Freewrite Stories: How Author Ivo Senden Finished His Novel on a Freewrite, Pt. 2

May 11, 2017 | 3 min read

This is the continuation of the Ivo Senden Freewrite Story, click here for Part 1

 

"It feels amazing on warm summer days to go outside, sit in the sun and the fresh air and type away. The keyboard has improved my writing speed, the distraction-free device has improved my concentration on the manuscript, and somehow it just feels wonderful to be using a beautiful, dedicated device purely for the purpose of writing." – Ivo Senden

Senden is credited with publishing the first book written partially on the Freewrite. For him, the features of the Freewrite have created a huge boost in both productivity and mood surrounding his writing. The E Ink screen is easy on his eyes, and the design of mechanical keyboard provides comfort during times when he finds flow. These were two facts that were not lost on Senden while he was researching the features of the Freewrite. He was excited to learn that the device is the only one of its kind that has an E Ink screen allowing for readability at any angle and in bright light. Senden says, "Even before I became aware of the advantages of the mechanical keyboard and the non-distraction architecture of the device, the screen alone convinced me to order a Freewrite. "

Alongside his decision to purchase the device, Senden found the Freewrite Community forum to be a particularly helpful source of information for his writing process. For him, the process of preparing to write includes a detailed outline, note taking, and intense editing which he used to do in Word. However, during his first hour of visiting the Freewrite Community Forum, he was able to interact with other writers allowing him to discover better tools to manage his content during the laborious development process.

Because the Freewrite has ergonomic features and limits the ability to get lost in social media, or other online distractions, the device allows users to write in a way that enables them to enter flow. At the end of each of his power sessions, Senden can sync his draft from cloud storage to another application for editing purposes, such as his favorite content management tool. The ability to do the bulk of his writing on the Freewrite means less time he has to spend tied to an uncomfortable laptop with short battery life.

Most importantly Senden says, "It feels amazing on warm summer days to go outside, sit in the sun and the fresh air and type away. The keyboard has improved my writing speed, the distraction-free device has improved my concentration on the manuscript, and somehow it just feels wonderful to be using a beautiful, dedicated device purely for the purpose of writing."

Simply a choice of writing location can be critical to the process of writing and to a writer's ability to achieve that all important flow. As we have learned from Senden, writing outdoors was not an option before he purchased the Freewrite. He would find himself sitting inside on his couch on a warm and sunny day. Meaning for him, a choice between work or enjoying all that a beautiful day has to offer. Now thanks to the Freewrite, he can do both which in and of itself boosts mood and creativity. Senden says, "For me, the Freewrite was the answer to my prayers for an E Ink writing device, and its magnificent keyboard was more than a huge bonus."

Ivo on His Typewriter Restoration Hobby

"The beautiful typewriter you see is 98 years old. I tracked it back to a Dutch constable who used it as early as 1919 to write his police reports. I restored it, managed to find new ink ribbons and actually even used it briefly while I was waiting for my Freewrite to arrive. You can imagine my next door neighbors weren't all too happy with some of my late night writing sessions, hacking away on this antique, mechanical monstrosity. I know for a fact that they love the Freewrite as much as I do."

 

Recommended articles

More recommended articles for you

September 05, 2024 7 min read

Everyone has a pandemic story because it's hard to forget. I remember the quickness of it all — societal norms flipping, turning, and somersaulting, which still makes my head spin. "Stuff is gonna get weird," I remember telling my friend. "Especially art."

August 29, 2024 4 min read

Right now, the choice for a writer to use artificial intelligence (AI) or not has been largely a personal one. Some view it as a killer of creativity, while others see it as an endless well of inspiration.

But what if, in the future, your choice had larger implications on the state of literature as a whole?

This is the question that’s being raised from a new study by the University of Exeter Business School: If you could use AI to improve your own writing, at the expense of the overall literary experience, would you?

Let’s explore some context before you answer.

The Set Up

The 2024 study recruited 293 writers to write an eight-sentence “micro” story. The participants were split into three groups:

  • Writing by human brainpower only
  • The opportunity to get one AI-generated idea to inspire their writing
  • The opportunity to get up to five AI-generated ideas to inspire their writing

Then, 600 evaluators judged how creative these short stories were. The results confirmed a widely accepted idea but also offered a few surprising findings.

Prompts from AI Can Jumpstart the Creative Process

Right off the bat, the reviewers rated the AI-guided stories as being more original, better written, and more enjoyable to read. (Interesting to note that they did not find them funnier than the fully human-inspired stories.)

This actually isn’t that surprising. Most writers know the “blank page dread” at the beginning of a project. Even as I write this, I can’t help but wonder, “If I had been tasked with writing an eight-sentence story, what the heck would I have written about?”

Many writers share this sense of needing to pick the “right” story to tell. And that uniquely human concept of perfectionism can end up actually inhibiting our creative process.

A prompt, then, can help us quickly clear this mental hurdle. To test this, I’ll give you one, courtesy of ChatGPT: “Write a story about a teenager who discovers a mysterious journal that reveals hidden secrets about their town, leading them on an unexpected adventure to uncover the truth.”

Can you feel your creative juices flowing already?

Since its release, AI has been celebrated for its ability to assist in idea generation; and this study confirms how effective using artificial intelligence in this way can be for writers — some, it seems, more than others.

AI-Generated Ideas Helped Less Creative Writers More

It doesn’t feel great to judge a writer’s creative prowess, but for this study, researchers needed to do just that. Prior to writing their short stories, the writers took a test to measure their creativity.

Researchers found that those considered less creative did substantially better when given AI-generated ideas — to the point where getting the full five ideas from AI “effectively equalizes the creativity scores across less and more creative writers.”

This isn’t the case just for writing. Another study by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship WZ also found that AI tools most benefit employees with weaker skills.

So is AI leveling the playing field between okay and great writers? It seems it may be. But before we lament, there’s one more finding that proves using AI isn’t all perks.

AI-Aided Stories Were More Similar — And Needed to Be Credited

The researchers took a step back to look at all the AI-supported stories collectively. And what did they find?

The AI-assisted stories were more similar as a whole, compared to the fully human-written stories.

Additionally, when reviewers were told that a story was enhanced by an AI idea, they “imposed an ownership penalty of at least 25%,” even indicating that “the content creators, on which the models were based, should be compensated.”

This leads us to that all-important question about AI-assisted work: who owns the content?

According to Originality.AI, an AI and plagiarism detector, “When there’s a combination of AI and human-generated elements, the human elements may receive copyright protection if they meet the requirements.”

So right now, if a writer uses AI to generate ideas — but writes the content themselves — they retain rights to the work.

However, Originality.AI even admits that “the legal system is having a hard time keeping up” with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Time will only tell what AI regulations will look like in a few years.

What Does an AI-Assisted Literary Future Look Like?

The researchers from the University of Exeter Business School study raise an interesting point about what the future landscape for writers may look like. If droves of authors begin using AI to come up with ideas, we may end up with a lot of well-written yet dime-a-dozen stories.

So will human beings choose the easier, but less diverse, path? Or will we stick to fighting through writer’s block armed with nothing but our own brain?

Or, a third option: can we somehow learn to harness AI to supercharge our writing process without sacrificing the wholly unique creativity that infuses human creation?

That’s one question that even ChatGPT can’t answer.

Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence may have already transformed writing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be in control of your own words. Read Astrohaus Founder Adam Leeb's statement on AI and privacy.

August 22, 2024 8 min read

While AI has capabilities that range from coding to image generation, the model that excites — and terrifies — writers is the LLM. It won’t be long before we see the world’s first blockbuster novel, written entirely by an LLM. What does this mean for art, and writers in particular? Is it all doom and gloom? The answer is, of course, more complicated than yes or no.