halynaryfiak.com

Author: Halyna

  • Using ChatGPT as a humiliation ritual

    Yesterday, I was working on my Ukrainian classics in translation project and decided to ask ChatGPT to review a few paragraphs and tell me if it’s any good.

    I rarely ask the AI bot to actually write anything for me because I always end up rewriting it to my liking, and it just takes up too much time. The only reason I even started using it was because I was specifically instructed to do so at my old corporate job. Then it kinda stuck with me, but mainly using it as a silly assistant who needs to be corrected all the time.

    So anyway, the chat gave me a detailed analysis of what I did right and wrong and then… decided to just go ahead and translate it for me.

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  • The permanent background noise of technology

    Yesterday, there was a five-hour-long power outage on my street. Usually, they warn us about these things over text messages, and it rarely lasts more than an hour. The last repair only cut off power for two minutes – I barely even noticed it.

    Yesterday was different, and I felt that difference.

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  • How to know a little bit of everything

    I remember when I was still working as an English tutor, I once wrote a blog post about how to encourage children to learn the language. At the time, I thought I was so smart because I came up with this simple trick. Curiosity! Of course, if a child is curious about the world, they’ll go looking for information. And if not enough of it is available in their native tongue, surely that’ll encourage them to look up the topic in English. Right? Wrong!

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  • Writer’s Toolbox: Essentials for your success and more

    As a writer, you can use as little as a simple notebook and pencil, but if you really want to get somewhere with your craft, you’ll need a bit more than that. That’s why I’ve decided to compile a list of tools that I’ve personally tried and tested. Call this a ‘writer’s toolbox’! I’ll make sure to keep the list updated and add to it as I discover something new.

    As we live in a modern society, it’s quite self-explanatory that you won’t get far with your writing unless you digitise it. If you want to get published, send an opinion post to a newspaper or a short story to a literary magazine, the editor will expect you to hand over a properly formatted and attributed digital file. Snail mail submissions still exist, so I’ve heard. As a whole, the typical communication between an author and a publisher nowadays is done overwhelmingly via email.

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  • How to write every day: A few thoughts and tips to get started

    I don’t write every day, and it makes me feel bad about myself. It’s like I’m sabotaging my own goals. How on Earth am I supposed ever to get published if I never manage to complete a manuscript?

    I remember once even writing a blog post about ‘writing every other day’. I even made a promise with myself that I would keep on working on those drafts. It doesn’t matter how much or when I write, as long as I’m putting words down on paper. Right?

    Reality is not that simple for many reasons.

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