Tag Archives: Writing

Generation Spirit

When did I become political? (My stance against AI-generation tools.)

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When I started down this publishing venture, I said to myself that there were two topics I would avoid posting about on my feeds. Politics and religion. If you want the lynch mob to come after you, those two topics are the most efficient way to do it. And for over a decade, I have successfully sat on the fence with almost every topic out there.

Sure, there were times when I piped up to say that "enough was enough" when it came to the bullying that was happening in certain corners of the social media networks. But for the most part, I never really took a stance that could be considered "political" on any of my public profiles.

Until now.

In the last year, so many things have happened within the publishing industry, endangering the livelihoods of writers, editors, publicists, publishers… basically, every single human in the industry.

I'm talking about the war against artificial intelligence (AI)… and it's not even AI's fault. The ones to blame for this AI war are the humans who are deliberately taking action that misuses and abuses the technology. And because it is such new technology, those wanting to be honest in this industry have no way to truly fight against what is happening—except to go public and say that it's not okay.

What is happening is far from okay. Copyright of creatives everywhere is being abused in the training of AI-creation tools. The good names of several creatives are being trashed because of false AI-generated works that appear using their names. Creatives are being forced to choose between their future earning potential and that paycheck right now, because publishers are wanting to use their works to train AI, so the publisher can create more works like the creative's work, but without the creative's input. And to top it all off, the technology at the heart of this mess is also being compromised because of the shady practices of the ones looking to abuse the technology.

It's not okay, and I'm publicly taking a stance against the use of AI-generation tools within publishing.

In today's post, I am breaking my promise to myself about political posts on my public platform, because this is one topic that I can't stay silent on.

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The Yearly Wheel Keeps Turning: Bring in 2022

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It's that time of year again, when I sit down and look at everything that I had set out to do for 2021 and assess what I can do to influence my successes in the coming year. More often than not, I'm reminded of something that was a massive step forward that I had completely forgotten about in the wake of all the negative.

Between COVID-Delta and the constant stream of lockdowns, the crazy of copyright laws, the push for increasing diversity, and all crazy that has ensued in my personal life, there is only one thing that I can do: focus on what I can control and breathe. (Okay, that's two things.)

And my biggest lesson in 2021 is that I need to learn how to say "No."

Today's post is long, but it is what it is.

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A Mindset Shift for 2021

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2020 has been a year that many of us would like to forget. So many bad things have happened throughout the year on the global stage and for many people, it was a struggle to see the positive, even though we were hunting for it. But when I look back at 2020, I don't see the total doom and gloom that others might see. I see opportunity to change things for the better, and I worked hard to snag those opportunities.

Sure, COVID-19 has a lot to answer for, but we saw SpaceX Falcon 9 send a manned Dragon into space! And I'm still in awe over those spacesuits. They were definitely something right out of science fiction.

The internet world became more connected on a global level. Because of it, for the first time, I was able to attend some amazing international conferences—including one on cybersecurity—from the comfort of my home office chair.

On the personal front, I lost my mother this year, due to a rare side effect from a common drug. But I've been forced to slow down—thank you, lockdowns—and I've been able to reflect on life around me. And there is mom's voice in the deep reaches of my mind telling me to reach for my dreams. "Turn Can't into Watch Me!"

2020 might have been a shit year globally, but for the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm on my true path.

If you will indulge me for a bit, I'll share with you how the crazy has led to clarity.

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Woman watching the sunset

The Social Media Realignment Experiment: Update

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Back in July, I decided that I needed to do something about my out-of-control habits on social media. I was spending far too much time wasting the day away on something that had little importance on my daily life.

While social media has been my lifeline to the outside world for years, I've realized how toxic that environment has become. And with everything else going on in the world, for the sake of my mental sanity, something needed to be done.

So, I set out on a mission to realign my social media habits with my goals and aspirations—and it has been a struggle.

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The Social Media Realignment Experiment

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As part of my daily routine, I track how much time I spend on various tasks. I keep a note of the time I start a particular task and the time I finish. At different points throughout the day, normally when I take a break, I enter my notes into a spreadsheet that calculates the exact time I've spent on different tasks and tallies it up across the day, the week, the month, or any other time frame I want.

I will admit that it is a fancy spreadsheet system that I developed, but it works for me.

One task I track is how much time I spend on social media. Being the person who I am, trying to understand the dangers associated with social media and online activities, I need to spend some time on social media. But I am not immune to the time-suck that can occur.

In tracking my social media habits, there have been times when I have whittled away the entire day on social media. In the last month alone, I've spent 24 hours on social media and reading blogs. That might not sound like a lot, but that's approximately one hour per day spent scrolling through the feeds. Yes, it is not 100% doing nothing, as some of it is interacting with writers under my editor's hat, providing advice and building those valuable connections, but it is an hour a day that I could have been writing.

It is time for me to do a reassessment of my social media platform and to reevaluate exactly how much of that time I spend on social media and what I do while I'm there. Time to bring things back into alignment with my goals as a writer and editor.

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