Steal Like a Storyteller
By: Ginger | Posted on March 27, 2026
At some point, all writers worry about originality. Whether it’s a familiar plot beat, a character that feels inspired by something you’ve read before, or simply a nagging sense that your idea isn’t entirely new, these fears can slow your momentum before you’ve barely gotten started. But in most cases, those concerns are based on a misunderstanding of how great stories are actually built. In today’s blog, Ginger explores how some of the most iconic characters and franchises ever created weren’t born from pure invention, but from transformation. By tracing the surprising lineage behind everything from anime classics to modern novels, he shows how influence is often at the very heart of creativity. So if you’ve ever questioned whether your story is original enough, this may be the perspective shift you need to confidently steal like a storyteller and turn those influences into something familiar, yet uniquely your own. My… Read More >
Using AI Without Letting It Write Your Book
By: Ginger | Posted on March 20, 2026
Ever since generative AI burst into our awareness a few short years ago, most authors have viewed it as an existential threat. Not only was the technology trained on massive datasets scraped without permission from countless books, but these systems also consume staggering amounts of energy, regularly present false information with complete confidence, and are already flooding the marketplace with low quality content. And that says nothing of the legal battles that are only beginning to play out. Given all of that, it is completely understandable that many writers want nothing to do with AI. And yet, despite those concerns, some authors have begun exploring limited ways these tools might be used responsibly. Our own Ginger is one of them, experimenting with AI in a very specific part of his writing process. Not to generate prose or replace the creative work of storytelling, but to analyze story structure and spot… Read More >
Do AI Detection Platforms Actually Work?
By: Ginger | Posted on March 13, 2026
For most of publishing history, an author accused of plagiarism only had to defend against whether they copied another writer’s work, and that could usually be determined by comparing the two texts. With the rise of AI, however, authors are now facing a different challenge: defending that they wrote their own words without artificial assistance. Proving that is far less straightforward. Despite a growing number of tools that claim they can detect AI generated writing, their conclusions are often inconsistent and highly subjective. To demonstrate this, Ginger ran a simple but revealing experiment using a short sample of his own fully human written prose. He submitted the paragraph to several popular AI detection platforms and received dramatically conflicting results. Some declared the text unquestionably human, while others insisted it was AI generated. If tools cannot reliably identify writing that is one hundred percent human, what does that mean for authors… Read More >
When to Split Your Novel into Multiple Books
By: Ginger | Posted on March 6, 2026
For many genres, shorter and tighter books perform better in today’s distracted market than a single massive novel. But if you’re already sitting on a 200,000 word manuscript that feels impossible to shorten, what are your options? What seems like a problem at first glance may actually be a hidden opportunity. In this week’s blog, Ginger shares how he split a 260,000 word draft into two separate books and why that decision led to a stronger story, a faster publishing timeline, and better reader response. From identifying natural structural break points to ensuring each installment delivers real narrative closure, he walks us through the practical and psychological factors that need to be considered. In many cases, turning one massive project into multiple satisfying novels is not just viable, it’s the smarter move. In my previous posts, I’ve discussed the surprising power of shorter fiction in today’s market. Readers are busy,… Read More >
