NOVEMBER NIGHTS

Back in January of 2023, I had my head down thinking about what book I might work on next, and how to finish up writing a TV series that I had been working on. I was totally oblivious to the technological revolution taking place in Silicon Valley. To be honest, my enthusiasm for writing another book was at an all-time low. I was more wrapped up in the TV series than anything, seeing it as a perfect encapsulation of my brand of storytelling. A TV series that tells multiple stand-alone stories spanning decades that are intertwined with one another. To this day, I still think it might be one of my best stories. 

Then things started to get interesting. 

I have tried for decades to stay as true to my 25-year-old creative spirit as possible. Why? My concern has always been that one day the story-making machine  (my brain) would stop generating stories that my 25-year-old self would want to read or watch on a screen. Not that I had a desire to never grow up, but I wanted to remain true to myself and the vision and passion that I had at that age. Fearing that one day I would wake up and no longer have an interest or an ability to tell proper stories. There have been some major sacrifices along the way, but I have been able to remain true to myself. And in the end, that has meant the world to me. 

Have I missed out on some things along the way because of it? Yes. Do I regret it? No, but I have had doubts at times through the years. I've never wanted to live a conventional life; it has never appealed to me. I've worked for big corporations and felt as insignificant as a fly on a cow's backside. We are all cogs in the machine of humanity, gobbling up resources and defecating on the future, all in an effort to live our best lives. I am no exception in that regard. Sure, I may care more about the future than most, but I am still just a cog in the machine, grinding through the gears as I work to create stories and enable others to tell theirs. 

"Do no harm." It is part of an oath that doctors take in order to become licensed to practice medicine. I am not sure why I think about those three words so much. I have never desired to be a doctor, and yet I try and live my life by those three words in the Hippocratic oath. I wish more people did as well. We'd have fewer villains masquerading as heroes, pretending to be the good guy when in fact they are destroying more than they create. Maybe they all live by the belief that from destruction comes creation. These are tricky times and there are enough tricky dicks trying to deceive us just to enrich themselves these days. 

I digress. 

We are fast approaching the end of the year. While this is not my year-in-review post, which I normally do in late December, I am in need of taking an account of where I am on my goals for the year. Why? Because I need to focus and begin to pivot on what comes next. I have learned a lot this year. The 1st Draft App was always my main focus, but it wasn't the only thing, far from it. I had Plans for three apps. I thought for sure I could complete at least two before the end of the year. All the while, working on short AI films, graphic novels, video games, and podcasts. Little did I know that most of my attention would be focused on building the 1st Draft App. It was a sacrifice of time that I was willing to make, though. Why? 

That's complicated. I took a more arduous path, as I laid out in my last blog post. I did not think it would be that way when I started. But then I had never built an app before; I had only seen others build apps with AI tools, and they made it look so easy. In truth, it is not that difficult to create something with AI tools. To actually get it the way you want when you've never done so before is the hard part. And my willingness to sacrifice much of my other plans for the year to learn about each tool and the process of building was more important than keeping up with all the changes in AI, like I had been doing for 2 years. 

The AI image and video tools have improved a lot this year, but I did not obsess about them like I had in the past. Same with all the other tools; they have all improved this year. But you know what? That just means it will be easier for me to use them when I actually circle back around and continue where I left off in July. The month I realized that I had once again made bigger plans than I was capable of achieving for the year. 

I have been humbled countless times through the years after planning to do what, at the time of creating those plans, seemed completely realistic. It shows I have a ton of confidence in myself, and I am not afraid to make big plans. It also shows that I fall short, like a lot. I think back to the early 2000s when I managed to write between 5-10 screenplays in a year. My brain was on fire. I think that and the completion of Monarch gave me the confidence to make such audacious plans. Creation has always been the most important thing for me. With 1st Draft, I wanted to take great care in making sure that I was building a tool that others could use to create with little friction. But then I am no longer just writing screenplays; I am building things I have never built before. My confidence to do so comes from my history of being able to write stories and being generally creative, yes. But it also stems from the rapid advancements in technology and my having kept a close eye on things over the past few years. Having used many of the tools. 

As I reflect, I realize now that I was too confident, thinking that with the help of AI, I would be able to achieve all my goals in a super short period of time. When in truth I am realizing that it is still just me being capable of writing stories and being creative with a little knowledge about AI trying to do more than I have the capacity to do, while also making what I create not just first drafts of screenplays but polished final drafts ready for audiences. 

Even with my plans for three apps, I didn't think all three would be ready to go by the end of the year. I thought maybe two of them would be ready, and the third would get more attention by the beginning of 2026. In theory, I could still get the 2nd app ready by the end of the year and finish the short AI film I began work on in 2024. However, things have changed. I care more about getting 1st Draft into the app stores. 

I've had second thoughts about the 2nd and 3rd apps. I still plan on creating them, but I am not as much of an authority on them as I am with the 1st Draft App. With 1st Draft, I am a writer who created a tool that can help me as a writer, and therefore, I know for a fact it will help others create their stories. The other two apps are still focused on storytelling, but they are not necessarily tools that I would use. I will use them, don't get me wrong, but not like 1st Draft. I expect I will use 1st Draft from here on out, as it is a tool that helps me at the pain points I have had as a writer. I don't need to use it to write my stories, but it is a great tool to have. Especially when I am out for a walk or out hiking, and I want to either flesh out a story I have been thinking of, or if a new idea comes to mind while out and about. It is perfect for that. 

The other two apps are still storytelling tools. Just different. Not necessarily made for an active storyteller desperate to tell their stories while on the go. This is why I have been reluctant to make a widescreen version of 1st Draft. Because I have always seen it as an app for people to use on their phones. Most writing apps are geared for the Microsoft Word crowd who are going to sit in front of their computers and grind through the writing process that way. I wanted a tool for those on the go who may not even own a computer and live their lives on their phones, who don't want to spend hour after hour typing their ideas. I wanted people to be able to speak their stories to life. This is how storytelling began. It is in our DNA. Sure, we eventually began putting our stories onto cave walls and then paper, but storytelling is a word that shows our roots of telling our stories, our history to others. So, for me, it seemed only natural to take it back to those roots, taking us away from the chair and computer and putting us back on our feet and sharing our stories with an assistant that can take what we say and reshape it the way we like without having to have our butts in a chair.  

These other two apps are geared toward a different part of the storytelling crowd. The second app is more about sharing in the storytelling process with others, while the third app is geared more for those who are less mobile than those who 1st Draft is geared towards. I'm sorry I can't share more, and I have to be so cryptic, but I do not like sharing my ideas before making them available upon their completion.

Beyond the first three apps that I began thinking about a few years ago is another app. I am not sure if this one will become public or if I will just create it for my own personal use cases. It will be my own creative everything app. I don't think I will be ready to make this until I have finished the other two apps, but I could be wrong about that. Just like I have been wrong about what I may be able to complete within 365 days. 

Something I also need to talk about is the hate towards AI. It is real and widespread. Some people who use AI to create images and videos have actually begun to lean into it just to increase engagement and therefore make more money off of the hatred. I thought this was clever at first, but it has changed these people who I thought were creative and worth following, and I was actually glad for them to be able to turn things in their favor. Now it just seems like this is all they do. Create something cool and then have a poke at the raging bear engagement farming kerfuffle just to keep their numbers up. Where once I was glad to see them push back, now it seems just as equally juvenile and asinine as those hating on AI art. 

I have received plenty of criticism through the years regarding the stories I wrote before AI. I'd like to tell everyone to just turn the other cheek and ignore the haters, but that is not easy, and most of the time it is damn near impossible. Especially when you are younger and desperately seeking validation. 

I pay attention to what people say on social media about AI, and a lot of it is so negative. There are a lot of people who hate AI. I think much of this is based on fear. And I totally get it. We were all raised by watching movies where AI or technology was an evil that we had to fight against.

As a creative person, I have seen the hate directed at AI since the Writers Guild Strike back in 2023. We are all beginning to feel the effects of AI beyond just the creative world, though. AI is entering the workforce. In some cases, too quickly. Why do I say that? Because some of these big companies have begun mass layoffs and replacing humans with different versions of AI. Having worked in customer service before, it made sense how AI would step in and take most of those jobs. But a lot of that was implemented too quickly. So many of the AI interfaces are garbage. They waste more of people's time than they save. And then people try and get hold of a human, and there is no one there. This creates frustration and wastes way too much time. Gradually, things are improving, but many of these companies are still using the outdated versions of AI interfaces. It would be laughable if it weren't wasting my time. 

Anyway, back to what really matters to me—storytelling. I created this amazing writing tool using AI, but I have spent very little time actually writing stories. So much of my testing of the app has been talking about several stories that I have been thinking about, but I have spent so much time trying to make sure that the app works well that actually completing a story was not as important. My focus has been on how others would use it and not on me trying to complete multiple stories in that time. I never would have been able to properly complete the app if I had spent all my time trying to complete the stories I have developed this year while testing the app.

However, in the New Year, I expect to get a lot of work done on those stories with the help of 1st Draft. There are two stories in particular that I really want to focus on. There is a third that I had plotted before the app that I hope to also write as well. One is a YA TV series. Another is an amalgamate of several stories I had been thinking about for a while, as well as my reflection on this year. The third is a psycho-sexual thriller/ horror film that I began work on over a year ago. A story I have had in the back of my mind for some time. It has notes of MIDSOMMAR and WICKER MAN meets ROSEMARY'S BABY.

The thought of getting back into the writing frame of mind is very exciting, and the fact that I have created a tool that I and others can use to write our stories more quickly has me thrilled to jump back in with focused intent. 

If you haven't checked out the 1st Draft Web App yet, please do. I've been making adjustments to make it even better these past two weeks. Even if you are not a writer, but have a story you've always wanted to tell. 1st Draft was made for you. Sure, I also made it for myself, but I wouldn't have built it without thinking of others. Especially those who don't want to sit in front of a computer tapping at a keyboard for hours on end just to get their thoughts onto a page. The app is designed to be your assistant and work with you throughout the brainstorming and writing process. Give it a whirl for free. If you find it is helpful, then it is only $5 a month to have access to a tool that will help you go from idea to 1st Draft in half the time it would take just sitting down at a computer and typing it all up yourself.