Writing a book is a great personal achievement, but it’s definitely not an easy task! Besides having to overcome writer’s block as part of the process, sometimes even starting a new writing project comes with feelings of overwhelm and not being sure of where to begin.
You may be worried that AI is coming to take over your job. But if you harness its power, you might find that natural language program models like the wildly popular ChatGPT can help you to become an even better writer that people will still want to read.
With that in mind, in this blog post we’re going to look at how you can use ChatGPT prompts for writing a book.
ChatGPT Prompts For Writing A Book
It is said that everyone has a great story to tell, and that we all have a book inside of us waiting to get out. But if you’ve never written a book before, then it’s easy for your mind to get lost in all of the ‘how tos’ of getting it done, instead of being in the flow of what your heart wants to express to others.
And even if you’re a published author, your brain can still be your worst enemy when it comes to tapping into your creativity. So, what if you could use AI to suit your writing needs, like helping you to flesh out a rough or abstract idea that will really get your creative juices flowing.
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence model that is based on natural language programming, which basically means that it is able to generate human-like responses to the prompts that you give it.
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence model that is based on natural language programming, which basically means that it is able to generate human-like responses to the prompts that you give it.
And depending on the type of book you want to write, you can prompt ChatGPT into generating text in that certain style.
For example:
- Fiction
- Non-fiction
- Creative
- Poetic
- Autobiographical
- Memoir
As you can already see, using ChatGPT as a tool to help you write a book can change the game when it comes to writer’s block. So, now let’s take the AI chatbot for a spin to see exactly what it can do…
Feel Into The Title
Finding the right title of your book can be a make or break moment, because if you get it right the first time, then it can help you focus even more on what you want to write about. And you can ask ChatGPT for title suggestions, which may surprise you.
In our example, we wanted to write a non-fiction book about vegetable fermenting, and we also wanted a catchy title. So, we asked ChatGPT to give us suggestions. The prompt we gave was: I want to write a book about fermenting vegetables. What topics should I cover so that it’s comprehensive to beginners?
If you’re not completely happy with the suggestions you get from your first prompt, then you can always ask ChatGPT to change them.
Chat with it, that’s how it works!
Chapter And Verse
How long do you want your book to be? Have you considered what the chapters are? Breaking down your book into manageable chunks also makes it easier to focus in on what you want to write about.
With this in mind, get ChatGPT to generate a list of chapter suggestions for your book. You can even get it to help you with titles for each one. We gave ChatGPT this prompt: Could you list some suggestions for chapter titles for this fermentation book?
Again, if you’re not happy with any of the responses, you can get the AI bot to change them with further prompts
You can also add more definition to your prompts by adding phrases and terms like:
- Change the tone
- Shorten the chapter
- Generate a persuasive title
- Summarize the chapter
- Narrative or storytelling
- Literary
- Expository
- Academic
- Chicago style
- Business style (which is useful if your book has a targeted business audience)
Novel Idea
Perhaps you have a great idea for a novel, but don’t know where to start. By allowing ChatGPT to assist you on fleshing out your story, it can help you to get started with your writing within minutes.
We gave ChatGPT the following three prompts to see what kind of story it could help us to create. This is the first one:
I want you to help me flesh out a novel about a character called Joanna that wants to be an TikTok influencer and has a unique ability to see through walls, but wants to keep her superpower a secret until she becomes famous. The CIA knows who she is and if her secret gets out, they will destroy her, but she doesn’t know this. Give me a 250-word synopsis, along with a breakdown of 12 chapter headings.
And the second: Write a short chapter about a young man named Ryan, who is running away from a creature who is chasing him. Ryan thinks the creature is dangerous, but it is really a spirit from another dimension that is coming to help him navigate the post-apocalyptic world.
And finally, our third writing prompt and result: I want to write a children’s story about the power of language and how words can be used to cast spells, in the style of Harry Potter. Talk to me as if I’m a 6th grader.
So, as you can see, allowing your imagination to run wild after getting support from ChatGPT to start your writing process can result in you creating the book of your dreams.
Unless you have a paid subscription to the AI service, there is a limit length to the output. But you’re a writer, so you won’t want ChatGPT doing all the work for you, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
Finding Your Voice
Another cool aspect of ChatGPT is that it has ‘learned’ natural language from all who have come before it, including many famous authors. So, if you have a favorite author (or four) and love the way that they write, then you can get ChatGPT to help you craft your writing into their styles. You can then use the output it has generated to help you in discovering your own voice and unique style.
If you have a favorite author (or four) and love the way that they write, then you can get ChatGPT to help you craft your writing into their styles. You can then use the output it has generated to help you in discovering your own voice and unique style.
So, when you add your text to ChatGPT, simply ask it to add the style of the author. You can even suggest ChatGPT use a combination of two authors, which can produce interesting results.
Here’s one we did for this short story prompt: Writing style guideline: Imagine you are Jane Austen. Write a response to the following in her voice.
Can you give a 500-word short story on overcoming a health issue against all odds?
This poem prompt: Generate a poem about chaos cooking in the style of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
And this essay prompt: Write a 300-word essay about a viral meme in the style of Stephen King.
Final Thoughts
Writing a book is a creative endeavor that no one understands until they actually take the plunge and dive into the actual process. But it’s getting yourself to the edge of the diving board in the first place that can be the most difficult part.
So, if you need a little bit of a push, then why not try using ChatGPT prompts for writing a book? Doing so will probably help you get your creative juices flowing, and perhaps result in you seeing your name on Amazon’s best sellers list.
