4 Ways Getting into AI Art Has Made Me a Better Writer

Juicy Burger - Shannon Hilson via Midjourney

So, as anyone who follows me elsewhere online probably knows by now, I've really been going down the rabbit hole with Midjourney and the wonders of AI-generated art lately. At first, it was really just this fun curiosity to dink around with in my spare time. However, it's since evolved into a real asset to the way I create things and explore all my different ideas.

It's also become an indispensable part of how I write and manage my online presence. Really, at one point, I really thought I'd cared about creating any kind of visual art for the last time in my life. But Midjourney has truly proven to me that I should probably never say never. Apparently, I still very much love expressing myself this way, and giving AI a try has turned out to be a very positive decision for me. 

Getting into Midjourney has also made me a better writer in some interesting ways, as well, and I can totally see where it could easily do the same for others in the larger online writing community. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about.

1. I don't have to scrounge for stock photos anymore

Not if I don't want to, anyway. I don't have to settle for choosing between good images that are seriously overused and lesser-known options that really don't fit what I'm posting very well, either. If there's a stock photo or a public domain graphic that suits my purposes for a particular post, then great. But I love that I'm no longer limited to those. 

This is especially the case when it comes to content that's tough to match with existing imagery anyway -- like creative non-fiction, personal essays, or short stories. Now I can just use AI images I may already have made. Or I can whip something up that fits in minutes. I've made custom illustrations for some of my creative writing, artwork for book covers, and more as well. It's been fantastic.

2. I have a great go-to tool for developing ideas

One thing I've noticed since getting into Midjourney in conjunction with my writing is that creativity and inspiration seem to flow both ways when I use the two together. Yes, AI art has been great for illustrating things I've already written. But using it on its own has given me some truly incredible flashes of inspiration I wouldn't have had otherwise. 

Midjourney is so much fun and so relaxing, I actually spend a fair amount of my leisure time playing with it and exploring different imagery just for fun. And more than once, I've come up with places, characters, or ideas that are just asking to have stories and other content written about them. 

On Life and What I've Been Up to Creatively Lately

Original Image by Shannon Hilson via Midjourney

I swear I don't know where the damn time goes when it comes to these blogs I still like to tell myself I maintain. I'll realize it's been a while since my last update, but when I finally make it over to the platform to type something up, I'll see it's actually been... like... months. So long in some cases that the entire posting interface is totally different, as is apparently the case with Blogger today.

I know I keep saying this, and I'll say it again (to whatever audience I still have left or might have at any point in the future). Don't take breaks when it comes to your personal writing. I don't care how many awesome clients want to pay you good money for your time, expertise, and labor. A week off so easily turns into a month, and that so easily turns into several months. Before you know it, you're back to wondering whether you even know how to write a decent blog post anymore and unsure of where to start figuring it out.

Instead, treat whatever type of writing you want to make sure you keep doing -- blogging, newsletters, journaling, fiction, poetry, fortune cookie sayings, what have you -- with the same seriousness you would your paying freelance work. Try not to worry too much about whether it makes you money because God knows that's my problem. I have a tendency to spend my time and writing energy wherever the money is at any given time, but self-expression is crucial, too, which you'll realize if you neglect it long enough.

On Clients and Freelance Work

My original reason for taking a bit of a break from blogging and other types of writing (with the exception of the private journaling I do for the sake of my sanity and the creative writing I pump out every year during NaNoWriMo) was an abundance of well-paying freelance work that fell in my lap. It was mostly thanks to one client for whom I loved writing and still enjoy writing. But they've been revamping some things on their end lately.

Some of the revamps had to do with their reimagining their SEO strategy, which meant the blog project they had me working on became less of a priority. They're also going through some staffing changes. The editor I'd gotten to know and had been working with this entire time left last Friday, and I was honestly pretty bummed about that, as I genuinely liked the guy and enjoyed working with him. 

I don't yet know the new editor or her vision for that blog moving forward, and they're likely still figuring it out themselves. But for the immediate moment, I don't have a ton to do as far as assignments from that company go. That leaves me with a little free time on my hands after I'm done seeing to my other regulars. It feels weird to have time again, but I'm going to see if I can't use it to reestablish some sort of regular writing habit here.

On Feeling Like the Ghost of a Blogger and a Life Update

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in Howards End (1992)

So a word to the wise aspiring writer. Don't take breaks from any of the things you're out there doing to build your brand and get your name around. A little break can so easily turn into a long one, and before you know it, you've lost a lot of the progress you made over all those months you worked so hard. I feel a little thin right now -- like the ghost of a blogger -- and I'm not sure I like it.

Today was the first day in a long while when I haven't needed to spend my entire productive day working on freelance assignments, so I've been attempting to catch up on things like Medium posts, items on my personal to-do list, and social media tasks. Coming back and posting something new to Medium especially felt really weird, and it's clear that I've got my work cut out for me as far as getting my traffic back up where it used to be. The single-digit views on that poor article from earlier were depressing, to say the least.

It felt really good to actually write something for myself again besides entries to my private journal that no one has access to but me, though. It was also nice to spend some time on video lectures, umpteenth watchings of old beloved movies like Howards End, and a little bit of pleasure reading, to boot. (I'm currently reading Their Eyes Were Watching God.) I need more little pockets of time like the ones I enjoyed today, and today was a valuable reminder of that. 

I wasn't going to take a long weekend for President's Day, as I was worried about falling behind at work. But most of my clients are taking it, so I don't have much on my plate right now and may as well take an extra day off, too. When I mentioned that to Seth, he said I need to take better advantage of working for myself and enjoy the same holidays everyone else gets. When he's right, he's right.