The category of “AI writing assistant” covers a spectrum from glorified autocomplete to full co-author, and what counts as “best” depends on what you actually need.
AI as Editing Assistant
If you’re primarily looking for an editing assistant — something to catch prose problems, flag pacing issues, suggest stronger word choices — tools like ProWritingAid with its AI features, or simply running passages through Claude or ChatGPT with editing-specific prompts, serve this function well. This is AI at its lowest-friction, most immediately useful.
AI as Brainstorming Partner
If you’re looking for a brainstorming partner — someone to throw ideas at when you’re stuck — conversational AI (Claude, ChatGPT) handles this better than purpose-built fiction tools. The conversation format is ideal for “here’s my problem, help me think through it.”
AI as Drafting Assistant
If you’re looking for a drafting assistant — something to help you get words on the page faster — Sudowrite’s drafting tools are the most fiction-specific. The ability to write forward from a specific point in a scene, constrained by character and tone information, produces more immediately usable output than general-purpose tools.
AI for Full Novel Generation
If you’re looking for full novel generation — generating complete draft chapters from outline points — all of the major LLMs can do this with the right prompting. The quality varies enormously by genre, by how specific your prompts are, and by how much editorial work you’re prepared to do on the output.
Impressive vs. Usable Output
One consistent finding across the writers using these tools seriously: the AI that produces the most usable output isn’t necessarily the one that produces the most impressive output. “Impressive” often means surprising and strange. “Usable” means close enough to your voice and intent that revision is efficient. Those aren’t always the same thing.
This article is part of the AI & The Novel series on Indignified.com. All articles reflect the author’s research and perspective and do not constitute legal or financial advice.