When writing meets AI

The new world of AI means we now all have access to a personal assistant. And if there’s one thing a writer can use, it’s an assistant to make the process of birthing a book a little bit easier.

AI tools can be time-savers, gut-checkers, writer’s-block-busters, or productivity boosters — whatever you need them to be. The only thing they’re not is a replacement for you.

Understanding AI's role

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, AI can help you unlock your creative potential and write more efficiently and effectively. Generative AI can support you with plot development, research, outlining, or any other step that becomes a stumbling block.

They’re still just tools, though. You’ll always need to review every word yourself, because AI, just like regular intelligence, isn’t infallible. And while some people may create entire books using AI, the best wordsmithing still comes from a real human mind. 

Your discerning eye and creative instincts are always your greatest key to success. AI just helps make the process easier.

Dispelling myths

Because most AI tools, like ChatGPT, are trained on work previously created by humans, there are inevitable concerns around copyright and intellectual property. The LCA considers training generative AI models on copyrighted works to be “fair use.” There are many who consider it infringement, though.

That’s why for writers, generative AI functions best as a source for inspiration rather than independent creation. If you prefer, free options like ChatGPT 3.5 allow you to harness AI without paying for tools trained on other writers’ words. 

And not all AI is built on copyrighted material. Some AI tools, like ProWritingAid and Writer, can be trained on your own work to provide a helpful source of style checking. Combine your creativity with their ability to synthesize data for a winning combination. If it's important to you, check a tool's TOS and privacy policy to verify how your data will be used — whether it's to help train the overall model or only to assist you personally.

AI for plot and story development

AI shines when asked to assist with plot and story development. It's true that AI can also do the writing for you, but to maintain the most control over your work, input some creative queries or work of your own and use a tool's results as a jumping-off point. Primed with the ideas you've already had, AI will spin a yarn to inspire you with fresh new takes.

Sudowrite is an all-in-one writer’s assistant with a “Canvas” feature that generates plot points and twists. Rytr, an AI content creator, includes a story generator that can weave an intricate narrative from a phrase, sentence, or keyword.

NovelAI is a service for AI-assisted authorship, with a “sandbox for your imagination" that allows censorship-free storytelling. It also features a text adventure module to explore, as well as worldbuilding tools. Plottr's "visual timelines" keep your plots organized down to the granular level, with templates based on proven storytelling structures to help inspire you. You can add additional books to create a series of any length, with AI-generated suggestions for future plots.

AI for character development and research

Some of the most popular AI chatting tools are built to produce short-form content, so while they’re powerful, they’re best for aggregating research, crafting outlines, and helping develop character profiles and backstories.

You've likely heard of ChatGPT, an AI model in dialogue format. It can quickly and easily make complicated topics understandable, generate outlines, and perform almost any other chat-based task you can think of, including character and name brainstorming. Gemini, Google’s proprietary chatbot, includes a search feature that cross-references Google search results. This makes it helpful for researching, simplifying complex information, and collaborative creation. 

Because chatbots can get facts wrong, always cross-check their answers with outside sources before setting your choices in stone. (And not just the Google featured snippets, as those are often AI-generated as well).

As your work develops, you can keep all of your characters and worldbuilding organized with the cataloging features of NovelAI or Plottr. Similarly, Novelcrafter offers a unique Codex for your creations that helps you plan stories while establishing and harnessing a knowledge base of info about your characters, places, objects, and lore.

AI grammar and style checkers

Checking grammar and suggesting stylistic adjustments are right in AI’s wheelhouse. Many of the tools in this article, like Sudowrite and Novelcrafter, can have a positive impact on your writing’s quality and consistency, but some were built to specialize in this area. The popular "writing partner" Grammarly offers guidance for polishing language and nixing grammatical mistakes while retaining your unique style. 

Writer is a suite of Generative AI tools for businesses and creatives. Unlike some other applications that purposefully don’t retain your information, Writer is trained on your own work and includes a style guide to enforce your rules. Similarly, ProWritingAid's features help you weed out clichés, eliminate passive voice, and understand the rules (grammar checking) before breaking them (creating your own custom style rules).

Boosting productivity with AI

Generative AI is brilliant for jumpstarting your imagination and holding your hand through writer’s block. Most of the tools in this article include features that can reinvigorate your productivity, like Sudowrite’s “Brainstorm,” which “never runs out of ideas.”

Google, though, came up with something unique: TextFX, a set of 10 creative AI experiments created in partnership with rapper Lupe Fiasco. The bite-sized tools help you beat writer’s block by exploring a scene texturally, chaining ideas together, uncovering themes, and playing with language.

With all the marketing that goes along with being a writer in today's climate, content-focused tools like Rytr and Cohesive can help you get back to the actual writing sooner. They can create templates and kickstart ideas for engaging social posts, search-engine-optimized blog articles, meta descriptions, online bios, and more.

Case studies

Countless professional writers harness the power of AI to make their lives easier and their writing fresher. Chris Anderson, a New York Times bestselling author and former Editor-in-Chief of Wired, proclaimed himself “a huge Sudowrite fan.” Leeanna Morgan, a USA Today bestselling author, says ProWritingAid is “invaluable in improving [her] writing and spe​​eding up the editing process.”

As writers all over the world have found, integrating AI into your writing practice can help open your mind to new ideas and options. It can save you time going down research dead ends. And it can spark creativity when you feel like you’re all out of oomph (but you’re still facing a deadline).

Best practices

AI is easy to integrate into your writing workflow. A single all-around tool like Sudowrite or ProWritingAid gives you access to the exact boost you need when you need it. Both Sudowrite and ProWritingAid have Chrome extensions and can be integrated into Google Docs.

Although it’s rare, AI tools are capable of plagiarizing work, so it’s always a good idea to run results through a plagiarism checker like those available through Grammarly, Writer, or Quillbot.

Finally, be sure to check each tool’s terms and conditions before selling work created using that tool. When in doubt, it’s always a good idea to seek legal advice before publishing (Fiverr can help).

Step into the future of writing

So, if you haven’t “hired” an AI assistant to help take the load off of your next writing project, now is the time. Just choose from the above list and let the ideas flow.

Still feeling intimidated? You can hire your own personal AI expert to harness its power for you. Get started with Fiverr's AI services now.