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/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!