This document provides concrete examples of effective AI prompts for creative writing, showing both the prompts and typical AI responses. Students and teachers can use these examples to:
Why it's weak: Too vague, will generate generic superhero tropes rather than unique, story-specific ideas.
Why it works: Specific context, clear parameters, asks for unique rather than common ideas, considers consequences.
1. Emotional Contagion: The character can sense others' emotions so strongly that they temporarily "catch" those feelings. While this helps them understand people deeply and offer perfect comfort, they also absorb negative emotions from crowded hallways and can become overwhelmed. They must learn to distinguish their own feelings from everyone else's.
2. Time Hiccups: The character experiences random 30-second "skips" forward in time, missing brief moments. They might miss a teacher's key instruction, important parts of conversations, or reactions that give context. They have to piece together what happened during their "blank spots" and occasionally see consequences before understanding the cause.
3. Perfect Memory Replay: The character can replay any memory exactly as it happened, including everything they didn't notice at the time—background conversations, subtle facial expressions, details they overlooked. However, they also can't forget anything, including embarrassing moments, arguments, or things they wish they could move past. The inability to let memories fade becomes a burden.
Don't just pick one and run with it! Instead:
1. Diverging Paths: One friend is college-focused, taking AP classes and preparing applications, while the other is pursuing a creative passion (music, art, athletics) that doesn't involve traditional academics. They increasingly can't relate to each other's daily stresses and start to feel judged by the other for their choices.
2. Family Crisis Divide: One friend is going through a serious family situation (divorce, illness, financial hardship) and becomes increasingly unavailable and mood-volatile. The other friend tries to be supportive but doesn't understand the magnitude of what their friend is facing and inadvertently says/does insensitive things while dealing with their own feelings of being pushed away.
3. Social Circle Expansion: One friend makes a new group of friends who are very different from their shared friend circle. The original friend feels left behind and replaced, while the friend with new relationships feels torn between two worlds and can't understand why their best friend isn't happy for them.
Direction 1 - Emotional Blowup: Ana's hurt overwhelms her and she says cutting things she'll later regret. The sister storms out. Ana's left alone realizing she made things worse. The story could follow Ana trying to make amends while also dealing with her own guilt and the family's financial reality.
Direction 2 - Role Reversal: Mid-argument, their mom comes home unexpectedly and it's revealed she knew about the sister's sacrifice. Now Ana is the outsider who didn't understand her own family. The conversation shifts to why everyone kept this from Ana, making her question if they see her as too immature or self-absorbed to help.
Direction 3 - Unexpected Alliance: The sister breaks down crying, finally admitting how overwhelmed she is. Ana's anger melts into protectiveness. They devise a plan together—maybe Ana gets a part-time job, helps apply for aid, or they figure out how to tell their parents they need to change something. The story becomes about them working as a team.
Don't just pick one! Instead:
Sound details:
Physical sensations:
Visual details:
DON'T write: "Thunder sounded like furniture being dragged, rain hit the windows in waves, and static electricity made my hair stand on end."
DO write (adapted version): "I froze when the thunder rumbled—not like the weather reports always said, like some distant bowling alley, but like someone dragging a couch across my ceiling. My hair prickled up on my arms. The rain switched gears outside, going from tap-tap-tap to a roar that made me want to hide under my desk like I did in elementary school."
Contradictions and complexities for Jordan:
1. Public Performance vs. Private Habits: At school, Jordan is the center of attention, but at home, Jordan religiously watches comforting children's movies from childhood when stressed. This isn't something Jordan would ever admit to friends, but it's a genuine source of comfort that reveals vulnerability.
2. Helping Others as Self-Soothing: Jordan volunteers to help struggling students with schoolwork, but not out of pure altruism—being needed by others provides the validation Jordan craves. When people don't seem grateful enough, Jordan gets disproportionately hurt.
3. Selective Honesty: Jordan lies about small things constantly to maintain image (pretending to have seen popular shows, claiming family wealth that doesn't exist), but is brutally, awkwardly honest about big things when emotions run high, often at inappropriate times.
4. Specific Fear: Despite appearing fearless socially, Jordan has an intense, specific fear (perhaps of deep water, driving, or public speaking) that Jordan goes to great lengths to hide, leading to elaborate excuses and avoided situations.
Techniques for more realistic dialogue:
Instead of direct apology:
"So... you doing okay?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good. That's—yeah." [pause] "I just wanted to—"
"You don't have to."
"No, but I do. Because that thing I said—"
"Which thing?"
Use deflection and avoidance:
Have the hurt character change subject, look at phone, make excuses to leave. The apologizer has to work for the conversation to happen.
Add realistic speech patterns:
- Trailing off mid-sentence
- Starting over ("I just— what I mean is—")
- Saying "like" or "you know"
- Questions that aren't really questions
- Sarcasm that masks hurt
Include body language beats:
Break up dialogue with actions—door kicking, keys jangling, coffee being stirred—that show emotional state without stating it.
Original (stiff):
"I want to apologize for what I said yesterday. I didn't mean it."
"Well, you hurt my feelings and I don't know if I can forgive you."
Revised (using AI suggestions):
"So... you want your calc notes back or—"
"Keep them."
"Cool. Cool." I shifted my backpack. "Look, yesterday I—"
"I'm actually kind of busy right now."
She wasn't doing anything. We both knew it. She was just staring at her locker like it had personally offended her.
"Mia, come on."
"Come on what?"
Connected middle events that build tension:
Event 1 - The Confrontation: The character tries to subtly ask the family member about the secret without revealing what they know. The family member lies directly to them, making the character realize the depth of the deception and question whether protecting this person is worth becoming a liar themselves.
Event 2 - The Witness: The character discovers someone else also knows or suspects the secret. Now keeping it isn't just between them and the family member—there's a wider conspiracy of silence. The character must decide whether to align with the secret-keepers or the truth-tellers.
Event 3 - The Consequence: The secret impacts someone else in a visible way—maybe another family member is hurt, confused, or making bad decisions based on incomplete information. The character sees the cost of silence isn't just theoretical; real people are being affected.
Event 4 - The Test: The character is put in a position where they must either actively participate in the lie (cover for the family member in a specific situation) or let the truth come out naturally. This forces them to own their choice rather than just passively keeping quiet.
AI is a brainstorming partner, not a ghostwriter. Use it to generate options, overcome blocks, and explore possibilities—then make your own choices and write in your own voice. The best AI-assisted writing is barely recognizable as such because the human writer has transformed suggestions into something uniquely theirs.