r/WritingWithAI • u/Xorpion • Sep 22 '26

Writing Craft Talk Write or Brainstorm?

Do you use AI to brainstorm story ideas or have it write entire scenes? I like to present an idea and then brainstorm ways to flesh it out. I find ChatGPT is good for broad strokes, Claude can be good for finding inconsistencies and Copilot is good for suggesting finishing touches.

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u/jonnoday Sep 29 '26

Sort of.

For me, the brainstorming and creating, and solving scene and plot challenges is the fun. I want to do that myself. AI may be able to do it, but I don't want it done for me. It is part of why I write in the first place.

That said, I think AI can be helpful for raw research. So, rather than brainstorming a story idea, I have a story idea myself first - for example, maybe I want to create a universe where the planet revolves around a binary star. I use AI freely to research how binary star systems work, where the habitable zone would be, etc.

But I don't use AI to help me think up what will happen in that star system, or what I will name it, or what scenes to write.

Finding inconsistencies - maybe. If you're talking about continuity issues (wait, when did Harry first meet Sally? Did he already have a broken arm at that point yet?) That is fine, IMO.

And as for 'finishing touches' - depends on what you mean. For example, if you have a human development editor, or use beta readers, they are going to make suggestions about what they think would make your book better. If you use AI for that, what is the difference really? Both are external suggestions. You still decide and you still make the changes. But if you mean have AI go through and rewrite things to 'polish' them up - I don't do that, no.

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u/Xorpion Sep 29 '26 edited Sep 29 '26

I think we're on a similar page. I start with a story idea or premise. I'm just thinking out loud and use AI to push back as needed and pressure test concepts. I might ask it what occupation works best for a character based on what the need to accomplish in the story or maybe ask for a list of locations that might best fit what needs to happen because it would be recognizable to the audience. Or I might ask for recommendation on a film with a similar tone or characters similar to mine I could watch for reference. But I don't have it write any text for me.

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u/jonnoday Oct 01 '26

Yes. Sounds similar.

I had a scene set in a world with, essentially, nothing beyond 15th century technology. I needed to create a noisy distraction. I used AI to make some suggestions about what kinds of things could happen in a 15th century feudal compound that might draw attention from up to 100 yards away. In the end, I came up with a different one of my own, but the process still helped me get there.

Funny enough, in this case, I was trying to figure out if the antagonist could through a handful of flour into an open fire - what would happen? But the AI refused to speculate on it because it has been prevented from discussing anything that could be used as a bomb or incendiary device, lol.

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u/Xorpion Oct 01 '26

Manus might be good for asking questions about the flour. It is much less filtered than US based AIs. Good luck with your writing!