What Happens When You Let AI Write the First Draft?

🧠 The Writer’s Code

For writers who think in prompts and prose
Edition #1 — April 2025

✍️ Creative Spark

You know that moment when you finally sit down to write—and your brain turns into a potato? That’s when I open GPT and say, “Okay. Write like you’re me. Only caffeinated.”

Sometimes it gives me something brilliant. Sometimes it gives me a love poem to a sentient bagel.

But here’s the magic: AI removes the fear of starting. It’s a spark, not a substitute.

So I say: Let it write the ugly first draft. You bring the soul in the edit.

👀 Behind the Page

How one writer uses GPT-4 to plot twist like a pro

Meet Ray—a thriller author who uses GPT to simulate his characters arguing.

He gives it backstory, conflict, and a setting. Then he prompts:

It’s raw, unpredictable, and often unlocks dynamics he hadn’t planned.

His motto?
“Outsource the chaos. Rewrite with purpose.”

🛠️ Tools & Tactics

Prompt of the Week:
🧠 “Give me 3 plot twists that would make a literary critic gasp and a reader text their ex.”

Try it. You might get pure gold. Or a vampire goat cult. Either way: usable.

Tool to Try:
🎯 Sudowrite’s “Expand” feature
Paste a short paragraph → click Expand → watch it grow into something way more vivid than your tired brain could manage alone.

📣 AI x Writing News

🆕 OpenAI’s GPTs now support longform memory and tone tuning.
You can now create a custom GPT that remembers your writing voice across sessions. Basically, your AI is one step closer to becoming your ghostwriter (in the fun, not scary, way).

🧩 Anthropic’s Claude 3 supports 200,000+ words per session—perfect for feeding it your full draft for structure feedback or plot holes.

📚 What We’re Reading & Using

📖 Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert — still the go-to reminder that creativity is weird and that’s a good thing.
🧪 Story Path — describe your idea and it auto-generates a full plot map with optional twists. Surprisingly good.

🔁 Your Turn

What’s one way you’ve used AI in your writing this month?
Reply and tell me—I might feature your genius in the next edition.

Until next time,
Stay curious. Write weird. Prompt boldly.
— Emelia Pillay
The Writer’s Code