#IWSG SEPT 3RD, TO AI OR NOT TO AI

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The awesome co-hosts for the September 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Diedre Knight!

September 3 question – What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, story bible, or creating outlines\beats?

AI=Artificial Intelligence

I’m a bit on the fence, but dabbling with it to learn about AI. I’m finding out it can have some uses and be quite fun. There are many AI tools out there. You can use it for headlines, outlines, story beats, analyze your scenes for weakness, theme…

I had it analyze one of my scenes and I was surprised at what it saw in my scene. It made me feel good about my writing. Will I keep using it? For Outlines and Analyzes, maybe. The writing NO.

First, I had fun naming my ChatGPT “Inky” and talked to him conversation style. Yes I enjoyed personifying my Chat just like I named and personified my MUSE (Raven) and inner EDITOR (Hook).

I gave Inky my plot points. A one sentence logline and three sentence summary of novel. I also upload a story bible doc with a lot of my world building and story development beats to give Inky an idea of what I wanted the novel/series to be about, and the richness of the world I had already built.

I am analyzing my story scene by scene for editing purposes for a complete rewrite, as my story changed a little and I learned new elements I wanted to expand and add in.

I originally did a short form 150 word scene outline on Medium as experiment (82 episodes) to tell myself the story. I wrote another expanded zero draft of the first novel once that was done.

I uploaded my full scene. I told Inky this is my Opening Scene. I ask him to analyze it for scene purpose, pertinent facts, character emotional arc, tie-ins and connections for overall plot and structure in this scene.

Below is what I got. Now this is work I have been doing for the the last two years on my novel series, Ghostwalker: The Katje Storm Chronicles.

Example: My Scene (c) Juneta Key
Some spoiler info in presentation

Scene Title: Katje’s Apartment Over the Garage

Beat Type: Opening Image / Ordinary World

🎯 Purpose of the Scene

– Establish Katje’s current reality: post-separation, low on resources, emotionally bruised but standing.
– Set emotional tone: betrayal, resilience, and the simmering edge of change.
– Show contrast between her mundane world and the paranormal storm about to hit.
– Hint at the strain between her and the Easley family and the power imbalance (money, control).
– Introduce Macy Stanton as a warm, stabilizing presence—and potential magical figure.
– Lay the emotional groundwork for the inciting incident.

📘 Pertinent Facts

– Katje now lives in a small apartment above The Raven’s Root, a New Age shop.
– Macy Stanton owns the shop and is a maternal, intuitive figure who gently looks after Katje.
– Katje and Shamus are separated—he cheated with his exotic personal assistant.
– He has closed her bank account and canceled credit cards out of spite.
– Shamus’s twin sister calls to inform Katje she’s disinvited from Sunday family dinners—framing her as the villain.
– Katje is getting dressed to attend dinner with Shamus to discuss the divorce—he still lives in Haven House.

💔 Character Emotional Arc

– Katje begins in quiet exhaustion, emotionally bruised.
– She shifts from weary to resolved—angry, betrayed, but determined to walk into that dinner like a queen in silk and stilettos.
– She wants to show Shamus exactly what he lost.
– Still clings to some dignity, but her hurt bleeds through in little bursts (wallet not fitting, hair sticks memory).
– Her confidence is wobbly, but this is the first hint she’s not going to stay broken.

🧵 Tie-Ins and Connections

– The black silk dress and opal hair sticks subtly foreshadow her transformation—she’s still tethered to her past but reclaiming power.
– Macy’s character will grow in significance later—her early warmth signals a deeper connection to Katje’s future.
– Katje’s isolation from the Easley family sets up themes of found family and identity reclamation.
– This moment is echoed later when she dresses for herself, not for anyone else—mirroring her arc from betrayed wife to empowered Ghostwalker.

🗝️ Plot & Structure

– Beat Type: Opening Image (Ordinary World)
– Status Quo: Post-betrayal limbo, emotional and financial isolation.
– Foreshadowing: Shamus’s control issues, Macy’s deeper magical ties, emotional stakes that will explode after dinner.
– Sets Up: The emotional fuel for the inciting incident in Scene 1

AI TOOLS
I use or have tried most of theses tools.
These are tools that can aid the writer not replace the writer.

Ecosystem Integration Productive Tools
e.g. Research, Marketing Focus, human-like writing, Task & Note Taking… All around tool

ChatGPT
Google Gemini
Microsoft Co=Pilot
Claude
Perplexity AI
Jasper

Grammer, Spelling, Readability (I use these

ProWritingAid
AutoCrit
Grammerly
Hemmingway

Editing, Proofing, Structure for Fiction & Non-Fiction
(a bit more advanced)

AutoCrit
Fictionary

SEO Optimize Headlines for Articles and Blog Posts

Co-Schedule
Capitalize My Title
TitleCaseConverter
Headline Capitalization

Social Media Management

HooteSuite
Loomly
Buffer
SocialBee
HubSpot

Predictive Analytics
(Helps with data driven decisions)

HooteSuite Insights
Predikt
Google Analytics
Zoho Social

It’s crucial to use AI ethically to avoid any negative impact on the readers or society as a whole. ~Megan Stewart