The writing world is split on AI, but I wasn’t interested in taking sides. I wanted to know: what actually happens when you mix human storytelling instincts with AI speed?
Why I Tried This Experiment
There’s a growing divide in the writing world right now. On one side, you have authors excited about experimenting with AI. On the other, you have traditional writers who want nothing to do with it. The conversations can get heated fast, and often it feels like there’s no middle ground.
I wanted to know if there was room for compromise. Could AI help with speed while I protected the heart of the story? Could it serve as a tool instead of a replacement?
Writers like Joanna Penn, host of The Creative Penn, have been vocal advocates for AI-assisted writing. She’s respected in both indie and traditional spaces, and her perspective made me curious enough to try my own test. Instead of guessing or debating, I wanted to see for myself what would happen if I put AI to work under strict guardrails and then shared the results.
The Experiment
I treated AI as a production partner rather than an author. Not a co-writer, not a ghostwriter, and definitely not a replacement. It was a tool I could test in real time. The truth is, I wanted to find out what AI could actually do. Would it hand me polished, ready-to-publish chapters? Or would it stumble?
Here’s how the process worked. I started with just two or three sentences that summed up my story idea. Then I asked AI to turn those sentences into a short, two-paragraph synopsis. Once it generated that draft, I tweaked it—adding in more of the dilemma I wanted the story to hinge on. From there, I asked AI to take the synopsis and build out a full outline using the Romancing the Beat framework by Gwen Hayes.
I don’t talk to AI with any specific prompts. My style is more like chatting with a friend: “Hey, this is what I’m thinking… what are your thoughts?” It generated feedback, I kept what I liked, and I cut what I didn’t. Once I had an outline I trusted, I moved everything into Plotdrive, an AI powered writing app, which let me organize chapter by chapter.
From there, I opened a new tab, pasted in the first beat, and gave Plotdrive’s AI a simple direction: “Write Chapter One in [character’s] first-person POV.” I repeated that for each chapter. Along the way, I had to give nudges—like reminding AI that teenagers don’t sound like forty-year-olds, or highlighting dialogue and asking it to “rewrite.”
The biggest difference was speed. On my own, I average about 4,000 words a week. With AI drafting the chapters, I was hitting two chapters a day, 2,000+ words each, and I wasn’t burning out.
Setting Guardrails
Going in, I had mixed feelings. I care deeply about voice and emotion, but I also care about finishing. AI promised speed, but I worried about flatness. So I set some boundaries. The idea, the outline, and the edits would always be mine. AI could generate a draft, but I was in charge of shaping it into something alive.
That meant starting with my own concept (a fated mates paranormal romance), compressing it into a synopsis, and then stretching it into a beat map I could trust. From there, I used AI to draft chapters only from my beats. Every chapter got a pass from me—tightening the rhythm, sharpening the emotion, and rewriting anything that sounded generic.
Publishing on Inkitt
I chose Inkitt because it offered a clean test of reader response. On the story page, I was upfront: this was AI assisted. Then I stepped back to see what mattered more—process or product. The results came quickly. In forty-eight hours, over seven thousand reads poured in, along with reactions, reviews, and comments. Readers weren’t talking about AI. They were talking about the characters and the hook.
Why I Used a New Pen Name
I published the story under a new pen name. That choice was deliberate—I wanted to separate the experiment from my main author brand. Readers on Inkitt could still see the disclosure about AI assistance, but keeping it under a fresh name gave me the freedom to experiment without bringing all of that debate into my existing work.
What Worked
The strong opening hook carried weight and gave readers a reason to keep going. A simple outline kept the story moving without getting in the way.
Quick responses to comments also made a difference. That back-and-forth turned casual readers into active participants, and it reminded me how much connection matters in places like Inkitt. When readers caught a couple of stray AI prompt lines that slipped through, I fixed them right away and thanked them. Instead of breaking trust, those moments built it—because readers saw I was paying attention and willing to improve the story in real time.
What Didn’t
AI often produced first-pass phrasing that felt “good enough” but didn’t carry much emotion. I had to go back and add the detail and voice that made the scenes feel alive.
I also learned not to treat my outline like a cage. The outline gave me direction, but sometimes the characters or tension wanted to push the story in a sharper direction. The scenes worked better when I followed that pull.
And when it came to big emotional moments, AI almost always underdelivered. Those lines had to come from me.
A Simple Playbook You Can Try
If you’re curious about trying AI-assisted writing, here’s a simple way to start small. Think of it as a quick framework you can test, not a rigid system:
- Start with your idea in one sentence.
- Ask AI to expand it into two short paragraphs with conflict, stakes, and a turning point.
- Build an outline from those paragraphs. Keep what sparks. Cut what doesn’t.
- Track your beats in a planning tool (I used Google Sheets) so you can see pacing and POV clearly.
- For each chapter, feed AI only the relevant beats. Don’t give it a blank page.
- Edit for voice. Swap clichés for specifics. Make sure every choice costs the character something.
- Test a small piece—a chapter, a scene, or a short story—and share it.
Watch how readers respond. Fix quickly. Thank people who catch issues.
Where I Stand
AI is a power tool, not a pen. It stacks words quickly, but it doesn’t love a character. That’s my job. My fingerprints need to be on the page, even if AI helps me move faster. On its own, AI can copy the shape of a story but it misses the pulse. My work is in giving it direction, then reshaping the draft until it feels human.
Will that change as models improve? Maybe. They’ll get better at pattern and pacing. But even if they stumble less, I want my best work to stay human-directed and human-edited.
Takeaways
Finishing mattered most. Once the words were on the page, I could refine them, but nothing happened until the draft existed. AI helped me move faster, but the standards had to stay human.
Readers also proved to be the best test. They told me what landed through reactions, comments, and reviews. The data gave me nudges, but the feedback gave me insight.
And finally, voice was non-negotiable. Guardrails kept me honest. AI could provide the draft, but protecting the story’s heartbeat—that was my job.
Closing
This experiment gave me momentum and clarity. AI can speed up the drafting stage, but it can’t care. And caring—about the characters, the promise to the reader, the emotional throughline—that’s the real work of being an author.
If you’re curious, try your own small experiment. Keep your standards high, set clear guardrails, and see what happens. Then share what you learn. Because at the end of the day, writers learn from each other, even when we take different paths.
Have you ever tried AI-assisted writing? What was your experience with it? Let us know in the comments!
PRACTICE
Now it's your turn! Using your favorite AI tool (or, if you've never used AI, you could try ChatGPT), come up with an outline for a story.
Then, set the timer for fifteen minutes and write a scene or story based on that outline. When you're finished, post your practice (and how you felt about the experiment) in the Pro Practice Workshop. Make sure to leave feedback for a few other writers too!
Not a member yet? Join us here.
Happy writing!
Jamie L. Biggs is an author known for her thrilling paranormal dark fantasy narratives. From a childhood steeped in eerie tales, her fascination with the supernatural has birthed boundary-pushing storytelling. Her writing promises an unforgettable journey into the eerie depths of the supernatural. You can visit her website here.
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