Author Archives: Katherine Wikoff

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About Katherine Wikoff

I am a college professor (PhD in English, concentration rhetoric) at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where I teach film and media studies, political science, digital society, digital storytelling, writing for digital media, and communication. While fragments of my teaching and scholarship interests may quite naturally meander over to my blog, this space is intended to function as a creative outlet, not as part of my professional practice. Opinions are my own, etc.

Updated thoughts on ChatGPT’s “literary ending” to my novel scene

UPDATE (meaning that yesterday’s “last thoughts” weren’t quite that, apparently πŸ™‚ ) – It struck me this morning (the next day, after posting about ChatGPT’s edit of my novel scene yesterday) that my own ending was kind of upbeat and … Continue reading

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Writing exercise – “A Friend in Need” (Working ChatGPT from the other end)

Another ChatGPT writing exercise to share today. Quick recap: Back in late September or early October, I began using ChatGPT to generate rough drafts of scenes for my novel in response to writing exercise prompts for my writing group’s bi-weekly … Continue reading

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Extinction immanent? (and imminent?) Michael Crichton on “cyberspace” dooming human innovation/evolution and forecasting the end of the species

I’m teaching “Digital Society” this semester, and as fate would have it, over my holiday break I decided to read Michael Crichton’s The Lost World, a novel I’d never read before even though I love Michael Crichton and have probably … Continue reading

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Waiting (for the elevator)

A photo I took the other day as I was walking to the printer. It’s a view looking through the glass walls of the elevator shaft into the atrium of the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee. The strong vertical lines and … Continue reading

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Writing exercise – “Christmas Gathering” (yes, another ChatGPT adventure)

Well, I’m starting to see ChatGPT’s tics and tells more clearly. On the plus side, this tool works well as a means of casting a wide research net quickly executing a rough draft providing “feedback” and suggestions for oneself on … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, generative AI, Higher education, Learning, Teaching, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer), writing exercises, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Moonlight in Vermont

Listening to this song tonight, which I’ve always liked, I suddenly realized that its verses are haikus I always sensed that its structure was different from most other songs, and I’ve also always found the lyrics evocatively poetic. But never … Continue reading

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Grohmann Museum, Friday, December 13, 2024

At 2:38 PM, to be precise πŸ˜‚ My office at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is on the second floor of the Grohmann Museum. Today was the last day of regular classes before final exams begin next week. My last … Continue reading

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Awaiting Restoration

Took this photo on the drive home from work tonight. I believe this building was once a theater and suffered fire damage at one point, and now a nonprofit is redeveloping it and its neighbors on the block. Actually, I … Continue reading

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Me 🎡 and my shadow πŸŽΆ

Just an image I liked from my weekπŸ˜€

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Writing exercise – “Bridges” (brought to you by ChatGPT and me!)

Lately, I have been trying two things as an experiment with my writing group exercises. First, I’ve been using every prompt as a jumping-off point to initiate a scene for my novel. Second, I’m setting every scene up with a … Continue reading

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