Before we dive into other aspects of this topic, I want to begin with a note of hope. I do not believe artificial intelligence tools will remove the need or readers’ desire for human authors.

Will it change or even disrupt the publishing industry in some ways? That's a near certainty. But then, so did eBooks! And they made self-publishing a more viable path for authors, giving readers more books to choose from.

Your greatest asset to storytelling is your own creativity and understanding of what makes a story resonate with readers. That is irreplaceable!

One aspect of storytelling that we human authors know must never seem artificial is our characters. To help you keep your characters as human as possible, I want to give you my R.E.A.L. Method to Creating Unforgettable Characters. This free PDF will help you make every character in your story three-dimensional and memorable in four easy to follow steps, no AI required.

And be sure to read to the end of this post, so you won't miss this week's Power-Up, a super practical action step you can take while working on your story, right now.

Have you ever wished you could have a brainstorming buddy, research assistant, plotting coach, or marketing copywriter at your beck and call, day or night? Well, now you can. Sort of.

Writing a novel or book-length memoir can be a daunting task, and sometimes we need a little help to get past that blank page or get out of the corner we've written ourselves into. That's where ChatGPT and similar AI tools can come in handy.

Nothing can replace our human brainstorming buddies, critique partners, or writer’s group members, but let's face it, people have different schedules. Whether your favorite brainstorming partner has a day job or needs to sleep when you're awake, they're not always available at the moment when we need help.

Artificial intelligence tools don't need to sleep, and they can provide guidance, idea generation, and support whenever and wherever you need them…as long as you have an internet connection, of course. Since, at the moment, ChatGPT is the most popular and probably the most well-developed tool out there, I’ll focus on it throughout this post.

Keep in mind that the development of AI is moving super fast right now. So, if you're reading this sometime in the future, things may have changed. Other tools may have been developed that are more streamlined or even more effective. And the caveats I'm going to share about ChatGPT may no longer be relevant, because these tools are always improving.

Just in case you're not familiar with it, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chat bot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. Think of it like a text messaging app or the chat feature on a website, where you can interact with a company's customer support team.

The user types in a prompt (message) that either asks a question or provides information as context and requests an action. This prompt is written in human-like language. So, you write it as if you were texting with a friend.

ChatGPT responds in a conversational style, and it can recall and build on all the information that has come before in that particular conversation. Now, if you start a different chat (a different conversation), the AI will have no idea what went on in the previous conversation. It's like you've started chatting with a completely different robot.

The good thing is, no programming is necessary. This conversational style of input and output makes ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence tools much easier for us to use. That, I think, is what makes them so revolutionary.

However, ChatGPT and similar large language models, as they're called, do have their flaws—inconsistent factual, accuracy, chief among them.

First, I want to point out that I do not advocate having ChatGPT write your entire story for you. That's neither ethical nor in keeping with a writer's desire for creativity.

After all, you’re a writer because you want to tell the stories that are inside your head, not because you are longing to press a button and have a machine generate stories for you. We'll get into more of that and the ethical considerations a bit later in the post.

For a fun experiment, I used ChatGPT to help me create certain sections of the outline for this post. One of the questions I asked it was to list precautions we writers should keep in mind when using it. I know, it's a little meta, right? Asking it for warnings about itself. Here's what it gave me:

CAUTION 1: “ChatGPT is a machine learning model and does not have emotions or a moral compass. While it can provide information on a wide range of topics, it may not always provide answers that are sensitive to human emotion or moral considerations.”

CAUTION 2: “ChatGPT can only generate responses based on the data it has been trained on. As a result, it may provide inaccurate or incomplete information, especially on complex or niche topics that it may not have been trained on.”

This is the big one. It isn't always accurate.

According to my research, it was trained on a lot of data from the internet and quite a few books. But GPT 3.5—and, I believe, GPT 4—received training only on data up to the year 202. Now, GPT 4 is reported to have the potential for live internet access, when used in certain plugins. And if you're watching this in the future, whatever models are out there may have expanded or completely different parameters.

CAUTION 3: “ChatGPT's responses are generated based on statistical patterns found in its training data. As such, it may sometimes generate responses that are irrelevant, nonsensical, or even offensive.”

Here is a comforting one:

CAUTION 4: “ChatGPT is not a replacement for human expertise or critical thinking.” (I would add creativity, here.) “Writers should use ChatGPT's responses as a starting point for their own research and writing, and should verify the accuracy of any information they receive.”

CAUTION 5: “ChatGPT may sometimes generate responses that are biased or reflect the biases present in its training data. It's important for writers to be aware of this and to critically evaluate any information they receive from ChatGPT.”

One of the biggest criticisms from a number of people about ChatGPT is that it seems to have been programmed to be politically correct or perhaps even carry some left-leaning political views.

So, how can you use this tool to enhance your process as a writer?

I'm will give you an overview of these tips, but several YouTubers have released full demonstrations of their processes for using AI as writers. The Nerdy Novelist, for example, has posted an entire seriesin which he walks through the entire process of creating a book with ChatGPT, from idea generation to writing the actual text.

ChatGPT responded with: "Sure, I'll be happy to help you get started on your science fiction novel. Here are a few questions to help you think about your story." (In the beginning of a response, ChatGPT will often rephrase part of your question. I think it does this in order to make sure it has understood your request.)

It listed a number of useful questions, then ended with the polite statement, " I hope these questions help you get started on your story."

ChatGPT responded with information about work and daily tasks, housing, clothing, food, health and hygiene, religion, and entertainment. Its categorization of all this information—without even being asked to do so—could be very helpful for compiling your world-building notes.

To make this prompt more targeted, you could list the specific details you need. However, this more open-ended prompt does allow the AI to suggest topics you might not have considered.

Artificial intelligence can help with the plotting and outlining stage of writing a book, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer who uses an outline as part of the revision process.

It can provide a template for you to follow, including plot points, character arcs, and themes, or you can input your own story structure. For example, you could ask it to give you plot ideas based on the Hero's Journey framework or on the story beats laid out in Blake Snyder's book Save the Cat.

I suggest first asking ChatGPT whether it's familiar with the framework you want to use and to outline that framework, so you can make corrections if needed. Then, ask it to generate your plot ideas based on that framework.

If you'd like to use a story structure or framework with which ChatGPT is not familiar—for example, my list of seven essential story beats—you will need to paste that in as part of your prompt to give it context, with brief explanations for each section of the story structure.

ChatGPT can also help you refine and revise your story's plot outline or chapter-by-chapter breakdown. For example, if you're having trouble with the pacing of your novel, you can paste in the outline you’ve written so far and ask ChatGPT for suggestions on how to structure your plot points to keep the story moving forward or speed it up a bit.

ChatGPT can also provide writing prompts and exercises to help you stay inspired and motivated throughout the writing process, or combat some causes of writer's block.

You can ask it for ideas on how to develop a particular character, create a compelling opening scene, or tackle a tricky plot point. Just remember to be specific, provide context, and keep refining your prompt or asking for more detail until you receive the help you're looking for.

The first prompt you provide isn't always going to give you what you need, so you can keep embellishing. For example, asking ChatGPT to add more emotion to what it has written, or perhaps deepen the internal conflict, provide more setting detail, use deep point of view, show don't tell, that sort of thing.

Marketing is one area that gives authors significant difficulty, myself included. It can seem harder to write a book description for the back cover or a synopsis for editors and agents than it has been to write the entire book! ChatGPT can help you craft compelling and concise marketing language to draw readers in.

For example, you could provide a brief summary of your novel, and it can create a back cover book description that highlights the most exciting and intriguing aspects of your story. Be specific in your prompt, asking it to craft a description that raises curiosity and intrigue and makes readers excited to buy the book.

ChatGPT claims it can also help you write query letters to literary agents, taglines, or a full synopsis. It says, “You can provide ChatGPT with a brief summary of your novel, and it can help you craft a compelling pitch that will catch the attention of potential readers or agents.”

If you do use it to help you write a query letter or synopsis, I strongly advise you to edit the text thoroughly. Do not submit it as-is to an agent or publisher.

Can ChatGPT really help you write a full book synopsis? Yes and no. We can input only a limited number of characters in a single prompt, so you can't just paste an entire novel into ChatGPT and ask it for a one-page synopsis…yet. It is best to provide a brief summary of the story’s main plot points, characters, relationships, and themes. A good guideline is to keep the prompt between 200 and 400 words. I have been told that the more characters you use in your input, the more likely ChatGPT is to produce less accurate or less useful outputs.

One aspect of the writing process with which many authors would love to have help is editing. Can AI assist you here? Yes and no.

Once you've completed your first draft, ChatGPT claims it can also help you edit and revise your manuscript. It says you can ask it for suggestions on how to improve your prose, eliminate redundancies, and tighten your plot.

Well, let's look at the plot part, for example. You'd have to paste in your entire outline for it to help you with this. That might be a bit tricky.

ChatGPT also gives this caveat, with which I strongly agree with (and you won't be surprised). "Keep in mind that ChatGPT is an AI language model and may not always provide the most accurate or nuanced feedback.”

If you do want to use a tool to help with the editing process, I recommend something like Grammarly or ProWritingAid. Yes, they do use artificial intelligence as well, but it’s more targeted and—reportedly—more accurate. Though these tools have a more proven track record, they produce inaccuracies as well, so just be careful.

None of them would be a true replacement for the experience of a human editor or the genuine feedback that you would receive from beta readers.

You could use these tools to help with some basic proofreading and copy editing. That might make your editor's job a little easier, but don't use them by themselves as your only editor, Human editors and beta readers can, for instance, tell you if your character is being inconsistent, seems flat, or strays from his/her character voice in a certain section of the story.