Hand AI the Tedious Bits – But Never Your Muse

If you spend any time in writing circles, you’ll know that the rise of generative AI has stirred up a fair bit of debate. Some writers love the idea of a machine that can churn out thousands of words in minutes, while others are convinced it spells the end of human creativity. The truth, as ever, sits somewhere in the middle.

AI can certainly put words on a page, but should it be trusted with your story, your characters, or the heart of your novel? Absolutely not. Where it shines, though, is in all those supporting jobs that surround the act of writing – the fiddly, time-consuming tasks that most of us would happily hand over to someone else. Think of AI not as the author, but as the very capable assistant who makes your life easier.

Why AI Isn’t Great at Storytelling

Let’s get this out of the way first: AI is not a storyteller. A good story isn’t just about arranging events in order, or ticking boxes on a three-act structure. It’s about heart, culture, lived experience – things no machine can truly grasp.

Ask an AI to plot a novel and it’ll usually give you something neat, logical, and a bit… soulless. Characters can feel flat, dialogue clunky, and themes a little too predictable. That’s because AI is simply remixing patterns it’s seen before, not creating something new from genuine insight or imagination.

Your story deserves better than that. So leave the storytelling to yourself. That’s the fun part anyway.

Where AI Comes Into Its Own

Now, here’s where AI does deserve a seat at the writing desk: all those jobs that can sap your time and energy.

Quickfire Research

Need to know what London smelled like in 1870, or how much a loaf of bread cost in the 1950s? AI can dig up that kind of information in seconds. It won’t replace proper, in-depth research (you’ll still want to fact-check and cross-reference), but it’s brilliant for getting the basics quickly so you know where to focus your efforts.

Spelling, Grammar and Style Checks

Here’s the funny thing – most writers are already using AI without realising it. Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Grammarly all have AI-driven grammar and style checkers. They don’t just underline a misspelt word anymore. They can tell you when you’ve misused “affect” and “effect”, suggest smoother phrasing, and even flag when you’re being overly wordy. It’s like having a helpful proof-reader on hand at all times.

Cover Design and Graphics

Once upon a time, book covers were expensive, slow, and largely out of reach for indie writers. Now, AI art tools can generate cover mock-ups in minutes. You might still want to hire a professional for the final polish (and it’s a good idea to do so if your budget allows), but AI is perfect for brainstorming. You can play with colour palettes, styles and imagery before committing to a design.

Formatting Without the Headache

If you’ve ever battled with e-book formatting, you’ll know it can be a nightmare. AI-powered tools now take much of the pain away, automatically sorting out margins, headings and tables of contents so your book looks neat across different devices. It’s not glamorous, but it saves you hours of frustration.

Blurbs, Synopses and Marketing Copy

Most writers would rather draft another chapter than sit down to write a 200-word blurb. This is where AI is genuinely useful. Feed it the basics of your story and it’ll spit out a first draft of a synopsis or tagline. Is it perfect? Rarely. But it gives you a springboard, and you can then tweak it until it sounds like you.

The AI You Don’t Notice

Even if you think you’ve never touched AI, chances are you already use it every day. Predictive text on your phone? That’s AI. Gmail’s “smart compose” that finishes your sentences? AI again. Even the way Word suggests words or autocorrects your typos is powered by machine learning. It’s already become part of the writing landscape – we’ve just stopped noticing.

Think of AI as Your Studio Assistant

At the end of the day, AI works best when you treat it like an assistant, not a co-author. It’s there to tidy the brushes, set up the canvas, and keep the workspace running smoothly. The actual painting – the story, the voice, the emotion – is still entirely yours.

Used wisely, AI frees you from the technical and tedious bits so you can focus on the joyful part: creating something only you could imagine. And in the busy world we live in, that kind of time-saver is worth its weight in gold.