Writing a novel with ChatGPT

Submitted by naxospade t3_z9ybt6 in singularity

Disclaimer: I didn't actually write a novel with ChatGPT, but it certainly looks possible. I was playing around with its capabilities and was honestly quite impressed with its abilities. The stories it constructs are sometimes a bit bland, unless you seed some ideas into the prompt yourself, giving the story some texture. Anyway, it's really cool. Recommend anyone try it! You could probably write a large portion of a novel with ChatGPT, just tweaking the outputs and adding a little flavor here and there.

---

Prompt: Write the outline of a novel about 2 friends in the singularity. Give the title and a brief synopsis of each of the 3 acts of the novel.

Response:
Title: "Beyond the Singularity"

Act I: "The Great Upload"

In the first act of the novel, two friends, Jim and Joe, are living in a world on the brink of the singularity. They are excited to upload their minds into the virtual world, where they can live forever and experience anything they want. But when they make the decision to upload their minds, they quickly discover that the virtual world is not all it's cracked up to be.

Act II: "The Dark Side of Immortality"

In the second act of the novel, Jim and Joe must confront the dark side of immortality. They quickly realize that living in the virtual world is not as perfect as they thought it would be. They must deal with the consequences of their actions, and navigate the complex social and political landscape of the virtual world.

Act III: "The Future of Humanity"

In the final act of the novel, Jim and Joe must decide what their place is in the future of humanity. As the singularity approaches, they must decide whether they want to continue living in the virtual world, or return to the real world and face the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

---

Prompt: For the first Act "The Great Upload", write the chapters names and a brief synopsis of the plot for the chapter. There should be 10 chapters.

Response:

  1. "The Decision" - Jim and Joe make the decision to upload their minds into the virtual world.
  2. "The Preparation" - Jim and Joe prepare for their upload, saying goodbye to their loved ones and making final arrangements.
  3. "The Upload" - Jim and Joe undergo the upload process, leaving their physical bodies behind.
  4. "The Arrival" - Jim and Joe arrive in the virtual world and explore their new surroundings.
  5. "The Culture Shock" - Jim and Joe struggle to adjust to the strange and unfamiliar world of the virtual world.
  6. "The Freedom" - Jim and Joe discover the amazing freedoms and possibilities of the virtual world.
  7. "The Consequences" - Jim and Joe begin to realize the consequences of their actions in the virtual world.
  8. "The Regret" - Jim and Joe regret their decision to upload their minds and question their future in the virtual world.
  9. "The Struggle" - Jim and Joe struggle to find their place in the virtual world, and confront the challenges of immortality.
  10. "The Future" - Jim and Joe must decide whether they want to continue living in the virtual world, or return to the real world.

---

Prompt: Please write the first chapter of the book "Beyond the Singularity", which is titled "The Decision" and has the synopsis of "Jim and Joe make the decision to upload their minds into the virtual world."

Response:

The Decision

Jim and Joe sat on the couch, staring at the blank wall in front of them. They had been friends for as long as they could remember, and now they were about to make the biggest decision of their lives.

"Are you sure about this, Joe?" Jim asked, his voice trembling with excitement and fear. "Once we upload our minds, there's no turning back. We'll be living in the virtual world forever."

Joe nodded, his eyes shining with determination. "I'm sure, Jim. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I know it's the right decision. The virtual world is the future, and I want to be a part of it. I want to live forever, and experience everything the world has to offer."

Jim nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. He had always dreamed of living in the virtual world, but he was still hesitant. "I don't know, Joe. It's a big decision. What about our families, our friends, our jobs? What about the real world?"

Joe smiled, his eyes filled with conviction. "Jim, the real world is dying. It's been dying for a long time, and we can't stop it. The virtual world is the future, and we can be a part of it. We can live forever, and experience anything we want. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, Jim. We can't let it pass us by."

Jim took a deep breath, his mind racing with thoughts and doubts. But he knew that Joe was right. The virtual world was the future, and they had to be a part of it. He looked at his friend, and nodded. "Okay, Joe. Let's do it. Let's upload our minds into the virtual world. Let's live forever."

Joe grinned, his face glowing with excitement. "Yes, Jim. Let's do it. Let's upload our minds and become immortal. Let's experience the wonders of the virtual world. Let's be a part of the future, Jim. Let's be a part of the singularity."

Jim and Joe stood up, their hearts pounding with excitement and anticipation. They were about [ChatGPT response ends].

36

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Lockon52 t1_iyjl3bo wrote

Truly amazing. I only got to mess around with a few prompts about coding and literature. Really can't wait until its back up.

4

garden_frog t1_iylm7ve wrote

I tried something similar but asking every time for 10 different options so I have more control on the result.

The more I learn how to use this tool, the more amazed and scared I become.

3

CypherLH t1_iykb1fp wrote

Holy Cow, the coherency is impressive. I assume this is using the latest Davinci model . Its amazing how much GPT-3 has improved since the initial release.

2

ziplock9000 t1_iykfn1u wrote

I played with ChatGPT yesterday and asked it technical questions about physics, software engineering, theoretical physics, covid vaccines and the answers were amazingly human.

2

garden_frog t1_iyllyqg wrote

I'm a teacher and I'm using it to prepare my lessons.

I made it create the final test with multi choice questions too.

Really amazing.

5

beaconofwierd t1_j1z82gu wrote

I find the biggest issue with ChatGPT is that it tries to finish the story too quickly. I’ve tried similar prompts as this, but it very quickly skips to the last chapter. I’ve tried ”wrote the first page out of 10” and stuff like that, even asked it to state which page it is on, but it almost always skips to the next chapter too early.

One trick I’ve found to make the stories less bland and more detailed is to not give it the outline. Just state what kind of story you want (like genre, setting etc) and then ask it to write 2 or 3 paragraphs. Adding instructions like ”vividly describe in detail” and ”include a lot of dialouge” and such helps. Another one that helps is to tell it to not use any phrases previously used, but you have to remind it constantly, so prompting it with something like ”Continue with the next 2 chapters. Don’t use any phrases previously used” helps a lot. You can also steer the story a lot during the continue prompts, but the steering wheel is very sensitive. Small hints can derail/change the story a lot, but stating explicit things works much better, like ”Continue, [main characters name] is walking to the office” will probably not derail the story.

Writing a story like this is a lot of fun, like steering a boat but you’re not sure exactly where you’re going :)

2

rorscho t1_iztrad5 wrote

When I do this I also don't get a full response. Like your example ChatGPT response suddenly ends

1