I don’t want large language models to write for me, but I don’t mind them helping me to write. I was riffing on a tool for a while called Muse after watching an Elizabeth Gilbert talk where she spoke about the ancient idea of “having” a genius rather than “being” one. I wanted a little muse to just hang around whilst I wrote and help me out occasionally. Jog my memory or tell me a fact I might not have known, that sort of thing.
I sat down to write some more of my story this evening and started to wonder about a few things. What time does it typically start to get dark in London in September? What day is the market on again; would this sort of thing make sense? Where does the Overground head after London Fields, and what does that route look like in general? I didn’t want to stop my flow, I wanted to come back to it; to have it ready when I was ready.
This is where I think that large language models (or really, tools like ChatGPT and Claude) can be so helpful. Even more helpful if you can bring them into your writing tools (or indeed, find writing tools that already include them). Not in an invasive way, just in a “here when you need me” sort of way. These tools have got a bad name for themselves among many writers, but they can genuinely be good creative partners.
Anyway, back to writing and speaking it out loud. Sat here with a sore neck and painful knee. Poor form whilst running today and now paying the price. The neck pain I think is just “being old” or sleeping funny. I can’t turn my head left, so I’m feeling like Zoolander today, except that I can’t relate with being “really, really ridiculously good looking.” Anyway, back to work for a while, but not too long—more of life to tend to.