A small crowd of authors and prospective authors recently connected with me on LinkedIn. Based on their comments, apparently a highly respected publishing industry expert had mentioned me as a qualified nonfiction book expert during a workshop she gave and prompted them to connect with me. That’s very nice, and a gratifying reflection on my…
As I’ve written, the advantage that human writers have over AI is wit. Ergo, if you want to continue to make a career of writing, you must develop your wit. Is that even possible? Yes. I’ll explain. What is wit? Wit is the ability, not just to inform, but to delight readers with your writing….
Today I analyze a piece of promotional writing from a small business. Here’s the new copy for the home page of Oldsmar Air Conditioning of Oldsmar, Florida. The same copy appears on the company’s Facebook page. Oldsmar AC is no longer in business, Thank You for your support over the last 10 years. Unfortunately, Eric…
I admit it: I’m obsessed with why ChatGPT and other AI services can’t be funny. I’m convinced the answer is that true humor demands an unexpected shift in perspective, and AI machines, trained to mimic patterns in what they’ve read, have problems with both “unexpected” and “shift in perspective.” Monty Python is the master of…
I’m obsessed with the question of whether machines can ever be funny. I’ve already shared how ChatGPT just “doesn’t get it” about what a joke is. It seems to understand the structure of a joke, but never quite gets what makes jokes funny. (The last of these ChatGPT jokes is so stupid that is a…
I could tell you that I’m posting this to draw attention to how we are all, now, victims of the technology that we surround ourselves with. Or that in these difficult times, even in an adversarial legal proceeding, we can all be sensitive to each others’ human needs. But the truth is, it was just…
I’m currently editing a book that will include cartoons. Cartoons will make the book much more enjoyable, even as they drive home the points in the chapters. And I’ve never had this much fun working. Today: what it’s like to work with a cartoonist. This isn’t my first book with cartoons. For Marketing to the…
Your mailbox is full of GDPR announcements. They’re obligatory, and you’re almost certainly ignoring them. Writing in this context is a challenge — but humor and video site jibjab.com decided to have a little fun with it. On the policy side, though, it’s still legalese all the way down. Here’s the email my friend got…
KFC ran out of chicken in the UK. They had to close their restaurants, and then explain themselves. They decided to poke fun at themselves . . . which is great, so long as nobody gets hurt. KFC suffered a distribution problem, which meant, basically, no chicken. Their first decision — to close the restaurants…