Overcoming Resistance and Crafting Fiction in the AI Age
Developing a Rich Narrative with AI Insights
I finally managed to sit down and restart writing the novel. Thanks to GenAI, I’ve finally started to get to grips with my procrastination problem. Getting my mindset back into the fiction writing groove was at least one of my problems. Having immediate feedback helps a lot.
I’ve put my study of the Story Grid method on the back burner. While it will help produce a better book, its strengths come to the fore when it has something to work with. At a minimum, the first draft.
The first act needed work, and every scene written so far, while functional, lacked depth. Everything from the setting to the characters needed attention. This is where GenAI comes in.
I needed a much better first scene to hook the reader (and the writer) into the story. I have the synopsis in short notes, so I had somewhere to start.
AI-Powered Initial Analysis
It only took an hour or so to write a new first scene or, should I say, the bare bones of the scene. At the end of the hour, I had 700 words. It’s much too short for the final first draft target (I’m aiming for a 2000-word average per scene). What it achieved was establishing the desired setting and the main characters. I was happy enough to get some help with it.
I exported the scene from Scrivener to a Word file, uploaded it to Claude, and asked for initial feedback. I kept the initial prompt super simple (I’ve edited out the specifics of the story for this article):
Can you check the first scene of my new book, which is attached? The genre is Speculative Fiction, etc.
Within a few seconds, I had the analysis. Generally positive and with several recommendations. Here are the main recommendations:
Provide more sensory details to help readers visualize the setting.
Deepen character motivations.
Hint at the larger world beyond to give context to the story.
Explore the emotional impact of the inciting incident on the main characters.
I was (am) curious about how Claude would deal with these recommendations. The next prompt:
Can you write your version of the scene incorporating your suggestions to develop the scene further?
The 500-word reply perfectly illustrates the deepening of the setting, characters, and the narrative drive of the scene premise. Now, while I can’t use any of it, it does help me see that my 700 words read more like a business meeting than a story.
Breathing Life into Characters
In the initial draft, my characters were little more than names on a page. I had two fully-named characters and a half-named antagonist, but they lacked depth, background, and relatable qualities. But it was as though they existed in a vacuum; there was very little sense of their relationships or motivations.
Looking at scenes I had written for another project, I realized how simple it all is. I was able to let go and imagine myself there. All I had to do was relearn to relax and let it flow. It’ll work, sooner or later.
Claude's suggestions reopened my eyes to the potential for richer character development; it introduced supporting characters I hadn't even considered. This prompted me to dive deeper into each character's backstory and personality. The real breakthrough came when I focused on deepening the characters' motivations.
I asked myself: What drives each character? What are their fears, hopes, and desires? How do their past experiences shape their current actions? As I explored these questions, the characters began to breathe and take on their own lives.
This process expanded the scene to over 1000 words but wasn't mere padding. Each added detail made the characters more three-dimensional and relatable. Their interactions felt more realistic, and their dialogue more meaningful.
The result was a dramatic improvement in the overall quality of the scene. The characters now felt real, their actions grounded in believable motivations.
Crafting an Immersive World
My initial draft treated the setting as an afterthought, a bland backdrop to the action. Although it was clear in my mind, I failed to translate that mental image onto the page. The result was an anonymous environment that gave readers nothing to latch onto or visualize.
Claude's suggestions, while a bit flowery for my taste, demonstrated how a well-crafted setting can transform a scene. It showed me that the key isn't to overwhelm the reader with exhaustive details but to provide just enough sensory information to spark their imagination. I began to focus on the small details that matter.
However, I was careful not to go overboard. The old writing adage says, "Show, don't tell." I didn't want to describe everything from the particular shade of wall paint to the pattern in the carpets. Instead, I aimed to provide just enough detail to allow readers to construct the scene in their minds.
I started paying attention to how the setting interacts with the characters. How does the environment influence them? By intertwining the setting with the characters and plot, I found that the environment became an active participant in the story rather than a passive backdrop.
This approach made the scene more vivid and added layers of subtext and atmosphere that weren't present in the original draft. The setting now complemented and enhanced the characters and their actions, creating a more immersive reading experience.
Human-AI Co-intelligence
After incorporating the improvements to both characters and setting, the scene underwent a remarkable transformation. It was no longer a dry recounting of events but a living, breathing world.
The deepened characters now interacted in ways that felt genuine and compelling. Their dialogue carried more weight. Conflicts arose naturally from the clash of these more-rounded personalities, driving the narrative forward.
The expanded setting served to anchor these characters in a world. The environment now plays an active role, influencing the character’s moods and decisions.
Perhaps most importantly, these improvements worked in concert to enhance the overall narrative drive of the scene. The inciting incident carried more emotional weight, and its repercussions were clearly felt by the improved character realization.
The word count had grown significantly, but every added word served a purpose. The scene was richer, more engaging, and far more effective at hooking the reader (and the writer) into the story.
It now sets the stage for the rest of the novel, introducing key themes and conflicts that will be developed throughout the narrative.
Final Thoughts
This process of revision and expansion taught me valuable lessons about the craft of fiction writing. It showed me the importance of fully developing each scene element and how these elements can work together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Writing fiction again, for the first time since February when I first started on the book, has been very difficult. I’ve been putting it off for far too long.
Instead, the weekly newsletter has always been a priority, and I haven’t missed a weekly post since I started in early 2023. I’m unsure if this was the right approach, but I had much to learn to improve my writing.
However, almost none of the lessons learned writing the newsletter apply to fiction. I feel like I’m starting over.
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