AI Story Telling

Generative AI has been proposed for a wide range of storytelling applications, including generating books, movies, plays, and more. While we are still far from AI being able to spontaneously conjure up an entire novel or screenplay from scratch, generative models can already assist in many parts of the creative writing process.

With the right human guidance, AI generative models have the potential to become versatile collaborative partners throughout the creative fiction writing workflow in the years ahead.

Here are some examples of how generative AI could aid storytelling:

• Plot Generation - Writers could describe basic premises to an AI system, which could then generate detailed plot outlines. The AI could come up with events, narrative arcs, twists, conflicts, and resolutions to spark new story directions. It could also mix and match plot elements in innovative ways.

• Character Profiles - Generative models can produce detailed profiles of fictional characters, describing their backgrounds, personalities, motivations, quirks, speech patterns, relationships, and potential character arcs. These AI-generated profiles could provide a strong starting point for writers.

• Scene Drafting - Given a rough outline, AI could draft short passages, dialogues, action sequences, and scene descriptions. Writers could then edit and polish these AI-generated scene drafts as needed.

• Storyboarding - For visual mediums like comics or movies, AI could analyze scripts and plot outlines to automatically generate storyboards showing panel-by-panel narrative flow, character poses, and scene sketches.

• Adaptation - Given a book, movie, or play, an AI system could reformat it into a different medium, like adapting a novel into a screenplay. This could save writers/producers effort while providing new creative perspectives.

• Editing - AI tools are already being used to help edit technical writing by flagging errors in grammar, spelling, repetition, style consistency, factual accuracy, and more. Similar techniques could assist creative writing editing.

A few examples

Plot Generation

AI could assist with plot generation for stories. The key benefit is an AI system that can take basic prompts and quickly generate many coherent plot options for writers to draw from and refine, boosting their productivity.

• The writer provides the AI with a basic premise, setting, and main characters. The AI then generates a detailed multi-act plot outline including events, timeline, character motivations, conflicts, plot twists, and resolution.
• The AI is given a genre like “sci-fi” or “romance”. It analyzes tropes and narrative patterns in that genre to output a new plot that aligns with genre conventions while adding creative surprises.
• The writer inputs snippets of existing stories they like. The AI analyzes their style and narrative elements to output a new hybrid plot combining aspects the writer is drawn to.
• The AI ingests a large repository of myths, fables, and classic story plots. It remixes and reimagines these historical narratives into new contemporary plot outlines.
• The writer describes some core themes or messages they want to explore. The AI generates plot points and conflicts that bring these themes to life through the narrative.
• The AI is given constraints like setting, number of main characters, or target word count. It devises a plot that adheres to the constraints while maximizing narrative complexity and audience engagement.
• The AI generates a range of complete plot outlines with different genres, structures, and character types. The writer selects their favorite to further develop.
• When the writer is stuck on their plot, they describe the issue to the AI. It suggests new plot directions and twists to move the story forward.

Character Profiles

By quickly creating detailed, customized character profiles, the AI allows the writer to focus on crafting the arcs and interactions of fully-realized characters. The writer provides basic character details like name, age, gender. The AI generates a full backstory, personality traits, quirks, motivations, and potential character arcs. Here are some examples of how AI could help generate character profiles:

• The AI develops profiles for characters that represent certain archetypes - like the hero, villain, mentor, comic relief. The profiles fit the archetype while adding unique details.
• Given a setting like medieval fantasy, the AI generates character profiles that fit appropriately into that world in terms of names, backgrounds, values, speech patterns, and looks.
• The writer specifies certain traits they want the character to have. The AI builds a profile around those traits in a believable way, filling in complementary details.
• The AI analyzes the plot outline and generates character profiles optimized to create conflicts, emotional arcs, and relationships that best serve the narrative.
• The writer describes demographic traits. The AI generates culturally appropriate character profiles that authentically represent those demographics.
• The AI can generate profiles for minor characters needed to populate the story’s world. These side characters have enough detail to make them feel real.
• The writer provides some sample dialogue. The AI infers personality traits from the dialogue style to generate a matching character profile.
• As the story evolves, the writer asks the AI to expand profiles by developing backstories, new motivations, or relationships.

Scene Drafting

AI could help with drafting specific scenes. By providing scene drafting support, the AI allows writers to rapidly iterate on key scenes and maintain momentum on projects.

• The writer provides a rough plot outline and requests a draft of a key narrative scene like the climax. The AI generates a multi-paragraph passage with dialogue, action, and description.
• The writer specifies they need a tense confrontation between two characters. The AI drafts a dialogue exchange that conveys rising conflict and emotional intensity between them.
• The writer needs a scene that foreshadows an impending plot twist. The AI drafts subtle hints and symbolic imagery that hint at what’s to come.
• The AI is given a setting like “spaceship bridge”. It generates a passage immersing the reader in what it looks, sounds, and feels like in that setting.
• The writer provides some sample dialogue. The AI drafts surrounding passage, action, and description that integrates the dialogue into a coherent scene.
• The AI drafts scenes that introduce new characters, provide important backstory, convey exposition, or resolve narrative arcs for the writer to refine.
• The AI can add scenic description to otherwise dialogue-heavy passages to balance it out and ground the exchange.
• The writer asks the AI to draft a version of an existing scene from a secondary character’s perspective. This provides fresh insight.
• If a draft scene lacks something like romantic chemistry, the AI can add flirtatious dialogue and physical gestures to spice it up when prompted.
• The AI can expand short scene outlines into complete multi-page scenes with detailed worldbuilding and character interactions.

Storyboarding

By automatically translating narrative components into visual sequences, AI storyboarding can accelerate the creative visualization process for visual mediums. Here are some ways AI could assist with generating storyboards for narratives:

• The AI ingests the script and automatically segments it into a scene-by-scene visual sequence showing panel layouts, camera angles, and character poses.
• Given a passage of text, the AI generates sketch-style drawings translating the descriptive imagery into an illustrated narrative flow.
• The writer specifies a critical story moment like a chase. The AI storyboards it beat-by-beat, maximizing visual drama and momentum.
• The AI suggests possible visual metaphors that could represent abstract concepts like longing or betrayal through symbolic storyboarding.
• The writer needs to establish a new setting. The AI generates engaging storyboard panels revealing details through environmental art and character interactions.
• The AI can take recurring elements like a prop or phrase and storyboard visual motifs to tie scenes together compositionally and thematically.
• The writer provides sample character model sheets. The AI incorporates these consistent character designs into its storyboards.
• Given the genre, the AI suggests storyboarding styles appropriate to conventions of cinematography, color palettes, and visual narrative patterns.
• The AI can adapt an existing set of storyboards for a new medium, like reframing comic panels for a TV show’s visual language.
• The AI generates mini-storyboards to plan out action sequences or transitions between scenes prior to expanded storyboarding.

Adaptation

By handling time-intensive formatting shifts, the AI enables writers to focus on high-level creative choices when adapting stories for new audiences and mediums. Here are some examples of how AI could assist with adapting stories to new mediums:

• Given a novel, the AI analyzes the plot, characters, and dialogue to generate a script outline reformatted for a movie or TV adaptation.
• The AI adapts a short story into a play script, adding stage directions and modifying passages to work in a live theatrical context.
• The writer provides a movie script they want turned into a novel. The AI novelizes it by adding description, internal monologue, and expanding on character viewpoints.
• The AI transforms a text-heavy novel into a comic book script by restructuring it into visual narrative beats and panel descriptions.
• Given a fairy tale, the AI modernizes the storyline and archetypes into a contemporary adaptation while preserving core themes and narrative arcs.
• The AI takes a classical play like Shakespeare and adapts it into more modern and accessible dialogue and settings while keeping the original plot intact.
• The AI analyzes pacing, subplot emphasis, and character details to adapt a novel into a miniseries format spanning multiple episodes.
• When adapting for a new cultural context, the AI modifies story elements to ensure sensitivity, relevance, and authentic representation.
• If adapting a comedy, the AI analyzes comedic timing and injections humorous visual gags tailored to the new medium.
• The AI highlights areas of an existing adaptation that deviate from or ignore aspects of the source material for the writer to revisit.

Editing

With comprehensive editing assistance, an AI system allows writers to refine and polish drafts more efficiently.

• The AI scans the draft for grammatical errors, typos, and other mechanical issues, flagging them for the writer to correct.
• It identifies continuity errors, like contradictions in timeline, character details, or plot points across chapters.
• Using natural language processing, it flags unclear phrases, awkward dialogue tags, and convoluted or repetitive sentence structures for refinement.
• The AI checks for logical inconsistencies, gaps in worldbuilding details, or conflicts between descriptions and character actions/motivations.
• It analyzes dialogue and suggests places it sounds overly expository, on-the-nose, or veers from a character’s established voice.
• The AI tracks repetition of words, ideas, and scenes—alerting the writer to diversify vocabulary and avoid redundancy.
• Given samples of the writer’s style, it identifies passages that deviate in tone or diction and may need modification for cohesion.
• The AI can auto-generate missing scene transitions, setting descriptions, character introductions or other gaps identified in the draft.
• It analyzes chapter length, plot structure, and pacing to identify potential issues with flow, organization, or scene ordering.
• The AI suggests word choice revisions for greater clarity, vividness, relevance to genre/setting, and alignment with target audience and reading level.