How (and why) I need to speed up my fiction writing process
I’d like to tell you that I’ve been writing my cozy mystery now for two years, but I fear it’s more than that, and I’m not sure I have the resilience to go back through my files and find out…
I’m still enjoying writing it, but when I started I thought it might be something that could lead to one of my new streams of income, but, as they say in Spanish, “al paso que va la burra…”, which translates as something like “if the donkey’s pace is anything to go by”.
So maybe my cozy mystery series won’t make me rich, but I still romanticise about writing fiction that, at least, pays my bills - and I think I’ve come across a process that will help me.
No, it’s not getting an LLM to write the prose, it’s not quite there yet (believe me, I’ve tried!). But it does involve me using a bot to speed up the process. In order to understand why I can’t go on creating at this pace, let me share how I’ve been working on my novel first.
The problem with throwing yourself into the story
If you have any interest in writing fiction, you might have come across two polar ways of tackling the writing of a novel: planning and pantsing/discovery writing.
The former writes a detailed outline of the story before they start drafting the prose. The second type of writer has a vague idea of the story, or maybe only knows how the story starts, or has a few scenes in mind. They “write by the seats of their pants”, or discover the story as they go along. (Most writers fall somewhere in between.)
By now, you’ve probably guessed I belong to the second type, quite far down that end of the spectrum. I can’t write outlines - I have to let the keyboard access a more creative side of myself than the one who likes planning.
It’s great fun, sometimes I feel like I’ve been watching a movie. But it makes the whole process looooonggggg…
One of the reasons I decided to write a cozy mystery is that they have a very tight structure: there’s an amateur sleuth, a close group of characters and suspects, there’s a murder near the beginning, sometimes there’s another crime or murder later on (usually the main suspect at this point is killed), then there’s some kind of physical assault on the protagonist, after which they put the whole crime together and face the criminal head on.
I’ve watched so many cozies in my life, and read so many of them that I have internalised the structure, so I’m not going into the story completely blind. But still… it’s taking me ages.
I’ve gone through many edits, and finally, I have a kind of outline of everything that’s going on (because remember, there are also subplots to develop and take care of, as well as all that baggage, I mean, “backstory” the character carries with them).
This results in a lot of drafting, redrafting, editing and drafting again.
Here’s a glimpse of what my editing materials look like right now:
And the portable version of the outline:
Given all of the above, you can see how, if I want to speed up my writing, I need to find a way of writing fiction faster. This doesn’t necessarily involve generating more words in less time, but I need to be able to get to a draft I can work from faster. With multi-layered processes like writing a book, it’s important to know what stage we want to accelerate.
Enter genAI.
(Finally! I hear some of you say…)
And enter another of my unrealised ideas.
I love Greek myths. They are such fabulous stories. And I’ve always enjoyed modernising or creating my own version of classic stories, and classic works. I used to do that as part of my theatre practice - eg a version of Calderón de la Barca’s Life’s a Dream swapping character genders; a piece transposing Lorca’s puppet plays in a cyberworld; a physical theatre production about the subconscious incorporating Greek myths.
So, I thought, how about taking Greek myths as a starting point, and asking genAI to help me transpose them to the modern world, and develop them?
I gave it a try, and I was delighted with the result!
Using genAI to develop a fiction outline
First of all, it’s worth saying that not all chatbots are created equal.
I have fallen in love with the way Claude writes (although I’m not in love with the way in which it forgets instructions I gave it earlier in the chat…). It writes better business book prose than I do. (Sigh…)
It can also be more thorough than ChatGPT. (At the bottom of this post, you can read how Claude Sonnet and GPT4-o replied to my prompts.) So, having asked for a retelling of the Eros and Psyche’s story, which is one of my favourite, I asked Claude to give me some modern day scenarios.
ME:
Could you give some ideas of how to turn this (the Eros and Psyche myth) into a contemporary story? Using The Roman names instead. Can you give me three versions?
CLAUDE:
Sure, here are three contemporary retellings of the Eros (Cupid) and Psyche story using Roman names:
1. A Celebrity Romance:
Venus, a powerful and influential celebrity, becomes envious of a rising star named Psyche due to her increasing popularity. Venus sends her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with a disgraced actor. However, Cupid falls in love with Psyche and begins a secret relationship with her, visiting her only at night to conceal his identity. Psyche's jealous sisters convince her to uncover her lover's identity, causing Cupid to flee. Psyche must then navigate the challenges set by Venus in the world of fame and fortune to prove her love and win back Cupid.
2. A Dystopian Love Story:
In a dystopian future, Venus is the leader of a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of society, including love. Psyche, a young rebel, is admired by many for her bravery and beauty, threatening Venus's power. Venus sends her son, Cupid, to eliminate Psyche, but he falls in love with her instead. They begin a forbidden romance, meeting in secret. When Psyche discovers Cupid's true identity, he is forced to flee. Psyche must then undertake dangerous missions set by Venus to prove her loyalty and love for Cupid, all while fighting against the oppressive regime.
3. A Modern Fairy Tale:
Psyche, a kind-hearted and beautiful girl, lives with her two jealous stepsisters who constantly mistreat her. Venus, the wealthy and influential owner of a renowned beauty company, feels threatened by Psyche's natural beauty. She sends her son, Cupid, to sabotage Psyche's chances at finding love. However, Cupid falls deeply in love with Psyche and begins secretly helping her, leaving her gifts and anonymous messages. When Psyche discovers Cupid's identity, he disappears, leaving her heartbroken. With the help of her friends, Psyche must overcome the challenges set by Venus in the cutthroat world of the beauty industry to reunite with her true love, Cupid.
ME:
I quite like the celebrity romance angle. Maybe an influencer on social media. Let’s work on that.
Let’s make the sisters Psyche’s friends for now.
CLAUDE:
Alright, let's develop the celebrity romance angle with Psyche as a social media influencer and her sisters as her friends.
Title: "Love in the Limelight"
Psyche, a rising social media influencer, is gaining popularity for her stunning looks, engaging content, and authentic personality. [Continued…]
ME:
I want to stay away from clichés as much as possible, so let’s make Psyche not stunning, but attractive more through her energy, charm and authenticity than her looks. We can keep Venus more as a typical stunning woman, her looks have helped her more than her warmth. Venus is also bright, but she has a dark streak to her. (Yes, genAI has inherited all the clichés we could hope for!)
Claude continued developing the story - one I would never have thought of, especially as I have no idea of what “influencers” do or how they behave and I have no interest in them, which is why it makes sense to pursue this with guidance from Claude.
Once I had the story, I prompted:
Now, imagine we are writing a novel, of about 60,000 words. would you be able to write a scene synopsis for this, based on the Save the Cat framework?
(Save the Cat is a well-known story structure. The idea is to have your character do something that shows they’re a caring person (like saving a cat), at the beginning of the piece to gain the reader’s trust.)
Claude then took each of the 15 stages of the framework and gave me a summary of relevant scenes.
ME:
Can you now clump the scenes into chapters? I imagine each chapter to be around 3,000 words.
CLAUDE:
Certainly! Here's a possible chapter breakdown for a 60,000-word novel, with each chapter consisting of around 3,000 words:
Chapter 1 (3,000 words):
Opening Image
Theme Stated
Chapter 2 (3,000 words):
Setup (Part 1)
Chapter 3 (3,000 words):
Setup (Part 2)
Chapter 4 (3,000 words):
Catalyst
Debate (Part 1)
ETC
After asking Claude for subplot ideas, I prompted:
Imagine that you are a writer, and you’ve come up with this story, but you don’t feel like you have the time or skill to write the novel. You engage a ghost writer to do this for you, but you want them to keep as close to your own ideas as possible.
Please give me a detailed chapter and scene breakdown, including subplot 2, where Venus’ backstory is developed.
The idea would be for the ghost writer to have all the scene beats, so that they can write the story, as close as possible to what the original writer wanted.
CLAUDE:
Chapter 1:
Scene 1: Opening Image - Psyche at an influencer event
Scene 2: Theme Stated - Conversation with Minerva about authenticity
Scene 3: Venus introduction - Establish her success and insecurity
Chapter 2:
Scene 1: Venus's backstory - Flashback to her rise to fame
Scene 2: Venus's jealousy - Observing Psyche's growing popularity
Scene 3: Venus's plan - Deciding to sabotage Psyche
ETC
ME:
I think we can go deeper into the outline, even giving the ghost writer some beats to write to. Do you want to start with Chapter 1? By the way, you don’t need to give me commentary on what you’ve written.
CLAUDE:
Chapter 1:
Scene 1: Opening Image - Psyche at an influencer event
Psyche arrives at a bustling influencer event, radiating authenticity and charm
She interacts with fans, signing autographs and taking selfies
Psyche's unique style and genuine smile set her apart from other influencers
Descriptions of the event's glamour and energy, contrasting with Psyche's realness
Scene 2: Theme Stated - Conversation with Minerva about authenticity
Psyche meets up with her best friend, Minerva, at the event
They discuss the challenges of maintaining authenticity in the influencer world
Minerva expresses concern about the pressure to conform and the superficiality of the industry
Psyche shares her determination to stay true to herself and her values
Dialogue reveals Psyche's optimism and resilience in the face of these challenges
I asked for a breakdown of all the chapters, three at a time - I find that Claude works most accurately when you do things in small chunks. I asked for a list of characters and voilá! I now have an initial outline to start from!
Writing about a set of characters I have little experience of is going to be liberating. It will allow me to go beyond my own reactions, beyond my own world view. Of course it will still be ME writing, but when the starting point has been created by someone else, it will be easier to create a world that is different to my own.
This will be such a fun experiment to run - and it will allow me to continue focusing on the writing, without worrying about the plot. You learn a lot by going through drafting and editing through to completion, so this should also speed up my learning process.
Now, don’t worry, I’m not abandoning my cozy mystery. I’m thinking of taking part in NaNoWriMo, where you commit to writing 50k words in over the month of November, to draft this story.
So, watch this space!
COMPARING CHATGPT AND CLAUDE
Putting this together, I’ve realised I prompted the bots differently, so their answers are not really comparable. Still, I hope it helps!
Me:
Do You, Know, The Story Of Eros and Psyche? (I dictated the prompt and it looks like the dictation doesn’t work that well!)
GPT4-o:
Psyche was a beautiful mortal woman whose beauty was so extraordinary that people began to worship her instead of Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty. Jealous of Psyche's popularity, Venus sent her son, Eros (Cupid), to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest creature on earth. However, when Eros saw Psyche, he fell deeply in love with her himself.
Eros visited Psyche every night in darkness, instructing her never to look at him. Psyche, although happy, was curious and one night, she lit a lamp to see her mysterious lover. A drop of oil from the lamp fell on Eros, waking him and causing him to flee, hurt by her lack of trust.
Distraught, Psyche searched for Eros and underwent a series of difficult tasks set by Venus to prove her love and worthiness. With help from various divine entities, Psyche completed the tasks. Ultimately, Eros and Psyche were reunited. The gods granted Psyche immortality, and she became Eros' eternal wife.
Their union symbolized the harmony of love and the soul, and their story has been retold and celebrated in various forms of art and literature throughout the centuries.
Now for Claude Sonnet’s answer to “Can you tell me the story of Eros and Psyche? Just the narrative, don’t analyse it or give me commentary.” (These bots love to give you their unsolicited opinion about their own work!)
Claude Sonnet:
In ancient Greece, there was a princess named Psyche who was renowned for her extraordinary beauty. Her beauty was so great that people began to neglect the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite, enraged by this, sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the vilest creature on earth.
However, when Eros saw Psyche, he was so struck by her beauty that he accidentally pricked himself with his own arrow and fell deeply in love with her. Despite this, no man dared to marry Psyche due to her divine beauty. Psyche's parents, concerned about her future, consulted an oracle who told them to leave her on a mountain to be wed to a monster.
Psyche was taken to the mountain and left alone. However, Zephyr, the gentle West Wind, carried her to a beautiful palace where she was attended to by invisible servants. Each night, her new husband would visit her in the darkness, but he forbade her from looking upon his face.
Psyche's sisters, jealous of her good fortune, convinced her that her mysterious husband must be a hideous monster. They persuaded her to take a lamp and a knife to bed with her one night to see her husband's face and kill him if necessary.
When Psyche shone the light on her sleeping husband, she was startled to find that he was none other than Eros, the god of love. In her surprise, she spilled hot oil from the lamp onto his shoulder. Eros, feeling betrayed, fled from the palace, leaving Psyche alone.
Desperate to win back her love, Psyche sought help from Aphrodite. The goddess, still angry, set Psyche to complete a series of seemingly impossible tasks. With divine assistance, Psyche managed to complete each task.
Finally, Eros, unable to bear the separation any longer, went to Zeus to plead for Psyche's cause. Moved by their love, Zeus made Psyche immortal, and the couple was married in a grand ceremony on Olympus.
From then on, Eros and Psyche lived happily together, and their love story became a timeless tale of overcoming adversity and the transformative power of true love.
If you have any questions about the process or would like more detail of any of the stages I’ve mentioned, let me know.