Now I have around 15 versions of this sentence with different descriptors and details, but none of them quite feel like my voice. To remedy this, I’ll combine a few that I really like:
”Townes, the ever purring Maine Coon, lay fast asleep against my plush purple comforter, his paws wrapped around my cardigan and his back pressed into my black pleather purse.”
Notice that there are certain details that the AI can’t accurately expand on, such as the exact breed of my cat or the quality of my comforter. However, AI can recommend synonyms, adjectives, or help you find that one word that’s just on the tip of your tongue. The more specific you make your request, the better.
A lot of word processors already have AI writing tools built into their software, but those tools simply offer suggestions. A chatbot, on the other hand, can help explain why your writing is too drawn out, not engaging, or at the wrong reading level. Understanding the “why” is what improves your skills as a writer.
As you’re reviewing your draft, AI can help you bulk up frail ideas or themes, adjust your tone to set a certain mood, and suggest structure or organizational styles. For example, if you’re working on a different type of project than you’re used to, you could ask the bot to give you an example outline. I always find it best to ask for several variations on answers, like I did with my cat query.
In fact, when I asked my favorite chatbot, Copilot, what it could do for my writing, it responded, “Think of me as an editorial guide rather than a ghostwriter—I help shape your words rather than replace them.” (By the way, this is not a plug for Copilot–I just like that it’s free, big, and links its information to real websites.)
Creative Projects
One thing most creative writers have in common is that you can find really weird stuff in our search history. Now AI can answer all of those strange hypothetical questions for you! It can explain how someone with certain psychological conditions might react to an event, or how someone with a rare ailment might be cured. I remember one of the first fiction writer questions I had to ask the internet was, “If you hit someone over the head, how long would they be unconscious for?” I’m glad my parents never found that in my search history. They would have been very concerned.
The good news is, you no longer have to turn to weird subreddits or Quora, because AI can probably tell you the answer. However, I recommend fact-checking most of what it tells you, which is why any AI that links its sources (like Copilot) is preferable.
If you need a setting, have your AI list out five different environments and see if any of those spark an idea. From there, the chatbot could tell you what animals live in those habitats, what adaptations humans would have to survive in those habitats, or what kind of weather would be the most common. At this point, you could probably turn to the internet, and return to your AI conversation whenever Google fails to answer the more niche queries.
If you don’t know where to start your creative writing project, AI can remind you what elements you need to consider. Tell your chatbot about what you’re writing and what your concerns are. It can give you an itemized list of ideas for a solution, but it’s up to you to apply them effectively.
Throughout this process, it’s important to remember that writing is supposed to be hard. Practicing creativity is important, so try to use AI as a moving walkway rather than a crutch for idea generation.
Final Thoughts
There is a certain book—I won’t say the title—rounding out some best sellers lists, that I am convinced was at least partially written by AI. I refuse to read it after reading several reviews that describe the extremely generic world building and passages that eerily resemble other popular books. However, the book is popular online because it is an echo chamber of its genre, and there are many young readers who cannot yet discern the unoriginality of this story within the genre.
I don’t know for a fact whether this author used any AI to generate their writing, but the book's existence paints a grim picture of what the future of literature will look like if we let AI do the writing.
Let’s think of literature as we do the Met Gala red carpet. When you’re writing, you want your product to be like Zendaya or Bad Bunny. Your book is unique to you and stands out while still fitting within the theme or genre you’re writing in. You might make stylistic choices that remind us of other books or even add small accessories that reference specific icons, but the outfit altogether is distinct, and how you wear it makes it yours. You could ask AI to help you come up with color combinations or explain the theme in more detail, but if it designs the outfit for you, you’ll be a black suit with a fun pocket square that you threw in for a pop of color.
As writers continue to experiment with AI, I want to encourage you to not let robotic writing outputs make you self-conscious of imperfections in your own writing. When we write, we make mistakes, and that’s OK. Comparing your first draft to AI’s writing would be like comparing Michelangelo’s “David” to a mannequin. One of them is cleaner, more uniform, and made faster, but no one is lining up to see a mannequin.
