Posts Tagged writing tools

When the Hammer Builds the House: Grappling with AI in Kidlit

By on November 20, 2025   /   Articles, For Writers, kidlit, News, Op-Ed  

Two years ago I wrote an article about how to utilize AI as a tool in children’s writing. At the time, ChatGPT was still in its first iterations, and many creatives had only the faintest ideas about generative AI. In the middle grade world, authors were mostly just trying to figure out what AI would mean for them, if anything at all. 

I think it’s safe to say things have changed since then, and I wanted to come back to this topic with fresh eyes to see if the undertones of techno-optimism that permeated my first piece on the subject still resonate the way they did back in 2023. There are, after all, some new realities that authors must face head-on.

For one, it’s simply no longer accurate to say that AI writing is cheesy, formulaic, and easy to spot. Large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini have become astonishingly good at mimicking human authors in tone, humor, and even complex themes woven through longer pieces. YouTuber and developmental editor Alyssa Matesic recently did a side-by-side of AI writing and short stories written by professional authors, and the two were startlingly difficult to tell apart.

That also begs the question of how AI models have gotten so good. Since 2023, big tech companies have scraped vast libraries of unlicensed and copyrighted material to train their models. It’s a controversial topic, and too intricate to dive into here, but it has forced many authors to divert attention away from the creative process and think carefully about how to protect their work.

Still, the biggest issue probably isn’t about detectability or fair use, but the mere fact that AI writing exists at all. The very possibility of humanlike AI writing has cast a shadow over the legitimate efforts of human writers everywhere. Even the once-loved em dash has become a symbol of AI skepticism, with many authors consciously adjusting their tone and techniques to look less like the AI that used their writing to develop its own voice in the first place. It’s a strangely ironic dance that creators across all fields have been doing since generative AI exploded onto the scene in the last few years. 

So is it really fair to say that AI is “just a tool” the way I described it back in 2023? It would be a bit like a master craftsman returning to his worksite after a lunch break to find that his hammer had come to life and built the rest of the house without him. It sounds nice, but what if the craftsman actually enjoyed building houses? What if he’d spent his whole life learning to do it well? What if everyone then assumed that all his houses – countless hours of work – had been built by the magic hammer? 

So what is a middle grade author to do in this strange new world? Since this post is just around the corner from Thanksgiving, I’m choosing to slant toward gratitude. Even in this weird and sometimes scary landscape of publishing in 2025, there are quite a few things to be thankful for.

 

Authors are fighting back and winning.

A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic PBC and authors who alleged nearly half a million books were pirated to train AI chatbots. It’s a major win for writers wanting more accountability from AI developers.

Readers want human-made books.

As AI writing continues to permeate the book market, consumers are becoming more vocal about their preference for human work. In a recent poll by YouGov, well over half of respondents reported that they’d feel less fulfilled after learning a book they’d read was authored with AI. There are also new projects popping up like the “Human Authored” initiative from the Authors Guild. It’s a promising sign that readers are rediscovering the incredible value of human connection and contribution.

 

As a tool, AI is only getting better.

In its rightful place, AI continues to be a transformative technology that can untether creators and allow them to make and explore more than ever before. As a research tool, for example, AI cites its sources with more accuracy than it did back in 2023, and it can also summarize and synthesize material extraordinarily well. Even for this piece, which is admittedly a bit skeptical of AI’s prevalence overall, I used AI tools to find sources and make connections. I just had to keep that hammer locked up in the toolbox when it came time to write, design the art, etc. Many have equated this dynamic with letting AI “do the dishes”. Artificial Intelligence can handle the chores so creatives can do the fun stuff (although not all the time, as we learned from NEO — skip to 2:55 for a good laugh).

 

So have I changed my mind about AI over the last two years? Should you? These are questions worth exploring, but let’s not spend too much time perseverating on a dynamic that changes almost daily. 

After all, we’ve got writing to do.

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My Favorite Writing Tools

By on December 27, 2019   /   Articles, For Writers, Writing  

Favorite Writing ToolsIt’s the end of the year. For most people, the changing of the calendar is a time to take stock of where you’ve been and to figure out where you want to go. Successes are counted; vision boards are created; goals are written; and a shiny new year of possibility is just waiting for the clock to strike midnight.

It’s a hopeful time.

This year, I decided not to wait for the new year to revamp my writing life. I dove in early – not with the stock-taking or the goal-setting components though. I’m already pretty clear about where I’ve been and where I’d like to get. Instead, I focused on the regular sit-down-and-write parts of the job. What’s working? What’s not? And are there some writing tools I can use to make all of it easier?

For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying things out. I’ve created some rituals to help make the transition to writing quicker and easier and I’ve gotten rid of some tools/habits that just aren’t working. I’ve also played with some new tools to see what might make me more efficient and more organized. I thought I’d share my current writing tool box with you all as a little New Year’s gift, with the hope that you might find something on my list that will make writing a little easier for you too.

This Year’s Top Writing Tools

Evernote:

People have suggested this program to me forever, and I’ve resisted, whole-heartedly, until this month when my computer crashed, and I lost a ton of writing-research bookmarks and links.

So I gave in and tried the free version of Evernote. Now, I’m a little bit hooked.

Evernote is a cloud-based note-taking application that lets you clip web articles, save picture, take notes and generally organize your life and your projects across all of your devices. For someone like me who failed at Scrivener and never remembers to use One Note, Evernote’s a bit of a miracle. Now my web links, random thoughts, beat sheet, and character sketches are all in one, easy-to-search place.

At least everything except the things I hand write. Yep, I still like to write things down. Journals, sticky notes, legal pads – story ideas, character sketches, sudden bursts of inspiration are scattered throughout my house. So this month, I cleaned it up. Sticky notes get typed into Evernote. So does legal pad planning. Everything else goes into the journal dedicated to my work in progress – and it’s all dated and tabbed so I can easily see what was actually a useful idea and what was just me rambling along. One thing hasn’t changed, though. I’m picky about my hand writing tools. They have to feel good and be exactly the right size, large enough to write fast and loose in and small enough to fit in my purse. My favorite place for project notebooks and a solid pen is:

Peter Pauper Press:

Their notebooks are solid and durable and the paper is thick, so colored ink and highlighters don’t bleed through. Their pens are pretty, just heavy enough, and easy (and cheap) to refill. I’ve been using their notebooks and pens for years now, and it’s one part of my writing system that I’m not going to change.

The next tool, however, is a huge change from my usual writing work. You see, I’m one of those writers who likes it quiet. I don’t have novel playlists or soundtracks, and I don’t write while the TV is keeping me company in the background. I don’t need complete silence though, coffee house chatter is fine – and every so often I’ll even break out one of those ambient noise apps and write to a rainstorm or some ocean waves. But all that changed the other day when I was reminded of the power of binaural beats. I’ve used Frequency Following Response in my hypnosis practice many times, but I’ve never used it to help with my own writing focus.

Brainwave Entrainment

Brainwave entrainment is basically listening to two specific sound frequencies at the same time. These frequencies trick your brain into creating a third frequency, a binaural beat, that helps lead your brain into a desired state – relaxed, meditative, focused, alert, etc. Admittedly, the whole thing is a little woo and the science on it is pretty much a big maybe right now. But lots of people swear by it, and I’ve noticed that if I listen to the right frequencies for a few minutes (paired with some ambient sounds like a waterfall or ocean waves) when I start a writing session, I slip into a work state more quickly than if I just sit down and try to write. There’s a lot of interesting articles about it on the internet and some free apps/YouTube videos to check out if you’re interested. Just know, it’s not for everyone.

The last thing on my list is my go-to inspirational book. I know a lot of people turn to Anne Lamott and Bird by Bird with things get tough – and I love it, too, but my go-to break-out-of-a-slump book is one by novelist Steven Pressfield.

The War of Art

It’s a small book and a quick read.  And it’s usually the tough love reminder I need to walk through my fear and get back to work.

So, that’s my current list of favorite writing tools. I’m still testing out a couple more – like the list-making application Trello and a bullet journal style calendar/day planner. Maybe I’ll update this post when I’ve sorted those out. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your favorite writing tools. What can’t you live without? And what are you going to change or try this year to make the day-to-day work go smoother? Please share in the comments below!

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