Have you noticed? Everyone has an opinion on AI. Even people who don’t use it. Especially people who don’t use it.
Well, I have my opinions too. Keep reading and I’ll tell you everything I think I know about AI for fiction writers (minus a few mental reservations).
8 Ways Fiction Writers Can Use AI Effectively
Pandora’s jar has been opened and it can’t be closed. Unlike the contents of the mythological container, however, AI tools are not all destructive (heck, even Pandora’s infamous box was also filled with hope). For writers, AI has multiple uses that can be harnessed for greater productivity, more creativity, and a higher level of satisfaction. As a writer who has been toying with AI since the beginning of this year, these are my observations about how writers can employ AI for their benefit.
- AI is a great brainstorming partner - AI tools can help fiction writers brainstorm ideas. Just ask your favorite LLM model to generate 10 ideas, with summaries, for your next novel or short story (be sure to tell them what genre you write).
- AI is terrific at background research - While writing my soon-to-release novel Strangers & Aliens: 60 Days for Abel, I used ChatGPT and Perplexity to perform background research on the antediluvian age (pre-flood days) assuming a Young Earth Creationist perspective. Doing so streamlined the process and saved me thousands of hours in research time.
- AI is awesome at editing and proofreading - AI is an excellent proofreader. It’s also helpful during the editing process. Whether you need a line edit or a developmental edit, ChatGPT should be in your arsenal. One caveat: See “Drawbacks and Limitations of AI for Writing Fiction” below.
- AI can also assist with book cover creation - AI can be used to generate images for your book that you can then give to a book cover artist to complete the process. I have yet to try this, but one could use a good generative AI tool to create your book cover without hiring a book cover artist. Do you know anyone who has done this?
- AI can help you create your marketing collateral - AI can write your book blurb, create useful social media content to promote your fiction, craft posters, and a lot more. It can even write your author website content.
- AI sparkles at character development - Ask ChatGPT, Claude, or your favorite AI fiction writing tool to help you develop your characters. I asked ChatGPT to create characters in a fictional family tree and was very satisfied with the outcome. I’ve also asked it to evaluate characters in my fiction and suggest ways to deepen them.
- AI can build spectacular worlds - In the fantasy and science fiction genres, worldbuilding is a major part of the creative writing process. AI can be used to craft the elements of fabulous worlds that you can then populate with amazing characters and tell their stories.
- AI makes an incredible writing partner - At this juncture in history, I would not trust AI to write a complete novel. But I have used ChatGPT as a writing partner. Bear in mind that AI tools have their limitations. If you can work with those limitations, some AI tools make great writing partners, and I see no problem with writers using them for that purpose.
AI is an amazing tool. But it is a tool. And not a perfect one. Someday, we may all be amazed at how well an AI model writes a complete novel.
Drawbacks and Limitations of AI for Writing Fiction
No discussion of AI for writing fiction would be complete without mentioning some of the drawbacks and limitations, so let’s get to those:
- First, there is a bias against it - It doesn’t matter how many fiction writers are doing it, there’s a strong bias against it. Most of it, I think, is simply resistance to change. Nevertheless, all one must do to see the bias to read a few Twitter threads and writers guidelines at professional publications. Most reputable lit journals will not accept AI-written content (for good reasons) and many will not accept stories where AI was used at all. And Twitter is full of writer who refuse to use AI at all. This bias itself is a risk for adventurous fiction writers.
- AI is not an end-to-end standalone solution - Anyone who thinks you can prompt ChatGPT to write a full-length novel and watch it produce a Nobel-prize winning bestseller is dreaming. That may someday happen, but not in 2025.
- AI is not good with longform content - ChatGPT can create marvelous short content. Beyond flash-fiction length, however, it repeats itself and gets sloppy.
- AI hallucinates - After requesting an editorial analysis, I’ve had ChatGPT make up story events, revising scenes that never happened. That’s embarrassing!
- ChatGPT loves em dashes - I’m convinced ChatGPT can’t write more than 100 words without including at least one em dash. After all, it was trained on awesome writing. Granted, em dashes can make prose sparkle. But I’m not particularly fond of them — especially in fiction (see what I did there?). If you ask ChatGPT to edit your prose, you’ll have to edit the editing.
No tool is perfect. AI is no more perfect than anything else. But it can be a useful tool for fiction writers if you understand its limitations.
The Ethics of Writing Fiction with AI
Some people believe using AI for any part of the writing process is unethical. That’s sanctimonious.
On the other hand, some people think a writer can do whatever they want without consequences. Plagiarism is a real thing!
Here’s the moral dilemma: If there is a line (and I think there is), where is it?
Fiction writers should be able to use whatever tool they believe will help them be more productive, more efficient, and tell better stories. If AI is that tool, I won’t stand in anyone’s way.
Another misconception some people have about the ethics of AI is that writers are obligated to disclose ITS use in the creative process. I don’t agree.
We don’t demand coders disclose when they use Cursor. We don’t make authors announce when they hire an editor, ghostwriter, or cover artist. Why should AI be treated differently?
It’s nobody’s business whether a writer uses AI during any part of the creative process — no more than it is anyone’s business whether the writer uses a typewriter, pen, or a laptop. A writer’s toolbox is the writer’s toolbox. If no harm is done, praise the creativity. A good product is a good product.
Bottom line: Used responsibly, AI won’t replace fiction writers, but it will amplify the creative process. Just don’t let your tool be your master.
Do you use AI in the fiction writing process? If so, how?
First published at Substack. Image by ChatGPT
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