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Let's Write a Book with JUST Prompts - Part 1

Education


Introduction


Introduction

Hello and welcome to this awesome experience we are about to get into today! We are going to be writing a book completely from scratch using nothing but AI prompts. This is not something I normally do. Usually, one of the things that I talk about primarily is the importance of validating everything the AI gives us—modifying it, editing it to our liking, and then proceeding to the next steps. But one of the questions I have always been asked is whether there is a way to create a book from scratch directly using AI. So, today, we are going to try and do just that.

Here are a few rules I have set for myself:

  1. No Editing the Output - I'm not allowed to edit the AI’s output with one exception which I'll get to in a bit.
  2. Multiple Options - I am allowed to ask the AI to give me a list of different options to choose from.
  3. Cutting off Unwanted Text - The only edit I'm allowing myself to do is to cut off the end or the beginning of the output if the AI continues past where I wanted it to.

Let's get started!


Setting up for the Project

I'm on a new computer right now, so I'm setting up all my old settings. If you are here and listening, go ahead and sound off in the chat.

The book that we're going to write today is a "Sci-Fi Beach Romance." This is something that I don't consider too critical, so I'm okay with using it for this experimental process, which might not yield an amazing product. This concept has come up as a sort of inside joke in my channel, and people seemed into it.

We'll be using several tools for this project:

  • Claude: The chatbot.
  • Gemini Advanced: For brainstorming and creative thinking.
  • Novel Crafter: For the actual writing.
  • OpenRouter: To track spending.

Creating the High-Concept Logline

We start by generating a high-concept logline for our "Sci-Fi Beach Romance" using Gemini and Claude. Here's an example approach:

Give me 10 high concept log lines in the style of Blake Snyder for a Sci-Fi Beach Romance.

Some interesting options we considered included:

  1. A reclusive lighthouse keeper discovers a portal to a parallel world.
  2. A jaded space pirate and a Galactic Coast Guard officer must join forces.
  3. A workaholic scientist and a laidback beach bum swap bodies.

Ultimately, we decided that our story would revolve around a lighthouse keeper who stumbles upon a portal to a parallel world on the beach, where an alternate version of his soulmate awaits—but at a dangerous cost.


Developing the Outline

Using a special 40-chapter outline template I have (which will be available for free soon), we provide the AI with the structure of the book and prompt it to fill in the details.

The following is a template for a book I'm about to write. Acknowledge you've received it by saying "Red."

[Paste 40-chapter outline template]

Here is the book description for the lighthearted sci-fi Beach romance book I want to write using the template above. Construct a full outline for this book.

We made sure to specify that the book should have a happy ending for our lighthearted romance.


Creating Characters and Locations

Next, we generate a detailed list of characters with descriptions, including their background, personality, and physical appearance. Similarly, we create detailed descriptions of various locations in the story.

Given the following sci-fi Beach romance outline, give me a complete list of characters and a paragraph about each that describes their physical appearance, Myers-Briggs personality type, Enneagram info, communication style, and background.

[Paste outline]

Similar prompts were used to create the locations.


Writing Chapters

We move on to the actual writing by breaking it down into scene beats for each chapter.

Given the full novel outline, provide a detailed list of story beats to flesh out this chapter.

These story beats are then used to generate prose in Novel Crafter, which integrates AI tools for seamless writing. We run these prompts to get fleshed-out details and apply them to the narrative.


Conclusion

This exercise serves as an interesting experiment to see if we can create a compelling narrative using nothing but AI-generated content without any manual edits. As the process continues, we will refine and adjust our methods to get the best results.


Introduction

  1. AI
  2. Prompts
  3. Sci-Fi Beach Romance
  4. Character Development
  5. Outline
  6. Claude
  7. Gemini Advanced
  8. Novel Crafter
  9. High-Concept Logline
  10. Story Beats

Introduction

Q: What tools are being used in this project?

A: We are using Claude, Gemini Advanced, Novel Crafter, and OpenRouter.

Q: What are the rules for using AI in this project?

A: I'm not allowed to edit the AI’s output except to cut off the start or end, and I can choose from multiple options given by the AI.

Q: How do you create the high-concept logline?

A: By prompting the AI with specific instructions to generate multiple loglines in the style of Blake Snyder.

Q: How do you generate the outline for the book?

A: By providing a pre-made 40-chapter outline template to the AI and asking it to fill in the details.

Q: How are characters and locations created?

A: By prompting the AI to generate detailed descriptions using the context of the outline provided.

Q: How is the actual prose generated?

A: By creating scene beats for each chapter and using those to guide the AI in generating prose.