Brainstorm with ChatGPT
Photo by Mojahid Mottakin on Unsplash
I’m sure you’ve heard rumblings about AI tools like ChatGPT. Have you tried them? My first thought was that it takes the fun out of writing, right?! But my curiosity got the best of me. After all, I like to know what tools writers are using and how, so I dove in.
I’m currently setting up the foundations of a new suspense novel. The protagonist and the basic premise I knew, but I was hitting a wall when I started to flesh out some of the finer details.
ChatGPT to the Rescue
I was skeptical. I want all the good ideas to come from me; that’s sort of the point in creative endeavors—at least that is what my brain said. But I kept an open mind. I started a chat simply about names. I gave the bot the information I had already designed about my antagonist. And poof, it started spitting out names. Then I refined the chat. It went something like this:
—Me: I need a name for a fictional antagonist in a suspense novel who is an Italian American man with a law degree that ended up in politics.
—ChatGPT: some suitable names would be …
It was that simple. I was staring at a list of full names. Now whether I liked all of them wasn’t the point. My brain used the names provided and spun up its own variations. So I asked the bot for more.
Again, my brain spun more ideas as I saw more. It was like a live brainstorming session. I wrote a few variations and ideas I had and narrowed the list, and before you know it, the picture of my character became clearer.
This simple exercise opened my mind to the possibilities.
ChatGPT for Color
What else could it help me with? I started typing more detailed questions and prompts into the chat. I asked about character traits that were compelling. I inquired about crimes. It didn't love that. I received a stern warning about crimes and fictional situations, but it did outline the common crimes used in suspense thriller novels like mine. It allowed me to see ideas and test them without the harsh reality of human feedback and emotion. It allowed me to be less vulnerable in the early stage of my process.
Maybe that’s the beauty of it. I still believe there’s something stilted in the chat’s writing, and while I haven't tested it thoroughly, it always feels a touch emotionless. But this is where we thrive as writers.
In the early part of the process, ChatGPT was like the unassuming brainstorming buddy I needed. I tested ideas and used my reactions to the responses I got to deepen my own ideas. ChatGPT often said things that would trigger new ideas all without having to open myself up to criticism or judgment.
Is ChatGPT a Cheat Code?
I don’t recommend writing entire novels on it, but if you are stuck with a detail or plot idea, give it a whirl. You never know what ideas you will generate based on ChatGPT’s responses. It could open avenues you never even considered. It could help you take your good idea and bend it into something wonderfully unique. But it won't do all the work. If you let it do all the work, I believe it would lack what makes you unique as a writer—but hell, take the help if you’re stuck. We can all use a cheat code once in a while.
Have you used ChatGPT or other AI writing tools? Share how you use them and which ones you love. How have these tools affected your process? Let’s chat about it below and strengthen each other’s processes.
Good luck and happy editing!
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