How to write a book with AI ✍️📚

Prompts and strategies for writing the book you’ve always wanted to 👏

Hey AI Puppies, 

We’re willing to bet that there’s a part of you that’s always wanted to write a book. Whether it’s buried deep down or something you think about every day, everyone has a story to tell 📖

Think it’s too late to put pen to paper? Worried you don’t have what it takes? Have no idea where to start?

You know where we’re going with this, puppies…

Whether you’re a natural writer or have a lot to learn, AI is here to help bring your book to life 🤝🤖

But AI’s role in writing a book may not be what you think 🛑

While you technically could ask ChatGPT to write a book based on a sentence-long prompt about your idea, it won’t produce anything close to publishable. 

Instead, we’re going to run through some AI tactics for creating thoughtful, human-feeling books you’ll be proud to put your name on 👏

We can’t cover everything in one go, so this is only part 1! In today’s newsletter, we’re exploring:

🐾Sourcing storytelling inspiration with Claude

🐾Creating an effective book outline using ChatGPT

🐾3 more AI tools for managing the writing process

Let’s get writing!

Get Inspired with Claude

Let’s say you have a loose vision for a fiction novel, but your current idea only fills a couple of sentences. Need some help to embrace your inner creative?

There are a ton of tools on the market that can help you flesh out your story idea, but we’re going to focus on one of the more popular chatbots: Claude. 

Why Claude and not ChatGPT? Claude is earning a strong reputation for creativity in the writing community, while ChatGPT is better at organization and structure. So let’s save ChatGPT for the next section 😘

Once you have your Claude chat pulled up:

👉Start the conversation by sharing your basic idea

👉Ask for help figuring out the story

👉Go back and forth with your new creative partner!

On our very first try, we entered the prompt… 

“I have an idea for a mystery novel about a woman who runs a puppy training academy, but ends up becoming a confidant in her human clients' lives as she trains their dogs. I want there to be a mystery in town that she pieces together while running the school. Can you help me come up with a story?”

And got… 

Not bad for a first go!

We responded with… 

“I like the plot a lot, but I don't want it to be a small town. I want it to have more of an edge, maybe set in a more urban area with a really unique cast of characters. And can the crime be something other than arson?”

And got… 

If you have more than just an idea already going, you can still use AI to get more creative juices flowing. 

For example, a character deep dive. Using the same chat, we responded with…

“Let's do a character examination of Josie Clark. What motivates her? What are her strengths and weaknesses? What does she learn along the way?”

… and got:

For an extra creative challenge, you can even ask your chatbot to ask you questions instead. 

Using the prompt…

“I would like you to act as an editor and writing coach and ask me a series of questions that can help me get inside the head of Josie.”

… we got:

Ready to get into the weeds of writing? Next up: an outline. 

Outlining Your Book with ChatGPT

Ask any creative writer. For many projects, writing isn’t the hard part – organization is. 

Luckily, AI is exceptional at finding structure in just about any type of setting. For this next stage, we’re going to keep the same story, but pivot to ChatGPT 🫡

As usual, you want your prompt to be direct, honest, and with as much detail as possible. 

We entered the prompt…

“I have a story idea for a fictional mystery novel, but I need help structuring the story. I'm going to copy and paste what I have so far, and can you help me break it down into smaller segments? I don't know much about structuring a novel, so please explain as much as possible and break it down very clearly for a first time writer.”

… and got:

With structure on your side, writing your book becomes so much easier ✍️🐕

AI Tools for End-to-End Writing

Claude and ChatGPT are only the tip of the book writing iceberg. Need something a bit more robust to move your writing along?

Here are three AI tools that writers swear by in the fiction community!

#1: Sudowrite

If you have the cash to spare on the ultimate AI fiction writing partner, your best bet will be Sudowrite

The engaging platform is a visual dashboard that organizes, encourages, and edits your writing as you go. You can customize the dashboard any way you like with modules like Braindump, Synopsis, Characters, Outline, and then, finally, the writing itself. 

Here’s what it can look like, courtesy of Nerdy Novelist:

Features include:

✍️Describe: generates descriptions that keep readers engaged

✍️Story Engine: a step-by-step method for generating outlines and chapters

✍️Write and Expand: fast ways to build out scenes and beat writer's block

#2: Verb.AI

Want less structure and more room for creative experimentation? Verb.AI dubs itself the ‘New Blank Page to Experience the Joy and Pain of Creativity.’ 

As you write, Verb’s subtle features nudge you in the right direction with suggestions like Describe, Continue, Chapter Break, and Scene Break. Here’s what it looks like:

The best part? You can turn the nudges on and off at any time. 

#3: Squibler

Want a more visual writing experience? Squibler’s AI Story Writer is the easiest way to create, edit, and view AI-generated images based on your own story 🎨

As you write, simply highlight a sentence or paragraph, select Smart Writer, then ‘Visualize.’

Here’s an example using a few lines inspired by Harry Potter:

At this rate, it really does feel like magic 🪄

Your Next Assignment

This week’s assignment depends on where you are with your novel writing journey. 

👉If it’s only a thought in the back of your head, use Claude to see where the story takes you. 

👉If you’ve thought a bit more about your story, head to any of the above tools to kick off your writing

What do you hope to write? 

Let us know how everything goes with a comment or tag on any of our socials: we’ll keep an eye out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok 📲

As always, we’re on the lookout for topic submissions, so send yours to theaipuppy@gmail.com 📫

Enjoy the weekend! We’ll be back next week with more 👋

Cheers,

The AI Puppy