I Wrote a Novel With ChatGPT In 30 Minutes
This is my story
Earlier this week, I wrote a complete 40,000 word thriller novel with ChatGPT in 30–40 minutes.
And I filmed it all (watch the video below).
What’s not in the video is exactly how I planned it out and whether or not the story itself was any good. I saved all that for this article. Plus, you can download the entire story for free.
This is why I did it, how I did it, and why it matters.
Why I Did It
The short answer is that I did it because I could — and I wanted to.
But there’s a bit more to it than that. Mostly, I wanted to see if it could be done. I started, naively, with the idea that I could write the complete novel in 5 minutes.
While that is possible (I all but proved it, in theory), I was not prepared for that level of speed. Under an hour though, even 30+ minutes, that turns out to be a cake walk for ChatGPT.
The burning question that drove me was, “Is it possible to write an entire novel in half an hour?”
As it turns out, yes it is.
Which is mind blowing to an author like me who spent three entire years painstakingly writing, editing, and publishing each of my three published novels.
They were labors of love. I am very proud of them.
But to accomplish even roughly the same thing in less than a day is a miracle.
How I Did It
You can watch the following video to see me doing it but, below the video, I want to explain my planning and preparation in more detail. And tell you what I would do if I did it again (which I will do).
Here’s the video:
Before starting the video and my timer (remember, I initially was trying to do all of this in five minutes), I did some set up in ChatGPT.
My set up looked like this:
- I opened up ChatGPT on two different tabs so I could generate twice as much content twice as fast.
- I already asked ChatGPT to come up with an idea for a story.
- I already asked ChatGPT to create a chapter by chapter outline of the entire novel.
- I created a new Chat GPT chat for each chapter (in both open tabs).
- I posted the chapter by chapter outline in each “chapter” chat.
- I asked ChatGPT to break each chapter down into five scenes (also in each chat on both open tabs.
Admittedly, this is a lot of set up. But, what you can’t tell from the video is that the set up only took about half-an-hour itself. That means, you can write an entire 40–50K novel in an hour, pretty easily.
Not long after I started my five minute timer — which I believe I left in the video — I realized that was not going to happen.
I also quickly realized that hopping back and forth between two different tabs was a good idea but could also get confusing. I’ll share my thoughts on what I would do differently in the next section.
For now, the novel was coming together.
ChatGPT was rocking, spewing out scene after scene, keeping to the outline (well, mostly), and producing a novel. The first few minutes of my experiment were a bit rocky.
But then I fell into a flow.
Soon, I was on Chapter 10, then 13, and finally Chapter 15. That was the last chapter, the finale. You’ll be able to download the novel for free to read it (if you want) in the very next section.
Was the Novel Any Good?
That’s the main question, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter if you can churn out rubbish in 30 minutes. The story must be good or the experiment is a total failure.
Spoiler: The novel is good.
Not great, maybe, and certainly not perfect. There is too much summary at the start of scenes. Too much of the same kind of cliffhanger or transition between scenes.
Download the entire novel for free from the Kofi website.
Check out this cover image that DALLE generated from a little bit of text. Then I formatted it with Canva. But, dang, I think it’s pretty cool.
Here is what is good about the story:
- The consistency of the story
- The outline
- Each scene included action, description, and dialogue
- The story is complete (Beginning, middle, end)
- The writing, I think, it pretty damn good
Here’s a snippet of the novel, as an example:
Sarah stood in front of her closet, doors flung open wide, contemplating the array of clothing that hung before her. Dresses, blouses, skirts, and pants — all neatly organized but somehow offering no clear answers. What does one wear to a high school reunion? Something casual yet classy, or formal but not too over-the-top? Her eyes caught a little black dress she’d worn on special occasions. Too much, she thought. Next, she eyed a casual blouse and jeans combo. Too little. She sighed, her eyes moving from one clothing item to another as if seeking inspiration.
In her mind, Sarah revisited the last time she’d seen Emily, at their high school graduation party. They had promised to stay in touch, to be friends forever — the sort of promises that seem so easy to keep when you’re young and the world is full of possibilities. But life got complicated, as it always does. College, jobs, relationships, and somehow Emily had slipped through the cracks. Sarah felt a tinge of regret. Would Emily even be at the reunion? And if she were, would she be happy to see Sarah?
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sarah pulled out a mid-length navy blue dress. It was elegant but not too flashy, appropriate for a semi-formal event. She tried it on, examined herself in the mirror, and decided it was the right balance between her past and present selves. Satisfied, she laid the dress on the bed and moved on to shoes, accessories, and the trivial yet oddly significant details that somehow felt monumental in that moment.
All in all, I’d say that is pretty good.
I’ve read worse in published books. The entire novel is written with this level of narration.
Here is what is not so good.
There is some summary where I would have liked a beat-by-beat scene. For example, a tense encounter in the hospital that could have been a gripping scene was swept away with a mere paragraph of exposition.
That’s really it.
And something that is easily corrected in the editing stage.
Which brings us to the part where I talk about what I’d do differently. That’s up next.
What I Would Do Differently Next Time
Reflecting on the whirlwind experience of writing a novel with ChatGPT in mere minutes has been an eye-opener in more ways than one.
The approach I took was undoubtedly innovative — using two tabs to double the output and break down chapters and scenes. However, hindsight, as they say, is 20/20, and there are definitely adjustments I would make for a more streamlined and efficient process next time.
First off, I’d increase the number of tabs.
Two seemed like a good number at the onset, but in practice, it was limiting. I would open up maybe five or even ten tabs. This would allow me to work on multiple parts of the novel simultaneously, each tab dedicated to a specific chapter or section of the story.
This approach would not only increase productivity but also keep the narrative threads more organized and manageable.
Another crucial change I’d implement is pacing.
My first attempt was a race against the clock, but speed isn’t everything. Next time, I’d take it slower, ensuring that each scene was crafted to my satisfaction before moving on to the next. This deliberate pacing would allow me to go deeper into the story, ensuring each scene is rich and fully realized.
Guidance is key. In my next attempt, I’d be more directive with ChatGPT.
I would give specific instructions, like asking for more dialogue in a scene or transforming a summary paragraph into a detailed, tension-filled sequence.
This hands-on approach would ensure that the AI’s output aligns more closely with my vision for the story, resulting in a more nuanced and engaging narrative.
It’s a learning curve, and I’m excited to see how these changes will impact the quality and speed of writing a novel with ChatGPT in the future.
Final Thoughts
If you’re going to give this process a try yourself, I would recommend following a very specific process for building out your plot outline before asking ChatGPT (or any AI writer) to generate content.
Roughly, the process I suggest is coming up with a premise, expanding that into a back cover blurb, and then breaking it down into an outline.
Do that and I think you’ll be very happy with the novel you create.
