Can you use AI in fiction writing? That was the topic I recently explored on Story Empire, the home of twelve authors, eleven of whom are extremely talented (plus me).  It is the perfect destination for those who share a passion for all things related to writing, publishing, and promoting writing.

As for my question? I used Claude to see if it’s possible to use AI for fiction. The short answer is that sure you can, if you don’t mind prose that’s more purple than Barney stomping grapes:

Gathering his weapons and magics, he marched back to the lake where he had last seen the girl. He would end this evil, once and for all. The monsters had not defeated him with their underhanded trick. Now they would face the full wrath of his righteous fury!

Based on my experience, I’d need a few hours or even days of cleaning up Claude’s prose, expanding on the various sections, cutting them up into chapters, etc. But Claude did offer some tantalizing ideas and introduced unexpected characters, thus getting the creative juices flowing. So, I will consider in the future running my stories by him, especially if I feel stuck and would like some inspiration. Plus, AI can be invaluable for research, summarizing, book editing (through Grammarly etc.), giving you ideas when stuck, and even creating blurbs.

You can read the full answer along with my numerous attempts at crafting a story with Claude here.