Writing Critically with AI
A WriteSPACE Special Event with Jane Rosenzweig
Dear fellow writer,
You are warmly invited to join me and Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Harvard College Writing Center, for a lively conversation on "Writing Critically with AI" from 4-6 pm EDT on Tuesday Sept 12.
Jane teaches writing and editing courses at Harvard College and Harvard Extension School and holds a B.A. from Yale University, an M.Litt. from Oxford, and an M.F.A in fiction writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has been a staff editor at the Atlantic Monthly and a member of the fiction staff at the New Yorker. Her commentaries on writing have appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Harvard Business Review, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe.
In the first hour of this FREE WriteSPACE Special Event, Jane and I will discuss the perils and promises, the risks and rewards, of writing — and teaching writing — in the age of generative AI.
In the second hour, we'll lead a hands-on discussion and workshop for WriteSPACE members, digging deeper into some of the questions addressed in the first hour. For example: who benefits from artificial intelligence tools, and who risks being exploited? What are the implications of ChatGPT and similar tools for personal privacy, or for intellectual property rights, or for climate change? How can we keep the English language — including colloquial and regional variations — alive and growing in the face of cultural hegemony and regression to the mean?
This live Special Event event will take place from 4-6 pm EDT (UTC-4) on Tuesday Sept 12. The first hour is FREE to all registered participants, the second hour is for WriteSPACE members only. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a few hours before the live session begins, and a video will be made available afterwards to all registered participants and archived in the WriteSPACE Library.
I'd love to see you there!
In the WriteSPACE
Weekly Wayfinder for Aug 28 - Sept 3
WriteSPACE and WS Studio members: Every week in the WriteSPACE Maproom, you’ll find a featured writing resource to expand your horizons, a playful pomodoro timer to help you keep your writing on track, and a writing-related challenge to sharpen your skills.
This week’s resource: Articles on Writing
This week’s timer: Red Ladybird
This week’s challenge: Browse, skim, burrow
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Coming soon
Hurry - the Creativity Catalyst starts this weekend!
I love this course so much! The Creativity Catalyst, which runs from Sept 2 to Oct 12, will emancipate your writing style and show you how to bring arts-influenced ways of thinking, knowing, and being into your “serious” wordcraft. Over the next 6 weeks, I’ll guide you through a playful series of creative challenges:
Tell your story
Play with poetry
Be dramatic
Move around
Make stuff
Mix in metaphor
Creativity Catalyst participants will have access to two Live Writing Studio sessions each week as well as a lively online discussion forum. Plus, there are lots of discounts on offer! WriteSPACE members get 10% off the regular price of the course, and Writing Catalyst alumni and WS Studio members save 20%. Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your daily life, your writing life, and your writing style.
Other writing news
The Zombie Noun apocalypse is here!
In case you missed it: scholar-journalist Lauren Michele Jackson published a terrific article in the New Yorker last week titled “The -ification of Everything,” which I followed up with a Substack post on Zombification. Why do we “-ify” some nouns and “-icize” others? Why does Zombification sound better than, say, Zombicization or Zombization or Zombie-ification? On such weighty ponderings do I spend my days! If you’d like to learn more about zombie nouns and how to avoid them, check out my chapter on “Noun Density” in The Writer’s Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose. You’ll never look at abstract nouns quite the same way again.
Do you have writing-related news, events, or resources to share? Contact me with a brief description (50 words max), a hyperlink, and a high-quality image.
Spread the joy! Please encourage your friends, colleagues, and students to join me in the WriteSPACE, a vibrant, low-cost writing community with members in 30+ countries. As a WriteSPACE member, you’ll enjoy free access to Helen’s Word and other premium resources including live workshops, exclusive videos, and weekly prompts.
Kia pai tō koutou rā (have a great day) – and keep on writing!
Helen
PS - The collage artwork brings together words from artist Corita Kent (in the magnifying glass), ChattieG aka Bing (handwritten in fountain pen), and me (printed in sans serif font).