Hello, Writers!
We are in the dog days of Summer now, right? That's okay. It gives us the opportunity to experiment with writing expressively about what extreme heat can feel like. Hey, there has to be some bright side to it. Bring your experimentation to one of the weekly write-ins where we can all commiserate.
So, this is the month that brings us to the submission deadline for the Anthology. As you know, the theme this year is: Space.
Time & Space, Double Space, All that Space, I needed my own Space, Staring into outer Space, focusing on my inner Space, the options are as vast as Space itself, so what are you waiting for? August 31st. $30 for Members, $40 for non-members, and for that low price, you can submit up to four items and receive a printed copy once published. Why not see what you can do in two weeks? For more details, check out the Anthology page.
As mentioned last month, this will be Lynne Streeter's final monthly column. I have enjoyed her Tips of the Trade, and I hope you have, too. I don't think we'll be saying Goodbye to Lynne just yet. I'm confident we'll see other contributions from her, although not regular ones, in the future.
No one contacted us about a new accomplishment, but we would love to hear from you if you have one.
Last month we received welcomed feedback from one of our contacts expressing concern about using AI-generated art. I take full responsibility for this and candidly admit I love using AI generative tools. This isn't just a hobby for me. It's also been a facet of my career as I was a Project Manager for IBM's Watson group for many years. I readily acknowledge this is a complicated, passion-filled issue.
As we've seen, AI is bursting onto the scene in all areas of government, business, and the arts. Members of all communities are scrambling to determine what is fair, safe, and ethical. Of particular concern is the class action lawsuit regarding Stable Diffusion. An interesting point-by-point webpage addressing those concerns can be read here, provided by the Stable Diffusion legal team. It will be interesting to see where this all leads.
But please do not think I am unsympathetic regarding artistic creators because that is not true. My family is full of artists, both hobbyists and professionals. In one conversation I had recently, I was reminded that in K-12 and university-level art schools, studying and copying the work of masters, both dead and alive is part of the curriculum. In that sense, AI and humans are trained the same. You can read more about how AI is trained here.
As mentioned, I love to create AI art; but when I do, I use the Google image search tool for visual matches. Amazon and other tools for that purpose also exist, but Google's remains the best to date. In closing on this topic, I'd like to point out that none of us in BAWL are paid. We are, all of us, volunteers. If you would like to volunteer to donate artwork for the newsletter, website, or Anthology, please contact us.
Do you struggle with using "said" too often in your writing? Check out the latest addition to the Resource page: 476 Ways to Avoid "SAID"
Have you come across handy tips like this in your writing journey? There is a thread in the forums where you can share what you have. Writing Tips, etc.
I think the heat has been key in stalling our in-person meetings. I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to drag myself outside most days. Perhaps when the cooler weather returns once more, it will prompt us to finally act on setting something up. We have a few library venues that seem perfect for resuming gatherings. Stay tuned!
And stay cool!
- Kelley
