Have you ever seen a writer’s mood board? Some authors create a smorgasbord of photos featuring main characters, locales, special phrases, and animals to inspire them as they write. Back in the day, we could cut out pictures from magazines or print photos of models or actors from the internet, then paste them onto a board for inspiration.
I’m currently writing a book as part of a multi-author book series. So this time, I did something a little different to “envision” my heroine: I created Melody with a variety of tools using … words.
Sample Mood Board
My father was an artist. One of my daughters and both of my brothers are artists.
But me?
I inherited the word gene—and only words. I. can’t. draw. at. all. 😭
So, while experimenting with AI …
I created Melody (below) with ChatGPT 4 by using various word prompts. As I typed prompts into the program, Melody took on a variety of looks. So I kept prompting.
Please make Melody’s hair longer.
Please soften the lines around her eyes.
Melody
Please give her an inviting expression.
When I’d gone as far as I could, but still wasn’t satisfied, I took the photo and uploaded it to a face app on my phone. There, I made more changes and kept tweaking.
And voila! I had my heroine, just as I had envisioned.
Pretty cool technology for a stick-figure artist like myself. Am I right? (I even created the mood board above–for a different book–with a few prompts.)
Now to get Melody’s story completely out of my brain and onto paper, another process entirely.
The great news is I’m part way there, but rest assured, I’m not using AI to write her story—that’s coming from my brain ☺️
I can’t release details of this new series just yet, so I thought I’d switch gears for a moment and ask if you have ever read my most popular series, the Sea Glass Inn novels?
You can find all five novels of the Sea Glass Inn series at most online bookstores and libraries.
If you’d like to take a peek, here are a couple of links:
Now tell me, have you tried out any AI tools? There are SO many. Which ones and how do you use them?
JULIE CAROBINI writes inspirational beach romances. She is the author of two dozen novels known for spirited heroines, charming heroes, quirky friends, and the secrets they keep. Her bestselling titles include Walking on Sea Glass, Runaway Tide, Beach Sunrise, Reunion in Saltwater Beach, and more. She has won awards from The National League of American Pen Women and ACFW, and her books have received bestseller status many times. Julie is Mom to three young adults and lives on the California coast with her husband, Dan, and their rescue pup, Dancer. Grab a free eBook here: www.juliecarobini.com/free-book
Great result! I haven’t used anything AI related, mostly because I don’t understand it fully. I’ve seen a lot of people going back and forth on if authors should be allowed to use AI. My thoughts on the subject are that as long as the author isn’t using AI to write the story for them, it should be their own personal decision. Using an AI to create a mood board is probably faster than Pinterest…
I have not used AI but I am more curious after seeing what you did with Melody. I am currently reading a fiction book that has one of the main characters owing an AI company. It’s interesting.
I personally don’t use AI and won’t, because I don’t like how it steals from human artists. But I think if it’s for personal use, and not used or sold as official art then it’s okay. Or like if it’s used as a reference for a human artist to have a better idea of what the characters look like, that’s also fine.
I haven’t used AI, you hear so many negative things about it. It’s really interesting to see what you can do with it though.
Bloggers have mentioned writers mood boards on here before but I’m not very familiar with them, it’s fascinating to find out about some the different ways writers work.
I played around with it when I was creating a graphic with Canva. It’s cool, though there are definitely limitations.
I don’t have any reason to use AI, but one of my favorite authors, Roseanna M White, used the same one you did to come up with pictures of the main characters for all her recent books. I’ve really enjoyed those because I am awful at guessing what characters look like.
I have not used AI and don’t know that much about it. But it looks like it could be a useful tool. The picture of Melody is beautiful. I have not had the opportunity to read any of the Sea Glass books yet although I have 3 of them. My TBR list is way to big, but I keep getting those books. Guess I need to stay off of social media so much and read more. As I recall, I thought your Sea Glass stories sounded really good.
Thanks, Marti. Search engines are using it to help us find what we’re looking for so you’ve likely used it without knowing, but I agree it can be confusing. Lots of different tools out there!
Oh, interesting, Lori. You’ve got me searching for that one.
I’m in several groups that talk about innovations with AI. Did you know that proofreading and editing programs (like Grammarly) are AI based? I bet you’d enjoy learning all the positive things you can use it for (one friend told me he uses it to help him brainstorm and create recipes!)
Oh my goodness, Elizabeth! I used it with several programs in their infancy and some of the images were hilarious! People with three arms, noses coming out of their cheeks, etc. I posted a few of them on my Facebook page awhile back and we all had a good laugh.
I love Roseanna! She’s actually my cover designer for the Sea Glass Inn series. 💗 Didn’t know she was playing around with ChatGPT too!
Hi Bonnie – I’m so excited that you have some of the Sea Glass Inn books on your TBR pile! I hope you find time to read them and love them. I understand about finding time. I have a big list too!
Hi Milica, Did you know that search engines like Google and Amazon use AI every time we search for something on their sites? I agree there are negative things said about AI and that some people likely use “their powers for evil” but I’m more interested in using them for good!
Melody is very pretty. No I am not interested in A1
I haven’t tried any of the AI stuff. Honestly, after a report I heard on the news, all I can envision is bad stuff happening because of AI. It all reminds me of an old song In The Year 2525.
Hi Julie :) I’m aware of that, I was mainly referring to using it to generate art, which takes samples from human artists’ art & their style which they did not consent to in order to generate whatever the prompter wants. I have many friends who are artists so I’m very sensitive about this subject & that’s why I don’t support it.
I’m sure most authors wouldn’t be happy if someone fed their words without their consent to an ai, saying “hey write me a book in xyz’s style”, this is the same thing, except instead of written words it’s art.
We can’t do much about Google, but we can choose not to generate ai art is all :)
I have not tried AIR tools but then again I am very technology challenged so there’s not much that I do with it.
Yes, it can be daunting, Joannie. But I bet you already have (if it makes you feel better?). Google search uses AI technology. So does Amazon and Pinterest and … and. So many. You’ll be an expert in no time 😀
Oh goodness, this is why I don’t listen to the news! (I’m visiting my mother today and just got up to turn off the TV when a terrible news report came on!) Truth is, we’re all using AI when we search the internet because it’s been used for years by Google, Amazon, etc. I’ll have to look up that song because I’ve not heard of it!
I haven’t tried them, and I’m not a fan of AI tools.
It seems I have a couple of books from that series on my TBR.
Tried canva to make business cards for my snowcone/ cotton candy business bit had someone else design them instead.
What a cool sounding business, Kendra! I hear you on design. Not my strong suit. That’s why use tools for inspiration mainly lol
I have used some AI features when creating listings on eBay and I use Google so obviously I have encountered it there. I’m sure I’ve used io on some other websites too.. However, I don’t usually seek out AI tools as there’s something about it that just doesn’t sit quite right with me.
Hi Jessica, It’s hard to know what to think when there are so many competing voices out there, and some of them are divisive. I really understand that. I think that’s why I’ve played around with various tools – so I can see for myself. Doing that has disarmed a lot of the fear.
We could have a whole conversation on what I’ve learned, what others have said, what laws are on their way … so yes, I get the trepidation!
I’m just planning to keep using these tools for good (and not evil).
Now you have me wondering what you’re selling on eBay. 😄
I haven’t tried AI tools but I really want to try them out.
I haven’t used AI yet, but some of the image generators are really good looking.
Hi, no I have never tried it, it really sounds interesting though. Have a great weekend.
No. I have not tried any AI tools. I have to be honest, AI scares me. I am reluctant to experiment. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
I haven’t tried a single one! I’m always a little behind the times on new technology. I mean, I don’t even use Alexa!
Thanks so much for writing, Milica. I appreciate your perspective.
ChatGPT 3.5 is free, in case you’d like to give it a whirl!
Honestly, I don’t either 🤣
no
No, I haven’t used any AI tools. I am not all that tech savvy.
I used AI for character fanart. I loved the result, but if making a cover, that result should be further processed in photoshop by a human expert.
I would not mind AI indexing my writings.
I like Melody, she’s very pretty. I’ve never worked with AI tools, so I don’t know how they work at all. I’ll admit to being a little cautious of them.
I’ve used AI for both researching historical facts and to create a whimiscal fairytale castle in gold metallic stencil effect. Like you I didn’t get the artistic genes but its fun to play round with and see what they produce. Often the quality isn’t as good as real artists for certain things.
Thank you for the interesting introduction about how you created Melody’s visual with AI. I have heard mention of AI but not how it applied to creating prose nor visuals. I have enjoyed your books though. :)
I have not and I’m very cautious about AI…not a fan.
Fascinating process
Thank you 😊
Yes! I started out with mid journey for images, but ChatGpt4 is pretty good too.
That’s okay, Debra. Just do what your comfortable with.
Oh, how fun!