Why AI Struggles with Plot - Novelcrafter Live

This week in our 'back to basics' series, we will dive into why AI does not always give us the best plots when asked to generate with little context.
We will then apply these tips to the braindump we worked on last week, and go from 'story ideas' to 'coherent 1-paragraph summary'. You don't need to have watched last weeks live to understand anything we are covering here.
By the end of this class, you should understand where more human input may be needed in your work with AI, and be able to apply that.
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[@MagnusItland]

AI and I are both pretty decent at coming up with ideas and writing prose, unfortunately we both struggle with the part in between... So thanks for bringing up this topic.

[@BonnieDragonKat]

Not sure what happened. I tried to join the Livestream in chat but couldn't type anything when I tried.

[@kit888]

I'm finding AI more useful in critiquing than in generating ideas or prose. I would disagree that AIs don't understand pacing. This is what I got from Claude. I fed in the whole text of HG Well's The Time Machine. This is only one query. I asked over 30 different questions about character personalities, character arcs, dialogue, grammar, subplots, themes. --- List chapters with pacing issues. Give the chapter number and title. Explain each choice. Here are some chapters that could potentially have pacing issues: Chapter IV - Time Travelling: This chapter contains a very long, detailed description of the Time Traveller's journey through time. While evocative, the extensive focus on the visual effects of rapid time travel may slow the narrative momentum. Chapter VIII - Explanation: This chapter is almost entirely exposition, with the Time Traveller theorizing about the future society. While important for worldbuilding, the lack of action or plot development could cause the pacing to drag. Chapter X - When Night Came: The extended sequence of the Time Traveller wandering in the dark and his internal musings, while atmospheric, slows the forward momentum of the plot considerably. Chapter XIV - The Further Vision: This chapter, describing the Time Traveller's journey to the far future, is quite long and descriptive. While fascinating, it comes late in the story and may detract from the urgency of the main narrative. These observations are based on analyzing the text as a newly written work, as you requested. The pacing choices may serve artistic or thematic purposes that aren't immediately apparent from this perspective.

[@PianoMan-hx3ev]

It also struggles with being copyrightable. 😅

[@BonnieDragonKat]

That's why you as the author are ment to only take the writing as a guide. You still have to actually write the story. AI is not supposed to do all the work for you. It's not the internet with Novel Crafter.

[@PianoMan-hx3ev]

@@BonnieDragonKat 💯