Polish Your Prose with ChatGPT

How to get ChatGPT to be your line editor for pennies.

Story Tetris drawing by Author.

ChatGPT helps edit fiction faster

It’s a fact.

I’ve written before about how it helps with creative self-doubt and knowing exactly what I’ve written. But it’s really great at helping refine a chapter line by line.

And even working towards a particular style or award-winning level fiction.*

(* no awards yet but I’ll keep you posted.)

My current process with ChatGPT

1. Developmental Editing

2. Line Editing (this article)

3. Beta Reading (next week)

4. Reverse Outline (like a super power for discovery writers!)

I don’t have a “Proofread” step because tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid (affiliate link) already do a great job.

And ChatGPT cannot underline, highlight or replace words, making it painful to use for typos and punctuation.

But let’s focus on what it can do —for free(ish) and fast!

ChatGPT shines with line editing

Helping improve style and clarity and making sure that each line is the best it can be. Particularly if you enjoy the styles of certain writer’s in your genre.

Let’s dive in!

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Step 2: Line Editing in Detail

This is the first version of my line-editing prompt.

I want you to be an award winning line editor, guide me through the improvement of my serial fiction chapter. 

This is a serial fiction chapter:
Is the opening hook strong?
Is there a strong cliffhanger?
Are there any redundant sections that can be cut?
Can anything be trimmed down?

How to use the prompt:

I use the playground UI because:

• It’s pay as you go, costs next to nothing and is always up.

• You’ll need to sign up and add a credit card.

• It’s also much easier to iterate your prompts as you go.

The prompt goes in the left input and your chapter goes in the first chat line as below:

I drop prompt in here and my chapter in there and hit Submit at the bottom.

1. Does it begin and end well?

I write serial fiction, so I ask ChatGPT to review my opening hook and my closing cliffhanger. This is critical for serial fiction or page-turning mysteries or thrillers.

Great!

Using ChatGPT’s feedback, we can focus on creating cliffhangers that leave readers wanting more and linking them to a subscription model like Patreon.

By releasing regular chapters for free on platforms such as Wattpad, we can entice readers with the promise of instant gratification while also giving them an opportunity to become superfans and support our work.

This approach not only helps with monetization but also keeps readers engaged and invested in the story.

Emilia Rose has used it to great effect, see “How Emilia Rose Makes $100k+ From 2k Readers” the link tees up the Shift from Wattpad to Patreon section.

How do I use this feedback?

• Does the descriptions match what you thought you wrote? If not, you may need to make them clearer.

• Ask for more detail, or for ChatGPT to expand or explain what they mean

• Ask for Before and After examples to show you how to make the changes.

• Rerun the prompt more than once to make sure you’re getting consistent results.

  • Run twice, compare the results, make fixes and then check again.

2. What can I cut?

Are you someone who prefers to write shorter chapters that pack a punch?

You're not alone.

Many successful writers, like Emilia Rose, prefer to keep their chapters between 1000-1500 words. And there's a good reason for that - shorter chapters can be an effective way to keep your readers engaged and interested in your story.

By breaking up your narrative into bite-sized chunks, you make it easier for your audience to digest and process the information you're presenting to them.

This can help to keep them hooked and coming back for more.

Plus, writing shorter chapters allows you to focus on the most important parts of your story, without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

So these two lines help highlight areas that can be trimmed or cut.

Are there any redundant sections that can be cut?
Can anything be trimmed down?

What I tend to get back is a summary or high-level report, so to get more detail I’d probe with the super useful follow up:

Please show me before and after examples of what can be trimmed.

3. Can my description be better?

In the next version of this prompt I added

Is there any description that is too much or repeated? 
Does the chapter still flow and make sense?

• The feedback you’ll get with this is usually examples of what is repeated.

• You can again ask ChatGPT to show you how to merge description or show examples that are more succinct.

• Hint: You can also say things like “I love the style of William Gibson…” and use that to guide the suggestions you receive.

  • Not to copy but emulate a genre authenticity and learn with your editing.

  • Or as with Mieville, you could see their style applied to a different genre.

  • These are good ways to explore how your scenes could be described differently, but don’t rip off other artists (it’s like the MidJourney debate).

Next Steps

• I’ll experiment with style guides so my tone and voice is consistent across
  my short story and serial chapters.

• See if I can add cyberpunk genre tropes while also filtering for cliches.

• And, because time is always an issue, get prioritised feedback.

Which of these sounds more interesting to you? Or do you have an idea I could test?

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Breaking News!

While working on the article I noticed that GTP-4 is now available in Playground

1. Turn it on on by choosing it from the dropdown menu. Or this link.

   1. Save links to GTP4 and GTP3.5 into your bookmarks for quicker start.

2. All ChatGTP 3.5 prompts should work but you’ll get different results.

   1. The differences can be subtle or substantial.

   2. But the cost will guaranteed be much more.

I want to spend more time testing and comparing results but first my impressions is that GTP-4 is qualitatively better but at least 10x more expensive and much slower.

So please use GTP 4 with caution and an eye on your billing!

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Next I’ll dive into Step 3: Beta Reading

This is a fun prompt and can really lift your spirits after a long editing session! 😁

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ChatGPT Prompt Library: Paid subscribers get the latest versions and detailed notes. And now there’s work-related prompts to free up time to write more!

Do you think using ChatGPT as part of our process should exclude us from awards?

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PS — I’d like to also say congrats to

FJCMontenegro

for finishing the 100 Story Challenge with his story Completion on Medium. Well done FM! 🏆