Crafting Flawed Yet Relatable Protagonists Through GPT Prompts

Thanks to its machine learning and rich databases, ChatGPT is a useful source of information. It’s also handy for discussing and developing ideas, such as engaging characters for your stories.

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If you’re an author, here are several ChatGPT prompts you can use to plan your book’s characters, including their appearance, personality, and storyline.

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1. I Need a Name for My Character

You can use this prompt as is, but adding details will make the results more precise. Provide your character’s gender, occupation, key personality traits, and what their name should sound like.

If you don’t like ChatGPT’s results, you can edit your original prompt and get a new set of names. You could also copy and paste a name you loved into another prompt and ask the chatbot for additional suggestions.

Among the many ways ChatGPT can help write a novel , naming characters is a huge asset that saves you a lot of brainstorming time and makes the creative process more fun.

2. What Would My Character Look Like if…?

Say your story’s set in a particular time period and your protagonist originates from a country you’re unfamiliar with. ChatGPT can tell you what your character’s likeliest physical characteristics will be.

To get the chatbot’s input, use this phrase in your prompt and any other specifics ChatGPT should know about. Depending on the information in its databases, it’ll deliver a detailed analysis of what your character could look like.

Even if you’re writing about a completely made-up universe, you can use real-life eras and regions as points of reference for ChatGPT. The algorithm will then help populate your fictional world with realistic people and cultures.

Keep in mind, however, that ChatGPT’s pros and cons for creative writers include a few problems. Its developers trained it with thousands of materials but only up to 2021. So, tips you get about anything after that date can mislead you.

Additionally, some of the data the AI has learned from is outdated or plain wrong. That means that it’s a good idea to double-check the information it produces.

3. What Is This Piece of Clothing Called?

Have you ever been stuck trying to name parts of medieval armor or outfits? With ChatGPT, the struggle is over.

You do need to specify what clothing you’re curious about, but the chatbot will understand from the simplest terms.

That said, expanding the prompt with extra info about the historical or cultural context you’re interested in can yield greater insight for your character development and world-building.

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4. What Style of Clothing Would People Wear in This Environment?

Whether you use ChatGPT or mobile apps for world-building , its principles don’t change: think about where your story’s set and what this territory or culture consists of.

On that point, fashion is integral in describing your fictional society, as well as your characters. If you’re having trouble visualizing this aspect of your book, OpenAI’s databases are a great source of insights.

Just give ChatGPT some key details about the real or made-up setting, such as its climate and dangers, and ask what people would wear in it. You’ll get a list of tips on how to dress your characters for the occasion.

5. What Language Would My Character Speak if…?

Another real-world fact about a character you may need to research is their language. This is handy with historical fiction or a story set in a country you don’t know the language of.

Just ask ChatGPT for the linguistic characteristics of a specific region and time. The chatbot will give you as much relevant lore as it can find in its pool of knowledge.

6. Translate the Following Text Into…

If you’re incorporating different languages in your book, ChatGPT prompts can translate whole paragraphs or pages for you. Just like the best online translators for real-life use , this chatbot does a decent job.

Type or paste in the passage you want to be translated, mention what language you want it rendered into, and submit the prompt so OpenAI’s program can work its magic.

The translations are quite accurate but not perfect. Have a human translator or native speaker check these parts of your story to ensure they flow naturally and don’t contain mistakes.

7. Does This Scene Flow Well and Make Sense?

You can use AI responsibly as a writer and editor in many ways, from finding plagiarized text to building a website. So, getting constructive feedback on your writing from ChatGPT is hardly a surprise.

Its computerized brain has learned from a massive collection of fiction and non-fiction materials. If you paste in part of your writing, like a dialogue or action sequence, and ask for ChatGPT’s opinion, the response can be very helpful.

If you use the prompt above, you’ll typically get a list of what happens in the scene and a simple assessment of its flow and coherence.

You can then ask the chatbot additional questions about how to improve the scene, what would make a character’s specific action more realistic, and more. ChatGPT will offer solutions to the best of its abilities.

8. What Can You Tell About My Character From This Scene?

As your story evolves, you may lose track of your character’s development. ChatGPT can help with that, too, by analyzing a scene or entire chapter and explaining its impression of a particular character.

In the prompt, specify who you want the chatbot to pay attention to. It will then break down several qualities it picked up and what they say about your character.

If you continue this chat and keep adding scenes, ChatGPT can enrich the profile it created of the character. As a result, its feedback will become more complex, giving you a clearer sense of how this persona is evolving and whether it’s going according to plan.

9. My Character Needs a Quirk

Every important member of your book’s cast must have a special trait that makes them more intriguing. You can take an existing conversation with ChatGPT in this direction for some great ideas or describe your character in a new chat and ask for a quirk.

Drawing from the character information you feed it, the algorithm will produce one or as many quirks as you like that make sense and add depth to this aspect of your story.

10. What Would Make a Good Start, Climax, or Ending for My Character?

ChatGPT can also generate ideas for your character’s journey. But remember that the AI learned from existing stories, so you’ll come across familiar plots and tropes. Unique ideas aren’t this chatbot’s forte.

If that’s something you can live with, just provide the chatbot with the storyline so far and explain what part of it you need help with.

The response will be detailed, insightful, and the potential start of a more productive brainstorming session. This is why ChatGPT and DALL-E are used in D&D character creation so much.

11. Summarize My Character’s Development So Far

Here’s a final prompt that works best after a long exchange with ChatGPT. The discussion should clearly indicate what ideas you’re keeping for your character’s story and what you’re rejecting.

This allows the chatbot to pick up the key points you made about the character and provide an accurate outline of their journey, qualities, quirks, stakes, relationships, and so on.

Combine ChatGPT With Other Tools to Develop the Best Fictional Characters

Creating your book’s cast is a difficult, time-consuming process. Fortunately, ChatGPT has the intelligence and speed to streamline your work as an author. And all you need to do is type in a few prompts and have fun bouncing ideas off the algorithm.

Thanks to the extra help, planning a story feels less of a chore. To make your character development and other creative writing tasks that much more productive, employ additional brainstorming apps that collaborate well with ChatGPT.

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If you’re an author, here are several ChatGPT prompts you can use to plan your book’s characters, including their appearance, personality, and storyline.

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