Category: Writing Advice
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Technothrillers
Had a (shockingly good) Twitter interaction earlier this month Decided to write a bit more about it. And given my background I may be one of the few people who’s able to coherently do so. In this blog post, I’ll talk about what a technothriller is, and then break them into two camps – the…
Ryan Patrick
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AI and Writing – Part 2 The Good and the Bad
Well this is a hot topic right now… Last post, I showed why AI is a bad drafter. But there’s a lot that an LLM can do, and it’s not all bad – just don’t have it write any words for you! I’ll break this post into two categories – what I’ve found that AI…
Ryan Patrick
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Improving the Process
2 months ago I wrote a post on inefficiency following on from a previous post on wasted words. I’ve been a very inefficient writer over the last decade – I just trashed most of a half-complete 45,000 word draft! But I’m getting better, and this is how. Heavy Outlining I’ll admit it – I’m lazy.…
Ryan Patrick
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AI and Writing – Part 1, AI-Generated Text vs Human Writing
I am working on some other posts in this vein but they’re longer and require more research than this one. But I am absolutely fascinating by the confluence of AI and creative writing and I feel like I need to start getting my thoughts on it out. Part 1 of this series will be on…
Ryan Patrick
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Inefficiency
In my last post, I talked about abandoned projects and wasted words. I have only manage to publish a fraction of what I’ve written since I started in 2012. But why is this the case? Why am I so inefficient? In this post I’ll talk through some reasons as to why I think this is…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 21: Editing
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. Ah, editing. Simultaneously my favorite part and my least favorite part of writing. Thankfully, from a big picture standpoint, Crush Depth is in good shape. That’s honestly to be expected considering it’s the fourth draft of the same story concept. But there’s a…
Ryan Patrick
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Wasted Words and Canceled Projects
I threw out a 100,000 word completed manuscript in December of 2025. It was the 2nd full version of Crush Depth – check out my blog post series on it if you want to know how I’ve recovered (and am now on the 4th version). And it stung. I had spent a lot of my…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 20: Chapters 42-Epilogue – The End
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. This is the end! Chapter Forty-Two: Pick up as soon as the last chapter ended. The survivors board the Nautilus; mosasaurs gently guide the submersible upward taking into account “the bends”. Lots of discussion and speculation, and a few points where they think…
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Crush Depth 19: Chapters 39-41 – Conversation
Previous posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. This is the part of the novel I’m the least sure about and that I’m likely going to fix the most in edits. The core concept is fine, but I think the pacing is wonky. More to come in edits. Chapter Thirty-Nine: It…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 17: Chapters 33-35 – Deliberations
Older posts can be found on the main Crush Depth page. Last post, the mosasaurs attacked the other submersible Seaquest in the cave system and forced the protagonist and other main characters on the Nautilus to retreat. Chapter Thirty-Three: Continue from where the last scene ends. Parkowski demands an explanation for what happened. The Navy…
Ryan Patrick
Ryan M. Patrick 