Let the Challenge Commence!

Note: I am a fiction writer who is currently working on a novel but is struggling to write every week. I find it very difficult to want to build the world and write the book that’s been floating around in my head for years since I work a regular 9–5 as a full-time technical writer for a global biotech company.

So, I decided to put my novel on hold, and instead, run an experiment. I will be writing short stories with a minimum of 1000 words with prompts generated from AI, specifically from ChatGPT-4. The goal is not to have AI write for me but rather use AI to become a better writer. I will posting the short stories on here (Vocal) as well as submitting it into the Chat so that the AI will give me feedback on what worked and what didn’t. I’ll be using it as my personal critic/editor. This should result in the task of writing a novel becoming easier.

I’m going to start off small. The goal is to finish and release a story every 2 weeks (which should be plenty of time) on a Thursday until the end of the year. As I am writing this, it is currently Thursday, March 23rd 2023. So, the first story must come out on April 6th regardless of if I had time to peer review and edit it or how awful and cringey it might turn out to be. It will be released to the world no matter what! This should result in a total of 20 short stories by the end of the year.

I’m not sure if someone has done this already, but even if they have, I haven’t, so it will be a new experience for me, and it’s a journey that I can share with all of you.

I started off by asking ChatGPT, what’s the difference between a good writer from a great one:

Although the definition of a great writer can be subjective, I believe that the line that ChatGPT defines between a good and a great writer is very clear. I agree with the specified skills such as a unique voice, having complex characters, and believable worlds, and will move forward with the experiment.

Next, I asked if the AI thought it was possible to become a great fictional writer and set the parameters for this experiment:

I am a bit concerned of how well it understood what I was trying to say. I catch myself wondering, did I explain what I am trying to do clearly, should I have given it more detail, does it understand what I mean by Prompt 1 = Level 1. But, we will see as this experiment progresses.

Here is the prompt:

Write a short story about a young orphan who discovers they have a magical power they never knew existed. Describe how they learn to control their power and what challenges they face along the way.

Once I am finished, I will post the link to the short story down below: https://shopping-feedback.today/fiction/snow-maidens%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}

Also, I will write another article like this with screenshots going over the feedback that I get from ChatGPT.

Let the challenge commence!