content.
We must never forget that every tool is dependent on the tool’s training. As the expression says, “Garbage in, garbage out”. Keeping this in mind will save us a lot of trouble. Don’t assume anything; always check.
Final Thoughts
I started the week enthusiastic and full of good intentions, only to run into a brick wall almost as soon as I sat down. It turned out to be a good thing in the end as the experience became this article; the bonus is that I’ve had a lot of fun writing it.
Using Generative AI to help to overcome writer’s block is something I have read about before. But in the depths of the block, close to panic. I didn’t think of it immediately. Instead, I suffered for two days before my ‘Aha’ moment. If there is a moral to this, keep calm and carry on. Easier said than done.
I would love to hear about your experiences with writer’s block and how you overcame it. Leave a comment, and I will reply as soon as possible.
Call to Action
If you haven’t yet experimented with Generative AI tools, jump in feet first. It needn’t cost you anything apart from your time. Check out OpenAI, GPT-3 is (or was) still free to use, but you will still need to create an account with OpenAI. The Microsoft Bing Chat is also available almost (?) everywhere, and Google’s Bard has just rolled in Europe but has been available in the UK and USA for a while.