I asked ChatGPT to write my next book, and this is the result - Katherine Roberts

Image generated by AI at canva.com

Last month, I promised you some AI-authored fiction. This is what happened when I asked ChatGPT to write the first scene of my next book.

ME
Write a fight scene featuring Princess Zandra and her centaur friend Rru training with wooden swords on the edge of a cliff.

ChatGPT (first draft)

Princess Zandra stood at the edge of a cliff, her royal blue gown swaying gently in the wind. Her eyes, filled with determination, met those of her loyal centaur companion, Rru. They had come to this secluded spot for their regular training session, each armed with a wooden sword. The distant sound of crashing waves against the rocks below added an air of urgency to the scene.

With a swift motion, Zandra gripped her wooden sword, the polished oak handle fitting perfectly in her delicate hand. Rru, towering over her, flexed his muscular equine body, his hooves digging into the ground as he prepared for the mock battle.

"Are you ready, Rru?" Zandra called out, her voice filled with anticipation.

Rru nodded, his strong human upper body flexing beneath his muscular torso. "Always, Princess. Let's see if you've improved."

Without hesitation, Zandra lunged forward, her movements fluid and precise. She swung her wooden sword towards Rru's flank, aiming for a quick strike. But Rru's agility matched her own, and with a graceful sidestep, he evaded her attack.

Rru retaliated with a sweeping arc of his own wooden sword, aiming for Zandra's legs. She deftly leaped into the air, executing a graceful twirl, avoiding the blow with ease. Landing smoothly, she thrust her sword forward, attempting to catch Rru off guard.

Rru twisted his massive torso, allowing the wooden blade to graze against his side, a testament to his formidable skill. He countered by launching a powerful overhead strike. Zandra parried with precision, the wooden swords clashing together in a resounding echo.

As the fight intensified, Zandra's nimble footwork danced across the edge of the cliff, her every movement balanced and calculated. She circled Rru, her sword whirling through the air, aiming for gaps in his defense. Rru, an expert in close-quarter combat, utilized his superior strength to fend off her relentless assault.

Their blades clashed repeatedly, the sound of wood against wood ringing out amidst the crashing waves. Zandra's determination grew with each clash, her eyes focused on Rru's every move. She had learned from her centaur companion, honing her skills through countless training sessions. Now, she aimed to prove her mettle.

With a burst of energy, Zandra surged forward, spinning on her heels as she delivered a series of rapid strikes. Rru blocked and parried, their swords moving in a blur of motion. But Zandra's relentless onslaught began to wear down Rru's defenses.

Sensing an opportunity, Zandra executed a swift feint, distracting Rru momentarily. In that split second, she lunged forward, her sword connecting with Rru's chest in a solid hit. The sound of wood impacting against wood echoed through the air, followed by a brief silence.

Rru smiled, acknowledging Zandra's skill and growth. "Well done, Princess," he said, his voice filled with pride. "You've become a formidable warrior."

Zandra beamed, her chest rising and falling with each breath. She sheathed her wooden sword and approached Rru, patting his mighty flank gently. "Thank you, Rru. I owe much of my progress to your guidance and training."

They stood there, on the edge of the cliff, the wind carrying their laughter and the camaraderie that had been forged through countless battles. Princess Zandra had proven herself once again, and with Rru's unwavering support, she knew she would continue to grow into the warrior she aspired to be.

*

This scene took ChatGPT about three seconds to write. Impressive, though not quite right for the middle grade book I had in mind! Maybe I should have specified the age of my readers? It seems a bit wordy with rather too much focus on the wooden nature of the swords, but only contains one actual error when Zandra's (wooden) sword connects with Rru's chest, where I'd probably change 'wood' to 'flesh' since my centaur is meant to be a living creature.

I had already written a version of this opening scene myself, so when this draft came through with Rru being huge and powerful, I realised I had forgotten to tell ChatGPT he was still a young centaur colt. Zandra's flowing blue gown also seemed wrong - what self-respecting warrior princess wears a dress to a duel? I pointed out these issues to ChatGPT, which resulted in a couple more drafts. I also questioned smaller details such as Zandra's sword being made out of oak, and ChatGPT came up with ironwood as a native hardwood local to her home. Finally, I spotted a few American spellings so I asked ChatGPT to change these to British English, which it graciously did. I loved the way it kept apologising for the 'misunderstanding', even though it can't have known the details before I told it... a human editor would probably have got annoyed with me somewhere around draft four, whereas I think ChatGPT would have been happy to keep rewriting this scene for as long as I asked it to do so. We went through five drafts before I ended the chat. This is the final one.

ChatGPT (fifth and final draft)

Princess Zandra stood at the edge of a cliff, the wind tousling her dark hair. Her gaze was fixed on the wooden sword in her hand, a faithful replica of her mother's weapon. The blade, crafted from forged steel, gleamed with a sharp edge that mirrored the fierce nature of her warrior queen lineage.

By her side stood Rru, a young centaur colt eager to train alongside Zandra. His muscular physique glistened under the sunlight, a testament to his growing strength. Zandra admired his determination, appreciating the loyalty and camaraderie he brought to their practice.

"Are you ready, Rru?" Zandra asked, her voice carrying a determined edge.

Rru nodded, his eyes shining with youthful enthusiasm. "I'm ready, Princess Zandra. Let us make this training session a test of our mettle!"

With a confident stride, Zandra gripped her wooden sword tightly, feeling the familiar weight in her hand. She was clad in a set of leather armour, designed to provide protection without compromising mobility. The armour bore intricate patterns that represented her warrior heritage and the unity of her people.

As the training began, Zandra unleashed a flurry of strikes, her movements swift and purposeful. The wooden sword sliced through the air with precision, mirroring the lethal grace of her mother's fighting style. Rru, with his coltish agility, met her attacks with nimble evasions, his hooves deftly manoeuvring around the uneven terrain.

The clash of their wooden swords reverberated through the cliffside. Zandra channelled her mother's battle prowess, her strikes calculated to test Rru's defences. Rru, emboldened by Zandra's determination, met her blows with agile parries and quick counterattacks.

Their movements danced in harmony, Zandra's swift footwork accompanied by Rru's powerful strides. They circled one another, their swords clashing and sparks flying with each collision. Zandra's leather armour offered protection as she dodged and weaved, her eyes fixed on Rru's every move.

As the training session progressed, Zandra's strikes became more fluid, each swing of her wooden sword a testament to her growth as a warrior. Rru matched her steps, his smaller frame showcasing agility and determination in his defence.

Zandra lunged forward, her sword aimed at Rru's defences. He sidestepped, his agile body evading the blow with grace. Rru retaliated with a sweeping arc, attempting to catch Zandra off balance. She blocked the strike with a well-timed parry, her leather-clad arm absorbing the impact.

Their duel continued, a display of skill and determination. The sun cast long shadows upon the cliffside as they exchanged strikes and blocks, their movements a symphony of strength and resilience.

As the training session reached its climax, Zandra and Rru paused, chests heaving with exertion. They exchanged a triumphant smile, a shared recognition of the growth they had achieved together.

"You fought with the spirit of a warrior, Zandra," Rru remarked, his voice filled with admiration. "Your mother's legacy shines through you."

Zandra nodded, her eyes gleaming with determination. "Thank you, Rru. I will honour my heritage and lead our people with courage and resilience."

Rru's coltish features softened into a proud smile. "Together, we will forge our destinies, Princess Zandra. Side by side, we will face the challenges ahead."

*

At first sight, it appears that the more detail you give to the AI, the better the results. However, as things started to get more complicated, I noticed ChatGPT slowed down and more errors began to creep in (such as the metal blade on Zandra's sword that appears in the final draft above). Also, it seems some of the details from earlier drafts were forgotten with each subsequent rewrite, so I actually think the first version of this scene reads better than the final one... did you notice Zandra 'wins' the duel in the first draft, whereas by the final draft she and Rru are more evenly matched and as a result their fight seems rather boring? I doubt I'll be using any of these as I already have my own version and the dialogue in particular sounds rather false. But ChatGPT has given me a couple of ideas along the way (for example, the ironwood sword) that I might keep, and even came up with a title for the scene without being asked: "Princess Zandra's Sword Mastery".

Hmm... I find titles quite tricky, so my next chat with AI might be to come up with a best-selling title for these books!

Note: To complete my AI experiment, I used Canva's text-to-image AI to produce an illustration for this scene, which appears above. This picture was the best of eight alternatives presented by the AI, yet Zandra's face is still missing, her sword looks like a rope, they are not actually duelling, and the centaur has only three legs? Somehow, I suspect 'Princess Zandra's Sword Mastery' is unlikely to end up as an illustrated title any time soon. Illustrators, your jobs are safe... for now :-)

***

Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fiction for young readers. For comparison, this is her original (human-authored) version of the same scene attempted by ChatGPT above. To be fair, she did not tell the AI about the ship.

KATHERINE (not a robot)

High on a cliff edge far to the north of the Great Empire of Iskandia, two youngsters fought a duel. The girl’s silver hair had been tightly braided in the style of her shield-sisters, for she had been raised a princess of their warrior tribe. Her opponent’s red mane frizzed down his boy’s back to where it joined with his horse’s body, for he was of the centaur race, ancient enemies of her people.

Light of foot and filled with fierce determination, Zandra ducked beneath her opponent’s blade, her sword aimed at his horse's heart. This checked the centaur long enough for her to leap onto his back. As she leant forward to deliver a killing blow to his second heart, a shadow darkened the sun. The cliff edge shimmered and a chill seized her, cold as the Midnight Sea that separated her home from the lands of men. She glanced at the horizon, and the centaur took advantage of her distraction to reach for her wrist, pulling her off his back and sending her sword spinning over the cliff.

Zandra fell flat on her back beneath the centaur’s hooves, winded. She felt a prick at her throat. “You’re dead!” puffed the colt, whose full name was unpronounceable in her people’s language but who answered to ‘Rru’.

Zandra scowled, annoyed at herself for losing the sword even if it was only made of wood. A child-sized replica of her mother’s royal blade, the weapon’s golden coating had been scratched from many such mock battles. She’d grown out of it, anyway, which must be why Rru had been able to disarm her so easily, although she should never have let him unseat her in the first place, of course.

Thankful that none of her shield-sisters had been watching their duel, she accepted her opponent's hand and scrambled to her feet. She frowned at the sea. The shadow she’d seen was now a thick bank of black clouds. Crimson lightning flickered inside them. She shivered again, trying to focus on that red shimmer… was that a sail, racing the storm?

“Did you see that?” she said, pointing past Rru’s shoulder.

“See what?” Rru returned his sword to Zandra’s throat, grinning at her through his unruly red fringe. “Surrender, Princess! You can’t fool me with that old ‘look behind you’ trick.”

Zandra impatiently pushed his wooden blade away. “That ship – it came out of nowhere!”

Rru frowned over his shoulder and swished his tail in annoyance. “It’s just a ship, probably got blown off course by the storm. You shouldn’t have let it distract you. If we’d been fighting for real, you’d be on your way to the Underworld by now.”

Possibly true, Zandra thought, touching her throat. Despite winning many battles, the father she’d never met had been born mortal, as his death thirteen years ago proved. That made her half mortal, and perhaps able to die like him – a theory she did not want to test today. Her fingers came away bloody. Just as well Rru was her best friend.

She gave the centaur’s rump a gentle slap. “That’s for scratching me, you clumsy colt!” she scolded.

She picked a splinter out of her throat. Her mother would be angry if she saw the wound and might order her friend punished, whereas it had been Zandra’s fault for insisting Rru fight her in the first place. But how else could she be expected to train in the arts of war so that she could join the Ride next time her mother’s people answered a call to battle? She just hoped she'd be able to find the sword before they got back to the palace, or the queen would never trust her with a real blade.

*

Find out more about Katherine's books on her website www.katherineroberts.co.uk