In 2023, AI is going explode the way novel writers and creatives approach their craft. If you aren’t experimenting with these tools as part of your writing, you may find yourself overtaken by the power of this technology. Seriously. Whether it is previsualizing your characters, coming up with new angles on titles, stories or locations, or helping with your marketing, artificial intelligence story writing is going to give many people a new edge.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the world of story writing and publishing. As AI technology continues to advance, it is becoming increasingly common for writers and authors to use AI tools to assist with various aspects of the writing process, from brainstorming and outlining to editing and proofreading.
For many writers, the use of Artificial Intelligence story writing can be a helpful way to save time and streamline their workflow. For example, an AI writing tool can help generate ideas for a story or provide suggestions for improving the flow and structure of a piece. At the same time, AI can also be used to create entirely new pieces of writing, such as short stories or even entire novels.
While the use of AI in writing is still a relatively new development, it is clear that it has the potential to significantly impact the way stories are created and shared with the world. In this blog post, we will explore the various ways in which AI is changing the world of writing and publishing, and discuss the pros and cons of using AI in the creative process.
In this blog, I’m going to explore a bunch of ideas for how to develop your creative writing using the new wave of artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence story writing – Here are 10 ways to adapt your creative process with AI
- Create visualizations of your characters, scenes, or settings
- Generate a basic outline or plot for a story
- Generate character names, descriptions, and backgrounds
- Brainstorm ideas for a story or generate new ideas for a project
- Assist with editing and proofreading
- Generate dialogue for characters in a story
- Write descriptions of settings, objects, and other details in a story
- Generate ideas for titles or headlines for a story
- Create content for social media posts or marketing materials related to a story
- Generate summaries or blurbs to promote a story or give a quick overview of its plot
Below, I’ve dug a little more to each of these tools and the potential they have to improve storytelling.
Create visualizations of your characters, scenes, or settings for artifical intelligence story writing
Artificial Intelligence tools, allow you to create images and graphics to really help you explore your ideas. With simple prompts, and then elaborating on those prompts, you can create many pictures that will help guide you through your novel and get thoughts out of your head.
For my most recent book, Boy In A Box, I used AI to help draw one of the main characters, in fact, the eponymous character of Jack. This middle-grade book, Jack had been shrunken down to be only 5 inches tall and lives inside a box.
So the question is, what does that look like?
I fed into Dall-E range of inspiring images that came out to help me visualize Jack. This is exactly how directors in the movie business put together the storyboards before creating visual effects.
Here are the images that I came up with for Jack with the prompt of asking for a boy, living inside a box, with red hair, a green jumper, and scared.
Each one of these images was created by a computer to help with Artificial Intelligence story writing. No artist was directly involved, and I encourage every novelist to see if they can draw images of the characters, settings, and key scenes to see how best to describe them, and put them into a reader’s mind.
Generate a basic outline or plot for a story
Use AI to generate a basic outline or plot for a story, which can be a helpful starting point for writers looking for ideas or inspiration.
There are several AI-powered tools that can help generate a basic outline or plot for a story. Here are a few examples:
Artificially Intelligent Writing Partner (AIWP): This tool uses natural language processing to analyze your input data and generate a detailed outline for a story. It also offers a range of customization options, allowing you to specify the genre, setting, and character profiles for your story.
Plot Generator: This tool generates a basic plot outline based on a set of keywords or themes that you input. It offers a variety of genre options, including romance, mystery, and science fiction.
Writing Prompt Generator: This tool generates a prompt for a short story or novel based on a set of input keywords or themes. It also includes options for specifying the genre and tone of the story.
AI Storyteller: This tool uses natural language processing to generate a detailed outline for a story based on a set of input data. It includes options for customizing the genre, setting, and character profiles of the generated story.
The AI Writer: This tool uses machine learning algorithms to generate a story outline or plot based on a set of input data. It offers a range of customization options, including the ability to specify the genre, setting, and character profiles for the generated story.
Generate character names, descriptions, and backgrounds as an artificial intelligence story writer
Use AI to generate names, descriptions, and backgrounds for characters in a story. This can save time and help writers come up with unique and interesting characters. This kind of Artificial Intelligence story writing is exactly the sort of use of prompts that lets you skip to the absolute key elements of writing a novel or story.
Brainstorm ideas for a story or generate new ideas for a project
Use AI to help brainstorm ideas for a story or to generate new ideas for a project. Brainstorming to have artificial intelligence story writing can be especially useful for writers who are stuck or looking for fresh ideas.
To use AI to brainstorm a story idea, you can follow these steps:
- Choose an AI tool: There are a number of different AI tools available that can help you brainstorm a story idea. Some options include plot generators, writing prompt generators, AI writing assistants, and AI storytellers. Choose a tool that meets your needs and preferences.
- Input your ideas or themes: Depending on the tool you choose, you may be asked to input a set of keywords or themes that you want to explore in your story. This could include things like genre, setting, character profiles, and plot points.
- Generate an outline or prompt: Once you’ve input your ideas or themes, the AI tool will use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to generate a basic plot outline or writing prompt based on your input.
- Use the generated outline or prompt as a starting point: The generated outline or prompt should give you a good starting point for your story. From there, it’s up to you to take the idea and develop it into a fully-fledged story using your own creativity and storytelling skills.
- Iterate and refine: If you’re not satisfied with the initial outline or prompt, you can try inputting different ideas or themes and generating a new outline or prompt. You can repeat this process until you find an idea that you feel excited about exploring in your story.
Assist with editing and proofreading
Use AI to assist with editing and proofreading, to help catch typos and grammatical errors. This can be a helpful way to save time and improve the overall quality of a piece of writing.
Editing and proofreading can be a drag – especially for longer pieces of work like books and novels. Up to now, the main option for an author has been to use tools like ProWritingAid or Grammarly to spot mistakes, or to outsource through FIVERR or UPWORK.
Now, there is another way. Put your story into the AI tool and ask it to fix typos, edit passages, or improve structure. Boom, the new tools like ChatGPT can do this, allowing you to focus on the true writing craft.
Generate dialogue for characters in a story
Use tools to generate dialogue for characters for artificial intelligence story writing. This can be a useful tool for writers who are struggling to come up with realistic and engaging dialogue for their characters.
Sophisticated prompts can lead to really stimulating results. Remember you shouldn’t be copying verbatim – use the AIs ideas to augment your own, just like you would from reading other authors’ work.
Here’s an example of what you could do with dialogue, using ChatGPT.
Original conversation:
“Hi. How is your day going?” John asked. “Just fine,” replied Susan.
Now, here are 5 ways AI can explore different aspects of this mundane chat.
1. Give your characters accents/regional dialects
Prompt: Take this conversation, and make Susan a slow, deliberate speaking grandmother from Australia, and John a hyperbolic teenager from Wales.
Output: “G’day mate! How’s your day going?” John asked with hyperbolic enthusiasm. “Just fine,” replied Susan with a slow and deliberate pace, her Australian accent soft in her words.
2. Make your characters have hidden subtext.
Prompt: Take this conversation, and make Susan desperately in love with John, but knowing they are about to get divorced.
Output: “Hi. How is your day going?” John asked.
“Just fine,” replied Susan, her voice shaking slightly. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“Is everything okay?” John asked, sensing something was off.
“Yes, it’s fine,” Susan lied, not wanting to burden John with her own pain. “I’ll see you later.”
As she hung up the phone, Susan couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair wash over her. She knew that her love for John was strong, but she also knew that their relationship was coming to an end. She just hoped that someday, they would be able to find their way back to each other.
Prompt: Take this conversation, and make Susan desparately in love with John, but knowing they are about to get divorced.
3. Re-write the conversation with Susan an alien
Prompt: Take this conversation, and make Susan an alien. “Hi. How is your day going?” John asked. “Just fine,” replied Susan.
Output:
“Greetings, Earthling. How goes your day?” Susan asked in a robotic, otherworldly voice.
“It’s going alright,” John replied, taken aback by the strange, alien-like creature in front of him. “How about yours?”
“It has been satisfactory,” Susan said, her voice monotone and mechanical. “I have been observing and learning about your planet and its inhabitants.”
“Oh, I see,” John said, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was talking to an alien. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Susan. I’ll see you later.”
“Farewell, John,” Susan said as she floated away, her extraterrestrial body glowing and pulsating with otherworldly energy.
4. Re-write the conversation in the style of a writer, movie or studio
Prompt: Take this conversation, and make the characters animals from a pixar movie. “Hi. How is your day going?” John asked. “Just fine,” replied Susan.
Output:
“Hey there, how’s it going?” John asked, his voice high-pitched and chipper. John was a blue and yellow striped bee with big, round glasses and a stinger on his rear end.
“It’s going alright,” Susan replied, her voice calm and collected. Susan was a sleek, black and white striped skunk with a big fluffy tail and a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
“That’s good to hear,” John said with a smile. “What have you been up to today?”
“Oh, just the usual,” Susan said with a shrug. “Foraging for food, avoiding predators, that sort of thing.”
“Sounds like a typical day for a skunk,” John chuckled. “Well, I’ll catch you later. I have to go pollenate some flowers.”
“See you later, John,” Susan said with a wave of her paw. As John flew off, Susan couldn’t help but smile to herself. Life as a Pixar animal may have its challenges, but it was always an adventure.
5. Re-write the conversation in a new genre
Prompt:
Response:Take this conversation, and re-write in the style of a historical vampire romance. “Hi. How is your day going?” John asked. “Just fine,” replied Susan.
“Greetings, fair lady,” John said, his voice dripping with old-fashioned charm. John was a tall, dark, and handsome vampire, with piercing blue eyes and a hint of a wicked smile on his lips.
“It is going well, my lord,” Susan replied, her voice soft and demure. Susan was a beautiful, pale-skinned vampire with long, flowing red hair and a delicate, ethereal beauty.
“I am pleased to hear it,” John said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “And how goes your day?”
“It has been uneventful,” Susan said with a shrug. “I have been tending to my duties at the castle and keeping myself occupied.”
“Well, perhaps we could liven up your day with a bit of excitement,” John said with a sly grin. “Would you care to join me for a hunt tonight?”
Susan’s eyes lit up at the prospect. “I would be delighted, my lord,” she said with a smile. And with that, the two vampires set off into the night, ready to embrace the thrill of the hunt and the passion of their eternal love.
Write descriptions of settings, objects, and other details in a story
Using AI to write descriptions of settings, objects, and other details in a story can be a powerful tool for adding depth and richness to a story. By inputting specific themes or keywords related to the story’s setting and objects, an AI tool can generate detailed descriptions that help bring the story to life for readers.
For example, you might input the keywords “desert,” “oasis,” and “tent” to generate a description of a desert setting for a story, or input the keywords “old clock,” “moldy curtains,” and “peeling wallpaper” to generate a description of an abandoned house. By using AI to write descriptions of settings and objects, you can quickly and easily add depth and detail to your story, helping to make it more immersive and engaging for readers. Additionally, using AI can save time and effort on the writing process, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the story.
The beauty of this approach is your imagination must be the thing that leads the AI to tap into your novel and story ideas.
Generate ideas for titles or headlines for a story
Use AI to generate ideas for titles or headlines for a story. This can be a useful way to come up with catchy and attention-grabbing titles or headlines that will help draw readers in.
Her’s an example of artificial intelligence story writing. I prompted ChatGPT to give me ten titles for my middle grade book about a girl who discovers a boy trapped in a wooden box, and kept by the evil Gatherer. Here’s what it came up with:
- “The Secret of the Wooden Box”
- “The Boy in the Box”
- “Escape from the Gatherer”
- “The Girl Who Saved a Boy”
- “The Gatherer’s Captive”
- “Trapped in the Wooden Box”
- “The Mystery of the Missing Boy”
- “The Courageous Girl and the Captive Boy”
- “The Escape from the Gatherer’s Lair”
- “Saving the Boy in the Box”
Number 3 came very close to the title I’d already chosen for my novel – Boy In A Box. But wow, the AI got close!
Create content for social media posts or marketing materials related to a story
Use AI to create content for social media posts or marketing materials related to a story. This can be a helpful way to promote a story and reach a wider audience.
These tools are not just for artifical intelligence story writing. They can also be used to assist with social media and marketing efforts for a novel in several ways:
- Generating content: Some AI tools can be used to generate social media posts, blog articles, and other types of content based on a set of input themes or keywords. This can be a useful way to quickly generate content ideas and save time on the content creation process.
- Analyzing data: AI tools can be used to analyze data from social media platforms and other sources to help identify patterns and trends that can inform marketing strategies. For example, an AI tool might be able to identify which social media platforms are most effective for reaching a specific audience, or which types of content tend to generate the most engagement.
- Automating tasks: AI tools can be used to automate certain tasks related to social media and marketing, such as scheduling posts, responding to comments and messages, and analyzing performance data. This can help free up time for other tasks and allow you to focus on more strategic aspects of marketing.
- Generating personalized recommendations: Some AI tools can be used to generate personalized recommendations for marketing campaigns and social media strategies based on individual user data and preferences. This can help you target your marketing efforts more effectively and increase the chances of success.
It’s important to note that while AI tools can be a useful aid in managing social media and marketing efforts, they are not a replacement for human expertise and creativity. It’s up to you to decide how to best use the insights and recommendations generated by AI tools to achieve your marketing goals.
There’s some incredible tools being developed to help market your story. Check out https://www.unite.ai/10-best-ai-tools-for-social-media/
Generate summaries or blurbs to promote a story or give a quick overview of its plot
Use AI to generate summaries or blurbs to promote a story or give a quick overview of its plot. This can be a useful way to provide a brief overview of a story and entice readers to want to learn more.
This one is more of a challenge. There aren’t any AIs that I’ve found that can injest a whole novel and spit out a blurb or summary. One method is to paste in sections of your story and compile. Another is to give a simple summary yourself and asking the AI tool to enhance it. Here’s how artificial intelligence story writing expanded my simple description for Boy In A Box by Doug Weller.
Here’s the prompt I used: Write a blurb for a middle grade book: Boy In A Box by Doug Weller. In this story a twelve-year old girl called Mara miller is obsessed with toys. She discovers a magic box with a tiny boy living inside. She needs to save him for the evil collector.
And here’s the output. It’s a good start! Almost feels like the AI has already read the book that took me two years of blood, sweat, and tears to write.
“When Mara Miller discovers a magic box with a tiny boy living inside, she knows she has to save him from the evil collector who is determined to add the boy to his collection. But Mara is just a twelve-year-old girl with an obsession for toys, and she has no idea how to outwit the collector. With the help of her friends and her own bravery, Mara sets out on a dangerous journey to rescue the boy and keep him safe from harm. Will she be able to save the boy in the box, or will the collector’s clutches be too strong to escape?”
The future of AI for storytelling
We are really still at the beginning of this. AI tools are going to continue getting smarter, faster, and more useful.
The future of AI in storytelling is an exciting and potentially transformative development for writers and authors. As AI technology continues to advance, it is likely that we will see more and more writers and authors using AI tools to assist with various aspects of the writing process, such as generating ideas, editing and proofreading, and even writing entire stories.
There are potential drawbacks to using artificial intelligence story writing. Some writers may worry that using AI will lead to a loss of personal touch or authenticity in their work. Others may be concerned about the ethics of using AI to write stories, particularly if those stories involve sensitive or controversial subjects.
Overall, the future of AI in storytelling is still somewhat uncertain, but it is clear that it has the potential to significantly impact the way stories are created and shared with the world.
Conclusion on Artificial Intelligence Story Writing
Whatever the future, AI is here to stay and as artists and creatives, we should be experimenting and exploring its capabilities. Artificial intelligence story writing is the future, whether we like it or not. I hope here I’ve shown how you can embrace these emerging technologies to make a step change in your writing.
What do you think about using artificial intelligence for story telling?