Can You Use AI To Write A Fictional Book?

The short answer is: yes, you can use AI to write a book. 

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But not in the way you think.

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In the digital age, where technology permeates every aspect of our lives, people have considered this question. It’d be hard not to. Now that we’re witnessing what AI is capable of, the possibility is there. 

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This could be the solution for someone with an excellent story idea but no skill, training, and/or patience to write a whole book. Given how user-friendly generative AI is, it’d be so easy to feed the robot a story prompt and let technology do the heavy lifting, right? 

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Not quite. 

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While AI has made significant strides in generating text that is coherent and contextually relevant, the art of writing a book involves more than just stringing words together. There’s a delicate, creative nuance to crafting a story that people will actually want to read – and AI just doesn’t have it.

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So you can use AI to write a book. But there are a couple dozen or so things to consider when starting the process. We’ll cover those in this article.

Ethical Concerns & Queries

Let’s cover some frequently asked questions regarding the ethics of using AI to write a book.

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1. Can I legally write a book using AI?
Yes, you can! As long as the following considerations are observed:

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• The general content produced is original (i.e., not directly copied from another source)
• Sections of the book are not directly copied or lifted from other sources
• You do not claim credit for work that was written by other humans (unless there’s a legal agreement in place)
• Copyright laws are observed

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– then you’re well within your rights to write a book using AI programs. It’s also worth noting that copyright laws generally protect the expression of ideas (i.e., writing a book) rather than the ideas themselves (i.e., the story/concept of the book). 

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Consequently, if the AI generates original text, it falls under the same legal protections as human-generated text.

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2. What about plagiarism? Isn’t AI writing based on other people’s writing?
This is a valid concern. AI algorithms learn how to write by analyzing thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of writing samples. However, there are several simple ways to avoid plagiarism:

• Properly cite any sources used (i.e., quoting a fictional character from another source). This is more relevant to non-fiction but it’s best to cover all bases.
• Don't submit AI-generated content as is. Modify the AI’s writing and add to it as much as you can. Aim for writing at least 85% of the final text.
• Use AI-generated content as the structure, not the finished product. Whatever the AI program gives you, use it as a springboard or jumping-off point for your writing. In an artist's terms, treat AI-generated content like a sketch—it gives you the general picture, but you still have to add the lineart, colors, and details.

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3. Am I enabling AI to take jobs from creatives?
This is another common—and valid—concern regarding AI. Many people worry that AI can replace them as faster, more efficient and accurate workers. 

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But AI cannot replace genuine human creativity. 

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It can certainly streamline and augment the creative process, but the beauty and nuance of the arts (writing, illustrating, crafting, etc.) is something only humans can truly capture. AI, in this case, is like a writing assistant that’s available 24/7. It’s there to help you brainstorm, write, edit, and conceptualize, but the actual meat of the book—the part that matters—will still come from you.

Challenges & Limitations of AI Writing

AI is not without its own limitations. It’s quick and efficient, yes, but its potential is currently finite. 

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For example, AI is incapable of original thought. 

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AI systems generate content by recognizing patterns and drawing on pre-existing data. Everything AI produces stems from something that already exists. This limitation can lead to repetitive or predictable outcomes over time—especially if the AI hits the boundaries of its training data.

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Here’s a quick list of what AI can’t do for you in terms of book writing:

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• Emotional Reasoning. AI can explain the moral, legal, and social considerations for decisions, but it cannot analyze and explain the emotional reasons. This makes it difficult to ask AI what certain characters should do in emotionally charged scenarios (e.g., should the main character kill Person A because Person A killed their mother?).
  
  
• Human-Like Writing. AI is getting better at not sounding like AI when it writes, but there are still a few tells. And people are so hyper-aware of AI-generated content that they’ve begun curating lists of words and terms that AI uses repeatedly (tapestry, delve, and resonates—I'm looking at you). If these words pop up often enough in a piece of text, readers are instantly alert. So if you’re going to use AI to write your entire book, just know you might end up using a lot of trigger words.

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• Consistency. People who have tried using AI to write long-form fictional content often report consistency issues. Here’s what Adi Robertson from The Verge had to say about their experience: 

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“[it] required more guidance between beats. On its own, [the AI] tended to repeat plot points. It would have characters leaving conversations and then continuing them, or performing the same action twice in very similar language, or waking up and reappearing back in a dream.” 

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They further point out that LLMs (large language models) are “basically very fancy autocomplete, which makes them cliche machines.” But they couldn’t predict or control exactly what cliches or tropes the AI would use for their story beats, which further affected the story’s consistency.

AI has considerably more limitations when it comes to fictional long-form content, but I consider the three reasons mentioned above, the most pressing. If you want to successfully write a (good) book using AI, you’ll need to actively fix them, compensate for them, or take preventive measures against them. 

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Sounds simple enough, but bear in mind that it’ll get progressively harder to keep track of AI-generated flaws and plot holes for longer books with more complicated storylines.

How to Actually Use AI to Write a Book

Now, with all that out of the way, let’s discuss how to actually use AI to write a book.

Step 1: Create a Story’s Concept

Decide the foundation or concept of your story. What kind of story is it? What is the overarching plot? You don’t need all the details yet—just a vague idea will do. 

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Then, conduct a brainstorming session with AI platforms, like HyperWrite, Claude, or ChatGPT to further refine that idea. Chat with the AI to come up with possible endings, twists, characters, character arcs, subplots, etc. It helps to have a sounding board that you can bounce ideas off of and get feedback, and many AI programs can do that for you.

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HyperWrite, for instance, has a brainstorming tool you can use. It facilitates a back-and-forth conversation based on presented problems or questions.

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For example, I could write something as vague as, "I want to write a locked house murder mystery and I want it to have a twist ending."

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The AI will then provide suggestions to help me flesh out the story, such as the setting (a mansion, remote cabin, etc.), the characters (the host, the victim, the red herring, etc.) the twist (supernatural element, the victim is alive, etc.) and so on.

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It will also encourage me to think about the details by asking guide questions, like “how many main characters do you want?” or “how can the physical layout of the house contribute to the mystery?” 

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These are questions and details users may not have thought of or come up with on their own–which makes AI an invaluable writing assistant in this regard. 

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Step 2: Outline the Timeline

Once you have a better idea of the story, you can then work on structuring it. If the plot is what you want the house to look like, the timeline is the blueprint. It will outline how you can achieve the plot. The timeline details everything that happens between the beginning and the end of the book. 

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You can use AI to help brainstorm events that will happen that contribute to the overarching story. AI can also help you identify key points in your plot to help you divide your story into sections.

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Let’s use the locked house murder mystery example again. You can give an AI program your detailed plot and ask it for timeline suggestions. Here’s a possible sample prompt for HyperWrite’s Brainstorming tool:

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And it’ll return this kind of outline–

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– which you can use to lay the structure of your timeline. Again, remember to modify and expand on what AI gives you every step of the way. Feel free to discuss parts of the timeline you like, don’t like, are confused about, or think could be improved with the AI. This will help you develop a more defined story.

Step 3: Develop the Characters

Continuing the house-building analogy, characters are the tools and materials you’ll need to build the house. You can have a blueprint (timeline) and a mock-up (plot), but you need to make the house out of something.

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That’s what characters are. They need to be real, relatable, and personable. Readers need to feel a connection to them. Otherwise, they won’t feel as invested in your story.  In order to do this, you need to flesh each character out. Go beyond their looks, attitude, and personality. Make them feel like real people by detailing their likes, dislikes, dreams, fears, motivations, and so on.

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Here’s how AI can help you with that:

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• Tell an AI program/chatbot about your character and have it ask questions about them to get to know them better. Answer those questions.

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Response:

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• Tell an AI program/chatbot about your character and ask it to flesh the character out even more

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Response:

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• Ask an AI program/chatbot to come up with different story scenarios. Write how the character would react in the generated situation. 

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Response:

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This can give a character more dimension and allow you to better write how the characters would act or behave in different situations.

Step 4: Dive Into the Details

You have the picture, the blueprints, and the tools you need to build a house. Now you just need to sort the details. Yep – this is where the actual writing happens. And while I strongly recommend a hands-on approach with this, don’t worry; AI can still help.

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Contrary to popular belief, it’s not as simple as feeding AI your book outline and letting it do the rest. Remember; a lot of generative AI platforms lose steam when it comes to long-form content. And if you refer back to what we discussed in the Challenges & Limitations of AI section, consistency was a huge issue for most AI programs–even ones specifically designed to write books!

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So when it comes to fleshing out chapters and adding details using AI, here are some professional recommendations:

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• Create an Outline for Each Chapter. Write down a solid outline for each chapter and then ask AI to fill in the details using the outline as a guide. HyperWrite has several great tools for this, like their Content Expander tool and their Expert Writing Assistant. You can use either or – or both! – to help fill out the chapters.

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• The Content Expander tool enhances and expands provided content according to the specified “Expansion Goal,” i.e., increase word count, add more details, provide examples, etc.
• The Expert Writing Assistant provides AI-powered, professional-grade assistance for any writing task you can think of.

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• Ask for an Outline, Fill in the Details. Another option would be to ask AI to write the outline of each chapter and then add the details yourself. So instead of AI fleshing out the chapter, it would simply provide the structure and flow. You would be the one to write out the sections

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• Generate & Refine. Tell the AI what you want to have happen in each chapter. Ask it to generate the whole chapter (based on your prompt) then refine whatever it’s written. Content at Scale recommends using this process for every chapter to get the most detailed and refined output possible

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Here are some other tips for using AI to write the details of your book:

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• Chunk it down – most generative AI programs struggle with long-form content. Instead of having it write whole chapters in one go, break the chapters down into shorter scenes that the AI can focus on
• Stay on topic – most generative AI programs also struggle with consistency. Remind the AI of the story beat or theme with every prompt you write
• Be specific – vague, generic prompts lead to vague, generic text
• Check the facts – don’t rely on AI for accuracy; do your own research whenever possible
• Refine & Revise – whatever AI gives you, refine or revise it. Don’t accept it as is, even if it reads well. Add your own personal touch to it to make it your story 

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You’ll find that writing a book using AI requires a lot of trial and error. Adi Robertson details their experience working with Story Engine, a generative fiction tool for writing whole novels. There were as many hits as there were misses, it seems, and the ultimate conclusion was that they had to be quite hands-on throughout the entire process. 

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There was a lot of reviewing, rewriting, and rearranging going on.

Step 5: Proofread & Edit

If you’re not working with an editor, AI can help you with the post-writing processes needed to polish the final text. Before sending it out for publishing, you’ll need to proofread the story and edit it accordingly.

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Catching your own spelling and grammar mistakes can be tough, which is why writers and authors have editors. But, again, if you don’t have a human editor, AI will do in a pinch. There are AI-powered programs that can:

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• Find and correct spelling and grammatical errors
• Suggest writing improvements for clarity
• Suggest alternate phrases/synonyms
• Offer stylistic and/or tone variations for different paragraphs

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Here are a few popular AI tools that can edit and proofread your book.

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• Grammarly. A browser extension that can check grammar, spelling, punctuation, plagiarism, and citation formatting.

• HyperWrite. A professional AI writing assistant that can generate and rewrite content. 
• Hemingway Editor. An online program that analyzes writing and scores it for clarity and readability.

Step 6: Publish (and Other Post-Editing Processes)

When all is said and done (and written), all that’s left to do is publish the story. But you obviously can’t just upload it as a Word or Google Doc file. There are a few more processes to go through to make it ready for public consumption.

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And, yes, AI can help with those processes, too.

Book Formatting

There are plenty of user-friendly software and AI tools you can use to format your book. Here are some that come highly recommended:

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• Reedsy is a one-stop platform that connects writers with professional editors, designers, and marketers to help them handle the final stages of book writing and publishing. In terms of book formatting, it offers templates, layout customization, different Table of Contents styles, and options to add images and graphics.
• Amazon KDP is Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. It has Microsoft Word templates that users can use to format their manuscript
• Atticus is an all-in-one tool that lets users write a formatted manuscript directly on the platform or export their existing work into the platform for formatting. Users can choose from 17 eBook templates and over a thousand unique combinations. It also provides previews of what the book will look like on different devices (i.e., phones, tablets, Kindles, etc.
• Bookalope is an AI-assisted tool that structures, formats, and cleans users’ manuscripts. It has an Adobe InDesign extension to give you more control over formatting and a browser-based platform for those who don’t have access to InDesign (or similar formatting programs) 

Book Cover Design

I highly recommend commissioning a human artist to create your book cover. It will give you more creative and visual control over the final output. But if it’s not in your budget, you can always use AI to design the image (or draft image) that’ll boost your book’s visuals. 

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Remember; the cover is the first thing readers see. It needs to stand out.

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Here are some AI-powered image generators that are worth trying: 

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• Midjourney
• OpenAI’s DALL-E 3
• Stable Diffusion
• Dream Studio
• Jasper Art

Book Publishing

Finally, you’re ready to release your manuscript. You can either send it to a publisher and wait for them to read it, approve it, and draft up a contract for you. Or you can cut out the middleman and enlist the aid of online publishing platforms.

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Be warned; self-publishing is tricky. For that reason, I highly recommend going through verified and legitimate programs (like the ones below) to protect your time, effort, and intellectual property. 

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• BookBud.ai is described as an “all-inclusive solution” to help writers write, format, publish, and distribute their books. It’s known for being quick and affordable. 
• Amazon KDP also helps users self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free. It’s a user-friendly platform that has some of the best distribution systems using Amazon's global marketplace. It also provides options for marketing and royalty management.
• Apple Books allows authors to publish their works directly to the Apple Books store. Using this platform, authors can reach millions of readers across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The platform emphasizes high-quality formatting and offers tools for marketing and sales tracking.
• Barnes & Noble Press provides authors with the tools to publish both eBooks and print books. It offers extensive distribution through Barnes & Noble's retail stores and online platforms, along with promotional opportunities and competitive royalties.

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that AI isn’t going to write the next New York Times bestseller from scratch. What it can do, however, is provide the foundation and structure for it. Instead of expecting AI to write the whole book from start to finish, use it like you would a writing assistant. Work with AI to discuss ideas, generate outlines, detail story beats, flesh out prompts, and supplement your creative work. 

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Allowing AI to write an entire book from scratch may result in literature that’s lacking, lackluster, and emotionless. It’s better that you fill in the details and modify what the AI wrote to create a fresh, original, unique story.

Use AI to Supplement & Streamline the Fictional Book Writing Process 

Ultimately, AI can be used to write a fictional book, but it has limitations—word count, specificity, emotion, consistency, and so on. You can use AI to help you brainstorm, write chapter outlines, come up with characters, define pre-existing scenes, and so on. 

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AI will ASSIST you in writing a fictional book—it won’t write the book for you.

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Ultimately, using AI to write a book is a fascinating journey that blends technology with creativity. As long as you approach it with the right mindset and ethical considerations, AI can be a powerful tool in your writing arsenal.

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