I’m not the only writer — or artist, for that matter — feeling overwhelmed by the state of publishing. While there will always be some demand for human-crafted stories, if you spend any time on the internet (as I’m sure you do, if you’re reading this), it’s hard not to feel like the career you’ve yearned and worked for is inching closer and closer to no longer existing.
Let me be clear: While I work with plenty of clients in online media who support the use of AI in publishing their communications, I don’t support the use of generative AI in my personal writing or in more traditional forms of publishing. All my posts are written by me without AI assistance; the book I’m working on? All me. I think it’s immoral and extremely destructive to use it in more ways than one, especially in the way it impacts people’s right to make a living off of their skills and experience.
But that’s just it. We have to make money to survive. So … what do we do? How do we move forward? How do we keep writing when it so often feels like the demand for our services is slipping away?
It’s Skill, It’s Luck — It’s the State of the World
I’ll start by saying this — both for you and as a reminder to myself: It’s not your fault. It’s not because you didn’t work hard enough, or spend enough time on your art, or that you’re not worthy of success. The system is broken. It’s been dismantled by people who care more about money and power, notoriety and legacy, than the beauty of human-made stories about, well … humanity.
Becoming a successful writer was already extremely difficult before AI-generated “art” took over the industries we were meant to work and thrive in. It might seem borderline impossible now. But that’s a lie we simply can’t allow ourselves to take to heart.
I Don’t Know What the Future of Writing Looks Like
As an editor, I’m lucky to still be able to find work — because AI-generated writing is so bad, and isn’t going to get better, that companies need editors to “fix” it for them. But as a writer, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to get hired to do jobs that used to be available in excess.
My hope, of course, is that this AI bubble bursts and companies realize they’re in desperate need of humans to write for them. But I can’t predict the future. I don’t know that for sure. So what, you might be wondering, do we do while we wait for a turnaround that, if we’re being honest with ourselves, may never actually play out the way we’re hoping it will?
The Only Thing We Can Do Is … Write
I know it all seems pretty hopeless right now. I have those days where I just want to stop trying so hard to make my own words count for something. But that’s what they want us to believe. The desire is that we stop trying to make human art. And that’s why it’s more important now than it’s ever been to keep doing it anyway.
Don’t give up on your writing. It’s not only still possible to make a career out of it, but also think of it like this: When the demand for human-crafted prose comes back full-force, you want to be ready to meet that demand. Get those thousands of hours of practice and experience in now. We’re all going to need it, more than we know.
