In this article, we will discuss the best AI writing software for creative writers. That includes novelists, game designers, screenwriters, even dungeon masters. We’ll also talk about how these tools can help you improve your writing process. So if you’re looking for a way to take your writing to the next level, read on!
Note: this article contains affiliate links.
In this article
- Jasper (jasper.ai)
- Sudowrite (sudowrite.com)
- NovelAI
- ChatGPT
- GPT-3 (OpenAI)
- Loom
- AI Dungeon
- ProWritingAid
Jasper
Best for:
- Writing in a broad range of styles, from romance novels to press releases to nonfiction book outlines
Key features:
- Templates for different types of content, including product descriptions, blog post ideas, Pinterest captions, Google ads, and more
- Recipes allow you to write articles, book outlines, blog posts, and even novels in record time
- Boss mode for long-form content creation
- Can write in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Japanese
- Built-in SurferSEO, Grammarly, and plagiarism checker extensions make it easy to optimize long-form content
Pros:
- Mobile friendly
- Easy to use
- Large userbase and active community on Facebook, plus numerous tutorials and courses
- New Jasper Art feature allows you to generate artworks in a variety of styles
Cons:
- High price point
- Cannot adjust technical elements, e.g. the temperature or frequency penalty, as in GPT-3 playground
- Mostly geared toward content creation, with limited templates and recipes for creative writers and storytellers
Link: jasper.ai
Jasper is the best ai writing tool for general use. If you need to write a lot of different types of content, like blog posts, product descriptions, or even novels, then Jasper is the best tool for you. It’s also great if you don’t have a lot of time to write because it can generate long-form stories from a rough outline.
Jasper has a wide variety of templates and recipes that allow you to write blog posts, social media posts, landing pages, and even book outlines in record time. It’s a powerful piece of writing software that uses natural language processing to create fluid text in a variety of genres.
Jasper can create content in many different moods and styles. For example, if you want to write science fiction, Jasper will make its writing style match that genre. You can also adjust your style to fit your target audience. Jasper’s “Explain it to a Child” template will help simplify your language so that it is easy for children to understand.
Jasper can write in English, Spanish, French, German, and a wide variety of other languages. It can also differentiate between British and American English.
Jasper has a large and active user base, with communities dedicated to using Jasper on Facebook, Discord, and other social media channels. Courses like The AI Author can teach you how to write a nonfiction book, from scratch, using Jasper.
You can now generate art using the “Jasper art” feature. While this lacks some of the customization of other AI art generators, such as DreamStudio’s Stable Diffusion client, this is a great starting point for making AI art.
This versatility makes Jasper an ideal tool for content marketers. Think newsletters, press releases, and digital ad copy. With “boss mode,” you can write long-form content like blog posts, articles, and book chapters in Jasper’s vesatile text editor. dThis editor also integrates with Surfer SEO, so you can optimize your content for SEO as you write.
Jasper is not specifically designed for creative writing. And at $290-$590/year, it’s not cheap, either. But if you need a tool that can do it all, Jasper is the best AI writing software for you.
If you’re brand new to ai writing, start by playing with GPT-3. If you want to explore more specialized uses, get a free trial of Jasper to see if it is worth it.
Overall, Jasper is excellent, full-featured AI writing software that should be at the top of your list. If you want more tailored functionality than GPT-3 can offer, or if you need to generate a lot of content quickly, Jasper is one of the best tools for the job.
Example Jasper Output
Prompt: Julia walked across the quad. Sky was gray. Looked like it was going to rain. Style: young adult
Creative Story output: Julia had her head down, hands in her pockets as she walked across the quad. It was a dreary day and looked like it was going to rain any minute. She had a lot on her mind and wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly, she bumped into someone and let out a yelp.
Paragraph Generator output: Julia wrapped her arms around herself as she walked across the quad, trying to ward off the chill in the air. The sky was an ominous gray, and she could see the rain coming, dark clouds gathering on the horizon. She quickened her pace, wishing she had brought a jacket. As she reached the library, she sighed in relief, pushing open the door and stepping into the warm, dry interior.
Boss Mode output: Julia wrapped her arms around herself as she hurried across the quad, trying to avoid the puddles that had already formed. She had always loved the smell of rain, but today it just made her feel cold and lonely.
Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name. It was her friend, Alex. He ran up to her, grinning.
“Hey! I thought you were going to be at the library all day.”
“Nope,” Julia said, “I decided to take a walk instead.”
“Mind if I join you?” Alex asked.
Julia smiled. “Not at all.”
Together, they walked across the campus, chatting and laughing as they went. The rain had stopped, and the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds. Julia felt her mood lighten as she enjoyed the rest of her walk with her friend.
Sudowrite
Best for:
- Developing ideas and storylines for fiction
- Exploring different ideas for stories
- Writing freeverse poetry that sounds better than average
Key Features:
- Write more text based on what’s come before
- Describe something in the text using all five senses plus metaphor
- Rewrite sentences and paragraphs
- Brainstorm character ideas, character names, plot twists,
- Expand already-written text
Pros:
- Designed for fiction writers with features missing from most ai writing software
- Incredible array of tools that help with almost every step of the writing process, from brainstorming ideas to writing characters to composition
- Dark mode + multiple skins make composition easy, whatever your aesthetic preferences
- Works for a wide variety of genres, including freeverse poetry, genre fiction, literary fiction, and steamy romance
Cons:
- Meant for fiction and poetry writing only
- Composer is missing an undo feature
- Plaintext output without formatting, e.g. bold, italics, underlines
- Not available on mobile yet
- AI art generation tool is currently only available for freeverse poetry
- Can only sort compositions by last modified–no way to group them into different projects or folders
Link: sudowrite.com
Sudowrite is one of the few ai writing software tools that is designed for fiction writers. It has features that other ai writing tools don’t have, like ways to help with brainstorming ideas and expanding outlines.
Sudowrite can also help you write a story as long as you have ~250 words already written.It can help you come up with ideas for your story or add to it based on what you tell it.
For example, if you write that “Rosemary answers the phone and she starts crying,” it will add a few paragraphs to your story based on those instructions.
Sudowrite also has different looks, including a regular dark mode, that make it easier to write. It includes a few fonts, but no Comic Sans–yet. That’s my font of choice.
I use Sudowrite for worldbuilding and backstory. It’s also great for generating characters. I can type in a few character names, along with their basic attributes, and it’ll give me a list of possible characters in the same genre, complete with physical features, attributes, and backstories.
Sudowrite does have some drawbacks. It’s not available on mobile yet, and the composer is missing an undo feature–meaning if you accidentally delete your whole document, it’s gone forever. Make sure you back up anything you create on Sudowrite on your computer.
Sudowrite costs $20/month or $240/year. It’s one of the more expensive tools on this list but offers a wide range of features for any creative writer.
Overall, Sudowrite is an excellent tool for fiction writers. If you need help with brainstorming or expanding your outline, Sudowrite is definitely worth the price.
Example Sudowrite Output
Prompt: Julia walked across the quad. Sky was gray. Looked like it was going to rain. More > Expand
Result:
The quad was deserted. Julia walked across it, her footsteps echoing in the silence. The sky was gray, and it looked like it was going to rain.
She turned the corner and saw the library. It was a huge, imposing building, its stone facade looming over her. She went inside.
The library was huge and dark. It was almost like a cathedral. Julia went up to the desk and asked the librarian for a book on Hemingway. The librarian handed her a book. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
Julia looked at the book. It was called The Old Man and the Sea. “Yes,” she said.
She went over to a table and opened the book. She started reading it, but she didn’t understand it. It was all about boats and fishing and old men. She kept reading and reading, but she didn’t understand anything that was happening, so she put the book down, got up, and walked away. She started to leave, then stopped. She turned back toward the table.
She walked up to it, opened the book again, and started reading. The words were hard to understand, but she kept reading. She wanted to understand everything that was in the book, even if it meant that she had to read it a thousand times. She kept reading and reading, looking up words in the dictionary when she didn’t know what they meant, and finally, she understood everything that was in the book, and she loved it.
She walked away from the table, her heart filled with joy.
NovelAI
Best for:
- Writing fantasy novels
- Worldbuilding
Key features:
- AI Storyteller for co-writing stories with AI
- Emulate the styles of other popular writers
- Lorebook for worldbuilding with the help of artificial intelligence
- Create a text adventure story using RPG-like commands
Pros:
- Mobile friendly
- Easy to use
- Tailored to developing fantasy worlds
- First 100 generations are free
Cons:
- For fiction writing only
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is the newest AI chatbot from Microsoft. It allows you to develop ideas for almost anything you want within a chat room setting.
GPT-3
Pros:
- The bedrock for most AI writing tools
- Can create content across a diverse array of genres, from fiction to blog posts to code
- Anyone can create GPT-3 apps for specialized purposes using Python or Google Sheets
Cons:
- The open-ended nature of the playground may paralyze some writers
- Have to pay for tokens instead of a subscription or flat fee
- Sex scenes violate GPT-3’s content policy, limiting its utility to writers of steamy romances, erotica, etc.
Link: beta.openai.com/playground
GPT-3 uses deep learning to create a wide variety of human-like texts, from fiction to blog posts to poetry to computer code. It’s incredibly versatile and easily programmed. You can learn to make your own GPT-3 apps quite easily, even if you’ve never made an app before. GPT-3 has extensive documentation that will show you how.
If you don’t want to make an app, never fear. GPT-3 has a very easy-to-use playground where you can create outputs. You can find it at beta.openai.com/playground or esmerome.com/gpt3.
Once you’ve logged in and reached this screen, type out exactly what you want and hit the green “Submit” button at the bottom. The AI will create the text, whatever it is, to the best of its ability.
You can also enter the start of a scene or story, and let GPT-3 complete the rest.
GPT-3 isn’t free. You will have to pay for tokens to generate content. However, you get $18 in free credit when you create an account. This will last you quite a while before you have to pay; one paragraph of content might cost you less than a cent, for example. However, if you plan to write a novel with GPT-3, or sell an app that uses GPT-3, you will probably have to pay at some point.
If you want to dip your toes into AI writing, start with GPT-3. Getting familiar with this primary tool will give you a better understanding of how AI can help you with your writing.
Example GPT-3 Output
Prompt: Write a story about Julia walking across the quad. Sky was gray. Looked like it was going to rain.
Result: Julia walked quickly across the quad, head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone. It was her first day of college and she didn’t want to make any mistakes. She had been warned about the “Freshman 15” and was determined not to fall victim to it. She had joined the gym and planned to work out every day.
As she walked, she passed a group of girls who were laughing and joking. They looked like they were having fun. Julia couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. She wished she could be like them, carefree and happy. But she had to focus on her goals. She couldn’t let anything get in the way of her future.
She made it to her dorm and went inside, relieved to be in her own space. She unpacked her things and then lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was so tired from all the nerves of the day. But she had to stay strong. This was just the beginning.
Loom
Pros:
- Create and plot interactive fiction stories (branching narratives) with help from artificial intelligence
- Explore alternate possibilities for your stories with a click of a button
- Easily edit the outputs to create a dynamic, living document
- Easy export to Loom, Twine, and plaintext
- Created by Latitude, which includes AI Dungeon and an AI art generator
Cons:
- Temperamental, sometimes clunky controls
- Limited utility if you don’t plan to write branching narratives
- Due to its complex interface, Loom may never be available on mobile
- Loom saves files to browser storage, so unless you download your file, you could easily lose it.
- At $149/year, it’s a bit expensive for a specialized use case
Link: loom.latitude.io
Loom uses artificial intelligence to help writers create and plot interactive fiction stories. Think “Choose Your Own Adventure,” Telltale Games like “The Wolf Among Us,” or Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch.” With Loom, you can easily create branching narratives in a text adventure game.
On Loom, your story shows up as a family tree, with multiple branches, or children, coming down from one source. You can generate as many “children” as you want from that starting source, including “siblings” that explore alternate paths. The AI will try to add to your story in the same tense (past, present), person (I, she, etc.) and tone of voice as your story so far.
You can also edit the story anywhere along the path if you don’t like your results.
Loom files can be exported to Loom, Twine, and (along one path) as plaintext. You can easily share your interactive stories with others, either as playable stories or as part of your next book.
The interface is well-designed, but it still takes time to figure out how to use it, whether you view the full tree or the pruned tree. The controls don’t always work. You may not be able to generate children or siblings for unclear reasons. Right now, for example, I can’t download my Loom files as Twine files, and I don’t know why.
Right now, Loom only saves files to your browser’s storage. If you don’t download them, you could easily lose them.
Every AI program has a learning curve, but Loom’s is a bit steeper than others. Latitude offers thorough documentation on Gitbook. It will probably take a long weekend, or several long weekends, to understand what this software does and how it works.
Loom is a great tool for exploring branching narratives. However, it might be overkill for some writers who don’t need its specialized features.
Loom comes with a suite of other interesting games and tools, including AI Dungeon and an AI art generator. With AI Dungeon, you can create text adventures in an RPG style. And with the AI art generator, you can create detailed pictures from a text description.
This software lets you make stories with different paths. If that’s not something you’re interested in, then you might not need this software. But it’s worth trying out, even if you’re not used to writing interactive fiction, because it can be incredibly powerful.
Example Loom Output
Story Starter: The quad was deserted. Julia walked across it, her footsteps echoing in the silence. The sky was gray, and it looked like it was going to rain.
She turned the corner and saw the library. It was a huge, imposing building, its stone facade looming over her. She went inside.
Path 1: “Hello?” she called. “Anybody here?”
She was alone in the great stone house. The library was huge, with three massive floors and rows of bookshelves stretching from one wall to another. It was like a cathedral in here, and the thought sent a ripple of fear through her.
She walked through the library, peering into the dark aisles between the rows of books. Her footsteps echoed on the flagstones. She was so _very_ alone.
She heard a sound behind her and turned quickly, half expecting to see…
Path 2: There was a bank of elevators to her left, but she walked to the right and stood in the middle of the empty building. She peered through the glass walls, watching the people down on the street. She felt a little like a prisoner in solitary, cut off from the world.
She knew that even when it came to other things, she was cut off from the world. After what had happened with her mother, and with Brendan, she’d decided to devote her life to helping other young women avoid the same kind of pain. She’d started with the self-defense classes that the police had recommended. The classes had done their part, allowing her to feel a little less isolated and a little more like she belonged to the world.
But she didn’t feel that way with the police, and she still felt cut off from the world. The other night…
Path 3: She was in the entrance hall. People bustled around her, the sounds of their voices muted, almost inaudible. Julia stopped in front of a bank of elevators. She pressed the button, and it came to life with a chime. At the sound of the bell, people looked around. There was a moment of silent anticipation, of waiting to see if anyone would emerge.
Julia didn’t move. She remained standing in front of the elevator, watching the numbers above the door light up. When the elevator doors opened, it revealed…
AI Dungeon
Pros:
- Explore open-ended worlds with ai-generated text adventure games
- Start with a blank story, explore a pre-made world, or create your own
- Linked with Stable Diffusion, which allows you to generate custom images based on your stories
- Designed by the same company that made Loom, so one subscription pays for both services
Cons:
- Typically writes in second person, present tense, which is not favored by most fiction writers
- Because it’s often used to generate erotic content, NSFW themes may creep into unrelated stories
Link: aidungeon.com
AI Dungeon allows you to co-create open-ended text adventure games with artificial intelligence. It uses a sophisticated algorithm to generate new parts of the story based on your input.
You can choose to start with a blank story, or you can choose one of their preprogrammed scenarios. You can also create a world for others to play in. In each case, the AI will help generate new content to match what’s come before.
It’s created by Latitude, the same game design studio that made Loom. You can play AI Dungeon for free, but you will only get access to all the features with a Pro account.
If you get a pro account, you can also generate images from your stories using Stable Diffusion, a powerful ai art generator. This means that you can create artistic images that match your text adventures.
AI Dungeon is not designed for fiction writing, but it’s a great way to generate story ideas and explore open-ended worlds without restrictions. The writing style tends to mimic other text-based RPGs. This is great if you want to write in a related genre, such as sci-fi, fantasy, or light novels, but it’s not so great if you’re writing literary fiction or stream-of-consciousness prose.
Many people also use AI Dungeon to write erotic stories. Because of this, you might find inappropriate themes entering your works, even if you don’t intend it. The team behind AI Dungeon is working to make this less of a hassle, but it’s something to keep in mind.
ProWritingAid
Pros
- Best grammar, syntax, and spellchecker on the market, bar none
- Analyzes your writing for overused words, sentence length, grade level of writing, transitions, glue words, and more
- Integrates with Scrivener, allowing you to edit Scriv. documents within the PWA app.
- Also integrates with Google Chrome and Google Docs
- Can create custom feedback recipes to get just the feedback you want.
Cons
- So much feedback can be overwhelming.
- Cannot easily print out documents
Link: prowritingaid.com
ProWritingAid is a high-powered, granular AI grammar checker. It’s more than just a spell checker; it will analyze your writing and give you feedback on things like overused words, sentence length, readability, transitions, and more.
ProWritingAid offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help you polish your writing. It checks grammar, spelling, and syntax. It also analyzes your writing for overused words, sentence length, grade level of writing, transitions, glue words, and more.
ProWritingAid integrates with Scrivener, Chrome, and Google Docs. You can edit your Scrivener documents within the ProWritingAid app. This feature is invaluable if you’re trying to tighten up your prose.
This app also allows you to create custom feedback recipes to get just the feedback you want. If you’re struggling with a specific issue, you can create a feedback recipe to address that issue specifically. This feature alone makes ProWritingAid worth the price tag.
ProWritingAid does not easily let you print out documents. If you usually edit by printing out documents and reading them, this can be a bit of a pain. However, there is a very complicated workaround. It involves taking screenshots of your computer screen, uploading the screenshots to Chrome, and saving them as PDFs. It’s very tedious.
That said, ProWritingAid offers a tremendous amount of useful feedback. So much feedback can be overwhelming. But it’s also immensely helpful to know where you can improve your writing. ProWritingAid is the best tool I’ve found for identifying those weak points.
Conclusion
There are many AI writing tools on the market today, and they all offer different features. Most are made for content creation, but a few can be used for telling stories. With so many options to choose from, there’s an AI writing tool out there that’s perfect for you.