Overcoming the Fear: How Micro-Tasks Can Help Demystify AI for Writers
A Gateway to AI Expertise for the Hesitant Writer
Are you a writer? How does it feel to be a writer in the age of generative AI and ChatGPT? I've spoken to several writers about this, and have seen many articles on sites such as Medium or Substack on this topic, where some writers seem worried, even terrified of AI. Have you seen articles about this too?
Writers see what AI is starting to do in generating writing of different kinds, they don't understand how AI works (why should they) and don't know what's coming next, given how fast things are moving. I understand why many writers would be feeling concerned.
Other writers and creatives have responded to AI a bit differently, by being dismissive of AI, defiantly believing AI will never replicate or replace human creativity, and confident that humans are inherently superior to AI and always will be. Perhaps you know someone who feels that way?
They worry me too, as I'm not sure these writers & creatives sceptical of AI really understand how AI works and its vast potential.
I'm also not sure a dismissive attitude is the best way to prepare for the future where AI's potential isn't limited to the beliefs & imagination of a few creatives. I have written about this recently in The Uncomfortable Truth About AI Creativity: What Creatives Refuse to See.
Here's a question for you: How can you fairly judge something as being good or bad, useful or not - if you don't even understand what something is and what it can do?
I think you might agree, that you can't judge something fairly if you don't understand what it is, and how it works.
That, I believe is the key problem for many writers both the fearful and defiantly sceptical about AI - most of them haven't used AI in any way, so don't have much of a basis to understand it.Â
As Wayne W Dyer once said:
The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.
So how do we improve this? Sure, there are endless tutorials, articles and code telling you all about AI. Understandably writers are not interested in learning how to code AI. While many other tutorials tell you how to use text requests to get AI like ChatGPT to do things, how do they know what is relevant for writers?
I'm not sure most of these many articles promising for example 'ChatGPT prompts to help you' are always the most useful and relevant things for writers to be spending their valuable time reading, to be honest. These articles are most often pitched at a general audience, for general tasks.
I believe the best way to help writers better understand how AI works, is to help you focus on tasks specific to writers that you can use AI to help you with.
That's what this article is going to show you, looking at how you might use AI in different ways to help with specific writing 'micro-tasks' that you would typically do as a creative writer.
However you feel about AI, if you are an optimist, wary or a skeptic, I would encourage you to read through this article and practice the exercises suggested.Â
By doing so, you will have a much better understanding of what AI can really do to help you with your writing, whether you feel you ultimately want to use it yourself or not.
While this article focuses on how AI techniques can be applied to fiction writing, these could very easily be applied to non-fiction writing as well.
Free AI Tools to Use for Creative Writing Tasks
While there are many paid AI tools out there, some of the best are free, so I'm going to suggest some free AI tools you can use for these exercises.
ChatGPT is one of the best known, from OpenAI as a web service, you can sign up for a free account here.
Microsoft CoPilot is a free web service, you can find it here (no sign-up required).
Claude is also a free web service, you can sign up for free here.
ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot are based on the same AI model, so can produce similar-sounding writing because of this.
One key difference though is Microsoft CoPilot has access to the internet, so for example can help you do web research by asking it 'What the the trending topics for fiction writers' and it can reference the most up-to-date information on the internet.
ChatGPT and Claude do not have access to the live internet and rely on things they have learned previously up to a certain cut-off date.
Another difference is for better quality prose, Claude is generally considered better at generating more human & natural-sounding text. The text generated by ChatGPT & Microsoft CoPilot can at times sound a bit too clunky, wooden, too keen, and even a bit hyperbolic at times.
However, not all writing tasks require good prose, as we shall see.
It can be insightful to try the same task using more than one of these AI tools, to see the different responses and to help you better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of these AI tools.
If you’re like to see a basic quick tutorial of using AI tools like ChatGPT, CoPilot & Claude this 6 minute tutorial video is a good basic quick introduction.
Why Would Any Creative Writer Want to Use AI?
On a broader point let's speak to perhaps the elephant in the room, or perhaps a common fear many writers have about using AI.Â
Some writers imagine & fear that using AI for creative writing means essentially letting the computer write the text, copy and paste.Â
Given how some AI tools don't always produce the best-sounding natural prose, writers could be appalled at the very idea of using AI for creative writing.
Why would any creative writer want to use AI to produce clunky robotic-sounding text?
Yet this is a complete misunderstanding of AI's potential to help writers with writing. Sure, you can use AI to write a story for example, and many do, You can even use various tools and methods to make it even sound reasonably good if you want (tip: use Claude). But that's only part of what a writer needs to do.
The most critical thing for writers to understand about AI is it can help you with much more than just producing the text.
I believe some of the most useful things AI can help writers with, is absolutely nothing to do with writing the end text itself. Yes, you can use it to generate text, but I don't think that is the most helpful thing AI can do for writers, personally.
I use AI for my writing all the time, but I never use it to generate the text of my articles for example. All will be revealed shortly in the next section.
AI Prompts to Help with Non-Writing Tasks in Creative Writing
When you ask one of these AI tools a question, the common AI terminology calls this a 'prompt' so I'll be using that from now on.
Remember responses might vary even with the same AI tool, and will certainly vary across different AI tools.Â
The key thing to grasp here is, that you could use as many or as few of these as prompts as you like to help with your writing.
I hope it goes without saying that whatever these AI tools produce, would most likely be further enhanced by modifying them further using your writing skills.Â
Brainstorming Prompts
Stuck for ideas? use these prompts to help you brainstorm with AI to help inspire your writing.
Prompt 1
Give me [NUMBER] high-concept pitches for a bestselling [GENRE] story with a unique twist, intriguing characters, and gripping emotional stakes.
Prompt 2
Give me [NUMBER] ideas for characters that are part of a bestselling [GENRE] story that is well fleshed out, have strengths and weaknesses and undergo conflict throughout the story. Briefly describe their character arc.
Slight variations in the text of these prompts will also lead to different results, even if the meaning remains essentially the same.
Be creative with these prompts by modifying them slightly, and see how that affects your results.Â
Fun fact: when you start playing around with experimenting with different prompts to get better results, this is known as 'AI Prompt Engineering' so once you start doing this - you'll be an AI Prompt Engineer, congratulations!
Outlining Prompts
Got your basic ideas? Need to flesh things out a bit more? Use these prompts to help you start structuring an outline & writing plan for you.
Prompt 3
Using the following concept, write a story synopsis for a [GENRE] book: [PASTE PITCH]
The other thing to understand is that each 'chat session' you have with an AI tool remembers everything else said in that session.Â
Think of this as 'prompt chaining' asking one prompt after another in the same session. The AI tool remembers everything discussed and generated for the current chat session.
So as long as you have previously generated a story synopsis with prompt 3, you could then use this prompt:
Prompt 4
Using the previous synopsis, create a detailed summary of the story, fleshing out additional details, and breaking it into parts using the [OUTLINE METHOD OF CHOICE]:
You could also use a synopsis you already have (generated by you or AI) and just copy and paste it into a new chat session for example with this prompt for subplots:
Prompt 5
Create a list of potential subplots for the following novel: [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Or, use this prompt to generate a detailed summary using an outline:
Prompt 6
Using the following portion of an outline, write a detailed summary for [NUMBER] chapters of this [GENRE] novel: [INSERT OUTLINE HERE]
Once you get the basic idea, vary and experiment with the prompts to see how that affects your results.
Setting Prompts
Like to flesh out your settings a bit more? like some help with that? These prompts will help you collaboratively develop your settings with AI using a synopsis.
Prompt 7
Generate a list of potential locations for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 8
Create a list of potential weather conditions for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 9
Write a descriptive paragraph about culture and society for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 10
Develop a list of potential technological advancements for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 11
Develop a list of potential magic systems for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 12
Develop a list of potential symbols for a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 13
Write a descriptive paragraph about the economy for a society in a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Character Prompts
Got your character ideas? like to develop them more? These prompts can help you better flesh out your characters.
Prompt 14
Generate a list of character possibilities for a novel about [BRIEF SUMMARY]
Prompt 15
Write a character profile about the protagonist of this novel: [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 16
Write a character profile about the antagonist of this novel: [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 17
Develop a list of potential conflicts that the main characters will face in a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 18
Generate a list of potential character's strengths and character flaws for the main character of a novel about [INSERT SYNOPSIS]
AI Prompts to Help Produce Creative WritingÂ
So yes, you can also use AI to generate prose. You can just use this as a starting point and then further modify it yourself of course.
Let me be clear: I'm not suggesting we want a world of purely AI-generated stories! I don't want that, you probably don’t want that either.
However lets also be clear, it is also not true to say that using AI for creative pursuits means that the world will inevitably be dominated by AI-generated content as some suggest, that's just dystopian fantasy some like to peddle to tap into peoples worst fears to gain clicks and revenue - it’s not an inevitable fact.
Hopefully, at this point, that nuance is something you might better appreciate despite the doom-mungers: that AI can be used for many different creative writing tasks, and that it can also be used as a collaborative tool to support rather than replace human content creation.Â
As is often said:
Be the change you want to see in the world
Writing prompts
Prompt 19
Write 1000 words of a chapter using the following details:
Genre: [ENTER GENRE HERE]
Tone: [ENTER TONE HERE]
Point of View: [ENTER POV/TENSE HERE]
Setting: [ENTER SETTING HERE]
Key Characters: [ENTER CHARACTER DETAILS HERE]
Summary: [ENTER YOUR ABOVE SUMMARY HERE]
Conflict: [ENTER MAIN SOURCE OF CONFLICT HERE]
Make sure to have plenty of realistic dialogue, and be sure to show don’t tell, and use a deep point of view.
Prompt 20
Given the following scene, write a longer, more detailed version of the scene. The scene must begin and end with the following paragraphs:
Opening Paragraph: [INSERT OPENING PARAGRAPH]
Closing Paragraph: [INSERT CLOSING PARAGRAPH]
Editing prompts
Would you like some feedback on your writing? use these editing prompts to get some fresh eyes to look over your work and improve it.
Prompt 21
Given the following scene, write a stronger hook and opening paragraph in the style of a best-selling [GENRE] author: [INSERT SCENE]
Prompt 22
Take the following paragraph and add more description of [SCENE/CHARACTER]: [INSERT PARAGRAPH HERE]
Prompt 23
Expand the following text to show more than tell and include more dialogue [INSERT PARAGRAPH HERE]
Prompt 24
Take the following text and improve the Flesch Reading Ease Score: [INSERT TEXT HERE]
Prompt 25
Proofread the following passage, fixing all grammar errors according to [STYLE GUIDE]: [INSERT TEXT HERE]
Title & Description Prompts
Want to explore some title ideas for your work? or create a description? Use these prompts to let AI help you with that.
Prompt 26
Create a list of potential titles for a novel about: [INSERT PITCH/THEME]
Prompt 27
Please clean up this text from a [GENRE] novel that I dictated. there are many mistakes, including homophones, typos, and words that just don't make sense in context. Here is the dictated text:
If you’re curious why saying ‘please’ or being nice to AI might actually matter more than you realise, feel free to read my article The Hidden Benefits of Treating AI Respectfully (That Most Don’t Realise).
Prompt 28
Write a bestselling book description for a [GENRE] book with the following synopsis:[INSERT SYNOPSIS]
Prompt 29
Write a bestselling book description, improving upon the following book description: [INSERT YOUR CURRENT DESCRIPTION]
Summing Up - AI for Writers
I hope this article has helped you better understand how AI can help you as a writer, and that using AI for writing does not have to mean a dystopian apocalypse of a world dominated by AI writing, far from it.
You've seen how AI for writers is much more than a tool for writing prose, its a collaborator and partner for helping you develop and express your own ideas in many tasks a writer needs to do.
Remember, AI is not a fixed thing. What you have seen here now, is not the limit of all AI will be. AI is developing at an exponential rate, faster than anything in history. This means, that what AI can do right now with what you have seen, will be surpassed.
However, as a writer, learning and understanding what AI can do today, by actually using it yourself, is the best way you can prepare for & understand the upcoming developments in AI and how they will affect writing in the future.
If you'd like to keep up with the latest developments in AI and how they might affect you and society, then do subscribe to my free weekly newsletter about how AI is impacting society now and in the future.
For using AI for creative writing in particular, one of the best people to follow is The Nerdy Novelist Jason Hamilton and also his YouTube channel. Jason was a published author writing his own stories well before AI but then adapted to using AI to help with his writing.
Jason is in my view the number one leading person in applying the latest AI technology to creative writing, and I have learned a lot from him about applying AI to creative writing.
I'd also like to acknowledge the prompts used in this article are based on some of his learning materials & videos.
He's an excellent teacher and educator, and just an all-around great guy and passionate advocate for using AI in helpful ways to assist creative writers.
I hope in continuing to use AI for tasks in your creative work, you will fear it less, and will understand its real potential more by using it yourself.
By using AI you will understand what it can help you with, as well as develop a better understanding of its limitations and what you can uniquely do & create as a writer.
The best way to understand how AI can help you as a writer, and whats coming soon, is to just use it yourself right now to help you write.
But what’s your perspective? Do you agree? Would you be happy to start using some of these techniques to let AI help you with the tasks of creative writing Or do you have a very different perspective?
I’d love to know what you think whatever that is, let me know in the comments and let’s continue this important discussion about AI and writing.