Describing a Story
Every great story started as an idea in someone's head. A brave knight. A lost puppy. A child who discovers a secret door. Those ideas did not write themselves — someone had to describe them. When you work with an AI helper to make a story, your description is the seed. The more you tell the AI about your idea, the richer the story can grow. Let us find out how to describe a story well.
Every Story Has Three Parts
To describe a story to an AI helper, you need to think about three things: The character is who the story is about. It could be a person, an animal, a robot, or even a magical cloud. Tell the AI who your character is and what they care about. The setting is where and when the story happens. Is it in a forest? In the future? On a space station? Under the ocean? The problem is what makes the story interesting. A good story always has something to solve or overcome. Maybe the character is lost. Maybe something important is missing. Maybe they have to make a hard choice. Character, setting, problem — those three pieces give an AI helper everything it needs to start writing a story with you.
Character plus setting plus problem equals a story. Give the AI all three ingredients and something wonderful can begin.
Here is an example of a weak story description: 'Write me a story about a kid.' Here is a strong story description: 'Write me a story about a nine-year-old girl named Nadia who loves inventing things. She lives in a small town surrounded by forests. One day her best invention — a small flying robot — goes missing in the woods, and she has to find it before a thunderstorm arrives.' The strong description has a character (Nadia, inventor), a setting (small forest town), and a problem (missing robot, coming storm). The AI has a real story to tell now!
Prompt Challenge
Write a prompt asking an AI helper to write a short story.
Your prompt should…
- Name your main character and tell one thing about them
- Describe where and when the story happens
- Describe the problem or challenge the character faces
You can also tell the AI how you want the story to feel. Should it be funny? Scary (but not too scary)? Heartwarming? Full of surprises? Giving the AI a feeling word helps it pick the right kind of language. You can even tell the AI how long you want the story to be. 'Write a short story' means just a few paragraphs. 'Write a long story' means many more pages. Start short — you can always ask for more!
Remember: the AI is helping you, but the story is yours. You gave the idea. You can change anything you do not like. You can ask the AI to make it funnier, sadder, or more exciting at any time.
What are the three main ingredients for a story description?
If you want an AI to write a funny story, what is one thing you could add to your description?
Story Seed Cards
- Fold a piece of paper into three sections.
- Label the sections: My Character, My Setting, My Problem.
- In each section, write two or three ideas. You can be as wild or as normal as you like!
- Pick your favorite idea from each section and combine them into one short story description.
- Read it aloud to someone. Does it sound like a story you would want to read? If not, change one ingredient and try again.