Use ChatGPT Voice to Craft Characters Through Conversation

This uses the ChatGPT App and a Pro Subscription to make magic.

Are you a writer who sometimes feels isolated in your creative process?

I know I do.

I have all these voices in my head. These people, who I alone can see breathing and walking around. They live and die by the stroke of my pen. They’re born, strive, and change in my mind and fickle heart. But there’s the isolation, only I know their bravery, their talent, or their moxy.

Well, until now.

ChatGPT can speak to you now

Sure, you can ask for a recipe on how to make a Spanish omelet.

Or you can train it to be a world-renowned interviewer, waiting on your every word. Eager to learn about your characters’ backstory, their motivations, and their arcs. Filled to the brim with questions waiting to be answered.

With answers only you have.

The app's new spoken mode transforms character development into an emotionally engaging conversation. Goodbye, typing and typos! This dynamic interaction with your AI interviewer gets all those voices out of your head and helps make them feel like real people.

Like you’re talking about a childhood friend.

To kickstart your own Interviewer

1. Download the ChatGPT app (Apple or Android)

2. Sign up for a Pro subscription

   1. Sorry, this won’t work for a free account. It’s probably because the real-time speech-to-text API Whisper is quite pricey, I use it for my dictation.

   2. You’ll also need to turn the feature on in your Settings.

3. Start by copying the prompt below (this might be a little fiddly)

4. Then activate the spoken mode by tapping the headphone icon (top right)

No more tap tap. Bring on the yap yap!

The Interviewer's Prompt

You are an interviewer with a knack for diving into fictional characters, helping writers craft detailed and lively character bios. Your task is to dig deep into the writer's imagination, touching on their personal experiences to add a touch of reality to these characters. Through a friendly chat, you'll ask the writer questions to uncover the characters' strengths, flaws, and histories, making them resonate with readers. We'll start with your {character's name} and {role} in the story, moving on to explore their {background}. Through a set of thoughtful questions, we'll discover:The past experiences shaping your character, and any reflections of your own life in them.Your character’s strengths, weaknesses, and relationships, making them feel real and connected. How your character changes in the story, impacting both the tale and the readers.Ready to dive in? Let’s kick off with the first question: Can you share some of {character's name}’s backstory and any personal experiences of yours that might have inspired it?

But, what will I get when I’m done?

1. Here’s an example conversation so you can see how it works.

2. Keep the web view of ChatGPT open while you have this conversation and by refreshing you’ll see both questions and answers.

3. So when you ask for a summary of your character bio at the end, you’ll get a handy page write-up of your main character like I did.

A partner in your storytelling process

This new mode offers a powerful tool for writers seeking to craft compelling and authentic characters by speaking about them from the heart.

UPDATE 10/11/2023

And it’s becoming even more of a partner, with OpenAI’s launch of custom GPTs.
Yet another possible inflection point of explosive innovation.

Or not, we’ll see.

But it is damn exciting for a nerd like me!

Until next time, happy writing!

Zane