ChatGPT is a powerful AI language model developed by OpenAI. It is designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It can generate text, provide translations, help out with suggestions after being provided with prompts, correct spelling and grammar, and engage in conversation.

As I struggle with blurbs (as a fair amount of novel writers do! Condensing an 80 thousand word novel into 300 words can be hard!) I have used ChatGPT to help me structure my blurbs to align more with existing industry standards.

This is because ChatGPT has been fed this information previously during its training, and knows and understands the strict methodology for writing a blurb. The added bonus is that it is short-form text, so it’s easy for ChatGPT to produce.

I want to make it clear that ChatGPT was fed this information largely from sources that were crawled, and not approved by the authors of their works to use in such a manner. And this is why, largely from a moral standpoint, I don’t use CHatGPT to assist with the actual production of my writing. Everything in my books comes from my own head.

However, I found a good use for ChatGPT, and that is to ask questions Google can’t answer.

For example, I needed to know what the term is when crops are disposed of because they can’t be sold.

Google couldn’t answer this. I couldn’t ask Google to define the term I was looking for because I didn’t know the term I was looking for.

Because I didn’t know what I was looking for, my input of “what are farm crops called that aren’t good enough to sell” led me to search results about making profit with crops.

But when I asked ChatGPT the same question, I got my answer straight away:

This is mostly how I use ChatGPT: to answer questions I don’t even know how to word properly for Google’s algorithm, and to help me develop my blurbs.

I’ve talked briefly about how people do not need to fear that ChatGPT will take over the literary world by producing engaging full-length novels anytime soon because the creativity and ability to write in such long-form for nuanced fiction simply doesn’t exist yet.

But can ChatGPT be used to assist in the writing of a novel?

One potential use of ChatGPT is for generating ideas and providing inspiration. An author could input a prompt or concept into ChatGPT and receive a generated response that could spark new ideas or directions for the story. This could be great for someone experiencing writer’s block, or who needs some help with coming up with stories they’re excited to write, whether it’s the first in a series or the 20th book in a long-running series. Additionally, ChatGPT can also be used for generating character or setting descriptions, and as a base for providing dialogue options that can be rewritten into the author’s authentic voice.

Another way that ChatGPT could be used in novel writing is by generating outlines or chapter summaries. An author could input a rough outline or summary of their story, and ChatGPT could help fill in the gaps or suggest new plot points. Again, this could be particularly useful for authors who struggle with writer’s block or are looking to explore different directions for their story, however the current version of ChatGPT is limited by its training, and isn’t very creative.

Finally, ChatGPT could be used for providing a starting point for an author who is struggling to get their ideas down on paper. By inputting a basic plot summary or character outline, ChatGPT could generate a rough draft that an author could then refine and shape into a final product.

Overall, while ChatGPT may not be able to write a full-length novel on its own without significant human input, it can still be a valuable tool for assisting with the writing process. By generating ideas, providing inspiration, and generating outlines or drafts, ChatGPT can help authors overcome writer’s block and develop their stories in new and exciting ways.

I’ll talk specifically about how I have used ChatGPT to help my writing in a later blog post.