AI

Before you ask, I do not ask AI to write my stories for me. The text that you see was entirely written and edited by me. 

As the internet's current hot topic, I feel that it's necessary to clarify if and where AI has been used in the creation and polishing of my fiction but first let me explain my writing process. 

My Ideas are stored in my phone's notes app under various headings depending on the scale of the Idea. It's not complicated. What is complicated is planning out an entire story, whether that be a short story or a novel. 

Not every piece of fiction I write uses AI. Occasionally I will actively avoid its use to make sure that I can function without it. 

For me, AI is useful for several tasks while writing. The first is brainstorming. While I do not get my ideas from AI, I do use it to flesh out my stories in the places they are lacking, I suggest ideas and it critiques them. It is also invaluable in researching topics that I do not have in-depth knowledge about, such as compicated laws of physics for Science Fiction stories or the plausibility of certain natural disasters. Then, after I've written my story, AI helps me to edit by providing critique and by picking out the holes that would normally be found by editors. At no point in this process, does AI actually edit my work. I also use it to read my stories out loud to me which aids me in getting in the reader's head and experiencing my stories as if i were not the one to write them. This is potentially the biggest plus.

AI is also used in the creation of the images for each of my stories. While I would love to pay for cover art, it simply is not viable at the moment. In the future I hope to be able to pay for real artists to replace these and potentially even for professional narrators to read my stories but it is not currently possible.

Grammarly

No this is not sponsored. 

Despite being a writer, I do not claim to have perfect spelling or grammar and make plenty of mistakes. Grammarly acts as a copy editor just before I publish each piece of fiction. This way you don't have to deal with as many mistakes while you're reading. 

Grammarly does edit my work, by highlighting problems and offering gramatical solutions. There are of course other programs that do this, Grammarly is just the one that I use. 

Scrivener

No, you don't need a fancy program like Scrivener to write stories, it's just very convenient.

Scrivener is one of my favourite apps of all time. Writing is a messy business and with conventional word-processors, your computer becomes cluttered with planning documents, editing notes, finished drafts and everything else that comes with writing even the smallest of stories. Scrivener is like a file explorer and a word-processor at the same time, keeping everything very neat and organised. This way, in a single document I can have multiple short-stories complete with their own notes tab. 

While I use this extensively, there are many features I have not yet used. Regardless, I deem it well worth the purchase. This is not a sponsored message. 

Laptop

Well, why not? It's essential, isn't it?

You don't need a laptop to write stories, perhaps you even prefer writing on paper. But this way, it is backed up, saved and easily edited. When I started writing seriously, I bought a laptop, specifically the 2020 Macbook Air(also not sponsored) and learned how to touch type in two weeks, which, by the way is not difficult and will save you an incredible amount of time over the long term. Then I was ready to write. As of early 2025 I still write on the same laptop and apart from it heating up enough to boil water, it works perfectly. 

Macbooks are expensive and definitely not essential. However, i would recommend getting something that works every time you open it. You need to put as little between you and your regular writing sessions as possible and the infamous updating screens on some PCs will not help you finish your project. 

Laptops are also heavy so when I'm travelling I take with me an iPad mini and a magic keyboard which serve me just fine. I do have a magic mouse which works with them as well but for some reason it is not useful enough for me to actually use it on the go so I simply navigate using the arrows and by touch.