How to polish the outline of "AI writing novels"

Why is it so important to polish the outline if you want AI to write a good story? This article will help you understand how to polish the outline. This article is also recommended to workers who need to use AI to create articles to provide creative ideas.

At this stage, if you want to use AI to write a good story, you still have to conceive it step by step, and it cannot be completed with one click. And polishing the outline is a very critical step.

Most of the time, the outlines given directly by AI are unqualified - the plot is bland, the story is shallow, and the logic of the characters' actions cannot stand up to scrutiny... At this time, how can we guide AI to revise the outline and polish the story?

It is not difficult to find that this is not a problem of applying AI, but a problem of story creation. Since it is a problem of story creation, the answer is naturally sought in the method of story creation.

The "Snyder Beat Sheet" given by the late Blake Snyder in "Save the Cat" is a very classic story construction method. It can guide us to better control the rhythm of the story and guide us to better control the plot direction of each beat.

The structure of the Snyder beat sheet is as follows:

• Opening scene
• Theme presentation
• bedding
• Promote (Catalyst)
• Dispute (debate)
• Act II Connection Point
• B Story
• game
• midpoint
• The bad guys are approaching
• Nothing
• Dark Night of the Soul
• Act 3 Transition Point
• ending
• Final scene

So, can we just give this structure to AI and let it adjust the outline according to this structure, and everything will be fine? We can try it out. For example, AI and I have already determined the following story ideas (generated by AI):

The Last Passenger

Background: A modern city, a subway running late at night.

Synopsis: The protagonist is a subway driver. One night on the last subway, he found an unusually quiet passenger who did not seem to belong to this world.

Opening: The protagonist tried to communicate with the passenger, but found that he could not hear his own voice, and the subway unknowingly went off the normal track.

We can first ask whether the AI ​​understands the Snyder beat sheet:

Question: Do you know the Snyder beat sheet?

Kimi is used here. It seems that AI has already learned the relevant knowledge. Then it is simple. Just let AI refer to this structure to optimize the outline.

Ask a Question

Please redesign the outline of this story according to the structure of Snyder's beat sheet, increase the complexity of the story, make the story conflicting and exciting

Kimi

Of course, let’s rework the story outline of The Last Passenger based on the structure of Snyder’s beat sheet to increase the complexity and conflict of the story.

Opening Image

The protagonist, a subway driver, is driving the last subway late at night. The night view of the city comes into view through the window, peaceful and lonely.

Theme Stated

The conversation between an old passenger and the protagonist hints at themes about fate and choice.

Set-Up

The daily life of the protagonist, showing his ordinary life as a subway driver and his love for his job.

Debate

The protagonist struggles internally over whether or not to investigate further into the identity of this mysterious passenger.

Break into Two

The protagonist decides to investigate further, and the story enters the second act, where the protagonist begins to explore unknown areas.

B Story

The protagonist meets a woman with amnesia, whose appearance adds a romantic element to the story.

Fun and Games

During the investigation, the protagonist discovered a series of clues related to the mysterious passenger, but every time he got close to the truth, new mysteries emerged.

Midpoint

The protagonist discovers a key piece of evidence that points to a shocking truth, but at the same time realizes that he may be involved in a larger conspiracy.

Bad Guys Close In

The protagonist's investigation attracts the attention of the mastermind, and he begins to be threatened by unknown forces.

All Is Lost

The protagonist was framed, lost his job, and was even suspected of being involved in a series of mysterious events.

Dark Night of the Soul

The protagonist falls into despair and begins to doubt his choices and abilities.

Break into Three

With the help of the amnesiac woman, the protagonist found hope again and decided to face the truth.

Finale

The final showdown between the protagonist and the mastermind reveals the true identity of the mysterious passenger and the truth of the whole incident.

Final Image

The protagonist stands on the new subway line, facing a new beginning, but his eyes reveal a deep understanding and acceptance of the unknown.

Adding complexity

Incorporate multiple characters into your story, each with their own secrets and motivations that conflict with the protagonist's goals.

Set up a multi-layered conspiracy, and the protagonist will discover deeper secrets while uncovering a mystery.

Using flashbacks and foreshadowing, the pasts of the protagonist and the amnesiac woman, as well as their connection to the mysterious passenger, are gradually revealed.

The lines between reality and illusion blur throughout the story, causing the reader to question the authenticity of what they see and hear along with the protagonist.

Through such a design, the story will be full of suspense and conflict, and each turning point will bring new information and challenges, keeping the reader's interest and participation high throughout.

From the answers, we can easily see that although AI knows the relevant creation tools, it does not really understand how to use them. The outline generated in this way only fits the structure into it, without much substantive plot. The application is extremely superficial, and the structure of the story is still not revealed.

This result is actually expected, as constructing a story is a complex process in itself.

It can be seen that the key to polishing the outline with AI is actually our existing ideas, knowing how to act and what the evaluation criteria are. We must first understand the method, and then we can guide AI to complete the outline step by step.

So, how can we use the Snyder beat sheet to collaborate with AI to polish the outline? In my practice, the most simplified process can be divided into the following 4 steps (different stories will be different, this is not a standard process, just for your reference):

Step 1 | Find a Topic

It is crucial to know what we want to express. Only when we know the theme of the story clearly can we judge what kind of test to give the protagonist and what kind of dilemma to let the protagonist make a choice in. In this way, the plot will not be like a pile of loose sand, but can be put together more systematically.

For example, in the example above, since the story lacks the guidance of the theme, the plot given by AI is one moment encountering a mysterious passenger, another moment encountering a girl with amnesia, and another moment losing the job. It is impossible to judge whether such a plot arrangement is reasonable.

Of course, once the theme is set, it doesn’t mean it can’t be changed. As the outline becomes clearer, we may come up with new ideas later, and we may need to go back and change the theme and plot direction, which is totally fine.

Step 2 | Determine the three-act division

The Snyder beat sheet is a typical three-act structure.

Once we have found the theme, we can start planning the general direction of the story. What was the protagonist's original life like? What was his final outcome? These two questions point directly to the first and third acts, while the second act is about the twists and turns experienced in the process.

At this point, the story ideas generated by AI have probably already explained the world that the protagonist lives in during the first act, which is a good starting point. We don’t need to determine all 15 beats in the beat sheet at this step, we just need to roughly determine the opening scene, the connection point of the second act, the ending, and the final scene.

Step 3 | Design the Midpoint and B Story

The midpoint is right in the middle of the story, when the protagonist experiences a false victory or false defeat. The B story is a test of the theme, presenting it from another perspective.

I personally think that the opening, midpoint, and ending are like a tripod that supports the story, and the B story makes the main storyline more three-dimensional. With these beats, the story framework is almost clear. In other words, after completing this step, the story framework is basically set.

In these three steps, AI may or may not be able to give us inspiration. I have tried to let AI generate an outline by combining the theme and creativity. Sometimes AI's performance is very good and can be adopted directly. Sometimes AI's performance in the first three steps is mediocre, and it all depends on my improvisation.

Step 4 | Expand the story

After deciding on the theme, opening, B story, midpoint, and ending, the next thing to do is to work with AI to fill in the details, just like filling a skeleton with flesh and blood. This work is a bit like connecting dots to make a picture, and you slowly polish it with AI and modify it bit by bit.

As for whether to fill all the 15 beats, I didn’t do it so strictly. I can try it next time, haha!

The above are some of my thoughts on using AI to write novels and polish the outline. Let me reiterate that this is not a standard process. Thoughts are free, and it is very likely that sudden inspiration will break these steps.

From the perspective of story creation, my approach is definitely very rough and can only be used as a simplified version. In actual operation, you need to refine it based on your own understanding. Of course, different people will have different ideas, and there is actually no fixed rule. The key is that Snyder's beat sheet provides us with a very good methodology, which is suitable for combining with AI to polish the outline.