Forum: Author Hangout

Are Suscription Sites Encouraging Lazy Writing

awnlee jawking 🚫

I read the latest chapter of an ongoing serial yesterday and, about halfway down, I had a strong sense of deja vu. I skipped back a couple of paragraphs and found almost exactly the same content but with the words rearranged in a different order.

That doesn't seem to be uncommon where authors also make their stories available via a subscription site where, for their monthly fee, they commit to a certain amount of 'new' content for subscribers each month.

Am I the only reader to have noticed this, or have others noticed it too?

AJ

Replies: Pixy Michael Loucks Big Ed Magusson

Pixy 🚫

@awnlee jawking

It's inevitable. Humans, are mostly lazy. Originality requires either great intelligence or time. Most people lack both.

It's also a situation I think that is going to get worse with the proliferation of AI.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Pixy

It's also a situation I think that is going to get worse with the proliferation of AI.

It's also much easier to write, when you can just tell someone/something else what to write.

That's the penultimate 'lazy writing'! Unfortunately, originality seems to be a dying (rapidly decreasing) interest. Novelists will continue writing original content, yet a generation or two from now, we have to ask, just how many will still exist?

Instant gratification rarely translates into dedicated, prolonged work. There will always be exceptions, just as there always have been, yet the odds are now steadily declining that it will have the same impact it does not—especially with publishers losing SO much money recently (cost of paper and ink for printing, as opposed to the more easily produced eBooks).

Michael Loucks 🚫

@awnlee jawking

, they commit to a certain amount of 'new' content for subscribers each month.

I have an informal commitment to release one chapter of each of my main stories per week. I can skip a week (or more), as I've done when I complete a book, and I've yet to have any signfiicant complaints.

The one chapter per major story means I need to write about 20,000 words per week, which is pretty easy for me.

I don't feel I've been repetitive since I added support sites. One of my readers my opine to correct me if that is not the case. :-)

Replies: Crumbly Writer

Crumbly Writer 🚫

@Michael Loucks

As I've gotten older (68, with a host of health issues), my writing pace has significantly slowed, yet I'm still at it, day in and day out. Once upon a time, I was writing around 30K words a day, now I'm lucky if I manage 2,500 words a day.

Dedication and originality account for a lot, yet they don't cover steadily declining productivity. However, my greatest decline is from my no longer being able to focus on the whole story arc, so my stories aren't as consistent as they once were.

That said, I have order new speed-reading and rapid writing (i.e. keyboarding), so I can likely recover some ground again. I'll never be young again, still, adjusting and adapting is always beneficial!

Replies: Michael Loucks

Michael Loucks 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

Dedication and originality account for a lot, yet they don't cover steadily declining productivity. However, my greatest decline is from my no longer being able to focus on the whole story arc, so my stories aren't as consistent as they once were.

I find my productivity varies, and I go with the flow. There are times when I write 30K words in a day, and days when I don't write at all. The typical day is about 8K words, which means I'm 'ahead' for my weekly releases, and those 'zero' days don't get in the way.

The one story that isn't weekly (it's alternate weeks) is my 'main' one because it's become so complex with seven kids + the MC all having narration sections. That means more planning time.

Big Ed Magusson 🚫

@awnlee jawking

I've committed to not beginning a release on a subscription site (I use Ream) until the story is complete.

I have seen authors who are generating lower quality stuff just to meet the hamster wheel deadline. I've also seen authors not finish stories after charging for the early chapters.

I committed myself to not being one of those authors.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Are Suscription Sites Encouraging Lazy Writing

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