I Wrote an Entire Book with AI. This is What Happened.

The Nerdy Novelist
1 Jan 202411:28

TLDRThe author shares their experience of writing an entire book titled 'Heirs of Dracula' using AI, with some personal editing. Despite the common belief that AI can significantly save time, the author found the process took as long as writing manually. However, AI proved beneficial in reducing mental effort, particularly for those struggling with writing due to burnout or conditions like ADHD, depression, or autism. The author suggests that Claude 2.0 is currently the best model for fiction writing, but also discusses the potential of tools like Novel Crafter for a more seamless writing process. AI was found to complement the author's strengths and weaknesses, enhancing the quality of the work. Unexpectedly, the final story was shorter than anticipated, leading to further editing considerations. The emotional impact of completing the book after a long period of burnout was profound for the author, crediting AI for making the journey less daunting and more achievable. The finished book, while heavily edited, remains a personal creation, with the author retaining control over the final content.

Takeaways

  • 📚 The author used AI to write a book titled 'Heirs of Dracula', which was a Gothic fantasy.
  • ✍️ Despite the use of AI, the time saved was not significant compared to traditional writing methods.
  • 🧠 AI writing helped reduce mental effort, particularly useful for overcoming writer's block or burnout.
  • 📉 Claude 2.0 was identified as the best model for writing fiction, but it's not perfect and has room for improvement.
  • 🔄 The author plans to use a tool like Novel Crafter for the next book, writing sections one at a time for better style consistency.
  • 💡 AI was particularly good at compensating for the author's weaknesses while allowing them to focus on their strengths.
  • 🕵️‍♂️ The character of Sherlock Holmes was written by AI, and the dialogue was highly praised by the author.
  • 📉 The final story was shorter than expected, leading to considerations of whether additional scenes were needed.
  • 🎉 Completing the book was a significant emotional milestone for the author, who had experienced burnout.
  • 📝 The finished book is heavily edited and remains the author's own work, with AI assisting in the drafting process.
  • 🛒 The book will be available for commercial purchase on platforms like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Q & A

  • What is the title of the book the author completed using AI?

    -The title of the book is 'Heirs of Dracula'.

  • What genre is the book 'Heirs of Dracula'?

    -The book 'Heirs of Dracula' is a Gothic fantasy.

  • What was the author's first major takeaway from using AI to write a book?

    -The author's first major takeaway was that AI did not save a significant amount of time but rather saved mental effort, which was a significant help after experiencing burnout.

  • Which AI model did the author find to be the most effective for writing fiction?

    -The author found Claude 2.0 to be the best model for writing fiction at the time.

  • How did the author plan to improve the process for the next book?

    -The author plans to use a tool like Novel Crafter, which works one section at a time, and to write the first 500 words of a chapter themselves before allowing AI to continue, to better match their writing style.

  • How did AI assist the author in focusing on their strengths while writing?

    -AI helped the author by filling in for their weaknesses, allowing them to focus on areas they were naturally stronger in, such as editing and outlining.

  • What was unexpected about the length of the book?

    -The book ended up being shorter than expected, with just over 50,000 words instead of the anticipated 75,000 words based on a 24-chapter outline.

  • How did the author feel upon completing the book?

    -The author felt emotional and accomplished upon finishing the book, as it had been a long time since they had completed a full-length novel due to previous burnout.

  • What was the author's strategy for editing the AI-written content?

    -The author heavily edited the AI-written content, leaving only the parts that were written better by AI or exactly as they would have written themselves.

  • How did AI help the author overcome their writing challenges?

    -AI helped the author overcome their writing challenges by reducing the mental effort and the fear of the blank page, allowing them to write again after experiencing burnout.

  • Where can readers eventually purchase the book 'Heirs of Dracula'?

    -The book 'Heirs of Dracula' will be commercially available for purchase at regular places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, where ebooks are sold.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Writing a Book with AI: The Experience and Takeaways

The speaker discusses their recent accomplishment of completing a book titled 'Heirs of Dracula' using AI, with some personal editing. The book, a Gothic fantasy, is set in the author's world and turned out well, requiring less editing than expected due to the use of techniques discussed on the channel. The first takeaway is that AI did not save as much time as anticipated, but it saved mental effort, which is significant, especially for those struggling with writing due to various challenges like ADHD, depression, or Autism. The author emphasizes AI as a mental saver rather than a time saver.

05:01

🤖 AI Writing Models and Their Effectiveness

The speaker shares their experience with different AI models for writing fiction, highlighting Claude 2.0 as the best model at the time but noting its imperfections. They describe their process of writing, which involved creating story beats and then letting the AI write entire chapters. However, they encountered difficulties and had to switch back to Claude 2.0 after trying CLA 2.1, which was not as effective. The speaker plans to use a tool like Novel Crafter for their next book, writing sections one at a time for better style matching. They also mention that AI is adept at compensating for the author's weaknesses while allowing them to focus on their strengths, as demonstrated by the AI's handling of writing Sherlock Holmes' dialogue.

10:02

📉 Shorter Story Length and Emotional Completion

The author reflects on the story's shorter length than expected, which ended up being over 50,000 words instead of the anticipated 75,000. They discuss the possibility of the story feeling rushed and the need for additional scenes to flesh it out. The author also shares their emotional reaction upon completing the book after a long period of burnout, emphasizing the role AI played in helping them overcome the fear of the blank page and the physical reaction to writing after burnout. The finished book, while using AI, is very much the author's own work, with heavy editing and personal input, especially for sections like Sherlock's dialogue.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the context of the video, AI is used to assist in writing a book, demonstrating its utility in creative processes. The script mentions using AI to generate text and ideas, which the author then edits and refines.

💡Editing

Editing is the process of reviewing and revising written material to enhance its clarity, coherence, and overall quality. In the video, the author emphasizes the necessity of editing AI-generated content, as it still requires human input to achieve the desired standard. The author mentions that despite using AI, they still spent a significant amount of time editing the book.

💡Mental Effort

Mental effort refers to the cognitive work or energy required to perform a task. The author discusses how AI can save mental effort by handling some of the more challenging aspects of writing, allowing the author to focus on areas where they excel. This concept is central to the video's narrative about the benefits of AI in creative writing.

💡Claude 2.0

Claude 2.0 is mentioned as the best model for writing fiction at the time of the author's experience. It is an AI model that the author used to generate entire chapters of the book. The author found it to be helpful but not perfect, indicating the ongoing development and potential for improvement in AI writing tools.

💡Novel Crafter

Novel Crafter is a tool that the author plans to use for their next book, which writes one section at a time rather than an entire chapter at once. The author believes that this tool might better match their writing style and improve the seamlessness of the writing process. It is presented as a potential solution to some of the challenges faced when using AI for writing.

💡Story Beats

Story beats are the key points or events that drive the narrative of a story. The author describes creating the story beats themselves and then using AI to write the narrative around these points. This technique is part of the author's strategy to maintain control over the story's direction while leveraging AI for drafting.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often caused by prolonged stress. The author shares their personal struggle with burnout, which led to a period of difficulty in writing. AI is credited with helping the author overcome this hurdle and return to writing, underlining its potential therapeutic and enabling role for individuals facing similar challenges.

💡Show, Don't Tell

This is a writing technique where the narrative shows the reader what is happening through action, thoughts, and dialogue rather than simply telling the reader about it. The author mentions the importance of this technique and how AI sometimes misunderstood it, requiring the author to correct and guide the AI's output.

💡Point of View

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story is told. The author notes that their book primarily has one viewpoint character, which may have contributed to the shorter length of the novel. The author discusses how AI handled the single POV and the adjustments made during the editing process.

💡Dialogue

Dialogue is the written conversation between characters in a story. The author highlights the AI's ability to generate dialogue, particularly for the character of Sherlock Holmes, which was considered by the author to be well-written and required minimal editing. This example showcases AI's potential in handling complex creative tasks.

💡Word Count

Word count refers to the total number of words in a piece of writing. The author expected the book to be around 75,000 words but found it to be just over 50,000 words. This discrepancy led to reflection on whether the story needed further development, indicating the author's attention to ensuring the book's completeness and quality.

Highlights

The author completed an entire book using AI and personal editing, sharing their experience and takeaways.

The book, titled 'Heirs of Dracula', is a Gothic fantasy set in the author's world and is not yet published.

The cover art for 'Heirs of Dracula' was commissioned and is not AI-generated.

AI did not save significant time in the writing process, contrary to common belief.

The author found that AI was more of a mental effort saver rather than a time saver.

AI helped the author overcome writer's block and get back to writing.

Claude 2.0 was identified as the best model for writing fiction at the time but had its imperfections.

The author plans to use a tool like Novel Crafter for the next book, writing sections one at a time for better style matching.

AI was effective in complementing the author's weaknesses while allowing them to focus on their strengths.

The final story was shorter than expected, with the book ending up just over 50,000 words.

The author felt emotional upon finishing the book, highlighting the personal significance of overcoming burnout.

The author emphasizes that despite using AI, the finished book is very much their own, with substantial personal editing.

The author's use of AI prevented the dread associated with the blank page and writer's block.

The author plans to make the book commercially available on platforms like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The author's live stream playlist documents the entire writing process, providing insight into the use of AI in writing.

The author suggests that AI can be particularly beneficial for individuals with ADHD, depression, or Autism, enabling them to write their books.

The author's experience with Claude 2.1 was not as positive, causing them to revert to Claude 2.0 mid-project.

The author found that AI wrote some character dialogues, like Sherlock Holmes, better than they could have on their own.

The author's emotional response to finishing the book underscores the therapeutic role of AI in creative writing.

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