Writing About Writing Vol. 17

      Before I get started, I will say that I absolutely stuck with the established-for-the-topic image on this post…

Okay, let’s boogie.

     For the past several years, I have led True Story©… off with an image loosely related to the story, usually related to the very topic of the tale itself but sometimes to the punchline of the story when I was feeling particularly funny.

     For the month of March – well, for the three out of five stories in March I made after this was presented to me – I started to employ AI image generators to make those images.  For the YEARS prior, I would simply Google search terms somehow related to the story, then I would scroll and sift through the image search results and simply steal and use whichever one humorously partnered with my story of that week.
… and I prayed that the rightful owners of the images never said anything.  Thus far they have not.

     The topic today is “stick and move,” as I have now had several weeks of ingress as it relates to using these images for the stories.  The use of the AI generators came from a good dear friend of mine who is here for my shenanigous dipshittery every Thursday.  It was not presented to me as a complaint on how I was doing things but more so as a “have you ever…” and here I am, damn near obsessed.

     For this presentation, “stick and move” is an openness to new concepts.  If you had told me at 12, first wanting to write, that I could just plug in some silly terms into the computer and it would generate me a bespoke image I might punch you.  At 43?  I am fuggin AMAZED and fully open to it.
One thing I noticed since I started doing this (February 6^st, for posts that published throughout March, to be clear) I feel a push on what to me already felt like a noticeable creative rally for me.  I say that to say that the very idea of considering what term to search with to create the image has influenced the writing process.  I would almost venture to say that making the image first has made the story making part a little easier.

     The one I have used the most thus far is OpenAI Dall*e, after trying a couple of others to varying degrees of difficulty due to interface or just simply their being busy.

     So yeah…  “stick and move.”
As it relates to the “Writing About Writing” series, “stick and move” is a tip to defend your creativity from writer’s block by seeking or taking suggestions of things that keep your writing fun.  Not all of us will be so excited by the ability to plug in a few words and have our robot overlords spit out some dope artwork for them to use in an online-published story, but something SOMEWHERE is out there to get your juices flowing.  Be ready for yours when it finds you.