This is something from early 2025. The situation and my own way of driving the models has improved somewhat in the intervening period.
Variations on a Theme of Saki
https://gist.github.com/s-i-e-v-e/b4d696bfb08488aeb893cce3a4...
Variations on a Theme of Saki
https://gist.github.com/s-i-e-v-e/b4d696bfb08488aeb893cce3a4...
Stuffed full of adjectives, a common problem when LLMs attempt to make the text literary.
Stuffed full of incidental detail (window inexplicably open), which doesn’t quite make sense - why would you leave a window open for people to return?
Things which suddenly loom large in the narrative without any previous mention (roaring fire).
Overuse of certain mechanisms (for example here ellipsis).
Meanders without any discernable goal from one scene to the next.
So in short, it’s a tale told by an idiot savant, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Take this sentence as an example:
A biting incident, if I'm to be perfectly honest. Involving… several toes.
The ellipsis just gets in the way, the ‘perfectly honest’ likewise and this should be one better formed sentence. The several toes bit is overly explicit without being clear (he lost several toes, or toes were bitten?). Most of the text is like this - infuriatingly vague, clumsy in construction and full of non-sequiturs.
Compare this with real writing:
https://archive.org/stream/GrahamGreeneShorts/21%20Stories_d...
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3077/3077-h/3077-h.htm#link2...
Ideally, you should read all 14 exhibits. Each has been produced by a different LLM, some local, others frontier models of the time.
E4 = Claude
E6 = ChatGPT
E8 = Mistral
E11 = DeepSeek V3
E12 = Original
The work you posted was distinctly unimpressive, particularly as it had a seed text to impersonate and improve. The 'window' is I assume a french door, which I suspect is a mistranslation. If you want to seed LLMs I'd start with texts that are not translated!
Honestly compare it to the human writing examples I showed you and consider the differences in intent and style, which are vast.
I see why you're interested in this, I myself am interested in what these models can do and have tried similar experiments, but you should always be aware when you're asking others to waste their time on word generator output.
It is a french door/window. The original story is by Saki (HH Munro), one of the greatest short story writers of all time. He was English. The story is literally called "The Open Window."
> Sorry, I'm not doing all that work for you
Well, you asked. And I gave you stuff that I generated for comparative analysis. I am quite satisfied with the output. Most human writing, including genre writing, is subpar. LLMs are far superior to that. If you want to read only Faulkner and Eliot, then stick to them I guess?
> human writing examples
You must provide a solid prompt. And you must use a strong model. Deciding LLMs suck at writing based on output from Gemini 2 Flash, and expecting writing like Graham Greene is a bit much. The day LLMs start writing like him based on one-line prompts, writers will have no option but to look for other jobs.
I would not be satisfied with this output, I mean if your goal is mildly satisfying potboiler fiction I guess it could be ok?
If a great writer used LLMs, then the output would be outstanding. Of that I have no doubt.