Originally published at: https://danieldavidwallace.com/2012/05/04/outsourcing-techniques-for-fiction-writers/
This post is dedicated to Joy Castro, and to any other writers who have been feeling overwhelmed with work. I well know the feeling of not having enough time to write, or (worse) having the time, but lacking the energy or will. And as I am about to start a PhD, which will involve teaching, studying,…
Thank you Daniel, worthy meditations on offloading/collaborating re the writer’s workload.
I have tended to assume that you, evoking evidence of masterful juggling of any number of tasks required of the good work you do to help us (formerly) misguided souls down the path of solid character-first writing, wouldn’t have these issues. Silly me. You are of the same writer’s flesh we are all heir to it would seem.
I bought your AI help course (and PPN and a couple summits etc) and the AI course has proven to be a daily boon to my own daily process. Just as PPN has formed my sense of direction and story scaffolding. The bots you’ve formed from the clay of AI services have helped bestow the concept of collaboration, and agreeable company, and instant feedback upon my “nose to the grindstone…alone” mentality that I’ve had my entire writing life.
I’m in a happy groove right now consulting five AI platforms, but the one I’ve had the most consistent satisfaction with is Character Growth that you distilled from the green vertical column matrices that I visualize as AI.
My old impatience, self-pressure, the frustrations of having ideas but no one at hand to bounce them off of…are becoming a thing of the past.
I do run ideas by AI routinely now. It’s my Jiminy Cricket, my daemon (The Golden Compass), and I happily admit it. I do take everything it offers with a grain of salt. I don’t let it write for me for example, that’s repugnant and typically the quality is not much above high school level. But at helping me formulate character and story arcs…wow, so helpful for my two ahead/one back herky jerky style of writing, as I’m terminally challenged by the curse of multitasker’s distraction mindmuddle: I like to start things and have great difficulty finishing, always have.
Mostly, just writing this to you to say I like your ideas of group-collaborating a novel based on characters, settings, outlines.
As far as Tolstoy’s wife: well, I had editors and publishers serving that function for 30 years. I’m glad to have it automated now. 
All the best
JIm Lawrence