From Seed to Story: Innovative Writing Techniques From GPT

Getting struck by a good and entertaining idea is the easy part; articulating it in written form is the real challenge.

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Prior to the era of AI, many writers honed their skills by immersing themselves in books, capturing their own ideas, or turning to instructional writing videos on YouTube. Although these methods still hold value, the emergence of AI is reshaping the way we express our creative ideas, rendering faster results.

If you’re an aspiring novelist or struggling with writer’s block, ChatGPT can lend you a helping hand as you embark on your novel-writing journey.

1. Research the Type of Novel You Want to Write

The first step in writing a book is to do research about your concept. This will include the narrative structure, length, and tropes to avoid (or incorporate).

Furthermore, it entails conducting in-depth research into the actual story. Ideally, you should write about what you already know, but since you won’t possess complete knowledge, you’ll have to supplement your understanding through research. This involves immersing yourself in the world where the story takes place.

For instance, if your story is set in Madrid, you’ll need to make yourself familiar with the local culture and the city’s dynamics. Similarly, if one of the characters suffers from an illness, you’ll need to comprehend the genuine impact it can have on them.

This type of research can drag out the process, which could leave you feeling overwhelmed or demotivated by the time you get to the writing part. This is where ChatGPT comes in.

Simply ask “what is the best narrative structure for a crime thriller”. Or, if there’s something in your book that necessitates specialized knowledge, like how an ice skating tournament works, ask exactly that and ChatGPT will generate the relevant information in a summary.

Keep in mind that the chatbot might generate inaccurate answers, which is just one of the big problems with ChatGPT , so it’s essential to verify the results. You also need to ensure that whatever information you derive from ChatGPT is compatible with your theme; don’t just settle for the first answer it spits out.

2. Has Anyone Else Used the Same Idea Already?

Now that you have your idea and research notes ready to go, it’s time to get to work. But before investing potentially months into bringing your idea to life, it’s essential to check if anyone else has already used it.

We are all influenced and inspired by the art and media around us, so it is possible that your concept is based on another book you’ve read or film you’ve watched. These ideas can take root in our minds, disguising themselves as our own. Just ask ChatGPT if your idea already exists.

Your story will most likely draw upon a widely recognized framework of narratives in literature and film, such as an alien invasion or a money heist. So you need to be very specific with your prompt to ensure that ChatGPT has every element of your story to check its originality.

3. Generate an Organized Outline

If you’re a pantser, we envy you—the outlining process can get tedious. But having an outline will help make the writing process easier, so it’s worth the extra work.

ChatGPT is an absolute gem when it comes to outlining. Let’s say you’ve settled on the three-act structure, specify that at the beginning of your prompt, then follow with a synopsis of your story. All you need to do is get the timeline of events in the correct order, and ChatGPT will give you an organized outline.

Editing the outline is critical; add any details ChatGPT missed, remove things that you don’t like, or ask the chatbot to generate a new outline altogether. Now you’ve got something to work with, and it didn’t take all day to put together!

4. Flesh Out the Characters and World

If you don’t have a clear vision of your characters or the world they’re in, then you won’t be able to paint a picture for your readers.

You might already have an idea of who your protagonist is, but what about what they look like, their history, behaviors, goals, and flaws? Ask ChatGPT for ideas, or input a general description of what you already have in mind to get something more detailed.

The same goes for world. Don’t know how to elaborate on “a dark forest”? Ask ChatGPT.

You can add the results to your outline or in separate notes, but note it down somehow. Always refer back to these notes as you are writing.

5. Develop Your Plot

Our foremost suggestion is to focus on character arc. Most readers tend to stay engaged when they genuinely care about the characters and their journey, even if the plot isn’t phenomenal. But that doesn’t mean that you should skimp on plot development.

Whether you’re struggling to go from scene to scene or need ideas for the overarching progression of your story, ChatGPT can help. You can even ask it for unique plot twist ideas if you want to steer clear of clichés.

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Once you begin writing, it’s crucial to maintain momentum and not get caught up in perfecting it at the moment. Every writer will encounter a situation where they know what they want to say, they just don’t know how to say it. But you should keep writing nonetheless. The key is to get your thoughts written down, even if it’s just the opening scene, even if it’s messy.

After revising your written work, you’ll no doubt want to change some, if not most, of it. Put grammar aside for now and look at how you can improve the storytelling.

Ask ChatGPT to paraphrase what you wrote. Don’t copy-paste the results as it won’t be able to capture the undertone of your story, but you might stumble upon better words to convey it.

It might be worth including “show, don’t tell” at the beginning of your prompt so you can get into the habit of creating an immersive story for your readers.

7. Check Your Grammar

Ideally, you shouldn’t edit while you write, at least the mechanical aspect of the text such as grammar. If you do this, you’ll never complete your novel.

Once you’ve completed and revised the story, you can use ChatGPT as a proofreader to check your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and even passive voice.

Remember that ChatGPT might not always get it right, plus grammar rules aren’t the same across the board, so it might be worth getting a human copy editor instead.

8. Generate Novel Title Ideas

The title of your novel is going to be what draws readers in, so it needs to be captivating. There are no rules here, it can be one word or ten, simple or complex, as long as it reflects your story.

If you have no idea where to begin, jot down the main themes of your story and ask ChatGPT to generate title ideas based on that. You can also do this for individual chapter names.

9. Generate Book Cover Art Ideas

In addition to the title, the visuals of your book also play a crucial role in captivating readers. If you’re hiring a photographer or graphic designer, it’s essential to convey your artistic vision to them.

While ChatGPT can’t generate images, you can ask for some inspiration. Of course, you could always use an AI art generator to visually illustrate your concept to your designer. Or, if you feel confident in your artistic skills, you could DIY it and make your own book cover .

Harness the Power of ChatGPT for Your Novel

Writing a novel is a challenging endeavor, but integrating ChatGPT into your workflow will streamline the process. Put the methods above into practice and see if it helps you make better progress.

While ChatGPT provides valuable assistance, it’s important to have realistic expectations. It can’t write an entire book for you as it won’t be able to convey the essence of your story or give you unique character voices. It’s just a tool that lightens the load; you still need to do the heavy lifting yourself.

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Prior to the era of AI, many writers honed their skills by immersing themselves in books, capturing their own ideas, or turning to instructional writing videos on YouTube. Although these methods still hold value, the emergence of AI is reshaping the way we express our creative ideas, rendering faster results.

If you’re an aspiring novelist or struggling with writer’s block, ChatGPT can lend you a helping hand as you embark on your novel-writing journey.