Scrolling through my socials these days, so many of my colleagues are sharing their expertise about AI. Some writer/trainers have even flipped fully into that area of expertise, which is not a bad move.
AI is the question that any writer, regardless of experience with it, has on their mind right now. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the most regular questions I field when I give talks to new writers.
It’s the reason I included a final chapter on AI in my Feisty Freelancer book. Even though I was intimidated to write it.
Because I knew it would be instantly old as soon as it was published.
Yet the way I wrote the chapter has been the way I approach answering this question. I look back at how other technologies have changed since I started my business. In the 20 years that I’ve been writing, there has been a lot of change.
Before AI, there were other disruptors
I like to shock new writers by telling them that I began my career before social media. To me, that’s the biggest change. There was no Facebook when I started in 2002.
I’ve watched the rise of blogs since I started. Then their evolution from the very personality-driven mommy bloggers and travel bloggers to their adoption by businesses and every other content creator. They’ve been a shorthand for informal article. The word count for your average blog has also grown and shrunk and grown again.
There’s also the surprise that we’ve become such a text-based society. While the number of journalism outlets has shrunk drastically, communicating via email and social message and even text has become primary.
That’s an upside for writers – there are more places content is needed. The posts might be shorter, but there’s also more of it. Content is a little bit more democratized as well, so that’s an opportunity. To create your own blog or newsletter rather than work for a publication.
AI as super-skill
Returning to AI, the specific advice I give to new writers the same that I followed myself when I was starting out – to learn as much as I could about the current technology. For me at the time, that mean learning how to write for the web, and even to code in HTML. That’s what got me my first job as online editor, which today would not be an entry level job, and before that my first internship as online intern. Teaching myself HTML and then web editing programs like Dreamweaver and then WordPress helped me stand out for those first jobs and then differentiate afterwards.
For new writers, AI is the new skill. I would take the time to get knowledgeable about it and see how it can be a differentiator. Because what new writers don’t realize is that sometimes wisened editors in the office are looking for young keen people to teach them.
If you’re looking for opportunity, this is it.
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