Overview

Story Engine allows you to collaborate with an AI to write a long-form narrative together. Starting from the seed of an idea, Story Engine is a writing partner that guides you through the various stages of writing a novel, from synopsis to outline to fully-realized scenes.

Like any other Sudowrite tool, the story is only as good as the writer directing it. Think of it like an improv act: pay attention to what Story Engine writes, then edit and respond with words that are true to your vision. In the end, you will have a first draft of scenes that you can develop further.

You’ll find Story Engine in the left bar of your Project.

How to move through Story Engine

Story Engine works a little differently from other parts of Sudowrite. Here are the basics:

• Story Engine goes from left to right. Start by filling out the left-most column, then move on to the next one to the right, and so on.
• Move horizontally by holding Shift while using the scroll wheel on your mouse. On a trackpad, swipe horizontally with two fingers.
• Click the (❓) icons for more info and examples on each section.
• Whenever you see a Generate button, click it and Story Engine will make a suggestion for that section. You can always revise or rewrite them to your liking.
• Whenever you see a Rewrite field, use it to give Story Engine instructions on how you want it to modify the section above.

Setting up your story

You can’t bake a cake without ingredients.

In this case, the cake is your novel and the ingredients are your Braindump, Genre, Style, Synopsis, Characters, and Outline. You’re the baker, and Story Engine is like a junior baker helping you out. This is not the best analogy…we probably should have asked Sudowrite for help.

In any event, for each of these “ingredients”, Story Engine can make suggestions or you can do it yourself. Let’s walk through how it works. No more (bad) analogies, promise.

Braindump

Imagine that you’re meeting with another writer who will collaborate with you on your story.