A.I: Is It Coming For Us?
There’s no denying that AI is everywhere. From the Writers and Actors strikes in Hollywood to Spotify's new DJ function, there’s no escaping artificial intelligence. The quicker it rises, the more people panic. As artists, the writing industry has gone into a spiralling breakdown as ChatGPT and similar large language models start to rise. It’s coming for our jobs! It must be destroyed!
No, it isn’t. And no, it mustn’t. The issue with the rise of AI is that, as an industry, we’ve forgotten the one thing that separates us from machines. The ability to edit.
Yes, you can put a prompt into a language model, and it’ll churn out something relatively coherent, perhaps even quite good. And editing? That’s easy, surely? Just tweak the output until it’s presentable.
No.
There’re hints, tips, guidance, and lists everywhere telling us how to edit a finished script.
But what if your finished script is rubbish? AI can do wonderful things when used appropriately, but it can never tell you what the underlying rot of a story is. Even when it can, its logic-based core means it’s going to be utterly unable to fix it completely. Writers that rely on AI will find themselves going in circles while professionals that know how to edit will thrive.
Artificial Intelligence can polish a turd, but it can’t make your writing any better than you already are.
Re-Version
As I’ve mentioned, there’s help everywhere telling us how to edit, what to change, strict instructions on how to take your work and make it shine like the Oscar winner you know it should be.
But here’s the thing, sometimes we genuinely write utter shit. We try and try and try but the finished product just isn’t what we set out to create. No amount of tweaking or rewrites is going to change that. Sometimes, only a single scene works. One character. One subplot.
Don’t give up, that’s the process.
But what do you do when that happens? If a rewrite, if a hundred rewrites won’t fix the story, what will? Re-version.
But your story is sacred! The characters are perfect! The script is finished! The first thing to do is reframe what a first draft is in your mind. It’s not a draft, it’s a version.
Unlike a rewrite, which retells the bulk of the story beats, characters, and themes in the original story, a re-version goes deeper. It’s not a retelling of the story, it’s a fundamental reworking of the original “why”, the reason you picked up your pen in the first place. There’s more than one way to tell the story of a boy that learns he has special powers and is destined to save the day. Unlikely lovers crop up in stories all the time. What did you originally set out to achieve? What’s the kernel of truth?
Now, how else could you tell that story? What genres would work? Did your original story take place in a school? Well, now it’s the halls of Parliament and it’s haunted by ghosts. How does your kernel of truth work here?
“It’s a ruthless act of distilling and trying new pathways. Not clinging to what you’ve written, but using versions to imagine and play, is the best way Milly and I have found to go about rewriting.” – Making Your Solo Show (Lisa Carroll & Milly Thomas)
If you don’t believe me that this process works, it’s exactly how Gareth Edwards was able to take production issues on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and turn them into The Creator.
Once you’ve found a version that excites you, write it! When it’s done, read it. Is it as bad as the last one? Probably not. Is it want you want it to be? No, but it’s closer. Okay, back to the drawing board.
On the third go round you should start to see what works and what doesn’t. And, most importantly, you’ll see what makes this story yours, something artificial intelligence will never be able to do.
My Process
The idea for this article hasn’t come from nowhere. I’ve recently undergone the dread, fear, and anxiety of looking at a draft and hating it. Knowing I didn’t have enough finished scripts to build my portfolio, I set out to write a one-person show. It would be somewhat autobiographical and speak to the themes of ageing in the modern gay community.
Version 01 -
The first draft was fine. It read well, but it wasn’t what I set out to write. Through writing it, it had turned into a story about the customer service industry which happened to include some moments actually tackling what I wanted to.
Version 02-
So, I returned to the reason I set out to write in the first place. Completely removing the customer service angle, I focused on sex and family. Again, it read absolutely fine, and it was much closer to what I originally set out to write. But the story of a sex addict preparing to attend the ordination of his brother to the priesthood while accidentally falling in love and struggling to survive in a small town with no sex felt a bit busy.
Once again, I returned to the drawing board. I liked the religious angle, but the story didn’t fit my premise of being inspired by my own life. Then, something clicked. When he died, my high school headmaster’s funeral was the first Catholic service at Gloucester Cathedral since Henry VIII. Reworking the story around an event like that, I found pieces falling into place. The protagonist, who up until now had just been called “J” now had a proper name. The situation of the funeral forced me to strip away muddy storylines. To top it off, it was exactly what I’d set out to write.
The script is far from done, but I now have the final version ready to redraft and hone into a tight piece of storytelling craft.
Final Version / Draft 01 -
Redrafting
The scary bit is done. You’ve scrapped more versions of your story than you ever thought you’d need to, but you finally have a story you know will work. The best thing to do now? Follow all the rules. Rewrite the scenes. Tweak the characters. Shuffle the story around. Redraft.
Most importantly, get help.
Every story needs an audience, and every writer needs an editor. Send the script out, get feedback. What works for them? What doesn’t? For help on how to give feedback, I’ve written an article previously on this.
Screenplay editing is the process of reviewing and revising a script for a film, television show, or stage play. It involves correcting grammar and formatting errors, improving the flow and pacing of the story, and making suggestions for changes to characters and dialogue - Celtx Blog
Just because you’ve found your final version, don’t be afraid to make drastic changes. Is a character just not working? Take them out. Maybe the story would work better in the haunted halls of Parliament? Go for it!
You have learned so much getting here, use that knowledge! Mine the material you have.
Save Your Darlings
One tip, do not Bin Your Darlings. Most writers have heard the expression ‘kill your darlings’, meaning to remove what doesn’t work for the story, no matter how painful. That’s correct. A story should only be precious to its audience. Sometimes, however, we really don’t want to get rid of something. Maybe a scene in version one was complete perfection, or a character in version two was the funniest thing you’ve ever written.
Kill them, but don’t bin them. As a result of writing this play the way I have, I decided to buy a notebook specifically dedicated to lines of dialogue I loved but had to part with to make the story work.
Again, to use Gareth Edwards as an example, if he’d simply moved on after Rogue One, we wouldn’t have got The Creator.
I may never use the dialogue I’ve saved, but knowing I still have them made them easier to dispose of in the re-version process.
Wait, Wasn’t This Article About A.I?
But where does AI fit into all this?
Well, exactly. Large language models, image generators, all artificial intelligence is a tool. The tractor didn’t take the job of a farmer. Yes, we will all need to adapt to this changing industry, but if any creative writer thinks that AI is going to overrun the industry and take our jobs, they can’t have much faith in the creative side of our industry.
Fear breeds fear. There are responsible AI users out there. Surround yourself with them. For some, it’s an absolute lifeline, giving differently abled writers an accessible way to write and create. For the majority, it’s an editing tool. ProWritingAid will help with coherence, ChatGPT will help conceptualise, and Midjourney will help visualise, but even with their powers combined, they can’t take the job of an authentic professional.
As a tool, it polishes, refines, and focuses. If your work is a turd, it can only polish that turd.
So, bottom line:
Commentaires