AI and the writing process: Creative catalyst, and sympathy for NaNoWriMo

Machine-generated writing has been around for a while. I used to run different data sets from Project Gutenberg through a Markov chain script I had written and I used to play with neural networks, then came GPT-2, which blew all of the previous stuff away. Still, I wouldn’t have wanted to read anything those technologies wrote. They created an occasional interesting line and image, which made them more apt to poetry than to prose, but they just weren’t coherent enough to produce anything of real value on their own.

Not that I want computers to write for me - writing is a hobby and I don’t want to give up the satisfaction of the process for any machine-generated end product! And, as a reader, authorship is a compelling aspect of a story: I’m thinking about “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” by Jorge Luis Borges, in which a fictional French writer, Pierre Menard, rewrites Don Quixote word for word. The story explores the implications of what it means for this exact story to be written by Menard instead of Cervantes. There’s no intent behind a machine’s version of a story. It’s more meaningful to me if it comes from a person. We can discuss how these LLMs are trained from the work of people, but a machine is just writing words, not expressing anything of itself. There’s a coldness to a story with machine origins.

Ted Chiang recently wrote an article for the New Yorker about why AI isn’t going to make art, and there’s an emphasis on “art” in this article rather than, I imagine, pure entertainment or business-related writing. I agree with him on this point, but the article’s also been been cited by decriers of NaNoWriMo’s recent statement that they will not categorically condemn the use AI as a tool. In this case, I stand with NaNoWriMo’s take: who’s to say what’s useful to someone who wants to bring their idea to the page?

NaNoWriMo’s subsequent clarification emphasizes their commitment to fostering inclusivity:

Taking a position of neutrality was not an abandonment of writers’ legitimate concerns about AI. It was an acknowledgment that NaNoWriMo can’t maintain a civil, inclusive community if we allow selective intolerance. We absolutely believe that AI must be discussed and that its ethical use must be advocated-for. What we don’t believe is that NaNoWriMo belongs at the forefront of that conversation.

I, like NaNoWriMo, object to LLMs that have been trained on copyrighted material without the permission of copyright holders, but that’s not the argument here. There’s a failure of imagination and empathy on the part of those who have condemned NaNoWriMo’s stance on AI, and I suspect more than a touch of elitism about art and self-expression.

To be clear: machine-generated stories are not for me, but AI is not categorically bad. I believe there could be a reasonable place for it in anyone’s writing process. Here are a few ways of integrating AI into your writing process.

Writing Prompts

We might as well lean into what AI currently does well: write tepid output. You can tune it to your desired degree of specificity and ask it for prompts that reflect the themes or styles of your favorite authors.

I requested some prompts from ChatGPT on Sept 14, 2024: “Hi there! I want to do a 10 minute fiction writing exercise to practice some writing techniques. Can you please generate 5 prompts for me?”

Its reply:

Absolutely! Here are five fiction writing prompts designed for a quick 10-minute exercise:

1. A Sudden Storm: Your character is caught in an unexpected storm while driving through a remote area. Their car breaks down, and they seek shelter in an abandoned house nearby. What do they find inside, and how do they react?

2. A Strange Encounter: While waiting at a train station, your character meets a stranger who knows intimate details about their life—but your character has no idea who they are. Write the conversation and explore the stranger’s motives.

3. The Missing Object: Your character wakes up and discovers an important item—a phone, a wallet, a wedding ring—has mysteriously disappeared. Describe their search to find it and the emotions they go through as they uncover where it went.

4. An Unexpected Invitation: Your character receives an invitation to a high-profile event they have no business attending. Out of curiosity, they go—and find themselves entangled in a conspiracy. How do they handle the situation?

5. The Last Letter: Your character receives a letter in the mail from someone they thought they’d never hear from again. The letter contains a shocking revelation or a long-held secret. Write your character’s immediate reaction and how they deal with this unexpected news.

These are perfect for short bursts of creativity! Let me know how it goes or if you need any help along the way.

Another request for prompts with more specificity: “Can you please generate 5 creative writing prompts that reflect the themes in a Steven Millhauser story?”

ChatGPT’s reply:

Absolutely! Steven Millhauser’s stories often explore themes of obsession, imagination, hidden realities, and the blurred line between fantasy and the everyday. Here are five writing prompts inspired by those themes:

1. The Endless Museum: A small, peculiar museum opens in your character’s town, featuring exhibits that grow more fantastical with each room. However, the museum seems to go on forever, with no way out. Your character must decide whether to keep exploring or find a way to escape.

2. The Midnight Carnival: A mysterious carnival only opens its gates at midnight, but no one knows how or when it arrives. The attractions are mesmerizing and seem to cater to each visitor’s deepest desires. Write about your character’s experience as they explore the carnival and what they discover about themselves.

3. The Miniature City: A wealthy collector commissions a hyper-detailed miniature city that grows in complexity over time, eventually reflecting the real world. As the city evolves, strange events from the miniature begin happening in reality. Explore how your character interacts with this eerie creation.

4. The Seamstress’s Masterpiece: A reclusive seamstress creates clothing so elaborate and lifelike that the garments seem to move and change on their own. When she crafts a dress for a high-society client, the outfit begins to take on a life of its own, leading to unexpected consequences.

5. The Secret Theater: Your character stumbles upon an underground theater troupe that performs strange, dreamlike plays for a select audience. The performances begin to spill into the real world, affecting the lives of those who attend. Write about the line between performance and reality breaking down.

These prompts reflect Millhauser’s fascination with hidden worlds, surreal transformations, and the allure of the extraordinary. Let me know if they inspire you!

I don’t hate these ideas! ChatGPT hasn’t told me what to think about them either, so I still have the freedom to write my own emotional core to any of the ideas that inspire me.

Outlining

AI isn’t actually very good at outlining, especially for novels that have intricate plots, but I treat it like a writing prompt. Ask an LLM for an outline of a story and you’ll often get something overly simplistic, but which can act as a point of inspiration.

A ChatGPT prompt from Sept 14, 2024: “I want to write a short children’s novel about a brother and a sister who have just moved to a new town. They find a mysterious cave while exploring the woods behind their new house. Can you please write a 20 chapter outline?”

Its suggestion:

Here’s a 20-chapter outline for your children’s novel:

Chapter 1: The Move

• Siblings, Jack (11) and Sophie (9), arrive at their new home, a small town nestled near the edge of an expansive forest. They feel uneasy about leaving their old life behind.

Chapter 2: The Forest Beckons

• As they unpack, Jack and Sophie notice the thick woods behind the house. Intrigued, they decide to explore, despite their parents’ warnings to stay close to home.

Chapter 3: The Whispering Trees

• While walking through the forest, they hear strange whispers and rustling leaves, although there’s no wind. The siblings feel a mysterious pull deeper into the woods.

Chapter 4: Discovery of the Cave

• Jack and Sophie stumble upon a hidden cave, partially concealed by overgrown vines. Curious, they peek inside but decide to return the next day with supplies to explore.

Chapter 5: Into the Unknown

• Armed with flashlights and snacks, the siblings venture into the cave. Inside, they discover ancient carvings and strange, glowing stones along the walls.

Chapter 6: The Hidden Doorway

• Further inside, they find an old, ornately carved door at the back of the cave. It’s locked, but Sophie notices an odd inscription above it. She copies the symbols, hoping to decode it later.

Chapter 7: Mysteries Unfold

• Back at home, Sophie researches the symbols she found, discovering they might be part of a forgotten language from local legends. Jack, meanwhile, overhears their parents talking about a mysterious past linked to the town.

Chapter 8: A New Friend

• At school, they befriend Eli, a boy who’s lived in the town all his life. Eli tells them stories of the “Forest Guardians”—mythical protectors said to live in the woods. Eli is eager to help when they mention the cave.

Chapter 9: The First Puzzle

• Returning to the cave with Eli, they discover that the symbols Sophie copied are part of a puzzle. They solve the first riddle, and the old door creaks open.

Chapter 10: The Other Side

• Beyond the door, they find a tunnel leading to a secret underground world. It’s filled with strange plants, glowing crystals, and the remnants of an ancient civilization.

Chapter 11: The Forest Guardians

• Deeper inside, they meet the Forest Guardians—magical creatures tasked with protecting the land. The Guardians are wary of humans, but they sense something special in the siblings.

Chapter 12: The Guardians’ Plea

• The Guardians reveal that something dark is awakening in the forest, a threat to both their world and the human town. They ask for the siblings’ help to restore balance.

Chapter 13: Secrets of the Cave

• Jack, Sophie, and Eli begin piecing together clues about the history of the cave and the ancient power it once held. They discover that someone—or something—is trying to unlock the cave’s darkest secret.

Chapter 14: The Shadow Figure

• Strange sightings of a shadowy figure in the woods intensify. Jack starts having strange dreams, warning him about the danger approaching.

Chapter 15: The Hidden Map

• Inside an old library, the kids find a hidden map showing forgotten parts of the forest. The map also indicates the location of a powerful artifact needed to stop the shadowy force.

Chapter 16: Race Against Time

• With the shadow figure growing stronger, the siblings and Eli race to the artifact’s location. However, the journey is perilous, filled with traps set to protect the artifact.

Chapter 17: The Artifact’s Power

• They retrieve the artifact, a small glowing orb, only to realize that using its power comes with a price—one of them must make a difficult choice to wield it.

Chapter 18: The Battle for the Forest

• The shadow figure finally reveals itself as an ancient enemy of the Guardians, bent on consuming the magic of the forest. Jack, Sophie, and Eli join forces with the Guardians to protect the cave and the town from destruction.

Chapter 19: The Final Choice

• As the battle reaches its climax, Sophie discovers that the true power lies not in the artifact, but in the connection between the siblings and their newfound friends. She makes a brave decision to end the conflict.

Chapter 20: A New Beginning

• With the forest restored and the threat vanquished, Jack and Sophie return to their normal lives, though forever changed by their adventure. They realize the woods will always hold mysteries, but now, they are the guardians of their own story.

This outline gives room for mystery, magic, and growth for the siblings as they navigate the challenges of a new town and a hidden magical world. You can expand on any of the chapters or add subplots as you develop the story!

I don’t hate this idea either! I don’t think I would structure the novel that way, but it has an arc and I still have to make a zillion other decisions that could shape the story into something entirely different. I’m curious to the extent to which Ted Chiang would consider the end result of this process “art.”

Rubber Duck Debugging

Stuck on a story? Need to chat with someone, but nobody’s around? Use a concept from software engineering called Rubber Duck Debugging! Explain what you’re doing to the LLM as means of exploration and clarification. The LLM will obviously talk back to you, while a rubber duck will not. Given the right conversational choices, you can use the LLM to challenge your ideas and ask for inspiration. Even if the LLM is acting stupid, you might find value in pushing back against its idiocy, over-explaining what you’re trying to do, forcing you to think more deeply about your story in a way that you might not with a silent rubber duck.

Ask the LLM for suggestions and reject them all! Maybe you aren’t having a good creative day and just need a little nudge. It happens to all of us, and that’s OK.

Relax just a tad, people

It’s unfair to expect a categorical rejection of any technology as a viable tool. Since when do we think it’s reasonable to take an un-nuanced view of anything? Yes, generative AI has its issues: copyright infringement, questions of authorship and IP rights, data harvesting, false information, laziness, a deluge of sub par work. All that gives me the heebie jeebies and it’s more than enough reason for me, personally, to keep my distance, but I bristle at the idea that AI shouldn’t be used in the writing process at all by anyone.

We should encourage writers, especially writers just beginning on their journies, to leverage available tools if it helps them work through obstacles to put their ideas on paper, to make something that truly resonates with their own vision. This situation feels like an instance of the writing community overreacting in response to a technology that has been poorly-wielded. And I definitely don’t think NaNoWriMo should be in the business of deciding how people should write. It’s well within our capacity to extend our fellow writers a little room to figure out what process works best for them without feeling so threatened.