I was thinking more about the lovecraft copywork idea.

I think it’s a no-brainer.

I think a book is what is needed.

For me, handwriting out a 2,000 word story or passage (at the low end) feels onerous.

It needs to be buffet of passages from the stories that one can hand-copy as time permits, e.g. 20 min/per day.

I asked some reasoning models to extract some passages that show strong writing technique.

DeepSeekR1

DeepSeek focused on whole paragraphs. Fair enough.

Here’s what I got from DeepSeekR1:

Passage 1

The change happened whilst I slept. Its details I shall never know; for my slumber, though troubled and dream-infested, was continuous. When at last I awaked, it was to discover myself half sucked into a slimy expanse of hellish black mire which extended about me in monotonous undulations as far as I could see, and in which my boat lay grounded some distance away. Though one might well imagine that my first sensation would be of wonder at so prodigious and unexpected a transformation of scenery, I was in reality more horrified than astonished; for there was in the air and in the rotting soil a sinister quality which chilled me to the very core. The region was putrid with the carcasses of decaying fish, and of other less describable things which I saw protruding from the nasty mud of the unending plain. Perhaps I should not hope to convey in mere words the unutterable hideousness that can dwell in absolute silence and barren immensity. There was nothing within hearing, and nothing in sight save a vast reach of black slime; yet the very completeness of the stillness and the homogeneity of the landscape oppressed me with a nauseating fear.

Reason: This segment masterfully builds atmosphere through visceral descriptions of an alien, decaying landscape. The transition from oceanic isolation to a surreal, hellish terrain exemplifies cosmic horror’s use of environmental dread to evoke existential unease.

Passage 2

Dazed and frightened, yet not without a certain thrill of the scientist’s or archaeologist’s delight, I examined my surroundings more closely. The moon, now near the zenith, shone weirdly and vividly above the towering steeps that hemmed in the chasm, and revealed the fact that a far-flung body of water flowed at the bottom, winding out of sight in both directions, and almost lapping my feet as I stood on the slope. Across the chasm, the wavelets washed the base of the Cyclopean monolith; on whose surface I could now trace both inscriptions and crude sculptures. The writing was in a system of hieroglyphics unknown to me, and unlike anything I had ever seen in books; consisting for the most part of conventionalised aquatic symbols such as fishes, eels, octopi, crustaceans, molluscs, whales, and the like. Several characters obviously represented marine things which are unknown to the modern world, but whose decomposing forms I had observed on the ocean-risen plain.

Reason: This passage combines archaeological intrigue with escalating terror, showcasing how slow revelation of ancient, unknowable horrors (the monolith, carvings, and creature) creates psychological tension. The blending of curiosity and revulsion highlights the genre’s theme of forbidden knowledge.

Passage 3

The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that hand! The window! The window!

Reason: A concise, frantic conclusion that uses fragmented sentences and sensory urgency to amplify horror. The abrupt ending leaves the threat unresolved, a hallmark technique for sustaining lingering dread in cosmic horror.

Good passages.

Good reasons.

Good stuff!

o1:

The focus of o1 was also paragraphs, might be a factor of the prompt being used.

Here’s what I got from o1:

Passage 1

I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by tonight I shall be no more. Penniless, and at the end of my supply of the drug which alone makes life endurable, I can bear the torture no longer; and shall cast myself from this garret window into the squalid street below. Do not think from my slavery to morphine that I am a weakling or a degenerate. When you have read these hastily scrawled pages you may guess, though never fully realise, why it is that I must have forgetfulness or death.

Reason: This opening sets the desperate, confessional tone of the narrator and immediately establishes the story’s atmosphere of doom, fear, and personal torment.

Passage 2

Though one might well imagine that my first sensation would be of wonder at so prodigious and unexpected a transformation of scenery, I was in reality more horrified than astonished; for there was in the air and in the rotting soil a sinister quality which chilled me to the very core. The region was putrid with the carcasses of decaying fish, and of other less describable things which I saw protruding from the nasty mud of the unending plain. Perhaps I should not hope to convey in mere words the unutterable hideousness that can dwell in absolute silence and barren immensity. There was nothing within hearing, and nothing in sight save a vast reach of black slime; yet the very completeness of the stillness and the homogeneity of the landscape oppressed me with a nauseating fear.

Reason: Lovecraft’s use of vivid, unsettling description creates a sense of claustrophobic dread and hints at the vast cosmic horror lurking just beyond sight.

Passage 3

Then suddenly I saw it. With only a slight churning to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters. Vast, Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous head and gave vent to certain measured sounds. I think I went mad then.

Reason: Here, the shock of encountering an impossible, towering monstrosity showcases Lovecraft’s hallmark technique: mixing the unimaginable with a stark sense of terror, driving the narrator into madness.

o3-mini:

Interestingly, o3 followed instructions better and pulled out specific sub-paragraph passages.

Here’s what I got from o3:

Passage 1

When at last I awaked, it was to discover myself half sucked into a slimy expanse of hellish black mire which extended about me in monotonous undulations as far as I could see, and in which my boat lay grounded some distance away. Though one might well imagine that my first sensation would be of wonder at so prodigious and unexpected a transformation of scenery, I was in reality more horrified than astonished; for there was in the air and in the rotting soil a sinister quality which chilled me to the very core.

Reason: This passage is chosen for its masterful transformation of an ordinary state into a realm of otherworldly dread. The vivid, sensory details and the unexpected shift in atmosphere provide an excellent study in using environment to evoke a sense of cosmic terror.

Passage 2

It was the pictorial carving, however, that did most to hold me spellbound. Plainly visible across the intervening water on account of their enormous size, were an array of bas-reliefs whose subjects would have excited the envy of a Doré. I think that these things were supposed to depict men—at least, a certain sort of men; though the creatures were shewn disporting like fishes in the waters of some marine grotto, or paying homage at some monolithic shrine which appeared to be under the waves as well. Of their faces and forms I dare not speak in detail; for the mere remembrance makes me grow faint. Grotesque beyond the imagination of a Poe or a Bulwer, they were damnably human in general outline despite webbed hands and feet, shockingly wide and flabby lips, glassy, bulging eyes, and other features less pleasant to recall. Curiously enough, they seemed to have been chiselled badly out of proportion with their scenic background; for one of the creatures was shewn in the act of killing a whale represented as but little larger than himself.

Reason: This excerpt combines eerie ancient imagery with grotesque, almost mythic details. It serves as a model for blending classical allusions with inventive horror, demonstrating how to create unsettling visuals through the juxtaposition of familiar human traits with alien deformity.

Passage 3

Then suddenly I saw it. With only a slight churning to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters. Vast, Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous head and gave vent to certain measured sounds. I think I went mad then.

Reason: This concise passage captures the climactic emergence of the cosmic horror with arresting brevity. Its use of simile, vivid adjectives, and a rapid pace is an instructive example of building suspense and delivering a moment of pure, disorienting terror.

Very cool.

Overlap with o1. Is this because the prose fits the request or because the o1 and o3 models were trained similarly?

Anyway, I love this!