Gains:
- Ability to determine the premise, genre and narrator's point of view of a fiction text and use artificial intelligence to produce scene drafts and alternatives
- Ability to ask artificial intelligence for options for dialogue, description and tempo and rewrite the most original one in your own voice
- Ability to recognize artificial intelligence's tendency towards clichés and commonplace expressions and develop a reflex to preserve originality
Fiction is the writing of a world that did not actually exist but makes the reader feel real: story, novel, screenplay, novella. Its difference from non-fiction is that it looks for plausibility, not evidence, and emotion, not fact. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an interesting partner in fiction: it can generate endless options, alternatives, and variations, but it cannot spontaneously create an original premise, real emotion, and a recognizable voice. In this unit, we'll cover how to use AI as a "brainstorming partner" and "scene drafter" in drafting, while also staying alert to its biggest pitfall: cliché.
Step 1: Premise and genre
The premise is the basic idea of a plot; It often starts with a "what if" question. "What if a postal worker who had a three-day notice of death had to deliver a letter with the date of his own death?" It is a premise: it contains a tension, a contradiction, and a question. The premise must come from you; because that's the heart of fiction. You can use AI to sharpen the premise and see alternatives, but the core idea arises from your observation, your obsession, your question.
Genre is the contract you make with the reader: the mystery reader expects a mystery and solution, the romance reader expects an arc of intimacy. Telling the genre to the AI ensures that the draft it produces aligns with reader expectations. But be careful: since the AI knows genre patterns so well, it easily turns genre "expectation" into "stereotype". This tension is at the heart of using AI in fiction.
Tip: When giving your premise to the AI, say “surprise me, ELECT the three most obvious aspects.” The first suggestions of AI are always the most probable, that is, the most cliché directions. Originality begins when you eliminate them and force the fourth or fifth idea.
Step 2: Narrator and point of view
Point of view (POV) is through whose eyes the story is told. First singular ("I saw"), third singular limited ("he saw, we only know what he knows") and third plural/divine (omniscient narrator) create different effects. Point of view is also half of the voice: in the first person, the narrator's personality is directly reflected in the language. Before having the AI write a draft, be clear about the point of view and who the narrator is; otherwise the AI writes in a neutral, detached, “nobody” voice.
The table below summarizes the perspectives and the grade to be given to AI:
point of view
What provides
will be told to AI
First singular (I)
Intimacy, subjectivity
"Let the personality of the narrator be reflected in the language"
Third singular limited
Focus + some distance
"Just show what X knows"
third divine
broad view
"But stick to one focus in one scene."
Second singular (you)
Experimental, immersive
"Experimental tone, use with caution"
Step 3: Scene sketch and alternatives
In fiction, AI works best at the scene level. You determine what a scene will be (who, where, what he wants, what is blocking); The AI produces several different scripts, dialogue options, or description variations of that scene. Then you choose the most vivid one, combine it and rewrite it in your own voice.
A scene outline template:
Your role: assistant scene drafter to a fiction writer.Genre: [genre]. Point of view: [POV]. Narrator: [who]. Scene: [character] wants [goal] in [location], but there is [obstacle]. Emotional tone: [tension / sadness / curiosity]. Length: ~300 words.Task: Write 2 different drafts of this scene. Avoid cliché; The most obvious solution is ELE. Rely on a single striking concrete detail in the description, do not pile on general adjectives.
A separate template for the dialogue makes your job easier:
Context: A scene between [character A] and [character B].A wants: [purpose]. B does not want: [why]. Subtext: what is not said [x].Task: Write a dialogue draft with 8-10 lines.Let the characters SPEAK differently (word choice, rhythm should be different).Do not express the emotion directly; show with behavior and subtext.
For description:
Stage location: [venue]. Character's mood: [state].Task: describe the setting in 4 sentences, coloring it with the character's mood.Avoid cliché images ("pitch black sky"); Find an unexpected but accurate detail.
And for revision:
Below is a scene I wrote myself. DO NOT REWRITE IT. Task: just mark (1) sentences that weaken the pace, (2) cliché expressions, (3) dialogues with poor subtext and give brief suggestions for each. Leave it to me to decide.
This last pattern is very important: it turns the AI into an editor that shows, not prints; The voice stays with you.
Cliché: the troublemaker of AI in fiction
Because the AI chooses the statistically most likely word, it gravitates towards the most common, i.e. the most cliché, expression: “heart feels like it's about to burst out of your chest,” “icy fear,” “mysterious stranger.” These statements ring "true" to the AI because they have been written thousands of times before; but it seems dead to the reader. Originality in fiction is precisely rejecting this obvious option and finding the specific, unexpected but accurate detail you were eyeing. Use AI not as a cliche generator, but as a sparring partner to eliminate the cliché: "here are the clichés, I won't use any of them, I'll look for the real emotion underneath."
Caution: Don't stop when an AI-generated scene looks "good enough." In fiction, "good enough" often means "general enough." The reader turns the page for a sentence he has not read before; Not for a sentence he's read a thousand times.
three mini cases
Case 1 — Removing the blockage. A story writer couldn't figure out how to start a scene for 3 days. He gave the AI the purpose of the scene and asked for 5 different opening lines. He didn't use any of the five as is, but the third one allowed him to find his own opening. Gain: 3-day blockage cleared in 15 minutes; The sentence belonged to the author again.
Case 2 — A flood of clichés. A novelist had an AI write a horror scene; The output was full of clichés like "creepy", "blood-curdling", "deathly silent" and so on. The author marked them one by one, rewriting the real emotion underlying each one (for example, "there was no sound except the dripping of the faucet") with his own observation. The scene turned from an ordinary sketch into an original text.
Case 3 — Sound homogeneity. A writer had the AI write the dialogues of two different characters; They both spoke the same language. The author defined a "speech signature" for each character (one with short sentences and slang, the other with long and polite sentences) and gave them to the AI and asked again. Characters diverged, dialogue came alive.
Weak prompt / Strong prompt
Weak prompt:
Write a scary scene.
The result: a pile of clichés, an abandoned voice, undefined characters.
Powerful prompt:
Your role: assistant scene drafter to the fiction writer. Genre: psychological thriller. Point of view: first person, the narrator is a cautious and cynical librarian. Scene: someone is with her in the library, which is closed at night, but she cannot see. Purpose: to reach the door. Obstacle: the lights are out and a voice is watching.Task: a 250-word outline; ELIMINATE clichés like “blood-curdling/creepy”. Establish the fear with one concrete, unexpected detail. Let the narrator's sarcasm leak through even when he is tense.
The difference: genre, sound, scene logic and cliche ban are clear; The output turns you into a working draft.
Common mistakes
- Having the AI build the premise. If the core idea does not come from you, the story will be foreign and commonplace to you.
- Not telling the point of view and the narrator. The AI writes in a neutral, anonymous voice.
- Agreeing with the AI's first (most cliché) suggestion. Originality begins with rejecting the obvious option.
- Making the characters speak the same language. If you don't define a speech signature for each character, the dialogue will be dead.
- Leaving the scene unrewritten in your own voice. The blueprint is clay, the sculpture comes from you.
In summary
In editing, AI is an unblocking brainstorming partner and scene drafter. But the premise, the genre convention, the point of view, the narrator's voice, and the resistance to cliché come from you. The most powerful use is to take multiple alternatives from the AI, eliminate the most obvious, define individual voices for the characters, and rewrite each scene with your own voice. AI generates options; You write the story.
Application task
Write your premise in one "what if" sentence. Determine the point of view and narrator. With the scene template in this unit, ask the AI for two drafts of a scene and apply the “ELIMATE the most obvious solution” rule. Highlight all clichés in the printout and replace each with a concrete detail from your own observation. Rewrite the final scene in your own voice and compare it with the first draft.
checklist
- [ ] Did I build the premise myself (not AI)?
- [ ] Have I made the point of view and the identity of the narrator clear to the AI?
- [ ] Did I eliminate the AI's first/most likely suggestion and look for the unique option?
- [ ] Have I marked clichés and replaced them with concrete details?
- [ ] Have I defined a separate speech signature for each character?
- [ ] Did I rewrite the scene in my own voice?