I'm currently posting here a 10-chapter Novella called "Project Mnemosyne," written with the assistance of Chat GPT, but with extensive, long, detailed prompts and post-edits. It seems to be getting good reviews, even from people I consider some of the best posting on BC or anywhere.
I've done another story, very different in tone from the Novella but also rather different from anything I have written previously. Still, this has more input from me to begin with and more editing by me, too.
It's a short story called "Another Round". I'm probably going to post it later today. I'm trying to make sure everyone knows what it is because I don't want anyone to think I am forcing my experimental assisted fiction on them. Just read the tags and you will be forewarned.
Thank you,
Suzan
Comments
Tools
I like to think that there's a world of difference between using a tool and being idiotic with it. You use the tool, and it helps you do your job, that's fine.
-- Daphne Xu
My technique
My method is to spend time describing what I want to do with the story to the AI, like setting, characters, certain incidents and plot points. Then I write an extensive prompt for a scene. I examine the scene produced and perhaps suggest changes or corrections, get those then perhaps more discussion before writing an extensive prompt (200-300 words usually) for another scene.
Once I have all the scenes for a story or a chapter, I stitch them together and do at least two editing passes. If there are chapters, I stitch the chapters together and do at least another editing pass on the whole thing. When I edit, I'm correcting minor things, deleting some passages that don't work and writing new passages. Edited sequences typically end up 10-50% longer.
Even with all that work, using the AI allows me to produce 2000 finished words a day, compared to my normal 500-1000 (on good days).
Suzan
AI...
That is "fine", I feel like an AI...
That barely computes...
Gwen, the AI
Heh!
I know whereof you speak.
Suzan
I have used AI for one
I have used AI for one concept (multiple stories, same universe) and have found that ChatGTP does a better job than AuthorAI. That being said…I am against using the tool to actually write out a story and just running with the output it gives.
(I am not sure if that’s what is being done on Amazon) I feel the tool cannot write out a story in my voice (without heavily editing) but kudos to you if you are able to make the balance work.
Tools
I have two finished AI assisted projects. The first completed was Project Mnemosyne which is being posted, all ten chapters, one every other day, here on BCTS.
Mnemosyne was an idea I had had for years but had not tried to write because it seemed so dark and unlike the stuff I normally write which can be light and even silly. The AI tool allowed me to write prompts which put the problem of darkness on the AI instead of me. So I could concentrate on making sure the story flowed and made sense and communicated the theme and ideas behind the story. Also, Project Mnemosyne was at least a novelette and kind of exhausting to even think about.
The second complete story I have done with AI is Another Round, a slice-of-life sort of thing set in a bar, featuring a meeting between two women. I don't go to bars, and I warned the AI of that as we discussed the story, who the women were, what they might discuss, what the action might be and the result. Then I wrote a 200-word prompt, and the AI produced a 500-word scene. We did that six times and ended up with a 3000-word short story, which I edited strenuously, both as scenes piecemeal and as a complete story. I'll probably post it tomorrow or later in the week.
Suzan