How to write a novel with AI as a co-writer: a step-by-step guide

By the end of this guide you will have a working method for writing a novel with AI as a co-writer: a story plan, a knowledge base of characters and places, a draft written with AI suggestions you control, and a revision pass supported by AI feedback. The tools that do this job are AI fiction-writing apps that keep your story context in one place and suggest, expand or critique text, while you decide what stays.

If you want to write a novel with AI, the key question is how much of the writing you want the machine to do. This guide covers three roles, planner, drafting partner and editor, and compares six tools from our Writing category.

Key takeaways

• Build the plan and story notes first, draft scene by scene with AI suggestions, then use an AI reviewer for revision. Keep your own voice and decisions at every step.
• The main decision is the role you give the AI: story-aware drafting partner, planner, or analysis-only editor.
• AI features usually run on credits or trial limits. Sudowrite's AI features need a paid plan once the free trial ends, and ShyEditor's free plan gives 20 credits a month after the first month.
• You are the author. Check facts, continuity and any publishing or disclosure rules before you release the book.

What you need before you start

• A premise. A few sentences on the story, the main character and the central conflict. Rough is fine.
• A target length and schedule. Pick a word goal per week so the project keeps moving.
• A browser. All six tools here list web access, and Sudowrite also lists a mobile app.
• Time. Setup takes under an hour. The novel itself takes as long as any novel does.
• Difficulty. Moderate. The tools are simple, but a novel needs planning and stamina.
• Ownership checks. Read each tool's terms on who owns generated text and how your writing is used. Sudowrite says it does not use your writing to train its models, and PerchanceStory states you own the content you create.

Which kind of AI tool fits this job

Pick by the role you want the AI to play.

A story-aware drafting partner. Sudowrite is aimed at novelists and fiction writers. Its Story Bible holds characters, worldbuilding, style and outline, and its Write, Rewrite, Describe, Expand and Brainstorm tools use that context. Draft turns a set of scenes into a full chapter. ShyEditor is a writing environment for fiction authors in which the assistant knows the whole project: a Story Engine turns a premise into a synopsis and chapter plan, and pressing Tab suggests the next sentence in your voice.

A planner and idea generator. Midgen includes a Novel Writer for planning chapters and scenes, keeping characters and world details consistent, and chatting with your own story. PerchanceStory generates characters, plots and dialogue, and offers outline, free writing and character-dialogue modes. AI Story Generator turns a prompt into a short story with genre, style and audience settings, which suits quick scene experiments more than a full novel.

An analysis-only editor. Authors A.I. makes Marlowe, an analytical AI that reads a fiction manuscript and reports on plot, pacing, characters, dialogue and structure. It never writes or rewrites your text, which makes it a good fit if you want feedback without AI-generated prose.

Step 1: Define your story and your rules

Decide what you want from the AI before you open an app.

1. Write the premise, genre, point of view and ending, even if the ending may change.
2. List your main characters and their goals.
3. Decide how much AI prose you are comfortable using, from none (feedback only) to heavy drafting.
4. Check any rules from agents, publishers or retailers about AI-assisted work, and keep notes on how you used the tools.

Check it worked by being able to explain the book and your use of AI in a few sentences.

Step 2: Choose a tool and set up your project

You end this step with a project containing your premise.

1. Pick the tool that matches your role choice: Sudowrite or ShyEditor for drafting, Midgen or PerchanceStory for planning, Authors A.I. for feedback later.
2. Start on a free option. Sudowrite offers a free trial that needs no credit card, ShyEditor's Basic plan is free, and PerchanceStory says its core features are free.
3. Create a project and paste in your premise.
4. Check credit costs. ShyEditor lists 50 credits each for Deep Research and full-book feedback, and Midgen's free plan is capped at 5 credits per day.

Check it worked by seeing your premise saved inside the project.

Step 3: Build the story bible and outline

A shared reference stops the AI, and you, from contradicting the story.

1. Add characters, places, rules of the world and style notes. In Sudowrite this is the Story Bible, and in ShyEditor it is the knowledge base, which can fill automatically from an imported draft.
2. Ask the tool to propose an outline or chapter plan from your premise. ShyEditor's Story Engine produces a synopsis and chapter-by-chapter plan, and Midgen offers drag-and-drop chapter and scene planning.
3. Edit the outline until it matches your intentions. Cut anything that feels generic.
4. Save a copy of the outline outside the tool.

Check it worked by reading the outline and confirming each chapter has a purpose.

Step 4: Draft scene by scene with AI suggestions

Keep control of the story by drafting in small pieces.

1. Write the opening of a scene yourself so the voice is yours.
2. Use the tool for the next step: a continuation, a description or alternative phrasings. Sudowrite has Write, Describe and Expand, and ShyEditor suggests the next sentence when you press Tab.
3. Accept, edit or reject each suggestion. Do not paste long runs of output without reading them.
4. For a full chapter from scenes, try Sudowrite's Draft, then rewrite it heavily.
5. Update your story notes after each scene.

Check it worked by reading the scene back and finding your voice in it.

Step 5: Keep continuity and voice consistent

Long books drift, and AI adds its own drift.

1. Check names, ages, timelines and places against the story bible after each chapter.
2. Use the tool's chat to ask about your own story. Midgen lets you chat with your story, and ShyEditor's chat searches and reads the project.
3. Compare AI-assisted passages with your own writing and adjust the wording.
4. Remove repeated phrases and stock descriptions that appear across chapters.

Check it worked by choosing three random pages and confirming they sound like the same narrator.

Step 6: Get feedback and revise

Revision is where the book improves.

1. Finish a full draft before you ask for big-picture feedback.
2. Run a developmental report. Authors A.I.'s paid Marlowe Pro report covers plot, pacing, characters, dialogue, themes and structure, and ShyEditor can critique a chapter or review a whole book.
3. Treat the report as input, not orders. Decide which changes serve the story.
4. Rewrite, then rerun the report after each major revision. Authors A.I. lets you rerun a report after each rewrite.
5. Ask human readers too. Beta readers and editors notice what software misses.

Check it worked by seeing the problems you fixed no longer appear in the next report or reader notes.

Step 7: Proofread, export and prepare to publish

Finish the manuscript properly.

1. Run a grammar and proofreading pass. ShyEditor's grammar checker is aware of invented names, which helps with fiction.
2. Export the manuscript. Free plans can limit this: ShyEditor's free plan exports TXT only, with PDF, DOCX and Markdown on Pro.
3. Keep your own backups, and note which scenes were AI-assisted.
4. Check any disclosure or content rules where you plan to publish. If you want market positioning, Authors A.I. offers a Market Fit report with comparable titles and keywords.

Check it worked by opening the exported file in your word processor and reading the first chapter.

Tools for this job compared

Tool	Good fit for	Pricing	Stated limits
Sudowrite	Story-aware drafting with a Story Bible, on web and mobile	Free trial, paid from $10/mo (checked 24 Oct 2026)	AI features need a paid plan after the trial; feedback tools only on Professional and Max
ShyEditor	Planning, drafting and critique inside a fiction project, on web	Freemium	Free plan: 20 credits a month after the first month, 100 MB storage, TXT export only
Authors A.I.	Developmental feedback and market positioning for a finished draft	Freemium, paid from $19.95/mo (checked 24 Oct 2026)	Analysis only, never writes text; built for fiction; subscription credits do not roll over
Midgen	Chapter and scene planning with a Novel Writer	Freemium, paid from $15/mo (checked 24 Oct 2026)	Free plan credits capped at 5 per day; audio and video generation not yet available
PerchanceStory	Free character, plot and dialogue ideas for hobby writers	Free	No usage caps or model details published; independent site; no paid plans or API listed
AI Story Generator	Short story drafts from a prompt	Free	Output may not be unique across users; no length limit or export format stated

Prices and plan limits change, so confirm the current terms on each vendor's site before you subscribe.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Letting the AI write the whole book. Unedited output tends to be generic and loses your voice. Fix it by writing key scenes yourself and treating suggestions as options.
• Skipping the story bible. Without notes, names and facts drift across chapters. Fix it by storing characters, places and rules in the tool and checking them after each chapter.
• Running out of credits mid-draft. Credit use varies by model and feature and is hard to predict. Fix it by testing a scene first and comparing costs with your plan before a big session.
• Asking for feedback too early. A report on a half-finished draft points at problems you have not written yet. Fix it by finishing a draft before you run developmental feedback.
• Ignoring ownership and disclosure rules. Terms differ between tools and publishers. Fix it by reading the terms, keeping notes on your AI use, and following the rules of wherever you publish.

How we put this together

This is an evidence-based guide built from each tool's listing in our directory, which is compiled from the vendor's own site and pricing page. It is not a review based on using the tools. We don't rank tools, and nobody paid to be included. Some outbound links may be affiliate links; see our disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free way to write a novel with AI?

Partly. ShyEditor's Basic plan is free with 100 credits in the first month and 20 per month after, PerchanceStory says its core features are free, and AI Story Generator is free with no sign-up. Sudowrite offers a free trial without a card. Free options are limited, so they suit planning and short experiments better than a whole book.

Can AI write a whole novel?

Tools can generate large amounts of text, but a novel also needs a consistent plot, characters and voice, and those depend on your decisions. The tools here are best used as co-writers, planners and reviewers. Read and edit everything before it goes into the manuscript.

Who owns a novel written with AI help?

It depends on the tool's terms and on the law where you live. PerchanceStory states you own the content you create and can publish or sell it, and Sudowrite says it does not use your writing to train its models. Check each tool's terms and any rules from publishers or retailers before you release the book.

Which tool is good for writing a novel on a phone?

Sudowrite lists a mobile app alongside the web version. The other tools in this guide list web access only, and their listings say nothing about phone use. Check each vendor's site for current mobile support.

Can AI give feedback without rewriting my text?

Yes. Authors A.I.'s Marlowe analyses a manuscript and reports on plot, pacing, characters and dialogue, but never writes or rewrites your text. It is built for fiction and does not handle anthologies or combined manuscripts in one upload.

Compare more options in our Writing category. If you need to polish the prose, see How to check grammar and proofread with AI.