Is AI-Generated Writing Truly AI-Generated or Just Plagiarized?

Here's an "AI-generated" piece of writing people are sharing online: "In the theater of the absurd called life, we are both the puppet and the puppeteer, dancing to a tune we can neither hear nor understand."

Parts of it sounded familiar, so I Googled them. 

A 5-word phrase here — "can neither hear nor understand" — was plagiarized from "Only You" by Sting.

Another 8-word phrase – "we are both the puppet and the puppeteer" — is the title of an opinion piece by Charlie Grosso. 

"Theater of the Absurd' is the name of a genre of performance art. That's another 4 words. 

So far, I've found 17/26 words that were plagiarized from humans, and I'm hardly even trying. 

This is what AI does. It plagiarizes, plagiarizes, plagiarizes. That's why writers are putting together a lawsuit to get it to stop using our work as sources. Our words belong to US. They are not for computer programs to steal, manipulate, and take credit for. 

How to Be an Original Writer

From the Memoirs of Edward R. Hound, Gloria Turkey: Biggest Bird on Broadway

Years ago on the SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) boards, the topic of edginess came up. Several writers were upset, because a few editors and agents at a SCBWI conference said they were interested in edgy books. 

“But how can I write edgy?” the writers cried. “I write picture books! I live in the Midwest. I can’t write young-adult novels about sex, violence and drugs. What’s wrong with sweet, cute picture books? Why can’t they like quiet books too?”  

My take on this was that their definition of edgy was wrong. In my opinion, edgy means different. Not in the center, not the mainstream, but on the cutting edge, something people haven’t seen before. And any writer can have that, as long as she is being true to who she is. Each of us has a unique perspective on the world. We’re each capable of telling unique stories. We’re each capable of looking at the world from our own unique edge of it. I think this was what those editors and agents meant too, which is why they’ve stopped asking for edgy and are now asking for something that will surprise them, something with a great and original voice. It’s the same thing, but it helps out those writers who thought they couldn’t write edgy unless they wrote issue books.

The problem with books that aren’t edgy by this definition is that they’ve already been written. If someone is looking for Winnie the Pooh, they’re going to buy Winnie the Pooh. They’re not going to buy a new book that’s like Winnie the Pooh. And that’s why it’s important for each writer to try to find his or her voice and write books that only he or she can write. Agents and editors want to be surprised, so surprise them. Show them something they’ve never seen before, something only you could have written. Show them your own unique take on the world in your own unique voice. 

If you think your life doesn’t have an edge and that you’re just like everyone else, you probably haven’t looked hard enough. Take another, deeper look. What do you see? 

What are you passionate about? 

What scares you?

What moves you? 

What are you insatiably curious about?

What’s the funniest thing you ever saw or heard about?

Your life is filled with stories that only you can tell. 

“Okay,” I hear you saying. “But I’m not writing books based on my real life. What if I write picture books? Or what if I write fantasy? How do I use my unique edge of the world to write picture books or fantasy?”

Everyone says that an aspiring writer has to do three things: read, read, and read some more.

An illustration from Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey by Shevi Arnold

Read classics in your genre of choice. Read current popular books in your genre to get a feel for what what’s already out there and what readers want. And read books on writing, editing, and publishing. 

That’s great advice, but it does, in my opinion, require a couple of clarifications. 

First, when it comes to reading fiction, a writer should learn to read like a writer, not only like a reader.

As a reader, you’re receptive to whatever the writer throws at you. There may be things that bug you, but you don’t dwell on them. You either make the choice to read it or you don’t, but you don’t try to get behind why the things that bug you bug you. There may also be things that excite or move you, or other things that make you laugh. You don’t try to get behind how these things work; you just enjoy that they do. 

As a writer, though, you need to figure out why books, or characters, or chapter breaks during tense scenes, or a specific wording affects you the way it does. You need to figure out how to avoid the things that bug you, and you need to figure out how to make the things that work for you a part of your own writing so that you can excite and move and make readers laugh too.

And that leads me to the second clarification, which is that you shouldn’t let what you read affect you so much that it drowns your own voice. If you are too influenced by another writer’s work, you will never be more than that writer’s shadow. Your aim should never be to become the next J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Stephanie Meyer, Terry Pratchett or even Amanda Hocking. They never aimed to be the next anybody else, and neither should you. Your aim should always be to become the writer that only you can become. 

Just find your unique edge in whatever genre or type of book you’d like to write.

For example, let’s say you like fantasy, and you have a passion for roses. (I’m just pulling this out of my hat. It could be anything.) Are there any fantasy stories with roses? I can think of two. There’s the rose in Beauty and the Beast, the one Beauty’s father takes from the Beast’s garden in the traditional tale. How could you shake that up? What if you told the story of Beauty and the Beast from the rose’s point of view? Or what if the rose is the only thing the Beast ever loved, and what if he willingly gives it to the Beauty near the end of the story? 

And then there are the Queen of Hearts’ roses in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. What if you wrote a story about the Queen of Hearts explaining why she needed the roses to be red? What if there’s a curse that says the roses will be red, and if they’re not, they’ll be painted with blood? Or what if the white roses remind her of Snow White, a child she vaguely remembers was hers before she died?

Or maybe you could write a story based on some facts about roses? Roses have thorns. Thorns are sharp. Sharp things can be weapons. Maybe in your story the rose will be used as a weapon by warring mice who don’t notice the rose’s beauty until a young squirrel captures it in a painting. 

Or maybe you could write a creation myth that explains why roses have thorns. 

You don’t have to stick to facts and old fantasy stories. You can be inspired by poems, songs, art, experiences, and more.  Look at both what the rose is and isn’t. Look at what’s missing in your genre of choice. If you like roses, you must like gardening. You know, I’ve never read a story about a magical gardener, have you? Maybe you could write it? Of you if you want to go science fiction, what if you wrote a story about a gardener who insists on growing roses on Mars, even though they can’t be eaten and have no use? Imagine that gardener explaining why he should be allowed to grow roses on Mars. What if he’s forbidden, but he grows them anyway in secret? Who is he doing this for? What will the gift of a single rose mean? It could be fascinating. 

Reading a lot gives you better idea of what’s already been done, but more importantly, it gives you an idea of what hasn’t been done. And if what hasn’t been done coincides with something that excites, scares, moves, intrigues, or just amuses you, you’ve found the seed of a story that will probably excite, scare, move, intrigue, or amuse others: a story only you can write. 

You’ve found out how—instead of writing like an original—you can be an original.  

What Writers Can Learn from the Genius of Steve Jobs

Last week, the world lost a one-of-a-kind visionary. Through Apple and Pixar, Steve Jobs changed the world, improved lives, and touched hearts. My son’s school for developmentally disabled kids uses iPads to help its students communicate. And every member of my family cried during the most touching scene in Toy Story 3. It’s amazing to think that all of that started in Steve’s parents’ garage, with nothing more than one friend who believed in him and a dream. What does that say about the rest of us?

Steve Jobs left behind him a great legacy, not only in the products or the movies he helped create, but in his ability to inspire greatness in others.

When I read quotes in Entrepreneur Magazine, I often see how they can apply to writers. Here are several quotes from Steve Jobs from the November issue of Mac Life, and how I think they might apply to writers:

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

I think this is a big part of the reason writers write. Life is fleeting. We all want to leave our mark on the world, our ding in the universe.   

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

If you make your books all sunshine and unicorns, no one will want to read them. As a fiction writer, your characters are your people. Readers want to see them encounter challenges, and they want to join your characters on a journey to overcome those challenges. Your main character or characters should develop between the beginning and the end of your story. Your job is to make them better in the end.

“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”

In his autobiographical book, Rewrites, playwright Neil Simon mentions once being praised for being a great rewriter. He was told, “Writers are a dime a dozen, but rewriters are gold.” Editing is such an important part of writing. Every character, every scene, every word should be there for a reason. And if it doesn’t have a reason to be there, cut it out. This is what some writers mean by “Kill your darlings.” Cut out the things that have more to do with your ego than your story. Be as proud of your editing as your writing. Be as proud of what you don’t do as you are of what you do.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Description should do double duty. It shouldn’t just paint lovely pictures. Pretty descriptions often fall into the category of darlings that should be killed. Description should work. Like everything else, it should be there for a reason. It should ground the story and help bring it to life, or else it should convey something about the characters. There’s a huge difference between saying the glass was delicate and saying she was afraid to pick it up, because she didn’t want to break it.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

There’s a story in you that only you could tell. Tell it. Don’t waste time trying to follow trends or write like someone else. Write like you, and only you. Because if you’re writing like someone else, so are hundreds of others. But no one else can write like you. Be a leader, not a copycat. Be an original. Be an innovator.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”

You have to believe in your writing, because if you don’t, no one else will. In fact, even if you do believe in it, you’re going to encounter plenty of people who won’t. It’s going to be an uphill battle at times, so you have to believe that what you’re doing is great work. You have to believe that it matters. You have to believe you’re making a ding in the universe.

And I would like to add one more quote, not from the magazine but from the video above:

"The penalty for failure . . . is nonexistent."
 
It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. You have to allow yourself the freedom to fail. You can edit a bad piece of writing, but you can't edit a blank page. The freedom to fail is also the freedom to innovate, the freedom to create something new and brilliant that only you can create.

Steve, thank you so much for your contributions to this world. You will be sorely missed.

Steve Jobs