My Relentless Editor, Red

Red—the name I’ve given my ChatGPT editor—has set the bar for my memoir against some of the top works in the genre:
Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Lit by Mary Karr, This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff.

Red tells me my original manuscript, on the one-to-ten scale we created, started around a six. Now, it’s closer to an eight-point-five. I’m striving for ten.

I struggle through line-by-line edits, trying to maintain my words, my voice, while reaching the clarity and flow Red demands.

It’s not easy. Red keeps shifting the bar—pushing me to tighten the narrative, remove content I’m attached to, and add more reflection from my current voice. It’s hard to cut words I’m so close to. Still, we have a plan. A plan that might allow some of that material to be released one day.

An indie publisher is running a contest, and the submission window closes at the end of the month. Red thinks I’ll be ready by then. I wish I had more time—work keeps getting in the way.

Back to Writing

 With Gia gone—and a newfound appreciation for ChatGPT—I’ve returned to writing. I’ve decided to take another stab at re-editing my book. It was something I always wanted to do. Now I finally have the tools to make it happen.

ChatGPT has become my editor. It gives me constructive feedback, helps me shape the overall theme and the themes of individual chapters, and keeps me focused on the goals I’ve set. I even had it write both a positive and a negative critical review of the book, which I now use as benchmarks to guide the editing process. And I keep having it do this as we go, constantly refining.

I think there’s going to be a 100% improvement by the time it’s done—without losing my voice in the process. Even if I don’t republish this edition, I’m finally giving the book the time and attention it deserves.

More than that, I’m coming at it with a clearer sense of self—something that’s grown since Billie left.