How to start writing a book with help from AI

Do you dream of writing a book, but you don’t know where to start? Copilot in the Microsoft Edge sidebar can tap into AI to help you generate story ideas, characters, and more for your next writing project. No matter the topic, Copilot can help you uncover information, ideas, and inspiration. See what possibilities await you when you use Copilot to get the writing process moving.

An AI-powered idea generator in the Microsoft Edge sidebar

In Microsoft Edge, you can access several AI-powered writing tools right in the sidebar that can serve as your personal AI book idea generator. Select the Copilot icon in the upper-right corner of the browser to reveal Copilot in the sidebar and two of the most useful tools for your book-writing project: Chat and Compose.

Copilot

Copilot is an AI-powered conversational search engine that also features text- and image-generating AI. As your everyday AI companion, use Copilot for research of all kinds. Ask about story structure, popular nonfiction topics, places, scholarship, writing styles, and so much more. No need to keep it simple either. Keep the conversation going and dig deeper by asking for more details, different types of results, sources, and work in tandem with Copilot to get the information, tools, and ideas you need.

Here are a few Copilot prompts you may want to start with to get the juices flowing:

What are shared qualities of books on bestseller lists?
My passion is [passion]. What kinds of books exist on that topic?
What are the most popular searches related to [topic]?
I want to write a fantasy novel. What types of characters do I need?
Help me think through my plot: I want to start with [situation] and end with [result]. Write up five scenarios that could get from that start to that end.
I want to write a story about my life, but I don’t know where to get started. Can you help me?
I’m a successful [job or vocation], and I want to write a book to help me become known as an expert in my field. How can I do that?
Write ten summaries of potential mystery novel plots.

Compose

Compose is Copilot’s AI-powered text generator. While all of its functionality is built directly into sidebar, Microsoft Edge offers a dedicated Compose pane that makes text generation even easier. This pane gives you options to quickly select the tone, format, and length you want to generate. Here are some tone, format, and length configurations you might try along with specific prompts:

Casual tone, bullet point format, and medium length. “Write an outline of chapter titles for a book about [topic].”
Funny tone, summary format, long length. “I’m creating a tongue-in-cheek love story. It’s set in [location], and the characters who fall in love are [character names and descriptions]. I know that they meet while [activity] and that their primary challenge is [challenge]. Write a summary of their love story, and make sure it pulls on the heart strings while staying funny.”
Informational tone, paragraph format, long length. “Write a compelling first chapter on [topic] that also makes promises about what the rest of the book will discuss and do.”
Succinct tone, email format, short length. “Write a terse email from my villain [name and description] to my hero [name and description] about this topic [topic].”

Refine the text with your own tastes, experiences, and style

While AI is capable of generating research, ideas, and text to match your requests, its output can always benefit from an injection of your own style. Every writer brings their own lived experiences to their text, and the old adage, “write what you know,” still applies, even if you’re writing science fiction or fantasy.

An open book with a pen sitting on a table

Credit: Designer in Copilot

With the expansion and ongoing experimentation of AI, there are also ethical concerns that come with passing off AI-generated art as genuine. There are already apps that can quickly detect AI-generated text. This is why, for now, anything that AI generates is best used as a launchpad of ideas, rather than a finished product.

Try Microsoft Edge today to see how Copilot, right in the sidebar, can unleash AI to help you generate ideas, get started writing, and so much more. Professional writer or not, Microsoft Edge empowers creativity and helps bring your vision to life. So, go ahead. Get to know Copilot and start writing your book!