J.W. ARTHUR - OFFICIAL
I was taught by author Jerry B. Jenkins to be a ferocious self-editor. He ingrains that discipline, making you responsible for every word—for clarity, rhythm, pacing, and so on. And I'd like to think some of that instinct imprinted early, back when I first tried reading Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls at the age of eleven or twelve.
Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I’ve taken things to extremes I’d never wish on another writer. I obsess on a microscopic level over the intent of every word and how it pushes the narrative, the cadence and flow of sentences, their varying lengths, and the deliberate use of frags. And then comes the hard part, exercising restraint before things become overwritten or ornamental. The greats make it look so effortless. Truth be told, this has helped me find my voice—a cinematic, slightly conversational tone.
All that said, I do not see the conflict in a writer using tools to cut away what doesn’t serve their work. Writers use editors, beta readers, etc. Well, that’s human interaction altering one’s work with revisions. Another’s revisions.
The line drawn, as I see it, is simple: the writer writes and edits, or an editor combs over it in the end, or a writer operates with integrity while using AI. Keyword: Integrity.
In all honesty, you would think the use of AI solely as an editor would be an attractive asset, removing any human influence from altering the intent of one's prose or their voice.
Nevertheless, I do understand the bitterness and disdain over AI removing traditional editors from the equation, creating its own works, and learning off the works of others. And in a greater sense, how it can devalue the craft when the grind or apprenticeship of becoming a writer is bypassed.
As for me, I read and re-read the work of my influences and immerse myself in manuscript repairs and rewrites inside my mentor’s writers’ guild to further sharpen my eye and strengthen my prose.
In the end, AI truly lacks the soul of an accomplished writer’s chiseled voice. It really isn’t that hard to differentiate—its unintentional repetition is the primary betrayer.
—J.W.
