I stared at the blinking cursor. It was winning. The blank page was a void, and my creativity was nowhere to be found. Writer’s block had struck again.
In frustration, I did something I once considered cheating. I opened a new tab and typed a prompt into an AI chatbot:
“Give me a story idea about a librarian who discovers a secret.”
A second later, the screen responded:
“In a library where the books rearrange themselves every night, a lonely librarian discovers one volume that never moves. It’s a blank book that begins to write her life story, 24 hours before it happens.”
My heart did a little jump. It was weird. It was specific. It was interesting. The cursor didn’t seem so intimidating anymore.
This was the start of my experiment: to stop seeing AI as a threat and start seeing it as my unseen collaborator. This is what I learned.
Changing the Question: From “Write for Me” to “Think with Me”
The biggest mistake people make is asking AI to do the whole job. They type “write a story about a detective” and get a generic, boring mess.
The magic doesn’t happen when you ask AI to be the writer. It happens when you ask it to be your creative partner.
Think of it like this:
- Bad Prompt: “Write a poem about the ocean.” (You’re the boss, demanding a finished product.)
- Good Prompt: “Give me five metaphors for the sound of waves at night.” (You’re a collaborator, asking for ingredients.)
I wasn’t asking the AI to write my story. I was asking it to help me brainstorm, to break the initial silence that can be so scary.
My Step-by-Step Collaboration
So, how did I turn that cool idea about the librarian into a real story? Here’s how our “collaboration” worked.
1. Building the World Together:
I went back to the AI. My prompt: “What are three strange rules in this magical library?”
It answered:
- “You must whisper a secret to the door before it will open.”
- “The books on the top shelf can only be read by moonlight.”
- “If you drop a book, it will fall open to the page you most need to read.”
Wow. I would never have thought of that last one. It was perfect. I used two of them.
2. Be the Boss of the Feelings:
The AI is smart, but it doesn’t have a heart. It can give you plot, but it can’t give you soul. This is where the human comes in.
The AI suggested the librarian was “lonely.” Okay, but why? I decided her name was Elara, and she wasn’t just lonely; she was grieving her grandmother, who was also a librarian. The library wasn’t just a job; it was her last connection to her family.
The AI gave me a situation. I gave it meaning.
3. Fixing the Boring Bits:
Every writer gets stuck in the middle. A scene feels flat. I couldn’t figure out how Elara should react when the book predicts a fire in the library.
So I asked my collaborator: “What are three unexpected ways a person could try to stop a fate they read in a book?”
It offered ideas like “she tries to make the prediction impossible by removing the element it mentioned” or “she misunderstands the prediction and her actions accidentally cause it.”
This broke the logjam in my brain. I had her try to remove all the candles from the library, only to find the fire started from an electrical fault she hadn’t considered.
4. Keeping the Human Voice:
Here’s the most important part. The AI can generate text, but it sounds… well, kind of average. It doesn’t have your unique voice.
I would never just copy and paste what it wrote. I would take its simple sentence:
“The librarian was afraid of the book.”
And I would rewrite it with my voice:
“A cold knot of fear tightened in Elara’s stomach. The book lay on the desk, innocent as a sleeping cat, yet it felt like the most dangerous thing in the library.”
The AI gave me the what. I provided the how.
So, Is It Really Your Writing?
This is the big question. And my answer is: absolutely yes.
Using AI like this is no different than:
- A photographer using a fancy camera instead of a pinhole box.
- A carpenter using a power drill instead of a hand-cranked one.
- A musician sampling a sound and turning it into a new song.
The tool doesn’t make the art. The artist does.
The AI was my assistant. It fetched ideas, offered suggestions, and helped me when I was stuck. But I was the director. I made every final decision. I created the emotions, the voice, and the heart of the story.
The story would not exist without me.
Your Turn to Collaborate
If you’re curious, try it. Don’t think of it as “AI writing.” Think of it as AI-powered brainstorming.
Start small:
- Prompt for ideas: “Give me a character flaw for a space pirate.”
- Prompt for details: “What’s a weird thing you might find in a witch’s kitchen?”
- Prompt for help: “My character is stuck in a cave. What’s a way out I haven’t thought of?”
Take what it gives you and then make it your own. Twist it. Improve it. Add your feelings to it.
The blank page can be a lonely place. It’s okay to invite a curious, knowledge-filled robot along for company. You might be surprised by the stories you can tell together.
What’s the wildest story idea an AI has given you? Share it below — I’d love to be inspired by your unseen collaborations!