I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me

Re:I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Li... by strken on Monday December 15, 2025 @06:02PM (#46282104)

I know you know everything I'm about to write, but I read a lot of dubious quality fiction. It needs to be made clear that if the butler "strides" up to Helen, then I, the reader, am expecting him to eject her from the party, tell her that her car is on fire, or something equally dramatic. The writer can subvert this expectation, but must at least acknowledge that it exists. The butler can stride up to Helen with a self-important sniff and welcome her to the house, but he can't just stride up for no reason: the striding must be explained and it must be relevant to the rest of the story.

Conveying meaning is the whole problem here. An unexpected word choice is a neon sign saying "This is important!" and it disappoints the reader if it is not.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Li... by GMoromisato on Monday December 15, 2025 @07:25PM (#46283044)

Yes, that's a great way of explaining it, and I 100% agree.

People shouldn't use "strides" just because "walked" is boring. They should use "strides" when it's meaningful in the context of the story.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Li... by FireBeyond on Tuesday December 16, 2025 @09:49AM (#46289190)

I remember as a younger teen my parents got me a workshop seminar with maybe 10 other kids with a fairly acclaimed author.

"You probably remember your English teacher saying 'the word 'said' is boring, use something different. Yes, find something else, if it makes more sense. But the word 'said' is a perfectly good word."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Li... by lukeschlather on Monday December 15, 2025 @09:44PM (#46284141)

Between stride and walk, it seems like it would be unusual for any character in a romance novel to merely walk rather than stride. If anything the simple walk would need explanation.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Li... by GMoromisato on Monday December 15, 2025 @10:03PM (#46284261)

Agreed. As always, it depends on what the author is trying to convey. At the first meeting, you probably do want to describe the walk in a way that reveals the character's inner motivation. Are they excited to walk up to the woman? Scared? Bored? They would walk differently depending on the feeling.

But a different scene might be better with the pedestrian "walk". Imagine that the main character enters the woman's office with an ostentatious bouquet of flowers. In that scene, maybe the emphasis is on the flowers or on the reaction of the woman or her co-workers. In the scene, a simple "he walked" might work best.

[ Parent | on HN ]