The Basics – Sudowrite

The world of AI-assisted writing is rapidly evolving and unlike anything before. So you’re probably wondering, how exactly does this thing work and how can I get the most out of it?

Like any tool, the person wielding it is ultimately responsible for the quality of results. This is a good thing because it means the writing you get from Sudowrite will be different from what everyone else gets, and there’s no limit to what you can create.

1.) Sudowrite works by reading your text, and then generating text based on what it sees.

This has a couple of important implications:

The more you put in your document the better - Sudowrite needs to see enough content to understand what story you are trying to tell in order to give you good results. Try writing, or pasting in, at least a few paragraphs to get it started in the right direction.

Junk in, junk out - Sudowrite assumes that everything in your document is something that you like. That means that if you put suggestions you only kinda like into your document, Sudowrite will keep giving you more suggestions that you only kinda like. To get better suggestions, make sure what’s in the document is at the level you want.

The Write button looks at (at least) 1,000 words before your cursor - If there is important information you want Write to take into account before generating text, add it to the Key Details box in Write Settings—or your Story Bible. Or, in Guided mode, tell Sudowrite what to write and it will follow your instructions. Click the drop down arrow directly to the right of the Write button to find these options.

2) Sudowrite is kind of random (on purpose)

Think of Sudowrite suggestions as pitches from a writing partner. You can take them, leave them, or improve them to get the best result. A “yes, and” mindset is ideal for working with AI (just like with humans)!

Sometimes Sudowrite will say something that seems super random. That doesn’t mean you did anything wrong, or that there’s a problem with Sudowrite—but it does suggest you should try to understand why the AI made that choice. Try a second time, and see if you get better results. If not, or if you find you have to press the button 3-5 times to get a result you like… 👇

3) There’s always a way to improve your results

Choosing the right feature can help you get better results

Write

Auto is for when you don’t know what should come next and you just want to see what the AI comes up with.

Guided is for when you have an idea of what should happen but want Sudowrite to draft it for you.

Describe is for describing something in each of the five senses.

Rewrite is for when you know a passage needs to be improved, and you want Sudowrite to do the word-smithing.

Brainstorm is for when you want a ton of ideas, like names or world-building concepts.

First Draft is for generating a first draft (500-1000 words) when you have a scene, outline, character sheet, etc. in mind.

Expand is for when you have a rough draft done but you just want to make it longer. (Note: consider Describe if description is the way you want to make it longer.)

If you’re not getting the kind of results you want after trying a few times - look at the input you gave Sudowrite. Ask yourself “Why would Sudowrite think this is OK?”. You will probably be able to find a reason, or an opportunity to clarify.

Example: You are writing a werewolf story and you wrote that the moon is showing, but Sudowrite is not suggesting that the character turn into a werewolf. Isn’t it obvious that should happen? Solution: It turns out there was no mention of the werewolf aspect of this character in the previous 1,000 words, so Write did not know. You use Guided Write and tell Sudowrite to write the transformation, and it works perfectly.

If the writing you’re getting is not in your voice, look at your document and remove anything that isn’t a match to what you’d like Sudowrite to write for you. Or, use Rewrite to improve it.