I am a writer.

I am a very good writer.

I want to be better.

But I don't really want to go to school for that. I'm already in school full-time finishing a bachelor's in philosophy. I may go to grad school, but it won't be for writing. It'll be for another topic of interest that will make my writing even more interesting, and also to develop research skills.

The DIY MFA in Creative Writing that I'm putting myself through, on the other hand, is about refining my craft as a writer with the assistance of AI for giving recommendations and creating structure for me to follow so I can focus on the part I want to focus on - writing.

I don't actually find AI useful for doing the writing for me most of the time.

There's some exceptions. It's great for writing self-study lesson plans. And for writing "graded readers" for studying foreign languages.

But I'm a writer. I like writing. I'm gifted at it.

I'll use the AI tools for what I'm not great at - creating structure - and I'll focus on what brings me joy.

Writing.

Which, as I said, I want to get better at.

I also need to build some Discipline into my writing. And Discipline requires Structure.

Something I'm not all that great at. Which is why it's one of my Daily Focus Words.

And one of the things I use AI for.

"Create a DIY MFA in Creative Writing for me," was the prompt I popped into ChatGPT. I've now got a huge list of books to read, as well as a bunch of exercises to work through, all tailored to my interests and goals as I've discussed with ChatGPT since I started using it in late 2022.

The first book recommended was Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin. I got it in paperback on Amazon for less than $10. Which was cheaper than the Kindle version. Neither of the libraries I have digital access to had it, so I had to buy it. It's short - 10 chapters. Each chapter has a writing exercise, and I'll be publishing those at https://thehermitsgarden.netlify.app where I've deployed select notes from my Obsidian vault for public viewing.

Learning in Public.

I won't have a degree at the end of this plan, but I will be a better writer. I'll have a portfolio of writing, and hopefully some accepted submissions - cuz yep, submitting to publications and publishers is part of the plan ChatGPT drafted for me. There's a whole section on the business of writing cuz the bot knows I fly solo, so I'm building a career as an indie writer first, submission to formal publishers for some select pieces, but mostly, self-publishing.

I've got endless stories in me.

I just need to work on the discipline to get them out, and this structure gives me a way to practice that